The selection from Mark 6:30-34
follows from the episode of Jesus sending out the Twelve. We don't know
how long they were away but when they do return, Jesus tells them to
take some rest. Mark tells us that the Twelve had not eaten yet. They
will eat of course, but it would be when Jesus feeds them himself (see
the following episode of the feeding of the multitudes, verse 35ff).
The attitude of Jesus towards them, writes Mark, is compassion.
for they were like sheep without a shepherd...
There are several passages in the OT that echo this text.
- Num. 27: 15-17
- Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd."
- 1 Kings 22:17 (cf. 2 Chron. 18:16)
- Then Micaiah said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the LORD said, 'These have no master; let each one go home in peace.'
- Ezekiel 34:8-10
- As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my sheep have become a prey,
and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals,
since there was no shepherd;
and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep,
but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep;
therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds;
and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep;
no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves.
I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them. - Zech. 10:12
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Therefore the people wander like sheep;
they suffer for lack of a shepherd. - Judith 11:19
- You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd, and no dog will so much as growl at you.
Num. 27:17 is a request from Moses asking the Lord to appoint men who will "go out and come in before them, lead them out and bring them in". The underlined verbs are actions characteristic of a shepherd to his flock. The words of the prophet Micaiah in 1 Kings 22:17 refer to the loss of a king in battle (cfr. 2 Chronicles 18:16). A similar usage is found in Judith 11:19 where "driving a sheep with no shepherd" alludes to a foreign king's tyranny over a kingless nation. Ezekiel 34:8 refers to shephers (leaders of Israel as in Num. 27:17) who are not acting as shepherds according to God's heart. Similar to this passage is the one found in Zech. 10:12.
Another echo of the passage is found from a book that may not be included among the inspired Scriptures but is valuable because it sheds light on the way these Old Testament passages were applied to the coming of a Messiah. The text is from the Psalm of Solomon and is a documentary witness to the hope that the coming Messiah will be compassionate and will be a teacher:
He shall be compassionate to all the nations, who reverently stand before him (=God).
He will strike the earth with the word of his mouth forever;
he will bless the Lord's people with wisdom and happiness.
And he himself will be free from sin, in order to rule a great people.
He will expose officials and drive out sinners by the strength of his word.
Judah in the time of Jesus lacked a shepherd. King Herod was a puppet-king set there by the Roman emperor to keep the Jews under subjection. And we already know how Jesus considered the Pharisees who laid heavy burdens on the back of the people without even lending them a finger. Mark 6:30-34 then presents Jesus as the one who fulfills the credentials of the Messiah who will be compassionate, and who will teach (strike the earth with the word of his mouth) Israel in the ways of wisdom.
In the liturgy of the 16th Sunday of OT Year B, the gospel selection is associated with Jeremiah 23:1-6, a prophecy about the wise king from the Branch of David. The responsorial psalm for the passage is taken from Ps. 23 which speaks of the Shepherd who gives rest in green pastures and prepares a rich banquet for his sheep.
