Eighth Sunday after Trinity Mark 6:30-34; 53-end Jeremiah 23:1-6
Jesus really doesn’t get a lot of rest. No sooner has he healed people and cast out demons in one place, or he has to move around and do the same thing in another village. But even then, those who saw Jesus and the disciples go, would follow them. When Jesus took the disciples away by boat, suggesting they find some rest, the people hurried to find him again on foot, ‘from all the towns, and arrived ahead of them,’ it says. As he went ashore, then, ‘Jesus 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.’
The image of a shepherd and sheep is one that we find in the Bible several times, as a metaphor for the people and those who look after them. Of course, from Israel’s history, there is also the connection with king David, who had been a shepherd, watching his father’s flock, before his destiny as another kind of leader found him. And in Jeremiah 23, God is saying that he will gather the remnant of the flock that had been driven away by Judah’s rulers, and bring them back to their fold. He goes even further, by promising to ‘raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.’ The name of this new Branch, this new shepherd, will be: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’ or, in different translations: ’God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right’ or ‘The Lord our righteous Saviour’. In any case, he will be very different from the ones who had led the people earlier and either neglected them or led them astray. The shepherd whom God himself was to appoint would be caring and just, and lead the people – like sheep – to safe watering places. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see Jesus in this role. We certainly see him do what is necessary: healing the sick and feeding and teaching them, even if it did exhaust him too. What, then, does it all mean?
The final passage of Mark 6, and the end of today’s reading, summarises it nicely: that Jesus’ ministry and the response it received is widening. There were even those who got healed by touching Jesus’ cloak, as he went through towns and villages where the sick were laid in the marketplaces. This added to the number of Jesus’ followers, but also brought the resentment of the religious leaders to a new level. But Jesus does not hold back; his compassion and his love went together, in order to bring in God’s kingdom. The world was in a bad place – it needed saving. Jesus did not just perform miracles in order to show how powerful he was; although we should not underestimate the power of God in Jesus. He was not a show-off entertainer either. It was all about his love and compassion, and the inauguration of a new era, of the Kingdom of God breaking in and giving the people the hope that they so desperately needed. Nobody else could give them that hope; the hope of forgiveness, of a restored relationship with God and with their neighbour; the hope of peace. Yes, in history, and even today, there are many who try to make the world a better place and they are commended for it. Some do it as a result of their faith; others have a different motivation. And we also have a duty to do our best for those in need. But ultimate inner peace and restoration can only be found through God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, and his righteousness. He was to fight in the struggle against the forces of evil and win the victory through his obedience. He is the Righteous Branch, the Shepherd who will lead his flock through the wilderness into the Promised Land of God’s peace. That is where our hope comes from; and that is the way we are called to follow. Amen.