Two Kingdoms (Mark 6:14-44)

Sermon for Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC on July 14, 2024

Two Kingdoms (Mark 6:14-44)

Have you heard the news? FedEx and UPS are merging. They’re going by the name FedUp now.

Did you hear about the man who adopted a dog from a blacksmith… when he got it home, the dog made a bolt for the door.

King Herod had heard news of Jesus and his disciples. They were preaching repentance. Their message was accompanied by miraculous signs and wonders. They healed the sick and drove out demons. News about Jesus spread like wildfire. 

Some thought of Jesus as Elijah, returning to prepare the way for the Messiah. The Lord promised through the prophet Malachi, 

I will send you the prophet Elijah before the awesome day of the Lord... (Mal 4:5)

Some thought of Jesus as the prophet promised by Moses.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. (Dt 18:15)

But Herod was afraid that Jesus was John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded, back from the dead. Zombie John is coming to get you!!! 

Herod threw a birthday party for himself. He invited his courtiers, officials and other leading men to celebrate with him. But his wife, Herodias, hated John and plotted with her daughter to bring about John’s execution. John had made it publicly known that Herod and Herodias were committing adultery, because she was wed to his brother Philip, who was still living. 

But our reading tells of another gathering. Jesus and His disciples cross the Sea of Galilee to get away from the crowds. When they got to the other side of the lake, the crowds met them there! Rather than send them away, Jesus had compassion for them. He put aside his need to rest and taught them hope in the kingdom of God and healed their sick. He even fed them, but we’ll get into that later.

Let’s compare these two gatherings, because they reveal to us two very different kinds of kingdoms, the kingdom of Herod and the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of Herod is marked by self-centeredness. The party Herod throws is all about him. It’s his birthday celebration. It’s not bad to celebrate your birthday with your friends. But this birthday party was a lavish spectacle paid for by the people (taxes). The main event was a perverse plot to manipulate Herod into executing John the Baptizer. Herodias’ daughter danced for King Herod. 

You can picture the scene. Wine flowed freely. The music was joyful. When the king was well inebriated, the dance began. This dance was meant to arouse the king. Herod was so delighted he offered his step-daughter up to half of his kingdom. It was an impulsive decision, made in the heat of the moment. Herod played right into Herodias’ trap. Her daughter asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter! And Herod, for fear of how he would look to his guests, went against his own heart and ordered John’s execution. Herodias got her revenge.

John The Baptist Beheaded

While Herod’s kingdom is mired in selfish motivations, Jesus’ kingdom is other-centered and generous. Jesus was tired and hungry, yet when he saw the crowds in their need he had compassion for them. Jesus wasn’t about to turn them away. Tired or not, he would do what was needed to meet their needs. 

Don’t you wish you belonged to such a kingdom? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our government put the people first, instead of special interest groups, wealthy financiers, and greedy corporations? Jesus is the leader who puts your needs first. 

Herod makes rash impulsive decisions based on his mood. He promised his step-daughter anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom, because he was pleased by her dance. Jesus makes compassionate, loving decisions. 

Herod invited courtiers, government officials and leading men to his party. These were people of means and influence. They certainly had the means to return favor when called upon by the king. 

At Jesus’ gathering, He welcomed the poor, the sick and troubled. They came hoping to be healed, and they were. 

Fear ruled Herod. He actually liked listening to John the Baptist preach. It made him feel confused, but also pleasant. He couldn’t figure out how John’s call to repentance made him feel bad and good at the same time. 

Why might Herod feel so perplexed? When God’s truth is spoken, we are laid open. Nobody likes feeling vulnerable or exposed, but as Adam and Eve learned, you can’t hide from God. Herod felt something when John preached. He felt the word of God penetrating his heart. 

The book of Hebrews says,

the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12)

Herod knew that John spoke God’s truth, but because he feared how he might look to his party guests, he had John beheaded. 

Jesus wanted to get away with his disciples to rest and renew. But the needs of the people would not rest. He decided to help them out of love, not fear. 

At Herod’s party, the head of John the Baptist was served up on a platter. At Jesus’ gathering, miraculous bread was served.

There is a lot of symbolism in the story. The disciples tell Jesus to send the crowds home to get something to eat. But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” They complained, “Are we to spend 200 denarii ($28,000) to buy bread for all these people? There are thousands in this crowd! Impossible!”

They only had 5 loaves and two fish. Jesus ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. (Mk 6:39-40)

These details are an echo of scripture. During the Exodus, 

Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. (Ex 18:25)

This echo in Mark paints Jesus as the new Moses. Through Moses, God fed Israel miraculous bread in the desert (manna). Jesus fed this crowd miraculous bread as well. With only 5 loaves and 2 fish, 5000 ate and were satisfied. There’s another biblical story about another powerful prophet named Elisha. A man brings as an offering twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain to Elisha. From 2nd Kings 4:42-44…

Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord: They shall eat and have some left.” He set it before them; they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

The same thing happens in Mark 6. The disciples complain about feeding the multitude with only 5 loaves and two fish. But a miracle occurs and everyone eats and are satisfied, and there are 12 baskets of leftovers!

This miracle meal is more than God’s power at work through Jesus. The numbers in this story reveal life in the early church. The average size of American congregations is around 60 people. 6 out of 10 churches have less than 100 members. The strength of the small church is intimacy.  Everybody knows everybody. The early church was organized in small groupings, house churches with 50 to 100. 

Notice the echo in our communion liturgy taken right out of the gospels.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us,

he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,

gave it to his disciples…

 

And from Mark 6:41

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before the people…

The Lord’s Supper, a sacrament practiced by believers since the beginning of Christianity, is being referenced here. 

Jesus quoted Moses when tempted by the devil in the wilderness to turn stones into bread.

“one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Dt 8:3)

There’s something more than bread and miracles being said here. Why 5 loaves? 

The fifth letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Hey. It sounds like a breath, Hey, the divine breath of life which animates our lives. 5 symbolizes God’s grace. When God gave Abram the name Abraham, the consonant hey was added to his name. Sarai was renamed Sarah.

5 is also the number representing Torah, the Law of Moses, the first five books of our Bible. I think 5 loaves of bread symbolize God’s gracious gift of His word through Moses. The 2 fish may represent the rest of the Old Testament. Jews today call their scripture Tanakh, an acrostic for the three sections of the Hebrew canon. T is for Torah, literally meaning the instruction. N is for Nevi’im meaning Prophets or Spokespersons. K is for Ketuvim, which means the Writings. It includes Psalms, Proverbs and later writings. 

Bread and fish were staples of life in the Mediterranean. But one does not live on bread alone. One needs the word of God.

5000 men were fed with 12 baskets leftover. 5000 is the product of 5 (grace) x 10 x 10 x 10. 10 represents completeness. 5000 means full, satisfying, complete Grace.” Overwhelming grace is just what Jesus showed the hurting and hungry crowd. 12 represents the 12 tribes of Israel, but for the New Testament it can also represent the Church, the New Israel led by the 12 apostles. The 12 baskets of leftovers means there’s more than enough grace for everyone in the Kingdom of God.

In a world of wicked and selfish agendas to gain more power, wealth and pleasure, it’s good to know that God’s eye favors the humble. 

The next time you’re worried about life’s troubles, remember that you belong to the kingdom of Jesus. Your king loves you. Jesus doesn’t govern like the vain Herods of the world. He rules with compassion, truth and justice. In Christ’s kingdom, there is plenty for all. Don’t worry. God knows what you need. Seek first the kingdom of God. Your deepest needs will be satisfied.