He will not let you faint on the way

Sermon for Trinity 7

Jeremiah 31:23-25  +  Romans 6:19-23  +  Mark 8:1-9

(preached at Faith Lutheran Church, Beaverton, OR)

They were two separate miracles—the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000. Since both accounts have found a place in our lectionary every year, I like to point out the difference between the two miracles—aside from the obvious difference in the number of people present and the number of loaves and fish that were multiplied (five and two vs. seven and a few). For example, the 5,000 were close to town and could have returned home easily and found food for themselves. The 4,000 were in a remote place and had come a long way to be with Jesus. The 5,000 were fed after one day of listening to Jesus. The 4,000, after three days of staying with Jesus. The 5,000 came to Jesus mainly because they wanted to see more signs and witness more miracles. The 4,000 came because they were interested in hearing Jesus’ doctrine. We’re told that many of the 5,000 abandoned Jesus the next day after He offered them Himself as the very Bread of Life, because they didn’t believe in Him. We’re told no such thing about the 4,000.

What are we to make of these differences, especially given the similarity of the miracles themselves? The Holy Spirit was very frugal, after all, when it came to the inspiration of the Scriptures.

Well, the main lesson of the feeding of the 5,000—as we hear it from the Gospel of John during the season of Lent—was, See the sign of Jesus’ power and generosity and make the connection: this is the One who will provide bread for your souls, who can do so much more for you than feed you for a day! Trust in Him as the promised Christ and seek His heavenly kingdom! That miracle was directed to those who didn’t yet believe in Him.

Then we come to today’s Gospel, the miracle of the feeding of the 4,000, where the main lesson is, You who have left your homes and traveled far to follow Jesus, who have continued with Him to hear the preaching of His Word—you were right to follow Him and to trust in Him to take care of your soul! Now see how He also takes care of your every earthly need while you follow Him! This miracle is directed to Christians who end up suffering some earthly loss, especially for following Jesus, to comfort them and assure them that He will not leave them to faint on the way, but will provide the help they need in their distress. As you heard the Lord promise through the prophet Jeremiah, For I have satiated the weary soul; I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

Let’s consider some of the details recorded in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus saw the multitudes there with nothing to eat and said to His disciples, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar. Notice what Jesus values about this crowd. They have now continued with Me three days. The fact that they continued with Jesus for three days doesn’t make them worthy of the forgiveness of sins; the forgiveness of sins is free gift to all who believe in Jesus. But their continuing with Him was a sign of that believing. And for His believers, Jesus has a compassion that is especially great. These are people who bear His name, who have been given the right to be called children of God. And here, Jesus displays the compassion that God has on His children and His unwillingness that they should be left to go hungry or to faint on the way as a result of having stayed with Jesus.

Then there’s the response of the Twelve, which is just astonishing. How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? Have we completely forgotten about the feeding of the 5,000 and how easy it was for Jesus to provide bread for all those people? It’s amazing! Don’t they remind you, though, of any number of long-time Christians, maybe even yourself? You have known for years, maybe decades, the riches of God’s mercy and love in the redemption that Jesus accomplished on the cross. You have known and believed Romans 6:23 for most of your lives, that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You’ve also known His providence throughout your entire life. And then you’re faced with an earthly trial, a need, a problem. And then, suddenly, where is God? What are we to do? How can we survive? The sinful flesh wars against the New Man, who knows very well that God is faithful, but the flesh insists that He is not, that this time will be different, this time He will abandon you, this time He will let you faint on the way.

Not so. Your flesh is a liar, like the devil himself with whom your flesh is allied. And that’s just what Jesus illustrates for us in today’s Gospel.

Without the multitude’s worry, without the multitude’s request, and in spite of the disciples’ forgetfulness, Jesus foresaw their need and took care of it. How many loaves do you have?, He asked His disciples. Seven, and a few small fish. That’s more than enough! Even more than the last time Jesus fed an even bigger multitude. So what are you worried about, disciples? You’ll have seven large baskets full of leftover fragments by the day’s end. Jesus wouldn’t let His people faint on the way as a result of having stayed with Him to hear His Word.

The 4,000 had left home and pantry and employment in order to hear Jesus, because they believed He was the Christ, sent from God to save them from their sins. Their hunger was the direct result of that decision on their part. They put the needs of their souls before the needs of their bodies. And they weren’t disappointed in the end.

How have you done likewise—you who confess Jesus to be the Christ who suffered and gave Himself for our sins and was raised to life for our justification? Well, you could be working right now, making money, putting more bread on the table. But you’ve recognized that it’s more important to be here hearing Jesus, receiving the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. You could be sleeping right now. You could be out there, jumping into all the filth and pleasure-seeking that the world around you pursues with insatiable passion. But you’ve repented of all that and renounced all that to be called by the name of Christ crucified and to walk as saints, as baptized children of God in newness of life. You could belong to a larger church, as you once did, with all the earthly perks and comforts that go with it. But you’ve left all that behind to follow Jesus into a nursing home and into a church that most of the world despises as insignificant and foolish.

So you have felt some earthly needs or troubles after staying with Jesus for a while. Will you worry about how you can solve them? Will you forget that Jesus is faithful and more than capable of seeing to your needs? No, remember His compassion for the multitude who followed Him. Remember His care to provide for them, lest they faint on the way. And know that He cares for you, His chosen people, no less than He did for them.

Today’s Gospel teaches you not to lose heart. When you grow weary, when you become sorrowful, when you run into obstacles in your life of following Christ, He’ll see your need even before you do, and He’ll be faithful at sending just the right help at just the right time. Whether it’s food, or a friend, or a timely help, or a word of hope, the Lord Jesus will see to it that you have exactly what you need, when you need it, so that from the abundance that the Lord provides to you, you can help your fellow Christians in their need, and so that you can continue to follow Him all the way through this life and into the next, trusting in Him every step of the way, both for the forgiveness of sins, and for everything else that you need. You were right to continue with the Lord Jesus. He has brought you safely thus far. He certainly won’t let you faint on the way to mansions He’s even now preparing for you. Amen.