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Gospel of Mark
Part 41: Jesus Feeds 4000
By Rev. Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON TIMELINE
1. Introduction
5. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus I
6. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus II
9. At the Home of Simon and Andrew
12. Jesus and the Tax Collector
13. Jesus Questioned About Fasting
15. Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath & Resurrection Sunday 2025
16. Hard Hearts and Hard Thoughts
18. Jesus Appoints the Apostles
24. Parable of the Growing Seed
25. Parable of the Mustard Seed
26. Benefits of Private Teaching
30. When Familiarity Breeds Contempt
32. Weakness in the Seat of Power
34. Feeding 5000
38. The Source of True Defilement
39. Gentile Blessed for Her Faith
40. He Has Done All Things Well
41. Jesus Feeds 4000
Today is Sunday. November 2nd, 2025
INTRODUCTION
Today we will look at the second time Jesus fed the multitudes, looking deeper into the spiritual meaning of the event.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Mark 8:1-13
“In those days, when
there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His
disciples and *said to them, 2 “I feel compassion for the crowd
because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And
if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some
of them have come from a great distance.”
4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough loaves here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
6 And He *directed the crowd to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them. And He kept giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the crowd. 7 And they also had a few small fish; and after He blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well.
8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9 Now about four thousand were there, and He sent them away. 10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.
11 And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven [a miracle], testing Him.
12 And sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.
I. JESUS, COMPASSION, AND PROVISION
a. Compassion on those who follow Him
i. Who was it Jesus had compassion on?
1. The multitude who gave up everything to follow Him and came to hear Him preach
2. What did Jesus say about them that captured His attention and compassion?
“I feel compassion for the crowd because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”
ii. We can look at this from a worldly perspective.
1. They were hungry, Jesus performed a miracle and fed them…end of story. (They did not follow for a miracle so they would believe, because they had already listened to Him for three days.)
iii. Or we can examine the spiritual aspect of what exactly Jesus is saying here.
“I feel compassion for the crowd because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”
1. Remained with Him for three days
2. Have nothing to eat
3. If I send them away hungry (in need) to their homes, they will faint
4. And some of them have come a great distance
iv. What is Jesus saying here?
1. Have you “remained” with Jesus for three days?
a. This is a spiritual reference to the Cross and being in the tomb
b. For us, it refers to dying to self…remaining “with Jesus”
2. They had nothing to eat.
a. Meaning, they gave up everything to come to Jesus, to remain with Him
b. For us, giving up everything to follow Christ
3. Jesus says, sending them away hungry (or in need) to their homes, they will faint. And some have come a great distance.
a. He fed them loaves that were miraculously multiplied.
b. Does not send us back to our homes after we come to Him, the world, without feeding us Manna from heaven.
c. We would faint without the Word of God in this world.
d. Some of us sooner than others, because of how far we have come to reach Jesus!
b. Provision to those who submit
i. Jesus provided for His followers in their time of need
ii. Those who gave up everything to be with Jesus for three days
iii. Those who would not make it in their trip back home without the spiritually nourishing Word of God…the Bread of Life, Manna from heaven.
c. What about you?
i. Have you died to self, thus remaining with Jesus for three days?
ii. Did you give everything up to come to Him and are now in need?
iii. Jesus will not send you back into the world hungry and in need, rather, you will receive all that you need to survive in this world provided by the very hand of the Lord.
iv. And you can receive the Bread of Life from the Lord through the very Word of God!
II. THIS WICKED GENERATION
a. Testing the Lord
i. Jesus fulfilled all of the signs the Pharisees and Sadducees would know of being scribes and teachers of the Law.
ii. But they were spiritually blind, and demanded more…signs and wonders as proof
iii. But the truth is, it is useless to give evidence to change unbelief to belief.
b. Demanding “proof”
i. They wanted signs and wonders…like so many today
Jesus said in Matthew 12:39 “…An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;”
1. The evil and adulterous generation Jesus spoke of means the generation was evil and committed spiritual adultery on God by following everything but Him. From false gods to money, even themselves.
2. The sign for this evil generation is the sign of Jonah
a. dead in the fishes belly, spit up alive after 3 days
b. This is symbolic of the tomb and the resurrection of Jesus
c. THAT is the sign for this generation
Luke 11:29 Jesus said, “But as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”
John 4:48 “So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
3. But the royal official believed without a sign, asking Jesus to heal his son, and Jesus did.
John 20:29 “Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”
1 Corinthians 1:22-23 “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.”
c. Signs, wonders and miracles are not the true power of God
i. We are told NOT to follow signs and wonders
ii. Jesus said “blessed are those who do not see, yet believe!”
Matthew 24:23-24 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe them. For false christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
1. The Pharaoh’s sorcerers imitated all of the signs of God in Exodus
2. Therefore, we are NOT to go searching for miracles, or follow signs and wonders, because they are NOT “proof” of God, nor are they the true power of God.
iii. Do you know the only miracle the sorcerers (Satan) could NOT counterfeit?
1. The Salvation of God’s people
iv. Meaning, the ONLY sign this generation needs, or should follow, is the sign of Jonah!
1. Christ’s death and resurrection
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “…[his, the antichrist’s] coming is in accord with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of unrighteousness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”
Luke 16:31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
d. What should we do then?
i. The only sign and wonder this generation has is the resurrection of Christ Jesus
ii. The only sign that cannot be replicated, falsified, or imitated, is the salvation of man
iii. What then IS the power of God if not signs, miracles and wonders?
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 4:20 “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.”
2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels [salvation by the Holy Spirit within us], so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.”
Philippians 3:10 “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
CONCLUSION
Do you want the compassion of Jesus?
Follow Him. Surrender everything, be with Him for three days (symbolic of the grave, through Salvation and baptism), and He will supply your needs with the Bread of Life, understanding through the Holy Spirit of the Word of God.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”
NEXT WEEK: “Part 42: Peter’s Confession”
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