An Appointment with Christ: the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish (Mark 6:30), Part 4

We have spoken about that life of dependence on Christ Jesus. We have also spoken about that Christ who wants us to take time to rest and reflect together with Him, who wants to have intimacy with us, as well as for us to have intimacy with Him.

This passage says that “the Lord took the disciples away to a secluded place to have fellowship with them, but when they arrived at the place where they were going to rest, they discovered that the crowd had found out where they were going to be, had already gone on ahead, and was waiting for them. Now, what is interesting is that when the Lord is confronted with the fact that these people have gone on ahead of Him and are waiting for Him to teach them and bless them through His ministry, instead of becoming upset with them because they have interfered with His time of rest, it says that the Lord had compassion on them. It says that many saw them leave and recognized them, and many went there on foot from the towns, arrived ahead of them, and gathered around Him. And Jesus came out, saw a great crowd, and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He began to teach them many things.”

This passage touches me because it shows the compassion of Christ. It says that when the Lord saw that great crowd of people who had gone on ahead to wait for Him and were thirsting for His word and His teaching, instead of becoming frustrated and upset with them because they were taking away His time of rest, He had compassion on them. That tells me so much about the compassionate ministry of Christ Jesus.

Wherever I examine the ministry and life of Jesus Christ, I see a compassionate man, an exceedingly loving being. The Lord Jesus Christ has compassion on us. If we draw near to Him and seek Him, He will never be too busy or too involved in other things to minister to our lives and give us what we need.

I think of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He says, “The one who comes to Me I will never cast out.” If you draw near to the Lord, He will never reject you; He will never send you away empty-handed. He will always remember you, because the God I see in Scripture is a merciful and compassionate God. The Bible says, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.” I also think of the psalmist’s words when he says, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”

How wonderful it is to know that we have such a beautiful God, so compassionate and so full of mercy. Many of us think of the God of the whip, the God of judgment, who is always ready to send a bolt of lightning from heaven because of any little thing we do to offend Him. Brothers and sisters, the God I see in Scripture is a God of mercy and compassion—a God who knows that I have needs, that I have limitations, that I am a small being prone to fall, stumble, and make mistakes, and who is there, ready to extend His hand to me, lift me up, and set me back on the right path.

I remember the passage about the adulterous woman. This woman had clearly committed a grave sin; she had committed adultery, and the penalty for that kind of sin under Jewish law was for the person to be stoned to death. And when they brought an adulterous woman to Jesus Christ, expecting the Lord to condemn her, they wanted to put Jesus in a difficult position; they wanted to see Him use the whip and the judgment to which they were accustomed.

The Bible says that the Lord said to that crowd, angry with that poor woman, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.” It was not that the Lord condoned the sin of adultery. What was happening was that these people lacked mercy, and all they saw was judgment. They were not aware of their own weakness, of their own sinfulness, but were looking only at this woman’s sin, as we so often do. The Lord, however, perhaps saw in her a person who had made a grave mistake, one worthy of condemnation, but He also saw a person in need of God’s mercy and grace.

The Bible says that when these men began to reflect, they discovered that every one of them was worthy of death because they too had sinned, and they began to withdraw one by one until they left Jesus alone with the woman. Then the Lord said to her, “Woman, where are those who condemn you?” And she answered Him, “Lord, they have all gone.” He said to her, “Well, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” There I see that merciful attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ, that compassionate attitude. The Lord always had compassion on people and saw them in their need.

Again, the Lord is also a God of holiness. He is not excusing sin, but I fear that we Christians often look more at the God of judgment, fire, and brimstone than at the God of mercy, love, and compassion. And because of that, we sometimes live in fear of God, anxious and with a paranoid mentality. Sometimes in church we hear only the lash, criticism, condemnation, and judgment instead of words of mercy and love, which are often more effective in promoting a holy life than the words of condemnation and continual attack that we so often hear in places that ought instead to be places of compassion and mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ is a compassionate Christ. He had compassion on the crowd; He felt sorry for them. It says that they were like sheep without a shepherd. These poor, humble common people had been rejected by the religious elite of their time. The priests wanted nothing to do with them because they viewed them as sinful and ignorant people. The scribes had abandoned them. The Pharisees and Sadducees were absorbed in their lofty philosophy and their subtle and exotic interpretations of the law, while the Lord saw that these people hungered and thirsted for the Word. So He postponed His time of intimacy and rest with His disciples and devoted time to teaching them, ministering to them, healing them, and telling them about God’s love for their lives.

I want to invite you to set your eyes on that loving Christ who wants you to draw near to Him and tell Him about your needs, confess your sins to Him, bring your mistakes to Him, and allow Him to bless you, heal you, and work in your life. Do not be afraid to draw near to God. Many people do not want to go to church because they feel sinful; they feel that they are not right, and they are waiting first to improve their lives and resolve their moral dilemmas before going to church and seeking God. You will never be pure or righteous enough to come before God. God wants you to come to Him just as you are.

The Lord says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” The only thing that qualifies you to come to Christ is being weary, burdened, tired, full of sin, and full of need, because the Lord says that He came to seek what was lost. He did not come to seek those who are healthy; He came to seek those who are sick. If you are in sin and in need, that is the best time and the best condition in which to come before a compassionate Christ. He has compassion on you; He wants to be your shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ says, “I am the good shepherd.” I leave 99 sheep to go in search of the one that has become lost. That is the Christ I know, and that is the Christ I am presenting to you today: the Christ who had compassion on the crowd that hungered and thirsted for His word. Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. Come to Christ, bow down before Him, declare your need to Him, and He will extend His hand of grace and mercy and give you according to your need. May God bless you.