Subject Seventy-four

SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD

Scripture: Mark 6:32-44

1. The wilderness of human living
   1. This passage records that Jesus came to the wilderness. The wilderness signifies the desolation of human living. The wilderness is the place for the lost and wandering sheep. It is also the place for the hungry ones who cannot find satisfaction. The wilderness is not related to sin, but is related to desolation.
   2. Describe how the desolation of human living is like the wilderness. All things of human living are tasteless. Solomon said, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” He also said all things under the sun are like chasing the wind and grasping a shadow. Here you need to make all the things of the world sound so desolate, and make home, school and business sound meaningless and empty.
2. The wandering of human living
   1. Point out that in the eyes of God men are His sheep. Man did not come into being by himself, but he came from God and belongs to God. All of man’s living comes out of God. So men are God’s flock, and God is a God who created men and who cares for men.
   2. When man lost God, he became a “sheep without a shepherd” just like a sheep who lost its shepherd.
   3. Because man lost God, man’s living became a wandering, without a master. There is a saying, “Everything has its own master.” Where is your master? You cannot tell. You have no master. When you are sick, there is no one to comfort you. When a tragedy overtakes you, there is no one to rescue you. All of this is true because you are a sheep without a shepherd and without a master. This section is to speak about the situation of the wandering of human living.
   4. Because you are a person without a master, your living has no purpose, and you are just wandering around in the wilderness.
3. The vanity of human living
   1. Those who were with Jesus in that day were like sheep without a shepherd on one hand, and were hungry on the other hand. They were not only wandering in the wilderness, but also empty and dissatisfied.
   2. Today’s human living is in wandering and dissatisfaction, lacking food for satisfying the hunger. Human living is dissatisfied because of the lack of food. There is nothing that can substitute for food. You might have fame, position, etc., but you are still empty and dissatisfied.
   3. In the wilderness you cannot find food. You have no food, and you have nowhere to buy food. You should stress the point that in the wilderness of human living, you have no way to satisfy yourself. Even if you paid a great price, you would still be dissatisfied. People like the monks, nuns, and those who strive to cultivate their morality all end up dissatisfied, empty, and having nothing to fill themselves up with.
4. Then Jesus came
   1. That day the Lord Jesus came to the wilderness, the place of the desolation of human living. You need to portray how into such a big wilderness there came the Savior.
   2. Seeing the multitude of the hungry ones, Jesus was moved and had compassion for them.
   3. Jesus fed them. This feeding was miraculous, because the bread was not purchased and had not been brought along with them, but it was supplied by the Lord. This supplying was done through a supernatural power; only Jesus can supply the bread. In the wilderness of human living, there is nothing to satisfy man; only Jesus can supply the bread.
   4. Jesus became the good shepherd. Inasmuch as He had satisfied men and made them His sheep, He is responsible for all their lives. Formerly you had no one to lead you. Now that you are saved, Jesus will lead you, and He will become the good shepherd of all your life.
5. How to be saved
   1. Receive Jesus. To receive is to eat. The fact that they received the bread into them means that they received Jesus by faith.
   2. Jesus is the bread of life, and needs to be received by us. Jesus is also the good shepherd, and needs us to follow Him. To receive the bread solves the problem of the vanity and emptiness of human living; to follow the shepherd solves the problem of the wandering of human living. As soon as our vanity, emptiness, and wandering are over, the wilderness is past.
6. The result of receiving
   1. Fed. Jesus is the bread of life, causing us to be fed and satisfied.
   2. Led. Jesus is the good shepherd who can lead us. Feeding solves the problem of emptiness, and leading solves the problem of wandering.