The Loving Pastor
Pastor Jesus. It’s not a phrase you hear very often. In fact, you may never have heard Jesus referred to quite like that. Nevertheless, Jesus was and is our pastor—the Good Pastor. The word pastor—which we often use to describe our church leaders and preachers—is derived from the Latin form of the word shepherd, and Jesus you may recall boldly proclaimed, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11). The Bible also calls Jesus, “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25 NIV). Therefore, in a very real sense, Jesus is our pastor.
If Jesus valued loving God and loving people more than anything else, we would expect that to show through his pastoral ministry. Which, of course, it did. All throughout Jesus’ pastorate he healed the sick. He preached to the masses. He would even lay down his life for his sheep. But perhaps the most pastor-like event in Jesus’ life was when he lead the lost sheep of Israel to green pasture....literally. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle that is recorded in all four of Jesus’ biographies, but let’s read it from Mark’s gospel:
[Jesus and his disciples] went in a boat by themselves to a lonely place. But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place where Jesus was going, and they got there before him. When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.
When it was late in the day, his followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place, and it is already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat.”
But Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!”
Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five loaves and two fish.”
Then Jesus told his followers to have the people sit in groups on the green grass. So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and, looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. All the people ate and were satisfied. The followers filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. There were five thousand men who ate. (Mark 6:31-44)
Here the pastoral character of Christ shines brighter than ever—demonstrated in a more ways than one. Among the many lessons Jesus must have shared with his disciples during this impromptu picnic, five seem to stand out above the rest. The first of these five is a lesson in...
1. Compromise:
A multitude of more than five thousand people had been following Jesus for several days. Jesus was so busy healing those with diseases and teaching those who would listen that he and his closest followers, the Apostles, didn’t even have a chance to eat. So Jesus and his followers retreated by boat to a remote and isolated place to escape the crowds. “But,” the Scripture says, “many people saw them and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place were Jesus was going, and they got there before him” (Mark 6:33).
I can only imagine the exasperation on the face of the Apostles as their tiny boat approached the shore. Tired. Hungry. Trying to get away from the crowds. Hoping for just a moment’s peace. Instead, “when he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting” (vs. 34). You might expect Jesus to get aggravated. This picnic was not a part of his itinerary and these “party crasher” weren’t invited. Frustrated, he could have ordered the Apostles to turn the boat around and head for some other shore; he could have simply sent everyone home, telling them that he wouldn’t be doing any more healings, or miracles. It certainly would have been understandable—but that’s just not Jesus. Instead, the Bible says, “He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (vs. 34). Jesus wanted his followers to learn a valuable lesson: loving people sometimes means making compromises.
Like Jesus, we need to learn to amend our plans to make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in. Life rarely goes the way we planned. Some young people have in mind that they will graduate from college Saturday at 2:00, get married by 5:00, become a deacon at church on Sunday, get a high-paying job by Monday, move into a fancy house on Tuesday, and start having beautiful kids the same year. Life just doesn’t follow such scripted patterns.
Maybe you didn’t plan to spend a week baby-sitting your sister’s kids in Oregon. Maybe you didn’t expect to become a parent in your teens—or in your sixties. Maybe enduring another evening at the opera, or in front of the big-screen watching the game, wasn’t on your schedule. But loving people means making compromises and Jesus was always willing to adjust his plans for the ones he loved—even when they weren’t invited. That leads into the next lesson Jesus taught his followers—a lesson in...
2. Compassion:
Jesus could have easily sent the crowds away or simply turned his back on them, but the heart of Christ is a heart of compassion. “When Jesus landed,” the Bible says, “and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them” (vs. 34 NIV). When Jesus saw the people gathered on the shore, he didn’t see them as a vast mob, but as lonely, lost, helpless individuals—each one in need of God. The Bible says, “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion” (Psalm 116:5 NIV).
It isn’t that Jesus just felt sorry for these people, but he actually sympathized with them. He understood their need. I once heard of a church sign that read: “We care about you—Sundays 10:00 am only.” I don’t think that was their intended message but, unfortunately, that pretty well describes some churches. Jesus, on the other hand, understood the old axiom: before people care how much you know, they have know how much you care!
Rather than send the crowds away, he welcomed them. Jesus wanted to be their Pastor—to enfold them in his arms as a shepherd would his sheep. He still does. The image of shepherding is lost on many American’s today, but when Jesus walked the Galilean countryside shepherding was as common as farming is in the Midwest. One of the outstanding characteristics of good shepherds was that they knew each one of their sheep by sight and often by name. And so does Jesus. He knows every hair on your head. He remembers every birthday. He knows your every joy, every disappointment, every heartache and headache. God’s love is universal, but it is also individual and personal. As Augustine put it, “He loves each one of us, as if there were only one of us.”
Jesus curriculum for the day was just beginning, though. Next, Jesus would teach his followers a lesson in...
3. Capability:
As evening was approaching, Jesus’ followers grew concerned and told Jesus, “No one lives in this place, and it is already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat” (vs. 35-36).
Jesus’ reply would assess the faith of his followers. “They don’t need to go away,” Jesus said, “You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16).
Phillip, takes a quick head-count and was more overwhelmed by the size of the crowd than he was with the size of his God. Phillip answered, “Don’t you know that it would take almost a year’s wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?” (John 6:7 CEV). Of course, Jesus knew. And he also knew that his request seemed ridiculous—but it was designed to cultivate greater faith within his followers. In fact, Jesus “said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do” (John 6:6 ESV). Jesus already had a plan, but he wanted to test his disciples—to nudge them from belief in the mundane into belief in the miraculous.
When it comes to our capabilities, we need to learn to look beyond our own resources. Without God—even after the young boy offered to share his picnic lunch of five loaves of bread and two fish—it would be impossible to feed so many thousands of people in such a secluded region. But they were not without God, and Jesus wanted to open his disciples eyes to the reality that “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27 NIV).
From the earliest pages of the Bible, God was always trying to teach his people to believe in the impossible. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God promised Abraham that he would have a son when he was a hundred years old, and his wife was ninety years old. When Sarah (Abraham’s wife) heard about this, she laughed. But God answered, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).
Jesus could have asked that same question to his Apostles—is anything too hard for God? The answer is a resounding no! The next question is—do you believe that? Do you really believe that all things are possible with God? Is your life such a mess that God cannot fix it? Is your checkbook so lopsided that even God couldn’t balance it? In all of eternity God has never failed at anything—will His first failure be saving you? Will your problems boggle the omniscient mind or prove too strong for omnipotence? Or will you be unlovable to a God that is love? The Bible tells us that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 KJV). Do you believe it? Do you believe in the mundane or the miraculous?
After expanding the borders of their belief, Jesus would next teach his followers a lesson in...
4. Compliance:
Jesus, the Bible says, “commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass” (vs. 39 ESV). Part of being a good shepherd—or the Good Shepherd—means being able to give good direction and leadership. Part of the disciples’ training included a class in compliance—learning to follow orders.
Jesus calls himself our friend and brother, but he is also “the King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). The friends of the King, although we experience a close loving relationship with him, are still subject to the King. Loving God includes learning to submit to his authority. Jesus once said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands” (John 14:15). And again, “If people love me, they will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). Compliance isn’t always easy, but we will never be truly happy in our relationship with God until we learn to trust and obey.
In 1886, Dwight L. Moody was preaching at a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts. Daniel B. Towner was also there, leading the music for the meetings. One night a young man in the audience stood up to give his testimony. He said, “I’m not quite sure—but I’m going to trust and I’m going to obey.” That statement struck Mr. Towner, who scribbled the sentence down and sent it to J.H. Sammis, a Presbyterian preacher. Together they gave birth to the hymn, Trust and Obey.
Trust and obey—for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
All of heaven and earth was created by him and for him, and he is Lord of all he has made. Jesus is Lord of creation, but is he Lord of your life? Do you love him enough to obey his commands? They really aren’t troublesome or complicated. In fact, his commands are quite simple and they’re intended for our benefit. Let’s not forget that of all the commands God ever issued, the most import is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV).
Don’t be discourage, though, should you fall short of obedience. We constantly fail to keep his commands, but it’s not a matter of perfection—it’s a matter of direction. As our Lord, Jesus issues the command, and as our Shepherd, he tenderly helps us when we fail. Which brings us to the final lesson of the day, a lesson in...
5. Charity:
Finally, when the table was set and everyone was in there place, Jesus did the impossible. John tells us that, “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. ‘There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?’” (John 6:8-9 NLT).
Then Jesus, “took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking to heaven, he thanked God for the food. Jesus divided the bread and gave it to his followers, who gave it to the people. All the people ate and were satisfied. Then the followers filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of food” (vs. 19-20).
I think that the coolest part of this story is that Jesus isn’t the only hero. The other hero of the story is a little boy who was willing to share his sack lunch. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. When we are willing to give what little we have to help meet the needs of others, we become a hero in God’s eyes. Jesus and his disciples once witnessed a poor woman who went to church and dropped two little pennies in the offering plate. Pointing her out, Jesus said, “That poor widow has given more than all those rich men put together! For they gave a little of their extra fat, while she gave up her last penny” (Mark 12:44 TLB). That’s the way it is with Jesus—little is always much in his hands.
Long ago, the people of Israel had grown stingy and didn’t want to contribute their money to the work of the Temple. God told them, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple; if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won’t have room enough to take it in!” (Malachi 3:10). It’s amazing what God will do when we simply show a little charity.
Just as Jesus once gave his followers enough bread to feed more than five thousand hungry men, women and children (with twelve baskets of leftovers), so he can give us more blessings than we have capacity to enjoy.
The people who had followed Jesus all the way out to this deserted place were there because they needed a pastor, a shepherd—someone who would love them unconditionally, someone who could give them something to believe in, who would lead them to green pasture and who would satisfy the needs of their souls. That’s who Jesus was. That’s who Jesus is. Pastor Jesus. The Good Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
We could all be a bit more like the five thousand plus people with whom Jesus shared a unplanned picnic. They were so passionate about Jesus that they followed him day after day from one city to the next. They followed him so fervently that they ran around the sea to meet him on a distant shore. Are you that enthusiastic about following Jesus? Are you ready to follow him anywhere, and let him lead you to greener pasture? If you are, he stands ready to receive you as he did the crowd of more than five thousand. He longs to be your Pastor and to embrace you in his arms as a shepherd would his sheep.
