This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Jesus lands on a shore to a massive crowd
who are looking for teaching and healing.

Even though he and his disciples are
exhausted, Jesus has compassion on

the crowd and calls them
“sheep without a shepherd”.

The first time the Bible uses that
phrase is in the book of Numbers.

Moses asks God to appoint a new leader for Israel
so that they “will not be like sheep without a shepherd”.

In response, God raises up
Joshua to succeed Moses.

Mark wants us to see Jesus like
the “shepherd,” Joshua.

And like a good shepherd,
Jesus feeds his sheep.

Jesus miraculously feeds
a Jewish crowd of 5000

and a Gentile crowd of
4000 in the wilderness.

After each of these miracles, the
people question Jesus’ identity.

After feeding the 5,000,
Jesus goes away to pray

and comes to his disciples by
walking on the Sea of Galilee.

He passes by them and they are
terrified, mistaking him for a ghost.

He tells them who he is by referring
to himself with the divine, “I Am”.

After feeding the 4,000, the
Pharisees demand another sign.

They want Jesus to prove himself.

But when Jesus fed the masses
in the wilderness, he was proving

he was the “shepherd”
Israel had been hoping for.

The Pharisees have hardened their hearts
and so he refuses to perform for them.

Between these two feedings, the Pharisees
accuse Jesus of food-related sins.

His disciples don’t follow the
religious custom of washing their

hands before they eat, so the
Pharisees say they are defiled.

Yet Jesus is quick to point out
their hypocrisy—the Pharisees

prioritize their man-made
laws over God’s laws.

If anyone is defiled, they are.

Jesus goes on to explain that things
on the outside don’t make us unclean.

Defilement doesn’t come from
unclean hands but an unclean heart.

When Jesus says the people are
like a sheep without a shepherd,

he sets himself up to be
a new and better Joshua.

Jesus will succeed Moses and
shepherd Israel into the true promised land.

Just like God provided bread and meat
in the wilderness for the 12 tribes of Israel,

Jesus does the same and provides 12 baskets
of leftovers - one for each of the tribes!

But Jesus isn’t just the Savior of Israel.
He is the good shepherd over all the nations.

In Joshua’s day, God’s people were to destroy
the seven foreign nations in the promised land.

But when Jesus sees the Gentile nations, he
has compassion on them just as he had on Israel

and produces seven baskets of leftovers—one for each
of the seven nations Joshua was supposed to destroy.

Jesus is the true and better shepherd who
satisfies not only the 12 tribes of Israel but
liberates all the nations of the Gentiles, as well.

Jesus demonstrates his power
to satisfy and liberate the nations

from the bondage of sin and
death as he walks on the water.

The Old Testament uses water as a
symbol of chaos, evil, and disorder.

Jesus offered himself to the waves of death
but treads upon them through his resurrection.

He has the power to conquer
evil and liberate all nations.

He stands upon the waters representing evil
and disorder in our world and declares, “I Am.”

I pray that the Holy Spirit opens your
eyes to see the God who is Jesus.

And may you see Jesus as the good
shepherd who satisfies and liberates his people.