PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: “Our Supreme Hunger Can Only Be Filled by A Different Kind of Bread”- Ravi Zacharias
In our sermon series on Mark, we have come to Mark 6. John The Baptist was just murdered by Herod. Jesus is devastated by the murder of John and tells his disciples that there was no one greater in influence for the Kingdom Of God than John. There is a spirit of animosity toward Rome and this movement is eyeing Jesus as maybe the one to bring deliverance from the Yoke of Rome. Mark’s Gospel was written to show that Jesus was not the source of that kind of a revolutionary movement. Jesus’ miracles as the Suffering Servant of Yahweh was for deeper purposes than for political movements. He came, not to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom to save and redeem those who would believe in Him. (Mark 10:45). In Mark 6 we also encounter a miracle that is so important it is recorded in all four of the Gospel narratives. It is in Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 8; and John 6. The first narrative written was Mark, giving Peter’s eyewitness account of it. That was then followed a few year’s by Matthew’s narrative; then Luke, doing careful research from all living eyewitnesses, and sources followed with his account. Finally, nearly forty years after the narrative of Mark, the aged Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, adds supplemental and clarifying details that only he could give. All of those narratives are in agreement, with John’s gospel giving theological interpretation on the historical narratives that preceded his story. Mark also describes a second feeding of a multitude, in a Gentile area, to Gentile recipients, showing that Jew and Gentile alike have a hunger for God, that can only be filled by partaking of the Bread of Life, The True Bread from Heaven, The Bread of God, the only possible life-giving source for this kind of hunger. Mark lets us know that after the first group ate to their fill, that the disciples took up twelve baskets of leftovers (Mark 6:43). The word for basket here is the word-“kophinos”- referring to a small Jewish wicker basket used for carrying food. But when we read the narrative of feeding the 4,000, in Mark 8, we are told that the fragments remaining that were gathered were seven baskets full. The word basket here is the word “sphuris”-A gentile basket, large enough for carrying a man-(Acts 9:25). These two narratives of Mark show that Jesus came as the Bread from Heaven, to satisfy the hunger of the Jews, and of the Gentiles alike. Any who are willing to partake of His sacrifice as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53- “By the stripes” of His broken body, they are healed, and become those who are partakers of eternal life, and shall never hunger again. According to Isaiah 55 all are urged to “come and partake and buy with no money”. That is the fulfillment of that prophetic invitation here in Mark 6 + 8.
When it comes to Jesus’ miracles, C.S. Lewis writes “Miracles are a retelling in small letters the same story written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see!” Augustine said, “Miracles aren’t contrary to nature, only contrary to what we know about nature!” G.K. Chesterton wrote, “We are perishing for the want of wonder, not for the want of wonders!” My favorite is Frederick Buechner who writes, “A miracle is when the whole is greater than the sum of all the parts. A miracle is one plus one equals-a thousand!” Can we say-“5,000? How about 4,000?” This miracle speaks to the hunger of the entire human race, Jew and Gentile, who have a hunger that goes far beyond that which is satisfied by physical bread! Ravi Zacharias, in his book Jesus Among Other gods, wrote, “With all our ingesting and consumption our hungers are many and our fulfillments few!” He also said, “Jesus fed the multitudes with bread to lift them from the barrenness of a food dominated existence to the recognition that our supreme hunger can only be filled by a different kind of bread”. Jesus in John 6 makes this all very clear when He says that with “eating His flesh” no one will live eternally. That is today’s message. Let me share a poem that summarizes this truth very concisely.
Jesus is the Bread of Life
He’s the only one to satisfy
our every spiritual need
He assures us He will supply.
that gnawing in our souls,
the hunger and the thirst
He will fulfill them all
when we seek Him first.
JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
Jesus is the Bread of Life,
He promises to deliver
all our spiritual desires
when we to Him surrender.
His life and His death
brought all our worldly strife
now by faith, through grace
into everlasting life!
Jesus is the Bread of Life,
He is all that our soul’s need
when we follow Him…
our heart’s He will surely feed! -Deborah Ann
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