As Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:34) We have heard this so many times that is has ceased to startle us. But how does this make sense? And he began to teach them. Teach them? How does that follow out of having compassion? But that is what it says: Jesus had compassion on them and began to teach them.

In my life there is never a change in me unless there is first a change in my thinking and before my thinking can change I need to learn something new.

Jesus looked at the people in front of him were hurting because they did not know that they were being misled by the government, the teachers of the law and the temple and all that went with it.

The very fact that Jesus was drawing such a large crowd is what leads us to the answer. If the temple and religious structures of the day were working the people would have been there instead of out in the wilderness with Jesus. This crowd before Jesus is the product of failed leadership. Sheep without a shepherd are people who are badly led by their Kings and Priests. Because the people of Israel are badly led they are clueless about God because the Kings and Priests lied to them about God’s nature.

So with all those hurting people in front of him what was Jesus compassionate response? In this sermon I have not chosen to talk about the feeding but it is significant in that one of the responsibilities of Israel’s kings was to make sure his people had enough to eat.

The Kings were supposed to be the shepherds of the people. So this is how he deals with people who are like sheep without a shepherd. He becomes their replacement shepherd.

What does it mean when we are hurting? Why do we feel and cause so much pain. We and our defective systems are literally making each other sick. I think this is the kind of hurt that can only be cured by teaching and leading toward right thinking. For a long time now we have been following along in Mark. First we get parables about the word that comes to those with ears to hear and eyes to see. Jesus comes to show us the truth about us and pulls away the veil that we have covered ourselves with which hides the truth from our eyes.

Then we saw the woman with the hemorrhage and Jarius step out of their crowds and into faith. Then we saw the opposite when Jesus went back home to Nazareth. When they recognized his wisdom and power but were unable to step toward Jesus because they were stuck in their preconceptions about him. It even said that “Jesus marveled at their lack of faith.

Then we went on to John the Baptist in last week’s lesson where we saw that Herod could not step away from social pressure and do the right thing and that he allowed the pressure of family, government and friends to force him into killing the Baptist.

In today’s lesson the attention is back on Jesus. Jesus tries to take his disciples on a rest but the mob follows along, they demand so much attention that there is not even time to eat. When the crowd follows them even to their wilderness retreat you might expect annoyance on Jesus’ part but instead we get: “he was moved with pity for them because they were as sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.”

The crowd is pitied because they do not know themselves. They are victimized by others and they victimize themselves because of their ignorance. They are puppets. Manipulated by Herod, the Romans and the priests of the temple. Surely this lesson is historical. It first tells about Jesus’ first century audience but it also tells us about ourselves. Because we have failed to recognize Jesus’ shepherding we also have become sheep without a shepherd. Doubly bound to meaningless doctrines at church and the foolish laws of our nation

The early church embraced the power of Jesus life and message and they had an advantage that we have given up. In the early church faith was centered in every day life. It spread literally in the marketplace. It grew in the middle of what you did every day. Today the center of the church is here behind the walls of our building as if Jesus needed to be protected. The church is perceived to be just another failed institution. This needs to change!

This teaching to the gathered crowd was of course an attack on the contemporary leadership of Jesus day: Herod, The Romans and the Priests along with the teachers of the law.

We also need to follow the voice of the one Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. God loves us so we can become his children. So we can stop settling for being comparatively better than our neighbors! So that we can become something positive as Jesus was, instead of just being able to say we are not bad people.

Hearing and knowing the teaching of Christ makes us something positive, creative and exciting. As the body of Christ we have the most precious treasure, Jesus himself. We belong to him; we learn from him and learn to think as he does. He leads us and then our task is to display him to others with the light of our lives. Together we can step out of our social matrix and into faith and we can begin living in the kingdom of God.

1. What problem can be fixed by teaching?

2. How is the crowd chasing Jesus around being victimized and by whom?

3. How does Jesus save us from being helpless victims of all the structures that try to tell us who we are? How does Jesus save us from human culture?