A friend just returned from an “Encounter Ministries” conference and was bubbling with joy over what she experienced there. Those who gathered there experienced more excitement in spending a day with Jesus than they could have had in a luxurious vacation. What happened there? Jesus showed up and “fed” them with his love, his Word, and his miracles.
Jesus is a Shepherd who wants to stir joy in his sheep. Would that the “Encounter Ministry” experience happen to all of us every Sunday when we come together to worship.
Today we get an insight into Jesus Shepherd’s heart (Mark 6:34-44).
“When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was very late…”
How did Jesus attract a “vast” crowd? These were desperate sheep trying to make sense of their lives and get back in touch with God. Why else would so many people (five thousand men plus women and children) give up a day and travel to a deserted hillside? They were living in a time of darkness, hopelessness, and confusion and needed hope.
Jesus had the heart of his Father. As he looked out at the crowd and realized how lost they were, his Shepherd’s heart was “moved with pity for them.” And, so, what is the first thing he did? He began “to teach them many things”—to open up the presence of God to them. So enthralled were they in being fed by Jesus’ teaching, they stayed until evening.
Then a great surprise came. The Shepherd also wanted to take care of their physical needs. Feeding this many people was an impossible task, as Jesus’ disciples reminded him.
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?”
Practical-minded disciples knew that they didn’t have enough money (about $20,000) to feed such a group. All they had were a few loaves of bread and pieces of fish.
“So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and fifties…(Jesus) said the blessing, broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before the people…They all ate and were satisfied.”
The Shepherd organized the sheep and then trusted in his Father to do something with the few loaves. God did not disappointhis Son. All were fed and satisfied. This group of ten thousand or more had spent a “day in heaven.” They knew what it felt like to have a Shepherd who would open them up to the presence of God and take good care of them.
Jesus looks at the Church and the world today and what does he see? Doesn’t his heart continue to be moved as he sees sheep without a shepherd? He has set up a Church system to continue to do his work. At every Eucharistic celebration, for example, doesn’t Jesus teach us through his word and feed us with himself—the Bread of Life? Is this working for us?
Jesus is our Shepherd. He wants to supply all of our needs, every day. Do we realize how desperately we need him? Will we go directly to our Shepherd every morning, lay our hunger before him, and ask him to feed us…and then empower us to help shepherd a hungry world?
“God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we may have life through him” (1 John 4:9).
