Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): Are you stressed out? Life is getting crazy, and if you're tired and overwhelmed, get ready for an encouraging lesson from Mark's Gospel on Light on the Hill.

Times have been tough lately. Every day we hear news of people struggling to provide basics for their families, and even if they can, it comes with significant consequence. If you can identify with that, listen to this study from Mark chapter 6, because it will change your life. Here is Pastor James Kaddis on Light on the Hill.

James Kaddis: Mark chapter 6, we are going to be in verse 30. That's where we'll start. Remember the context here, and we went over this last week. It was a rough study, but it's funny how when you feel like it's rough, you get the best compliments. It’s funny how God does that sometimes.

But I think that there was a lot of emotion tied to last week's study in that you're reading about the greatest prophet who ever lived. That's what Jesus called him. He pretty much loses his life as a result of him standing up against a world leader or confronting a world leader that he clearly had a good relationship with.

So where we leave off at this point when we get into verse 30 of chapter 6 is that Jesus is going to hear of the death of John the Baptist. It is going to be a significant event, obviously, for everybody that hears it. Jesus was very hurt by it. We know by the way in other Gospel accounts that Jesus had a certain closeness to John the Baptist for obvious reasons.

There was something very special between the two, and so it's very understandable why Jesus would be deeply affected and certainly would be hurt by the fact that John the Baptist was killed. It's an interesting thing to think through, and when you think about the difficulty associated with how he died, the circumstances behind it, that he was a righteous man, that he died as a result of glorifying God and standing up for the things that he needed to stand up for, it makes all the sense in the world why all of this comes together the way it does.

So when you get into verse 30, this is what it says. It says, "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught." This is interesting because there is a context that's tied to all of this, and that is the fact that this is on the heels of Jesus going to His disciples and giving His disciples instructions on how to minister to people, what to say to them, what to do.

He gave them direction on how they were to address others in terms of speaking concerning the kingdom and what it meant to speak very clearly. He told them, "Shake the dust off your feet if they don't want to welcome you in." He gave them instruction about trusting in Him: "Don't take up a load of stuff with you," and so on and so forth.

So what's happening here is that the disciples come back to Jesus. They're briefing Him about what they had actually done, speak to Him concerning these things, and, of course, they update Him concerning that of what took place with John the Baptist. So it's a very heavy time in this moment. Remember, all of this is fresh in Jesus's mind.

At the time that Herod kills John the Baptist, it was clearly before the time that this confrontation takes place where the fame of Jesus is being known or whatever, but all of this is fresh in Jesus's mind. All of this is being recalled back forth, and it's something that is really important because with the fame that came with Jesus, there was a lot of difficulty and hardship.

Jesus's heart is clearly overwhelmed by a lot of things that are going on in the moment and in the time. It's not just learning or understanding concerning the death of John the Baptist, which of course He had known for quite some time, but it's also just understanding the condition of everything around Him and the suffering that had been going on with the people that were standing out and speaking the truth concerning these things.

Look at what Jesus does. This is interesting. It says the apostles gathered, they told Him all these things. Verse 31, Jesus said this: "And He said unto them, 'Come you yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile,' for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat."

This is really important. I should probably note this very briefly, and that is you've got a combination of some very interesting things going on. You've got Christ, who is in the midst of receiving bad news. He has also been spending time instructing His disciples on how to preach the gospel and the things that they need to be doing.

The culmination of it all is building. The fame of Jesus is growing. They're hearing about Him in government circles. People are confronting Him, they're having conversations with Him, He's ministering to them, He's changing their lives. Radical things are beginning to happen. There's a lot of emotion floating around at this point. If you think about it, so much has already happened. Just so you can get some context with respect to this, the effect that Jesus's ministry had on people was so profound that it was causing them to think about who He was in light of all the evil things that they had done.

I don't have to go back and rehearse the story of how John the Baptist died, but remember when we learn the story of how John the Baptist died from within the context of Mark chapter 6 last week, that was because Herod was thinking that Jesus Himself was John the Baptist being reincarnated.

So the idea here is that Jesus has had a profound effect on so many. People want to hear Him, they want to talk to Him, they're visiting with Him, they want to have a conversation with Him, they're opening up their minds and their hearts to Him. He's changing people's lives, but clearly He's being bombarded. There's a lot going on, and He's just sent His disciples away to go and do some ministry all around.

He's told them, "You need to go and you need to do these things." He's had some time with them being separated. He's clearly still getting hammered. We know that that's what's going on. I mean, they're hammering Him. There are so many other things that are happening all in context. It is a time of literal chaos, and Jesus tells His disciples, "Look, you got to get some rest. We've got to get some rest. Let's just get away and let's just rest for a little while."

Again, Mark is trying to demonstrate to us that there is a lot of chaos that's actually happening here. But look what takes place. This is interesting. Verse 32: "And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 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."

I have to be careful how I say this because I could get myself in trouble, especially with people watching me online. Let me say this first. I love people. I do. I think that you can't be a pastor and do your job well if you don't love people, or at least you don't allow God to change your heart to love people, to have a soft spot in your heart for them.

I love people a lot. I am willing on a lot of different ends to extend myself in a way that yes, might even be detrimental to me physically in order to be able to help accommodate some of the needs of people that are reaching out. But there's a point of time that comes where so much recognition begins to become an issue, and there's literally no such thing anymore as having time or a moment to yourself.

I don't want to be harsh when I say this, but up until about even five months ago, six months ago, my hiding place was getting in my mobility scooter, taking my little son with me, walking the dog, and making phone calls because in my neighborhood it's pretty easy. Now I've got some neighbors that know me and they'll stop me, and there's nothing wrong with that and it's all good.

But it's gotten to the point now where in my neighborhood, I have to scooter around on the inside of my neighborhood. I can't scooter around on a main street. If I scooter around on a main street, I'll get beeped at, honked at, stopped, spoken to, asked questions. Don't get me wrong, I love, absolutely love, to minister to people. That's what I do.

But there is a point in time where that can become very tiring. I'm not trying to be hard about it or silly about it. Sometimes I'll clearly be in the middle of doing something significant. I have my kids with me, I'm playing, I'm doing something with them, something is going on, and then somebody all of a sudden wants to have this big conversation about five different points or perspectives in one Bible passage, and they want to get into a theological discussion.

Most of the time I do pretty well with just pushing the conversation along and answering the question and moving on. There have been a few times where I've said, "Listen, this is not my time and it's not your time. It's my kids' time, so I'm going to do that." I've had to do that a few times. I have a limit. I'll just say that right now. Most of the time I don't ever get to that limit, but I do have a limit. There's a point in time where it's just so much that I just go into shutdown mode. I'm not going to pick up any phone calls, I'm not going to talk to anybody.

Jesus didn't seem to ever have a limit. Now mind you, He's God. He took very seriously His times of devotion with the Father. The moments that He had with Him was something that He protected immensely. But Jesus did not under any circumstance hold back from being moved by the compassion that He felt towards the people that were reaching out to Him.

They loved Him. They cared about Him. They needed Him because they knew He represented the hope that nobody else could bring them. And Jesus just didn't stop. He always ministered to them. I think that there's something to be said about a person who is so filled with the Spirit that on a regular basis they have no problem denying themselves to minister to the needs of the people around them. I think there's something spectacular about that.

I think each and every single one of us have limitations as human beings, yes, but to think about how God just never had an off switch. This is when He was 100% man. When He's 100% human, He has physical limitations like we do, but He's still not turning anything off. He's ministering to people. He's loving them.

He's in a time of obvious difficulty. It was probably three months since John the Baptist was killed, maybe a little bit longer than that. You have every crazy thing happening. His disciples have gone off to go minister. They went on a mission basically that Christ sent them on, which means He doesn't have the larger support group around Him doing the things by His side that He would have needed them to do.

He's bombarded at every angle, and yet He's willing to minister to people. He's willing to pray for people, He's willing to talk to people, He's willing to give His time to people. He's literally laying His life out for people. It's a complete, and by the way, it's not like we're talking about the world in which we live. In the world in which we live, you can juggle lots of things around because you have tools that help you do that. None of the world that Jesus lived. It was one thing to another to another to another to another. To me, it's just mind-boggling to think about it.

So they go privately. They see these people and Jesus, look at this. This is verse 34: "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." What a heavy picture.

He's tired. He's overwhelmed with sorrow. Undoubtedly, there's got to be some physical ramifications behind what He's doing. He's probably hungry, definitely doesn't have all of His strength about Him, and these people are coming to Him and they are literally pushing themselves on Him. He's looking at them from a completely different perspective.

He's not looking at them as a task. He's not looking at them as a group of people He has to maintain His reputation in front of. He's not looking at them as an obligation that He has to meet in order to keep a facade that He's created. He sees them as sheep without a shepherd. He looks at them and He sees them being misguided. He sees them suffering and in pain. He sees them going through hardship and difficulty. And He knows that they're going to continue to be people who don't have that guidance or understanding or discernment or leadership.

So what does He do? He steps up to them and He, in essence, claims them, teaches them, claims them as His own flock. He ministers to them, He teaches them, He speaks to them. You would think that in and of itself would be pretty phenomenal. You would think, "Okay, I'm out of here." Jesus goes, He does that, and then He leaves, and no one would ever fault Him for doing that. That would be one spectacular thing that He did.

But look what it says in verse 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.'" The disciples are alarmed by the fact that He's kept them in a late scenario. Remember, there's not a parking lot filled with cars that are all gassed up. There are no stands that give them all kinds of food: popcorn, peanuts, hotdogs, hamburgers, all that kind of stuff.

This is a desert place, and they don't have all the amenities that we have today. It's beginning to get dark, and none of them have eaten. The disciples haven't eaten, Jesus hasn't eaten. None of them have the tools to take care of their needs the same way we have tools to take care of our needs today. It's not like if you're hungry back then you could say, "Let's go to the McFalafel drive-thru and go get yourself something." It didn't work that way. You had to go and you had to actually prepare these things yourself.

So the disciples are speaking common sense. They're saying, "This is a desert place and now the time is far passed." Look at this: "Send them away, that they may go into the country roundabout, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat."

I don't know about you, but it's such a reasonable thing what the disciples are telling Jesus. "Jesus, it's getting late. We're already past the point where we can expect them to go home. They're not going home tonight, it's not safe. It's going to get dark, they have no ability to be able to go home. At least cut them free right now so that they could go into the villages and into the areas roundabout where they can maybe figure out a way to source some food so they can get through the night. Certainly, some of these people have some kind of contingency behind them, but they're going to need time to feed their children and their families."

I suspect that part of what the disciples are doing here is they're also saying we need time to go get food. We need time to go get a bite to eat. We need time to take care of ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I think they're all looking out for Jesus as well. They're serving Him, they're doing a good job for Him for what a disciple could for that matter, at least at this point in time.

But what He's saying is completely wise. There's nothing about that that is an unwise or selfish thing to say. If you're going to take care of the people, you got to let them leave so they can go do what they're going to do. Clearly, these people are not leaving until Jesus stops. They're not leaving until Jesus sends them away.

Well, look what happens. This to me is one of the most profoundly entertaining portions of the Gospel. If you could place yourself in the position that Jesus is in in this moment, or place yourself in the position that the disciples are in, I wish I could watch this live as it's happening. It has to be one of the most hilarious points in the Gospel because look at how Jesus responds.

Now, you would think Jesus would say, "Yeah, you're right. Let's get them all dispersed. Let's get them going and let's make sure everybody is gone and everything is safe." Jesus answered and said unto them, this is verse 37, "Give you them to eat."

Do you understand what's going on here? They're telling Him these are thousands and thousands of people. He says, "Look, we got nothing, they got nothing, they need to eat. Let's send them away to eat. They need to go and arrange getting food." Jesus's response: "Well, then feed them."

Can you imagine how crazy that must have sounded to the person listening to Jesus? When I'm listening to it, I think it's hilarious. I think it's Jesus just being Jesus, saying something completely outrageous and impossible so that they could understand that they could never do it in their own strength or ability. But you need to understand something, and this is a lesson that we learn from the scriptures about what it means to do extraordinary things.

There are people in my life that I have come to for advice. I've asked them, "Can you give me your idea on this?" The ones that give me the type of advice that says, "You're doing great" or "Keep doing what you're doing," when I hear input like that, I just think, "Okay, there's three things going on. Number one, they're mediocre, and so they don't know any better than the advice that they're giving me. Number two, they're like, 'James can do no wrong and he's the greatest thing since sliced bread and I'm not going to tell him anything other than what he's doing because what he's doing is great in my eyes.' Or number three, it's just outright lazy advice."

When I say lazy advice, it's mediocre. This is what you would expect from anybody else. So when I hear people who give me advice like that, I oftentimes ignore them because I know I'll never grow from the advice that they're giving me. I'll only become more mediocre, I'll only become more laxadaisical, I'll only just sort of float in what I consider to be the world of mediocrity where no needles are moved.

But if I have a person who comes up to me and says, "This is broken, that's broken, you're messed up over here, you got to change this over here, you're looking at this wrong, this looks crazy, you're never going to do anything with yourself under any circumstances unless you do this, this, and this." Yeah, but this, this, and this seems impossible. And then they come to me and say, "Yeah, it seems impossible to you because you're not cut out to make it happen unless you make big life changes." Okay, I'm going to pay attention to that person because that person is going to push me to a level that I know God wants me to be inside of, and it's going to teach me how to step in a place that I don't know I could even step into while trusting in a God that I know can take me there.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us today for Light on the Hill. What you just heard is one part of a study in Mark's Gospel from Pastor James Kaddis. You can hear it again at lightonthehillradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Not long ago, Pastor James released his new book on the first half of Revelation. It's entitled "The Last Book." He points out that Revelation isn't a book of fear, but rather a book of hope. Pastor James will help you understand the world we live in and current events through a biblical lens, preparing your heart for what lies ahead. Get a copy by going to lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon.

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James Kaddis: Look, we don't improve and we don't get better by saying let's do what we need to do to survive. We improve and we do what it takes to get better by shooting for things that are beyond our capacity or ability to be able to control. I'm not even asking you to set some lofty goal that you're never going to be able to make. What I'm asking you to do is I'm asking you to aim to take a journey that is completely outside of your capability to even take.

Because when a person says, "I'm going to make a goal to get to this point," most of the time they're selling themselves short of the place God wants to take them because whatever their goal might be, God wants to take them ten times higher. So I'm not going to sell myself short of God doing what He wants to do in my life by creating a goal that's far below whatever lofty thing God has for me. I'm just going to ignore that.

But the one thing that I know that I can do is I can commit myself to a process that seems difficult, that seems hard, that seems overwhelming, that seems like it's something that I cannot accomplish. But I'm going to give myself to that and watch God do what God wants to do. Remember, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.