Hope In Loss
Thesis: In times of significant personal loss, we can and must still be effective for the Lord.
Objective: Call believers to recognize that God provides so that they can and will continue to minister even in times of significant loss.
- We want to be alone (30-34).
- We want to be alone (30-31; When we've experienced a deep, personal loss, we want nothing more than a chance to be alone and rest.).
- Solitude doesn't always work out (32-33; It is exceedingly difficult to truly be alone in this world. And even if we do manage to isolate ourselves for a time, that time can (and indeed, must) have an end.).
- We must have compassion and teach (34; Despite our desire to be alone, we must have compassion on those around us, even in our time of loss.).
- We must serve always (35-38).
- The natural inclination is to isolation (35-36; When we've experienced loss, we have a natural tendency, reinforced by the insistence of others, to isolate ourselves, thinking that no one else understands or matters. i.e., No one else matters.).
- We think we don't have enough (37; When we've experienced loss, we have a tendency to think that we don't have the emotional or physical resources to make an impact on others.).
- We still have something (38; Even after we've experienced significant personal loss, we still have something – some emotional or physical resources - that we can share.).
- God will re-fill us (39-44).
- We must manage the tasks (39-40; Especially after we've experienced loss, it is essential that we be sure to split the things that we have to do – the ways that we have to serve – down into smaller, more manageable tasks.).
- We must be thankful for what we have (41; Especially after we've experienced loss, it is imperative that we take stock of what we do have and acknowledge that it is God who has provided it all.).
- God will provide abundantly (42-44; Especially after we've experienced loss, God can and will use whatever we have left, more than filling whatever gap remains when we rely on Him.).
Ryrie
(37) Literally translated, “eight months wages” would be 200 denarii. “The basic Roman silver coin used in Palestine, the denarius was a rural worker's average daily wage.”
(43) “These were small wicker baskets. A different Greek word occurs in 8:8 and 20, indicating larger baskets at the feeding of the 4,000.”
(44) “The Greek word for men means 'males.' Thus, the count did not include women and children.”
Reflecting God
(30) The word “apostles” occurs only twice in Mark's gospel, here and in 3:14.
(30) “The apostles were Jesus' authorized agents or representatives. In the NT the word is sometimes used quite generally. In the technical sense it is used (1) of the Twelve – in which sense it is also applied to Paul – and (2) of a larger group including Barnabas, James the Lord's brother, and possibly Andronicus and Junias.”
(30) The report was given “because [Jesus] had commissioned them as his representatives. They were returning from a third preaching tour in Galilee.”
(32) When the disciples got in the boat, John and Luke provide additional details as to where they went. John says they went to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, and Luke reports that they went, specifically, to Bethsaida, “which locates the feeding of the 5,000 on the northeast shore.”
(33) “Perhaps a strong headwind slowed down the boat so that the people had time to go on foot around the lake and arrive before the boat.”
(39) Contrary to what we might think, “grass is green around the Sea of Galilee after the late winter or early spring rains.”
(40) “groups of hundreds and fifties” “recalls the order of the Mosaic camp in the desert. The word translated 'groups' means 'garden plots,' a picturesque figure.”
(42) “Attempts to explain away this miracle (e.g., by suggesting that Jesus and his disciples shared their lunch and the crowd followed their good example) are inadequate. If Jesus was, as he claimed to be, God incarnate, the miracle presents no difficulties. God had promised that when the true Shepherd came the desert would become rich pasture where the sheep would be gathered and fed, and here the Messiah feasts with followers in the desert. Jesus is the Shepherd who provides for all our needs so that we lack nothing.”
(43) “Bread was regarded by Jews as a gift of God, and it was required that scraps that fell on the ground during a meal be picked up. The fragments were collected in small wicker baskets that were carried as a part of daily attire. Each of the disciples returned with his basket full.”
(44) Matthew further emphasizes that the count excludes women and children.
(44) “The size of the crowd is amazing in light of the fact that the neighboring towns of Capernaum and Bethsaida probably had a population of only 2,000-3,000 each."
- Ryrie, Charles C. Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.
- Barker, Kenneth, ed. Reflecting God Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.