I was humbled as I read the chapter on the gospel of Mark. I have taught studies on and preached through Mark many times – I thought I knew it well. But I missed the some of the greater themes of the shepherd-king and the second exodus in my own studies. These included specifically the repetition of the word “desert� or “deserted place� and the use of the word artos (bread). While the use of desert/deserted place imagery gives rise to a recollection of the exodus, the repetition of the word bread is much more significant than I understood (21 times in the gospel and 18 of those times in Chapters 6-8, cf. p. 176). In the wilderness the Lord provided for his people with food and teaching. Here, Jesus is providing for the people who were in a “wilderness� with food and teaching – a teaching which was authoritative. All of this illustrates a pastoral concern that Jesus has as the shepherd for his sheep – a concern for their life.
As I preach and teach I am aware that the people in the congregation which I serve live and work and go to school in an environment which is a wilderness – a place in which they are tested both morally and spiritually. They long for food which will satisfy them both physically and spiritually. As I teach and preach, as an under shepherd, my call is guide them in the midst of the wilderness and to provide for them food which will fill their souls.
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