The Climax Center of Feeding the 5,000

Mark 6:34-46 is a chiasm/ ring composition/ inverted parallelism format that is in Psalm 23 and Luke 15 with the account very carefully recorded. A series of ideas/events are presented, come to a climax and then are repeated backwards. Usually the center of such a rhetorical ring composition is either the climax of the passage or at least a point of special emphasis. Here that center includes three units (Mk 6:38-41a).

1. Mk 6:34 - A Crowd, Gathered, good shepherd needed

2. Mk 6:35-36 - All Need To Ead (no food)

3. Mk 6:37 - You Feed Them (we can't)

4. Mk 6:38 - Five Loaves Two Fish

5. Mk 6:39-40 - Ps 23:2

6. Mk 6:41a - Five Loaves Two Fish

7. Mk 6:41b - You Feed Them (they can)

8. Mk 6:42-44 - All Eat All Filled (food left over)

9. Mk 6:45-46 - A Crowd, Dismissed, good shepherd takes charge  

Faith is a gift, not a virtue

The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23 to Mark 6)

Psalm 23	Mark 6:7-52
"The Lord is my shepherd"	Mk 6:34ff: Jesus had compassion of them
"He settles me down in green pastures"	Mk 6:39: He commanded them to recline in green pastures
"He leads me in paths of righteousness"	Mk 6:34: He taught them many things
"I walk through the valley of death"	Mk 6:24-29: John was killed
"I will fear no evil"	Mk 6:50: He told them, "Have no fear, I am!"
"…your staff comforts me"	Mk 6:8: "Take nothing…except a [shepherd's] staff"
"You prepare a table before me"	Mk 6:41: Jesus prepared a banquet of life
"…in the presence of my enemies"	Mk 6:21-28: Herod, an enemy, was "watching"
"You anoint my head with oil"	Mk 6:13: The disciples "anointed many with oil"
"I shall not want"; "my cup overflows"	Mk 6:42: They were "filled" with "12 baskets full of broken pieces"
He rests me "beside still waters"	Mk 6:51: "the wind ceased and they crossed over"

The classical account of the good shepherd from Psalm 23 to Mark 6:7-52

Ps 23:1-6	Jer, Ezek, Zach	Lk 15:4-7	Lk 15:8-10	Mk 6:7-52
God is the good shepherd	God is the good shepherd	Jesus is the good shepherd	Jesus is the good woman	Jesus is the good shepherd and the new Moses
Lost sheep (no flock)	Lost flock	Lost sheep & lost flock	Lost coin	Lost flock
Incarnation implied	Incarnation promised	Incarnation realized	Incarnation realized	Incarnation realized
Price paid: bring back	Price paid: search, save, bring back	Price paid: search, find, carry back	Price paid: light lamp, sweep, search, find	Gather, order, feed, lead flock, confront Herod
Repentance is return to God (shuv)	Repentance is return to land (shuv)	Repentance is return to God (metanoea)	Repentance is return to God (metanoea)	The "flock" accepts to be found
A meal for the psalmist	__	A celebration with friends	A celebration with friends	A meal for 5,000
A good host(ess?) and a meal	__	A good host and (offered food)	A good hostel and (offered food)	Jesus produces a meal
Opponent: death and enemies	Bad shepherd	Bad shepherd loses a sheep	Careless woman loses a coin	Herod: bad shepherd and murderer
Story ends in the house	Story ends in the land	Story ends in the house	Story ends in the house	At the end, people go home.

A Child's Education

Jesus' Response to the Murder of John the Baptist

Jesus Responds to a Horrific Murder (Mark 6:7-32) 

"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (Mk 6:31b).

v  How do you respond when a very good person you love is brutally beheaded by an evil person?

v  How did Jesus respond when his cousin John the Baptist was murdered by a drunken despot?

v  How did Jesus fulfill his role as a good shepherd when under enormous pressure to respond to a bad shepherd?

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve (6:7-13)

1.    By sending out the Twelve two by two (Mk 6:7), how many teaching/preaching voices would there be (Mk 6:6b)?

2.    What would Jesus' instructions teach them (Mk 6:8-9)? Who would they need on their mission?

3.    What did Jesus teach them about failure (Mk 6:10-11)? What does "shake the dust off your feet" teach them? If they are bent on success, are they in the right business?

4.    What was their primary proclamation (Mk 6:12)? What did they do (Mk 6:13)?

Herod and the Horrific Murder of John the Baptist (6:14-29)

1.    Why was John put in prison (Mk 6:17-18)? Why did Herod protect John and like to listen to him (Mk 6:20)?

2.    Who were Herod's dinner guests (Mk 6:21)? Notice that 3 classes of people were invited. What kind of people were they? Who do they represent?

3.    Why (Mk 6:19) and how did Herodias manipulate a banquet into a murder scene (Mk 6:22-25)? Why didn't/couldn't Herod back down from his drunken oath (Mk 6:26-28)?

4.    How was John regarded (Mk 11:32; Lk 3:15; 20:1-8)? Why did his disciples gather around him (Mk 6:30)? Why were so many people coming and going (Mk 6:31a)? What do you do when a relative of your leader is murdered?

5.   How did Jesus regard John the Baptist (Mt 11:11; Lk 7:28)? How did he respond to his murder (31b-32, 33-44)?

6.    Did John's brutal beheading (6:14-29) disrupt the mission of the Twelve (6:7-13, 30-31)? What can we learn here?

The outline and setting of the emergence of Jesus the good shepherd in Mk 6:7-52 are:

1. Jesus sends out the twelve (6:7-13)
2. Herod and John [and the ministry of Jesus] (6:14-20)
3. Herod the bad shepherd feeds the powerful [at a banquet of death] (6:21-29)
4. The twelve return to Jesus (6:30-32)
5. Jesus the good shepherd feeds his flock [at a banquet of life] (6:33-43)
6. Jesus, as shepherd, leads his disciples and creates "still water" for them (6:43-52)

Who represents Who in Luke 15

Why the shepherd (Lk 15:4-7), woman (Lk 15:8-10) and father (Lk 15:11-32) in Luke 15 are symbols for God and Jesus.

Allegory reigned supreme for many centuries as a method of interpretation, and the fatted calf in the parable of the prodigal son became a symbol for Christ because the calf was killed. Through allegory, interpreters were able to locate their favorite ideas almost anywhere, and confusion and finally meaninglessness conquered. This is probably why parables ceased to be sources for Christian faith and were limited to ethics.

In reaction to the fanciful exaggerations that the allegorical method produced in past centuries, across the twentieth century there was a stream of scholarship that argued for “one point per parable.” Others allowed for several themes in a parable. The purpose was to protect interpretation from adding meanings to the text that could not have occurred to Jesus or his audience. 

But if the great parable of the prodigal son has “only one point,” which shall we choose? Should the interpreter choose “the nature of the fatherhood of God,” “an understanding of sin,” “self-righteousness that rejects others,” “the nature of true repentance,” “joy in community” or “finding the lost”? All of these theological themes are undeniably present in the story and together form a whole that Kenneth Bailey calls “the theological cluster.” Each part of that cluster is in creative relationship to the other parts. The meaning of each can only be understood fully within the cluster formed by the entire parable. The content of the cluster must be controlled and limited by what Jesus’ original audience could have understood.

Simply stated, our task is to stand at the back of the audience around Jesus and listen to what he is saying to them. Only through that discipline can we discover what he is saying to any age, including our own. Authentic simplicity can be found the other side of complexity.

Reference: Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey.

Confrontation, Conversion and Calling (Isaiah 6)

https://www.facebook.com/ben.toh.9/posts/10159744412734490 Sermon in Ukraine on Nov 7, 2021.

My eyes have seen the almighty holy God. "I saw the Lord…my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 6:1, 5).

1. Do you want to "see" God (Isa 6:1, 5)? Have you?
• What does it mean to "see" God? To confront a vision of God (Isa 6:1-4; Jn 1:14; Judg 13:22; Exo 33:20)?
• Do you have a memorable "(God) moment" in your life (Jn 1:39)?
• Did Isaiah see Jesus (Jn 12:41)?
• What does it mean that God is "holy, holy, holy" (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8)? That "the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa 6:3; 5:30)?
• Is your God big (Isa 6:1, 5) and your problems small, or are you problems big because your God is small?
2. How do you know if you are saved? How is one saved (Isa 6:5-7)? What does it mean to:
• be convicted of sin (Isa 6:5a)? Have you felt woe? Doomed by your sins (Lk 5:8; Rev 1:17)?
• confess sin (Isa 6:5b; Ps 51:4)?
• be cleansed of sin (Isa 6:6-7)?
• be changed (2 Cor 5:17, 21)?
3. Could Isaiah not hear "the voice of the Lord" before Isaiah 6:8? Why (Isa 59:2)?
4. What does it mean to you--personally and practically--to be called by God and to serve God (Isa 6:8-13; 66:2; Eph 4:1; Gal 2:20; Phil 1:27; 1 Pet 5:2)?
5. What does God caution about calloused people (Isa 6:9-10)? Can a person become worse after studying the Bible and after knowing the Bible? Why (1 Cor 1:22-23; Mt 7:26-27; Jas 1:22-24)?

"Christians are missionaries by necessity because all that we are and do only makes sense if what we are and do is done in the name of Jesus." Stanley Hauerwas, Sent: The Church is Mission (Sermon, 7/4/2010), Working With Words: On Learning to Speak Christian.

"Give me a man in love; he knows what I mean. Give me one who yearns; give me one who is hungry; give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the eternal country. Give me that sort of man; he knows what I mean. But if I speak to a cold man, he just does not know what I am talking about." Augustine.

The Woman is a Symbol for God and Jesus (Luke 15:8-10)

1. Why would a story with a woman as the hero be startling, surprising, bold and daring? [In the past, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Deborah and Jael were heroes (Jud 4:4-22). But by the time of Jesus they were clearly inferior (Ben Sirach).]
2. Why would Jesus tell a similar parable when the parable of the good shepherd was already told (Gen 1:27)?
3. How would this parable reclaim the long-neglected female component in Psalm 23:5?
4. Who likely had a major influence on Jesus' attitude toward women as he grew up (Lk 1:26-38, 48)?
5. Did Jesus have women disciples (Lk 8:1-3; 10:38-39; Mt 12:48-50)? If so, did this make a difference in the content and style of his teaching (Lk 4:25-27; 5:36-39; 7:36-50; 18:1-8; 13:18-21; 20:27-36; 21:1-4; Mk 15:40-47; 16:1-8)?
6. What is significant about the coin being lost in the house in contrast to the sheep being lost in the wilderness? How might this suggest two distinct types of "lostness" as in the final parable (Lk 15:11-32)?
7. What is the worth of a drachma (Lk 15:8)? Does the value of the coin ever change?
8. What suggests that the woman is a symbol for both God and Jesus (Lk 15:6, 9)?

1. Introduction (Lk 15:8a)             Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and

2. Lost (8b)                       loses one.

3. Found (8c)           Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

4. Rejoice (Lk 15:9a)         And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me;

5. Found (Lk 15:9b)          I have found

6. Lost (9c)                       my lost coin.

7. Conclusion (Lk 15:10)               In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

I. You One 99 (Lk 15:4a)

1. Lost (Lk 15:4b)

2. Find (Lk 15:5a)

3. Rejoice (Lk 15:5b)

4. Restore (Lk 15:6a)

5. Rejoice (Lk 15:6b)

6. Found (Lk 15:6c)

7. Lost (Lk 15:6d)

III. You One 99 (Lk 15:7)

Jesus Redefines Repentance (Luke 15:1-7)

Jesus Redefines Repentance and Salvation (Luke 15:1-7)

  "…in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7).

The sheep brought back by the shepherd is a symbol of repentance.

The characteristic feature of the parables in Luke 15 is the Divine Love that goes out to seek the sinner before he repents.

• What is repentance? [As we discuss the questions consider how Jesus redefines repentance.]

• How did John the Baptist and Jesus preach repentance (Mk 1:14; Mt 3:2; 4:17; Lk 3:3; 15:1-5)?

• How did Peter preach repentance (Ac 2:38)?

• How did Paul teach salvation (Ac 16:31)?

• How do you help others to repent?

• What do you emphasize when desiring others to repent/change?

• Do you help others repent like Jesus or like the Pharisees leaders? What's the difference?

• Do you stress and smash the sinner or support and supply strength to the sinner to repent?

• Does Jesus/Do the Pharisees/Do you place the burden of repentance on the shepherd or the sheep?

1. How is the parable of the good shepherd (4-7) related to Psalm 23/O.T. (Ps 23:3; Jer 23:3; Eze 34:16; Zach 10:10)?

2. Did Jesus host outcasts (Mt 4:13; Mk 2:1; Jn 1:38-43)? Why would Jesus' loving welcome/eating with tax collectors and sinners upset and anger the Pharisees (Lk 15:1-2; 7:39)? [Their anger eventually led to them killing Jesus.] {Contrast the haberim [friends/elites] with the amhaarets [people of the land/lowest stratum of society].}

3. What is "this parable" (3) that Jesus told? How was this a subtle rebuke (4a; Eze 34:4)? Who are the friends (6)? How are shepherds regarded by the Jews?

4. What is the cost for the shepherd to leave the 99 sheep to go search for one lost sheep (4-6)? What does a sheep do when it realizes that it is lost? What is their only hope? Is the shepherd and sheep active or passive or both (4-5a)?

5. Who are the "99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (7; Isa 53:6; Eccl 7:20; Rom 3:23)?

6. "..in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.." (7). What does "the same way" teach about repentance? How is Jesus' teaching about repentance "different" from how the Pharisees think?

7. How is this first of three parables a response/an answer to the Pharisees' murmuring (2)?

Matthew

Mt 28:16-20

1. The 2nd Moses
2. Authority
3. Emmanuel
4. Messiah

The Gospel of Matthew is placed first in the NT canon. This in itself is an indication of the importance the Gospel has had since early Christian times leading up to the formation of the NT canon. That same importance was also accorded to it down the centuries in the diverse Christian traditions. The gospel's dominant presence in the lectionaries from the earliest times is a testimony to this, not to speak of the numerous quotations from Matthew in Patristic works and in theological and spiritual writings from early centuries. A major reason for this importance given to Matthew is the comprehensive nature of the gospel. Thus Matthew has

• a high Christology characterizing Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of the living God, 
• the fulfilment of OT prophecies and expectations; 
• a well-developed ecclesiology delineating the structures, values and outlining the missionary agenda of the Church; 
• a gripping and systematic presentation of Jesus' moral teaching; as well as a well-developed eschatology. 

The fine blend of these crucial aspects of Christian faith gives the gospel its comprehensive and systematic character which not only accounts for the importance accorded to it but also justifies its reputation as the "Teaching Gospel." To ask about the Christology of Matthew's Gospel is to seek Matthew's answer to the question, "Who is Jesus and how he is significant?" To do so form a narrative perspective, it is necessary to identify those elements of Matthew's Gospel in which the shape of the story's plot comes most clearly into focus. Our attention is directed particularly to the "contract" element, which is to be found in the Baptism, temptation and in other significant narratives; and how the central thread of Matthew's plot as having to do with the vindication of the humble, obedient Son of God. [Amit Toppo.]

The Experience of God, David Bentley Hart

We see the mystery, are addressed by it, given a vocation to raise our thoughts beyond the apparent world to the source of its possibility. In time, though, we begin to seek power over reality and so become less willing to submit our minds to its power over us. Curiosity withers, ambition flourishes.

• We turn from the mystery of being to the availability of things, 
• from the mystery of consciousness to the accessible objects of cognition, 
• from the mystery of bliss to the imperatives of appetite and self-interest.