Setting The Stage In Mark 8

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We are now in chapter eight of Mark. We are working our way through this book, I promise. Um, the name of our series has been And the Movement of God and His People, right? So across these seven chapters, we have been walking with Jesus. He literally walks everywhere. So we have walked with him. He goes town to town to town, and he says, The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. Uh, and he's been doing it all over. So I here's a map. By the way, I worked really hard getting these maps up. So yeah, we've had the ability to sing songs, but I'm really excited that the projectors are working so I can throw a map up. That's really the excitement. So um he's been all over the west side of the Sea of Galilee. So on the west side, that is where the Jews are, and he's been there proclaiming who he is. He has been doing miracles. He's then gone to the east side. He's gone on a boat, and he's gone to the east side, and he and that's where predominantly a lot of the Gentiles live. And he has gone and told them who he is, and he has gone and done healings. And he's gone all the way north of Israel, also in the land of Gentiles. He's done healings there. He's talked about who he is everywhere he is going, right? This movement of Jesus continues to push forward. It continues to go out. He is he's not just doing the healing, but he's also telling people about who he is. And they're hearing. And they're like, oh my goodness, is this him? Is this the one we've been waiting for? Or, oh my goodness, I don't know who he is, but he just fed everybody, and that means something. All right. So this is, like I said, a lot of excitement, a lot of good. Jesus and his movement pressing forward. However, in the midst of the exciting miracles and the teaching, there has also been major opposition. All right. So you're these group, this group of the religious leaders, right? So you've got the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the scribes and others, right? They are popping up. They are popping in regularly to pepper him with questions. They are questioning his miracles. They are questioning his authority. They are questioning just him at all. All right. And these aren't just like small detractors who are standing on the side saying, boo, boo, right? These are social, religious, and political influential people who are coming and saying these things. So Jesus isn't just operating in his messianic, prophetic uh healing way in a vacuum, right? The tone of the area, it's tense. Okay. So this is the environment we come to in Mark chapter

Two Parallel Storylines In Mark

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eight. Now I have a very simplified chart that I found in one of the commentaries. What we see at the beginning, uh starting with the feeding of the 5,000 in the middle of Mark chapter 6, through the end of Mark chapter 8, these are actually parallel storylines, right? Mark tells what happened in some of these on the left-hand side, right? Feeding of the multitude, crossing of the sea and landing, conflict with the Pharisees, conversion, or conversation about bread. It's very exciting. Uh, healing, and then the confession of faith. And then after he, after Mark tells it, starting with the feeding of 5,000 and going all the way through these interactions, then Mark brings about its, it's its echo, right? A parallel storyline. And he's going through the exact same set of things, except he's not just, he's not talking about the exact same stories, right? He's bringing up different examples to talk about to highlight something. So here is our concerted point that Jesus, well, that Mark is trying to highlight through Jesus. We must be fully transformed by belief in Jesus, the Messiah. We must be fully transformed by belief in Jesus the Messiah. Okay, so we are going to hold that thought today, right? So we spent like multiple weeks going through the ones that were on that left-hand side of the column. I should turn this way because that's how you all saw it, right? We went multiple weeks going through this. Today, we're almost going to go through the whole thing. We're going to go through the whole thing, uh, the second parallel. So there's four different scenes that we're going to see, four different uh stories building to a crescendo at the end. So I want you to take a listen.

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You're going to hear about a lot of different characters.

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Who do you think you're like? Who do you think you're like? Who's who's your in? Where you're like, okay, this is this is how I feel, this is how I'm acting. Um side note: if you go through this today and you keep answering Jesus, this is not a Father's Day celebration. This is an intervention. And so we'll be up here to talk afterwards, but you can't pick Jesus on every one. So who do you feel you are like in each of these stories? All right. So let's

Jesus Feeds The 4,000

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go to verse one. During those days, another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion for these people. They have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance. His disciples answered, But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them? Okay, so we have a little map here. So now I have used my clever drawing skills and saying, okay, so the feeding of the 4,000, it is going to be on the east towards the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee. This is Gentile territory, this is the region of the Decapolis. Like Andrew talked about last week. Jesus is working his way down that side. So he is on the east side. These are not already knowledgeable Jewish people that know about him and some of these things. They do know that he does miracles. And so they have come to him, they have come to listen to him teach. And now they're hungry. So this is, it feels like the similar beats as the very first feeding, feeding of the 5,000. People come to him, he gives them the good news through teaching, they stick around too long and they are physically famished. Jesus also, like the first time, has great compassion on them, right? His love is consistent. He sees these people. And side note, what good is the bread of life if these people don't actually have enough bread to stay alive? They're they're at a point where they can't go on. All right. So Jesus asks them, well, he doesn't ask them, he just kind of presents the problem. And the rest the disciples respond. And I find it fascinating. Verse four, where in this remote place? So I'm gonna, I read a lot of different versions or translations of the Bible, right? And so it says in across different versions, where in this remote place, where in this desolate place, where in this desert can anybody get enough bread to feed them? Where can we get enough bread to fill them? Where can we get enough to satisfy them? Verse 5. How many loaves do you have? Jesus asked. Seven, they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. And when he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them, and he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well. He gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up the seven baskets, picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About 4,000 were present. All right, so from seven loaves and a few fish and prayers of thanks, Jesus feeds 4,000 people. Again, as we talked about with the feeding of the 5,000, you can do the wacky math, and that's actually probably 4,000 men, which gets us to about 16,000 people, give or take. Once you add women and children, so seven loaves, few fish, potentially 16,000 people fed with seven large basketfuls of bread left over. Again, go back to verse 8. Said, again, different versions that I read across, the people ate and were filled. They had enough food, they were satisfied. Right? The disciples were uncertain how the people would ever be satisfied. And Jesus feeds them so well that they are not just satisfied, right? Everybody ate till they were about to pop, and there was still more. And there was still more. When Jesus shows up, he doesn't just bring a little, he doesn't get us to good enough. In Jesus, we are satisfied with more and more and more available. Because he's more than enough. So are you? Are you one of the four thousand famished? Are you glad to hear Jesus, but are you still in need of more? Are you one of the disciples, right? Glad to serve Jesus, but maybe I don't want to say doubt. Maybe with a little attitude. Right? Maybe a little head bat held back. I don't want to put too much on them, especially if you're like, yeah, that's me. And now I'm making you mad because I'm talking bad about you. I'm not. But the disciples weren't fully in. All right, let's go back to verse 9b.

Pharisees Demand A Sign

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After he had sent them away, all the people, he got into a boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. Dalmanutha is not a very well-known area. Uh, it's not really on the map any longer. So again, great map drawings that I tried to do. Uh, scholars think it is in the modern-day area of Migdal uh or Magdalene or Magdala. And uh, so they took a boat. You see, I drew a boat, right? And so they they went across all the way to the other side. Verse 11. When they landed, the Pharisees came and began to question Jesus, to test him. They asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and he said, Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it. Now, I do want to maybe provide a little bit of a context here. The question that the Pharisees are asking isn't entirely out of nowhere. Uh, for starters, when we look back, back in Mark chapter three, they accuse Jesus of doing his miracles by the power of Satan, right? And so Jesus gave them a parable to rebut their foolishness. Um, Satan can't drive out Satan, so that's not what's happening here. But they show up here as if they're continuing that argument, right? So they've accused Jesus of healing by Satan, they're accusing him of using black magic, and they want proof from Jesus that what he is doing is from God, right? So in the Old Testament and other writings uh that are in the current era of Jewish literature, prophets couldn't just waltz in and claim, I am from God. Right. So when somebody came in and said I'm a prophet from God, um, they had to actually do something as a sign to say, Yes, you are a divine herald. So um it's a little funny for us. If if you are sitting down and reading Mark page after page, right? We as readers are chuckling because we were just served a wonderful miracle meal. Well, that wonderful miracle meal followed what we read as the healing of a deaf and mute man, which followed the healing of a demon-possessed child that Jesus healed without seeing and just at a distance and didn't even say, I am now healing the child. He just said, Hey, your kids good, you can go back. And that followed a mass healing of many sick people when they came by and they would touch the hem of his cloak and then they would be healed. Well, that followed Jesus walking on water, which followed another miracle meal. So the Pharisees are coming and they're like, we need a sign. And we're all like, guys, there are signs everywhere, seriously. And we've only read two chapters that I just covered. Right? Jesus is always showing up and doing miracles. But the Pharisees, they have written the rules to suit themselves. And what they said is, oh, that one's done by black magic. Black magic, black magic, and black magic. So do another one. So that we can actually say, so that we in our authority can approve what you have done.

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It's bogus, it's egotistical, and they're trying to trap Jesus.

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Verse 12 in the English Standard Version says, and he sighed deeply in his spirit. Have you ever been so frustrated, so disappointed, so aggrieved that all you can muster is a sigh? The Pharisees weren't honestly showing up asking Jesus to perform a sign so that they can say, Wow, you're the Messiah. We believe you. We believe in you. They started with unbelief, they asked for a sign, only as a test, so that they could then on the other side say, We asked him for a sign and he couldn't do it. So clearly he's not the messiah. And again, I I like this the the arms-folded stance, head shaking, judgment.

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Jesus knew their motives.

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He read right through their disingenuousness, and he just sighed. His answer was an emphatic no. No. If you can't believe in me from all that I have shown you so far, you never will. There's nothing that I am going to do that is going to get you across the line if what you have seen so far isn't enough.

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Okay, so who are you?

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This one might be hard to admit, but do you feel there's aspects of who you are and how you think that are like the foolish Pharisees? Waiting for Jesus to show you. Jesus, I'll believe in you. As soon as you do this one thing for me.

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Once you clear this hurdle that I have set, I'll believe in you. I see bits of myself here. I don't like what I see. Let's go to verse 13. Then he left them.

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He got back in the boat and he crossed to the other side. Uh just quickly. Jesus isn't sticking around with these fools. He's not gonna sit and argue with them. Uh, I can call this a pro tip. Maybe we can call it a proverbial tip because it's in the proverbs. Um, arguing with fools is foolish. And Jesus knows this, and he says, I'm not gonna do it. And so he jumps back in the boat and then they go to the northeast. So, according to now, my other hand-drawn map, they are on their way up to Beth Seda. We have another excellent boat drawing. All right, and so this is in the boat, now is where we're joining them, verse 14.

Yeast Warning And Hardened Hearts

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The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf that they had with them in the boat. Be careful, Jesus warned them. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and of that of Herod. Right, so they've just left the Pharisees, and Jesus' mind is still on the actions of the Pharisees. Yeast or leaven, right, it's often a common parable for corruption. Right? So this little bit of fermented liquid will expand rapidly and overtake your entire thing of dough, uh, and it's going to change it completely. The leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, the one that's to be avoided, the evil mindset that corrupts completely, that's what Jesus is talking about.

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There's more on it.

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Uh, so what what is this corrupting mindset? Okay, he goes on. Um, Jesus says, yeast, and the disciples here, bread, one track mind here. Verse 16, they discuss this with one another and said, It's it's because we have no bread.

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That's why he's talking about this. Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them, Why are you talking about having no bread?

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Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? Okay, if you feel that Jesus' confrontational questions that he is bringing sound a little familiar, uh he's attacking an historical unbelief that is rooted deep in Israel's past. So, uh Jeremiah chapter five. I'm gonna do verse 21, verse 23. Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears, but do not hear. But these people have but these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away. The foolish unbelief in the Pharisees is what corrupts that unbelief, that deep unbelief in Jesus, right? That's what the Pharisees are dealing with. They show up making sure I'm keeping you at arm's length that we are not believing in who you say you are. But what Jesus does is he sees how the Pharisees act and he turns it on the disciples.

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Watch out. Beware. Jesus then goes on.

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And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? Twelve, they replied. I actually feel it's kind of like twelve. And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? Seven, they answered. And he said to them, Do you still not understand? Right? The disciples aren't the Pharisees. Jesus knows that, right? These disciples, what have we seen them do? Well, they're not trying to trick Jesus like the Pharisees. They're not living out of unbelief. They're not trying to place themselves as the in the ultimate seat of the authority. They love Jesus. They've left their families. They've left their careers. They have even gone on mission with Jesus, taking the power of the kingdom to people and bringing healing. They have healed people. They have taught people about Jesus. Honestly, just take a step back. Is there a group of people, of Jesus people who have been on mission more than the disciples up to this point?

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Everybody would look at their actions and say, Yep, you're with him. They had a front row seat to Jesus the whole way. But they were looking and not seeing. But feel there's something still missing. Like you know he can transform. But when is it gonna be your turn? Is this your end? Let's keep stacking

Blind Man Healed In Two Steps

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here.

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Verse 22. They came to Beth Seda, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, Do you see anything? He looked up and he said, I see people. They look like trees walking around. Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes, and then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And Jesus sent him home saying, Don't even go into the village. Okay, so again, just like we have seen time and time again, somebody who had a physical malady was brought to Jesus. Again, weirdly, Jesus uses spit to heal. Why? I don't know. But here we go spit from Jesus. But this time, this time, Jesus doesn't bring this person to fully healed right away. After Jesus' first attempt, the guy says that he sees tree people, right? And it's side note, if he says these people look like trees, that means he probably had sight at one point that left. So that when the sight is coming back, he he knows what trees look like. They look like trees. These people, those are people, they look like trees. It's cool that he's now seeing tree people, but he hasn't gone through the full transformation. And then Jesus places his hands on the man again, and boom, he sees everything clearly. I think this is in part. Andrew Hawes read from this last week. I think this is in part again to fulfill what we heard the prophet Isaiah say in chapter 35, verses five and six. Read those again. Then, so when the when the suffering servant comes, when the promised Messiah comes, then will the eyes of the blind be open, and the ears of the deaf unstopped? Then will the lame deer will then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Okay, so so far in Mark, eight chapters in, has Jesus given sight to the blind? Has Jesus given sight to the blind? Yes. Has he given hearing to the deaf? Yes. Um, leaping of powers and abilities to the lame. Okay, I don't know what the vertical was on the guy who was laid, you know, he was lowered by his friends, but Jesus did make a paralytic able to pick up his mat and walk. So did he do that? Yes. Okay, so we're good on that one. Uh did he give speech to the mute? Yes. Okay. Tricky one. Did he give filling and satisfaction from the wilderness and in the desert? Yes, because this is literally what he did in the feeding of the multitudes. One side of the one side of the water, wilderness, other side desert. So he brings satisfaction out of wilderness and desert. Time and time again, Jesus is showing others that he is the promised savior, that he is the one they have been looking for, and yet, and yet, Jesus looks at those who are closest to him and he says, Do you still not understand? I think the key to kind of understanding why are these passages ordered as they are is in the blind man. Our blind man at the start is like the Pharisees. There is something blocking his vision, right? It's their unbelief. And they need Jesus to intercede and bring healing. I'm reminded of that cry from the Father, I believe, help my unbelief. Right? The blind man cannot see. The Pharisees cannot see. So Jesus brings his power to the blind man. And now it's like really the blind man is like the disciples. They see, but they don't see. They look at Jesus and they know that they have never, ever, ever seen anybody like him. Does all these things, he teaches in these incredible ways, and yet, and yet, Jesus looks at them and says, Do you still not understand? And Jesus again brings his power to the blind man, and the blind man sees clearly. Right now, again, we already know that Jesus can heal somebody without saying anything, seeing them, or touching them. So the blind man not being able to see after Jesus spits on his hands and touches the guy's eyes. This is not on Jesus failing to heal. This is not an inability that he has to bring full healing to this man. I believe that Mark tells the story of this double attempted heal for us. I believe he's highlighting it for us. In this story, we see the complete transformation. A man blind to partially seeing, to seeing it all.

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And so we get to the end here.

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Do we show up to Jesus, arms folded, unwilling to be changed until Jesus does what we want?

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Are we like the disciples?

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Are we content to hang around Jesus? Are we content to do Jesus-y things? Are we content to try to look like this is our association? We're with him, and yet we have not fully been transformed, coming to him as the Messiah and Lord, and having him change everything for us and in us. Or are we like the blind man? We are healed completely, we are transformed entirely.

Transformation Without Shame Or Passivity

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Now, I want to take a step out of us going through this passage, and I want to be very honest with you. This is a hard passage for me to try to bring a question out for you to engage with. And I'm I'm wanting to be very delicate with this because how I have phrased it or even how we can talk about it can lead us to two very unhealthy things. And I don't want us to leave in unhealth. All right. So one unhealthy way to read this is that the fact that the disciples were not changed was their fault. And the fact that the disciples had the issues that they did were because they were stubborn. And so, what do I turn to you, my friends, and I say, Don't be stubborn. And you walk out of here feeling shamed. Like, I don't know Jesus well enough. That's my fault. Gosh, I'm about to cry. Like, I don't want that for you. I don't want us to approach Jesus and say, I'm not whole, and it's because I'm the problem. On the other side, I don't want to look at this passage and say, all of the change that has happened in people is only through God, and the people had no part on it. And so you leave saying, I haven't been changed because Jesus hasn't gotten around to caring about me enough. So I'll just wait patiently. Hopefully, he sees me.

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And I don't want that for you either. So what do we do? Do we have to pick A or B? Can't it be both?

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Brothers and sisters, I I look at this passage and I think two things are true at once. I think it's the only healthy way for us to continue on not just looking at this passage, but our lives.

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Jesus loves you. He loves you deeply.

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He is Lord God over all things. He does all things good. And he invites you to believe in him in faith. Without 600 levels of proof and signs that you have written up for yourself, as long as he clears them, I guess I'm on Team Jesus. Coming to Jesus is an act of faith. Belief in Jesus, in who he is, is an act of faith. But Jesus comes to you and he invites. He continues to give you opportunities. The fact that you are here hearing about that Jesus is the Messiah who loves you, who has made you, who he has called you to newness in him, to repent and come to him. The fact that you are hearing it means he is here for you. So don't say Jesus never showed up for you. I'm telling you, you're here. And he is with you. And on the other side, you have got to step forward and take part in your own faith. Jesus is present and offering, and he is expecting for you to step forward. And the reason I'm hitting this is hard is because the passage is making it clear that the disciples were happy to hang out. They had seen the things, they had participated in the things, and yet at this point they don't get it. And Jesus is not wanting association, he's wanting transformation. He wants us all to come to him and be fully transformed.

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Jesus is offering us himself.

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He is more than enough. He is the one who does the miracles, he is the one who makes whole, and he is not just enough for us, but for all of us and for everyone everywhere. Jesus is enough. So my question for you is have you fully come to Jesus so that he is Lord of your whole life? Do you want to be fully transformed?

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Or are you content with having life look like it's just how you want? Status quo. Nothing changed. Jesus loves you so much.

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He doesn't want to leave you the same. He wants to fully transform you. We see in the blind man the physical representation of what Jesus wants to do, to take someone who cannot see and let them see everything. What in you is the obstacle that you have up? Where in your life are you content that Jesus wants to say, I want to transform that?

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I want to transform that.

Prayer And A Personal Response

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As the band makes their way up, I want us to take a moment and pray.

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For some of us, we have shown up like the Pharisees. We have stood in unbelief and we have not placed our faith in Jesus. And in the next moment, I want you to pray to Jesus and say, Why have I not believed in you? This might be your first time praying. If so, you can close your eyes, you can keep them open. I promise you, Jesus is there. Either way. But ask in your heart, what prevents me from coming to you? And if you feel that you have come to Jesus, but you're like the disciples, that you have made your life about Jesus-y things without experiencing Jesus fully, without being fully transformed, I want you to go to Him and say, Lord, what am I holding back? Where have I been to content? Jesus warns us for a reason. Where do you need him? Let's take this next moment in prayer and ask, Lord, how do you want me to respond to these? We place our hope in you because you are all we have. Give us strength to step to you to find that transformational belief we need. In your name we pray, Amen.