A New Shepherd

Today's scripture passage is from:

Mark 6:13-44 KJV
(13) And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
(14) And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
(15) Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.
(16) But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
(17) For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
(18) For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
(19) Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:
(20) For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
(21) And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
(22) And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
(23) And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
(24) And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
(25) And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
(26) And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
(27) And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
(28) And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
(29) And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
(30) And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
(31) And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
(32) And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
(33) And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
(34) And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
(35) And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
(36) Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.
(37) He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
(38) He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
(39) And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
(40) And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
(41) And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
(42) And they did all eat, and were filled.
(43) And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
(44) And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

This passage starts with the story of John the Baptist's beheading. He had argue with the king's brother wife. She had vowed she wanted to kill him. She apparently did not like what John the Baptist said. In royal days of Rome Empire the leaders often did exactly what they wanted to do, they order death just to honor a person request that had done something for them. To kill John the Baptist grieved the king but it did not stop him from fulfilling the promise to the young lady that had danced so terrifically for him that was his brother's wife..

John the Baptist a minister and the forerunner of Christ had many disciples that followed him. He had people that were taught by John even his disciple came inquiring for John the Baptist if Jesus was the one God had promised, though he been a witness at the baptism of Jesus being the Messiah. The disciples of John laying the body to rest, found themselves without a teacher or leader. Jesus went into the wilderness with his apostles and John's disciple to talk to them more about the things taught, the crowd and food was plenty where they were but not in the desert. The people there saw Jesus leave and knew who he was and followed.. They were a people with out a shepherd and Jesus had compassion for them and he began to speak and talk to them. When it started getting late disciples said send them away, so they could eat, but instead Jesus took the bread and the fish and began to break it to feed the people in the wilderness. Five loaves and two fish was not enough to feed a crowd, but Jesus broke the five loaves of bread and two fish. Because Jesus perfomred a miracle as he broke the bread and fish there was enough to go around for five thousand men.

What are you serving in your church for dinner today. What in your churches cupboard is it enough to feed so a revival can begin. Is there enough to care for those that remain to hear about Jesus. There was times when churches had cover dish meal before and after dinner. Then people would go back for seconds and have another meal. I do not doubt that those feed did not go away physically or spiritually hunger when they left the assembly around Jesus. Jesus was not afraid to feed the crowd, he did not turn a soul away. He took what was offered and blessed it. Do we bless our meal. Do we bless our gatherings. Do we bless those we serve a meal too. Jesus was and is the Great Shepherd who did not go stealing from John flock of people, why because He knew John was teaching about His Father in heaven. Teaching about the Messiah. John even sent messengers to ask Jesus if he was the only one to come. If Jesus was the Christ. Yet John had seen the vision of the baptism of Jesus of the dove descending upon Jesus an a voice from heaven saying this is my Son whom I am will pleased. John's people would of been curious about Jesus but they would of also known who he was. John was Jesus cousin by human birth. Yet their kinship is not mention anywhere but Luke 1. John had grown up in the wilderness among the people there, some gentile some Jew. His father was priest. His father would of taught him how to minister to both Jew ad the Gentiles that came to be cleansed of their sins. Perhaps Jesus baptism was about working with both Jews and gentiles. Maybe what Jesus needed from John on the day of baptism was a teacher of the wilderness. Did Jesus sit under John's teaching I doubt not. However Jesus being who He was no doubt knew how to talk to all people Yet He began teaching in the temple before ever going forth to the gentiles. Jesus was a teacher of the law. He was a teacher and one that taught about His Father in heaven However the proof was miracles performed of healing and feeding a huge crowd with little provided, that convinced the people of who He truly was. Every evidence of Jesus being a prophet is here in the passage. May God bless you and keep you until you listen again.