Evidence of Commitment

Mark 6:30-44, esp 31-35


This is the second of my three sermons on commitment, based on Mark 6:30-44. In this sermon, we will be dealing with the evidence of commitment. 

In Part I of our sermon series on commitment, we started looking at the story in Mark 6:30-44, and we realized that the people who ran after Jesus actually ran 10-13 kilometers. About fifteen thousand people ran from Bethsaida to Tabgha. There were children, young people, and adults in the crowd. There were elderly and those with physical limitations. There were people carrying their children, sick friends, and relatives as they were trying their very best to be where Jesus was going. Such was their desire and longing to be with Jesus that they did not take notice of their sweat, exhaustion, and even aching bodies. Nothing in the universe—be it external forces (like the terrain, dust on their faces, heat of the sun, etc.) or internal challenges (like exhaustion, short breath, muscle cramps, etc.) was able to stop them from running after Jesus Christ. They were committed to be with Him—and the foundation for such a commitment is a strong desire to be with Him.

The story continues to say that when Jesus landed on the shore near Tabgha, the people were already there waiting for them: “‘When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. ³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late’” (Mark 6:33-35). These verses, like verse 33, try to summarize what happened at a long period of time. Mark was not really interested in the details of the occasion. He was probably only interested in the miracle of the feeding of the fifteen thousand that he considered the other details of the story as peripheral.

Verse 34 says that Jesus had compassion on the people, so he began teaching them “many things.” We do not know what Jesus taught the people, but one thing is for sure: Jesus taught them many things, which is why the disciples in verse 35 complained that “it’s already very late.” This means that the people did not only follow Jesus, they also remained when they found Him. If the foundation of commitment is a passionate desire to be with Jesus, the evidence of commitment is remaining in Him.

Christianity is not just about finding Jesus or coming to Him. Finding and meeting Him as the Lord and Savior is just the beginning of the relationship that we can have with Him. Of course it is important that people have a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ, but after the encounter, what is important is our remaining in Him. The related commands to follow, find, and cling to God were already spoken of by God to the Israelites: “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him” (Deut 13:4, NASB). When Joshua was about to die and he was giving his farewell speech to the Israelites, his admonition was the same: “Cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day” (Josh 23:8, NASB). Joshua’s admonition was not really kept by the Israelites. In fact, many decades later, Yahweh complained: “‘As the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen’” (Jer 13:11, NASB).

The failure of the Israelites during the time of Jeremiah to cling or remain with Yahweh can easily become the experience of many people. The reality is that even disciples of Christ can choose to not remain in Him. There is a fascinating contrast between John 6 and Mark 6. In Mark 6, Jesus taught the people many things and the people remained until it was already dark (then they were fed with bread). In John 6, however, Jesus taught about Himself being the bread of life, and after challenging them to partake of Him, they grumbled: “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Then the narrative continues to say that “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:60, 66).

Then after many of His disciples deserted Him, Jesus turned to His disciples:

⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) (John 6:67-71)

As Christians, we are all hand-picked and chosen by the Lord to be saved. Each one of us here are the Lord’s disciple. He has called us out of darkness into His light, and reconciled us to Himself. What He asks is that we remain in Him. If the people at Tabgha remained in Him without being asked, how much more should we remain in Him now that Jesus is asking us to remain in Him? The night before Jesus was crucified, this was one of His admonitions to His disciples:

 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (John 15:5-8).

In this passage, several things are very clear:

1.      we become nobodies and useless if we do not remain in Him (15:5)

2.      our salvation is dependent on remaining in Him (15:6)

3.      remaining in Him is a pre-requisite for answered prayers (15:7)

When we go back to the story in Mark 6, we can easily identify reasons why the people did not need to remain with Christ. Perhaps Jesus already healed the sick, and having been already healed, they had no more business staying. They received what they wanted and got what they came for. This is the attitude of many people even in the face of God: they run toward Him in theirr need and flee from Him as quickly as they came when all has become well. Let us assume that there were people who already went home after they have been healed, but still: about fifteen thousand people remained!

The fact that people remained until it was very late is quite fascinating. Just as there were difficult challenges that hindered them from following Jesus, they also faced challenges in remaining with Jesus Christ. If they were in the meadow in grass, there would have been bugs crawling around. There could have been mosquitos and other itch-producing bug bites. Secondly, there were no comfortable chairs. The people would have been sitting uncomfortably or standing throughout the whole lecture. Thirdly, they were in the open air. There was no roof to protect them from the heat of the day. It would have been very hot and humid, since they were beside the sea. Finally, Jesus was teaching. What if Jesus was a boring teacher? There were no sound system, microphones, powerpoint presentations, video illustrations, and other awesome pedagogical tools that we have and use today.

Apart from the physical setting of the place and the challenges it brings, there were also other factors that could have led the people to not remain with Jesus. Some of them would have thought about returning to their work or their farm. Some of them might be thinking about the family members they have left just to follow Jesus. These would have been valid reasons to go home.

But let us look at another dimension of the story. It is true that the people remained in Christ, but we must not forget that Jesus also remained with them. We must remember that the story begins with a note about the exhaustion that Jesus and the disciples had after their ministries around the villages. Jesus did not need to stay. He was experiencing all the inconveniences the people were also experiencing. He was as hungry as the rest of them. He was more tired than any of them. He had better things to do like all of them. But He stayed. He remained with them. That is the love of God for us. He is compassionate through and through. He does not think about His comfort first. He thinks of the needs of others. He remains committed to His mission to humanity amidst all odds.

We can foolishly ask: “Why do I have to remain with Jesus?” but the same could be asked of us: “Why should Jesus remain with us?” Kathy Troccoli sang:

It’s Your stubborn love that never lets go of me

I don't understand how You can stay

Perfect love embracing the worst in me

How I long for Your stubborn love

Just as Christ wishes to remain with You, will your remain in Him? Let us look at the crowd around Jesus. Do you see yourself there, soaking in His words? If there are things that are hindering you from remaining in Christ, why don’t we ask the Spirit to reveal them to us, least they become the reason we are cut off from the Vine and burned in eternal fire?