While Jesus has not even arrived yet at the lonely place, the people stand there already. A flock of sheep that waits: as sheep without a shepherd! Jesus is filled with compassion when he sees the waiting crowd and notices the others who are still coming to him. What the sheep need he gives them: a shepherd’s guidance by his instruction.1
34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.