The King Provides... Again?

Mark 8:1-13

Transcript

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Amen. What a beautiful name it is. Well, good morning, church family. It's good to be here with you. I hope you've had a wonderful week walking in resurrection power, right? Yes, and uh we had a special time last week at Easter. Um if you weren't here last week, um, we missed you. We're glad you're back with us today. And you know, we don't really stop celebrating the resurrection here. That's kind of what we do, right? That that's that is the crux of the Christian faith and and what we believe here. And so um that's not something we we just do last week, and oh, let's wait till next Easter, of course. We proclaim the resurrection all the time. It's the foundation of our faith. Um we're gonna be in Mark chapter 8 this morning, if you want to be turning with me there. Um before we dive into the text, uh, I did want to wish a very happy birthday to Carolyn Tilson. It's her birthday today. Yeah, yes, you can clap. This is actually a really special one for her because she's turning five. And um, yeah, five is a big nip, a big one. And uh when you turn five at Risen Life, um you you graduate from the nursery upstairs to join us in the worship service. So we're so thankful that you're here, Carolyn, and uh we're glad that you're you're joining us this morning. And I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, I'm not trying to embarrass you, but um, we actually do have something special for Carolyn to celebrate that. Um, but we're gonna wait till next week. Aspen um is handling that, and Aspen's sick today, and she really didn't want to miss that. So um Aspen's gonna do that next week. But uh happy birthday to Carolyn, and and we're so glad that that you're here with us. Um so Mark chapter 8, we'll we'll jump into uh the text this morning, and we're actually gonna start by reading the text. So um, if you'll stand with me, uh we're gonna read Mark chapter 8, verses 1 through 13. In those days when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called the disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away. And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? And he asked them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven. And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they set them before the crowd, and they had a few small fish, and having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them, and they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full, and there were about four thousand people, and he sent them away, and immediately he got into the boat, and his his disciples uh with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this time together. Thank you for this church family. Um, from the from the youngest to the oldest. Lord, we're just so uh so grateful for each individual here, and it's just a privilege to worship uh with them this morning. And um Lord, what a precious time this is. Let us not forsake the gathering together to worship you. And Father, as we open your word, we uh we just ask that we would hear from your word and that you would remove everything else, Lord, that you would move me out of the way and that you would speak to your people. Um, Father, we want to hear from you, so speak to us. Uh Lord, you know uh there's a so many things in this passage, and um Lord, I pray that you would help me to bring those things out clearly today, Lord, and that you would do the work of applying it to each heart. Um Father, that's work that I cannot do, of course. And and I pray that your Holy Spirit would just uh be present with us this morning and apply this word to each of our hearts, Father, including mine, this morning. And we love you and uh we thank you again for this time together. Um speak to us now, and we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, you can have a seat. Well, as you um as as we read that text this morning, um maybe some of you were having a bit of uh spiritual deja vu, thinking, you know, haven't we already talked about this? Right? Haven't we already covered this miracle? And and you know, the reason you might be thinking that is because just two chapters ago we did see Jesus perform a very similar miracle uh when he fed uh five thousand men in that passage, which as we talked about then um it was probably more like twenty-five thousand when you counted the women and the children. And today we're reading a separate account of Jesus feeding 4,000 men. And Matthew tells us actually that that was just men as well. So this again was another crowd of probably 20,000 people or so. And and so that has led me uh to maybe an interesting title this morning, The King Provides again with a with a question mark, right? So the reason for the question mark this morning comes really um from uh the skeptics of the Bible, and sadly, even some Bible scholars who doubt this second large feeding miracle, saying that, you know, this is just a literary tool that Mark is using, but really it's just the same event kind of repackaged to make a different point. Um, you know, they question the very clear reading of the text because the accounts are very similar. Um, and again, sometimes these scholars just really surprise me with their takes on certain things when they give credence to that kind of idea, as if it's just unthinkable that Jesus could feed two multitudes, right? Like he couldn't do that, surely. Um, and so it must be the same thing, just repackaged. Despite both Matthew and Mark telling us clearly this was two separate events. And so when we get to the next passage, um, when we get to next week's passage, um, and if you skip ahead with your eyes looking down to 19 and 20, verses 19 and 20, Mark makes it quite clear that Jesus said uh these were two separate events. And, you know, that that's enough for me. That really settles it for me. So, yes, the king provides again for a huge crowd in a very similar way, but we're we're also going to see many differences in these two accounts as we go along this morning. And the first difference is uh in the location and composition of the crowd. So if you'll remember a couple of chapters ago, um the feeding of the 5,000 occurred in a predominantly Jewish region, um, and the crowd would have been predominantly Jews, right? There were probably very few, if any, uh Gentiles in that crowd. But here Mark starts in verse 1 saying, in those days. And so we need to look back and and see what days Mark is talking about. And and so for the past few weeks, right before Easter, uh, we've been in this section where Jesus and his disciples have been on a long journey through this predominantly Gentile uh region of Tyre and Sidon, and then the Decapolis, as uh chapter 7 concludes. So most likely Jesus and his disciples are still in Decapolis, as in those days. Um, so they're still in Decapolis. And remember last time in Mark, we read Matthew's summary of their time in Decapolis, and that's in Matthew 15, verses 29 and 31, if you want to look back on it. Um but there were great clout crowds that followed Jesus, and he performed many, many healings there, including the one that Mark details, and that we talked about last time we were in Mark, um the deaf man receiving hearing and perfect speech from Christ. And as chapter 8 opens, we see that it's been three days of this teaching and healing among this mostly Gentile crowd. And that's where I want to pick up on our first point this morning, the compassion of the king. The compassion of the king. Mark says that Jesus saw this great crowd gathered, and they had nothing to eat. And so he called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion on the crowd, because they've been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And he goes on that if I send them away now, they'll faint on the way from weariness, because some of them live a great distance away. Now, we've seen Jesus' compassion. In fact, there's been a theme of Mark. We've seen it all over the gospel of Mark displayed again and again. But this is actually the only time in the Gospels where it's recorded that Jesus Himself says, I have compassion. Of course, we've seen it displayed. It's clear that he had it, but this is the only time that those words are recorded from Jesus. This crowd had evidently been with Jesus for three days now. And they couldn't bring themselves to leave. Three days, you know? We could go three days, right? And what would you think? Would you just be hanging on to every word? Oh, I can't, I can't even, I don't even have enough snacks, but I don't care. Right? I mean, you're just so desperate to hear the word of God. Now, I'm not Jesus, granted. So, I mean, if Jesus was here, we probably could just drop the snacks and say, okay, just keep talking to us. Right? So I I'm not I'm not trying to make that comparison this morning. I understand why about an hour is all you can take of me, but uh but these these guys have been uh listening to Jesus, they've been seeing miracles too, um, for three days, and and they they couldn't bring themselves to leave, despite running out of food, evidently. I just imagine them hanging on to every word. Who cares about food in a time like this, right? They were receiving his ministry with great joy. I remember last time Mark records them proclaiming, He has done all things well. That was their proclamation from the last uh sermon in Mark, the end of chapter 7. Um, Jesus has become precious to these Gentiles so much so that they don't even seem to be worried about the fact that they've all run out of food and they're in a desolate place. But Jesus sees their weariness and he sees their hunger. You know, he knew their limits even more than they knew themselves. Right? He he sees the sacrifices that they've made to be there. They had sacrificed, many have come from long distances to hear him. The long journeys they had in front of them to go back, he saw that, he knew all that, and he has compassion upon them. Boy, isn't it good to serve a God who shows compassion? Right? He's not just separate from us, he shows compassion on his people. It's a reminder for us that as his followers, you know, sometimes our compassion is the greatest gift that we can give to another person. Right? We talked about that a little bit last time, but it's it's just as important to be his hands and his feet and show compassion on others as the message that we proclaim. Now, we do proclaim the message, I mean, right? That the ministry is not complete without um the truth of the gospel, but people work involves caring for people. Showing compassion on people. It's not just teaching and and and teaching and teaching and teaching and having answers and answers. Um, people work involves caring for people. We can never forget that in ministry that people work involves compassion and care, physical care for people. But you know, we're also reminded and comforted by Jesus' own compassion here once again. As truly God and truly human, Jesus knew hunger. Right? He knew hunger and he knew weariness. He knew what it was like to be tired, he knew what it was like to already be tired and know you have a long journey ahead of you. He knows suffering more than all of us know suffering. He knows loss. And you know, we've come back and back to this verse time and time again, Hebrews 4 uh verses 15, it says that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. That's not the kind of God we serve. But who in every one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. And then in verse 16 he gives the encouragement, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let us just admire and seek to emulate, but but also be comforted by the heart of God revealed in Jesus this morning. Let's not blow past that and let's let's let that pull us into Him, draw us near to the throne so that we might receive mercy and find grace. Jesus has compassion on where you are this morning. Deep compassion. He sees your journey, he knows your suffering, he's felt your weariness, and and he loves you deeply. You know, we're in this incredible season at risen life of uh many babies being born, right? And many babies on the way, and and that's an amazing uh season, but with that season uh comes lots of tired and weary mothers, right? And fathers. Well, let's face it, guys, uh she's more weary than you, right? I mean, she's done more than you, right? And so lots of of weary mamas, you know, with with that that joy of of those precious children can come a lot of of exhaustion, certainly, and and loneliness, and just feeling like nobody really sees you anymore. And and sometimes I don't think we men uh help as much as we think we do, right? And as much as maybe we would like to. Mama's in the room. I want you to be comforted that God sees you and he has deep compassion for you. You know, no one else may understand fully, but he does. Your husband may not understand, he's trying to understand, but he may not quite understand as much, but the Lord does. You know, he sees your journey, he sees the sacrifices you're making, and and he offers himself to you. You're you're busy offering yourself to others all the time, serving others. Well, don't forget that he offers himself to you right as the bread of life, as we're gonna uh learn this morning. You know, maybe maybe that time with him looks a little bit different in this season, but don't forget that he sees you and he loves you dearly. Now, let's be a church and and men, let's be men who see our ladies and honor them for the sacrifices, the sacrifices that they're making, right, in raising children. Of course, men play a huge role in that too, but let's honor our ladies in that. Let's let's let's help them. Let's ask the Lord in showing us how can we show uh the kind of compassion and care that he shows. You know, there's a lot of applications to this this morning. I think that's a relevant one for a lot of um a lot of the moms, especially in this room and in our church. Um, but there's so many, there's so many applications to the compassion of Jesus uh this morning. Where do you need to experience his compassion and care? Remind yourself of his compassion towards you. Now, maybe it is a struggle of temptation, maybe it's a season of suffering or a season of waiting. Maybe you're waiting for that child, or maybe you're waiting for something else in your life, and um you're just stuck kind of in this season. Um could be so many things where this needs to become real to us, the compassion of our God. Um God hears and sees each one uh far better than I could, of course, but let's be comforted by his compassion this morning and also strive deeply as his followers to display his compassion towards others rather than that hardness and that selfishness that so often comes out. You know, Jesus sees this crowd and he has great compassion. And then right on cue, here come his confused disciples, right? Right on cue in this passage, and that's our second point, the confusion of the disciples. Verse 4 says, the disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? And at this point, we we kind of just put our hands on our foreheads and say, Again with this, disciples, right? Seriously? Um, didn't you just see him feed thousands a couple of chapters before, which was you know, probably a few months before, I would imagine, not long before this. And here they are disbelieving again. I thought we were making progress here, right? They've had some pretty, pretty good progress, it seems, at times, and then we just fall back into this again. Now, to be fair, commentators are really kind of split here on whether the disciples were actually asking a legitimate question in disbelief, or if maybe they kind of asked, and I don't know, I don't really buy this, to be honest. But some commentators say that they um, you know, maybe they're asking this kind of like tongue-in-cheek, like there's there's nothing we can do here. We don't have the resources, Jesus. So what are you gonna do about this? I don't know. That's a hard sell for me. And and so, you know, it it's it's almost said, uh, they say in a way that that kind of professes faith in Jesus' power as, you know, you're the only hope we have here. You know, that seems really nice. But honestly, I don't I don't see anything in the text or the text that follows that would indicate um that kind of faith here. I don't I don't see that. And and they don't have a uh a great track record, um, nor do they have an immediate uh great future in this uh particular chapter if you go a little bit further. Um, others commentators say maybe they weren't questioning whether he could do this, but rather whether he would do this, because this is a crowd of Gentiles now. So, like, okay, we don't really believe he's gonna do it for them. He could do it for the Jews, but he's not gonna do it for the Gentiles. And, you know, it could potentially be either of those possibilities, but you know, I don't believe it is. I think commentators only make those other suggestions because they have a hard time believing the disciples could show that kind of unbelief so quickly after that uh first feeding miracle. And that's one reason some people think this is one feeding miracle, which again I think is ridiculous. But I I do believe that. This is the disciples' unbelief and just forgetfulness of God's provision. And I believe that mainly because I know my own self. I know my own quick tendency to forget what God has done in my life as soon as the next crisis arrives. Even if it's a very similar crisis. I know myself. You know, that's not going to be our focus this morning, but do you know yourself well enough to see how it's most likely that there's some unbelief displayed here? Maybe, if you're honest, umbey you've been in that same boat. Maybe you're in that same boat this morning. We really don't have any room to point the finger at the disciples' struggle to believe. And certainly we even have the Holy Spirit in us, right? They did not at this point. You know, I do think, however, that that the disciples here, to their credit, at least snap out of it pretty quickly in this passage. And I think it happens as soon as they hear Jesus ask, How many loaves do you have? Oh, they've heard that before, right? They've heard that I think that was just like a oh, oh yeah, we're with Jesus, right? We've we've we've seen this before. Surely they must have remembered in that moment how he'd ask him, ask them that in the first miracle. How much food do we have with us here? Remember when he asked in the previous miracle, John records that Peter said, Well, I mean, we have this, but what is this amount among so many? But he still didn't believe. They don't say that this time, they just say seven. We got seven loaves, Jesus. So I think they snapped out of it a little bit quicker. Maybe there's some progress being made here. You know, in passage after passage in the Gospels, we see the disciples' confusion and even slowness of heart to believe and trust Jesus. And, you know, that's meant to be a mirror towards us. Right? And we're reminded that our growth in Christ is not always just a perfect linear line upward. Okay, it's just not. We have our great moments, and then we have our weak moments, maybe right after that. And then we have maybe a great moment, maybe we have a couple of weak moments, and it's a little bit more uh of a twisted line than we'd like to think, right? Um our growth in Christ is not always just perfectly linear. I hope that can encourage you this morning. Maybe you've been on a mountaintop and you're just you're just not today. You're not in this season. Well, let me encourage you that that passage after passage we see Jesus' patient endurance with those who love him. He will endure patiently with you. We'll see it again in the passage next week. But this morning, let's let's move on from that, and we'll get to our third point here: the confirmation of the kingdom. And here we really get to the main thrust of the passage. This incredible miracle displaying the power of God in Jesus. You know, I think we've all heard this miracle, or probably you've heard the 5,000 miracle more often, growing up since a child if you grew up in church. And these things just become so like routine to us. Like, yeah, that happened. No, we need to take time and understand. No, this happened. This kind of power was truly displayed in this very instance. And we need to sometimes let that power just wash over, spend some time with us. This isn't just a fun Sunday school story that isn't real. This is a story that applies to your life, that has real implications in your life this morning. Verse 6 says that Jesus directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Maybe like in the previous time, maybe he put them in groups of 50 or uh a hundred. That's what he did last time, but we're not told that he did that here. Um he took the seven loaves, he gave thanks to the Father, and he broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute. And then he takes the fish and he does essentially the same thing. He gives them to the disciples, and then he just keeps giving and keeps giving and keeps giving and keeps giving and keeps giving, and it just doesn't stop, and the food just keeps coming and coming and coming until everyone ate and was satisfied, it says. Every single person ate and was satisfied. And just as in the previous miracle, there were lots of leftovers. Last time there were twelve small baskets. This time it's it's actually a different word in the Greek for basket than in the last miracle. This one refers to a large basket, like a big hamper type basket. This is the same word is used in Acts when Paul is actually lowered from a wall in a basket. It's that kind of basket. So it holds a grown man type of basket, right? This is a big basket. So seven huge baskets left over uh this time. Uh last time it was 12 smaller baskets. Don't go by this again without just putting yourself here. Imagine being there. And maybe you're watching Jesus do this and just keep, and he's he's maybe he's pulling it out of a basket and he's just handing it to his disciples. And at some point you begin to realize that basket's not big enough for what he's doing. Like it just keeps coming out. What is happening here? It just he keeps bringing bread and fish out and handing it to his disciples. Where is it coming from? Can you imagine just seeing, uh watching uh dead fish be created out of nowhere? That's what they're witnessing here. This was a creative miracle from the one who has created the heavens and the earth. Unbelievable power. This is the God in whom you this morning, Christian, are believing in. Or you say you are. This is that same God. This is the same God who holds you in his hands, Christian. Don't just blow past the power displayed here. Now, there's a lot that could be pointed out here in this passage. We could we could really spend a lot of time dissecting a lot from this, but I want to focus on just three things in this miracle, three things that give us a picture of what the kingdom of God is like and how it works. And so, first of all, the first word I'm gonna give you is invitation. Invitation. For whom is the kingdom of God open? This miracle screams that God's invitation is open to all people. All people. As I said before, the feeding of the 5,000 was in a crowd of mostly Jewish listeners. And, you know, we might expect that. The Jews would expect that the Messiah would minister to the Jewish people, but this miracle is done in the Decapolis with a predominantly Gentile multitude. In the passages directly before this, we have seen Jesus minister to several individuals who were most likely Gentiles. And apparently there were many others according to Matthew. So he was healing many, but this is thousands and thousands of Gentiles. Now, this miracle shouts that God's kingdom is not just for the Jews, it's not just even for a select group of Gentiles, but for all, for everyone, whosoever will may come. The kingdom is bursting through barriers that the first century had that we create even today. And that applies to you this morning. You know, wherever you find yourself, whatever kind of situation, whatever kind of sin background you're coming from, however much shame you may be carrying this morning, from whatever tribe or tongue or nation, social class, all may come and find life in this kingdom. All may come through Jesus. But you know, another thing about this invitation is that when we do come through repentance and faith, he has a job for us. He has a job for you, Christian. Notice that Jesus doesn't hand out the bread and fish by himself. He could have done that. He doesn't miraculously teleport the mills into the laps of the hearers. That might have been a cool visual. But he doesn't do that, he has something else in mind. He certainly could have done that. No, it says he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. You know, are you aware that God could use any method that he wants to grow his kingdom? He could do anything, really. He doesn't need people. Are you kidding me? We have no, there is nothing God needs that we provide. There's nothing God needs, period. We provide nothing for him. And yet he loves us. He could use any method he wants to grow his kingdom, but the primary method he chooses to use is you and I as believers in Christ. If you're a believer this morning, that's the primary method he uses to spread his gospel and his kingdom. In this kingdom, you, Christian, have a job. And you are equipped specifically for that role that he has for you to play. If you're sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else serve, you are missing the point. You're absolutely missing the point. This kingdom is about God's family working together, using our unique gifts and talents and abilities and resources that He's given, and laying them at the feet of the Savior and just seeing what he does with it. What a privilege that we get to play a part in what God is doing. Romans 12, verse 6 says, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. It's so simple. I love that verse. You have a gift, like having gifts, all of you have gifts. Let us use them. Just use them. How incredible that the sovereign God of the universe has uniquely and purposefully gifted you for service in his kingdom. That is pretty cool. Don't move beyond that. And when we are faithful to just say, Here am I, send me, Lord, use whatever whatever you've given me. It's all yours. When we are faithful to do that in humility, he does the multiplying. And he multiplies in ways we cannot imagine, just as he does in this miracle. Let me ask you, did you walk in this morning praying? Lord, is there a word or a verse or a gift or a talent, a resource, a song, anything that I can offer to the people this morning? Is there something I can I can offer? You know, I say that just as Karen brought four bouquets this morning. That's exactly what I'm talking about, actually. Just to distribute to people, to individuals that were on her heart. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Did you come this morning? Saying, what, Lord, what do you have something? Maybe you have something for me to give here. You guys understand that most of ministry does not happen up here. It doesn't happen up here. Even on a Sunday morning, a lot of the ministry is not happening up here on a stage. It's happening here. Amongst I'm included in that. We're all included in that. You have something to offer the people of God this morning. Did you come prepared to give it? Did you come prepared with that mindset? Okay, let's move beyond these walls. What about work tomorrow? What about when you go back to work tomorrow? Shouldn't our mindset be God? What can I bring? What can I bring to the table this morning to encourage, to challenge, to proclaim your word, to uh maybe, you know, maybe just push somebody on a little bit in their faith? What what do you pray that when you go into work? Lord, what do I have to give this morning? What what what would you have me give? Having gifts that differ according to his grace, let us use them. So we see this kingdom of open invitation. And once we get in there, He uses us to invite others. The second thing I think this miracle displays about the kingdom is found in the word satisfaction. Verse 8, they ate and were satisfied. Don't you love that? They ate and they were satisfied. Some of these people hadn't eaten in three days. And they were filled to complete satisfaction. It is in God's kingdom and God's kingdom alone where fullness and satisfaction is found. We spend our lives searching and searching, chasing desire after desire. I'm not just talking about unbelievers this morning. You understand? I'm talking about believers too. We do this. We have tasted, and we know that he is good. And yet we still chase lesser things, thinking, well, that'll satisfy. Has it ever satisfied? Of course it hasn't. We go to Netflix or Doom scrolling, thinking, you know, this is really gonna fill my cup tonight as I get ready for bed. I just need to scroll for about a hundred hours. I think that's gonna do. I mean, I mean, that's the lie you're believing if you're doing that. If I'm doing that. That's the lie we're believing. That's where satisfaction's gonna be found tonight. It's not gonna be found in that show that you just you gotta watch another episode of. I mean, there's some temporary like happiness that comes, okay. But then you just guess what? You just need to watch the next episode. And they always leave you on that cliffhanger, right? Where you're like, I definitely gotta watch an episode, right? I mean, it is so unsatisfying compared to the kingdom of God, everything in this life is so unsatisfying. Have we not learned this yet? Have I not learned this yet? Oh, we chase all kinds of things. Sports and career and relationships. You know, even good friends, even good church community can become sort of the God we're we're really that we really have faith in, not God Himself. How often we fool ourselves into thinking we can ignore God's kingdom and God's word and find life somewhere else? I'm not gonna ask you if you're doing that this morning. I'm gonna ask you in what areas of your life are you doing that this morning? Are you believing the lie? That this is this is just more satisfying. How often are you believing the lie? After Jesus did the feeding of the 5,000, John's account records the teaching that he did the next day. Um there, and that was this was the previous miracle, the crowd literally chased him down so that they could get another mill. They chased him across the sea so that they could get another mill. And instead, he doesn't feed them another mill, but he begins to teach them. Right, and making the connection between the miracle and the kingdom of God. And he said this in John 6.35 I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. It is in Jesus alone that we find true life. It is in Jesus alone where we find true rest, true satisfaction for our souls. That's the clear testimony of the Word of God over and over again. Yet how often do we return to these broken vessels? The whole water for a minute, but they they got a leak in the bottom. That's the problem, you see? They can't satisfy ultimately they leave us empty. Psalm 119, 103. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. You feel that way about the word of God this morning. We sing that song. Sweeter than honey, more precious than gold. Over and over you satisfy my soul. That verse is talking about the sweetness and fulfillment that's found in the word of God. Yet how often we ignore the word of God in favor of other things. Let's stop fooling ourselves this morning and understand that true satisfaction is found in God's kingdom and God's word. Now that's a message you're gonna need to hear again tomorrow. Probably later today, actually. That's why I've said this many times, right? And even preparing this sermon, I'm I'm thinking, God, you still don't get it, Josh. Right? I mean, you still don't get it. And you might be thinking, well, I've heard this before. Yeah, you have. You're gonna keep hearing it. Me too, because I need it. I need it on Monday morning. I need it later today when I'm at work. Yeah, I need to hear this. I need to hear it when I lay myself down tonight. I need to I need to be reminded of this. That you're not gonna find the satisfaction you're looking for in those other things. Okay, now there's nothing wrong with a lot of those other things, right? But they're not ultimate. Stop fooling yourself, and I'll stop fooling myself. Is that fair? Okay. We'll talk about this again next week. One more word to describe this kingdom from this, and it's a similar word, overabundance. Overabundance. They they ate and were satisfied, and they took up leftovers, and it amounted to seven large baskets of overabundance. Last miracle was twelve baskets, smaller baskets, like I said, uh, probably representing the twelve tribes of Israel. It was mostly, or that was a Jewish crowd. What does seven represent? Does it represent something? Well, first of all, God in his abundance could have made the leftovers amount to any number of baskets. So I don't want to say it's insignificant. Right? I mean, um, it could have been one basket, it could have been a million baskets, it could have been whatever God wanted. You know, so so I think that he did choose seven in his sovereignty, which probably means something. And now, seven is the number typically used for perfection, for fullness, for completeness in Scripture. Now, commentators have also pointed out that it could represent the seven nations of Canaan found in Deuteronomy. They're listening in Deuteronomy 7 before the Israelites go into Canaan, and it's representative of the Gentiles, so the whole world. So God is now bringing his gospel to everyone, right? So it's representative of completeness, the whole world. Um, you know, both of those. Could be right, and they really do make the same point. And we made this point before. Jesus is the bread of life for the Jews. And now Jesus is also the bread of life for the Gentiles, for the whole world. God's kingdom is for all. Now, there may be even more to it, right? And I'm just not smart enough to pull that out. But I don't think it's insignificant that there were seven baskets full because God could have done literally any number that he wanted to there. God's kingdom is for all. But I want to focus on not the number really any longer, but the overabundance itself. And so much more. When we are faithful to humble ourselves before the Lord and seek his face, we we don't just find some life. We find abundant life. That's what Jesus says in John 10.10. He's given us all that we need and far more for this life and the things that he calls us to do. And if we will be faithful, he will multiply beyond belief, beyond measure. That's the crazy math of the kingdom of God. It doesn't make sense. You put in this much and he multiplies it to ways you cannot imagine. 2 Corinthians 9, 8 says that God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things, at all times you may abound in every good word. Don't you love that? All, all, all, every. You've got it all, Christian. Let me read it again. He's able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things, at all times you may abound in every good work. He's talking in that passage about financially giving to the kingdom and giving of our resources cheerfully. So let's not look past that, right? But I think it certainly applies to all of our resources, our talents, abilities, and when we will be faithful to him in those things, he provides the overabundance in those situations. Ephesians 3.20 says, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. All we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. To him be glory. Golly, I love that little nugget too. That's just a wonderful verse. He's able to do more than you ask or think. Are you struggling this morning? Well, you you do serve a God who's able to do more than you've asked for, or that you've even thought about him doing. Praise the Lord. What a God we serve of superabundance. As we look at this miracle, I want you to be, allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the power of God. We will humble ourselves under his power and his will. There's no limit to what he can do in this church with your marriage, in your parenting, with your witness. You fill in the blank, whatever it is this morning. We don't serve a poor and unsure God. We serve the God of overabundance who is eager to move in the lives of his people. Do you know he's eager to move in your situation? He's happy to move in your situation. You humble yourself and let him move. He is eager and happy to move in our lives. These Gentiles humbled themselves and worshiped the God of Israel, and God gave them the bread of life and showed them the math of the kingdom here. For us as believers, there ought to be no situation where we lose hope when we serve this God. There's always hope because this is a kingdom of power and abundance. So, where do you need to apply that in your life this morning? I don't know. I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit to do that in your life. Where does does God need to apply this to you? God displays the kingdom principles to this crowd in the Decapolis here. But as the text continues here, there were others who rejected the kingdom altogether. And we've seen them before. Let's look at verses 10 to 13 and our final point this morning confrontation of the cynics. After this amazing miracle, Jesus sends the crowd away, concluding an incredible three days of ministry and teaching. And immediately he and the disciples get into the boat, and it says they went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, to the district of Dalmanutha. And Matthew calls this place the region of Magdala, so it's the same place. And Mark says the Pharisees, and Matthew adds, the Sadducees were with them. They came and began to argue with him, seeking a sign from heaven to test him. You've got to be kidding me, right? That ought to be what you your response to when you read that. You need a sign, really. Another sign. So the you know, the feeding of multitudes, the the you know, healing paralytics, restoring sight to the blind, um, curing leprosy, casting out demons, raising the dead. That's not enough. You need a sign, huh? They're looking now for a sign from heaven. Show us something in the sky, Jesus. Yeah, I guess hearing witnesses speak about the calming, the instant calming of a raging storm was not enough. I'm hearing the witnesses about his baptism, about how the spirit descended upon him as a dove, that's not enough for these evil men. This is a display of hardened unbelief. They're never going to believe, no matter what Jesus did, no matter what sign he performed, and Jesus was not going to just perform for them. Mark says their motive was, it had nothing to do with belief. Their motive was to test him. Well, if he can't do this, then people will see that, and then we'll just attribute his power to demons, right? Because he couldn't produce this sign from heaven. What a sad case, these religious leaders. How so sad. Now there were a few, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who eventually they came to Christ. We believe they did, but for the most part, no matter what miracles they saw, no matter how captivated they were by this man's teaching, no matter how everything pointed to the Father's approval of the Son, they would not believe. And because of that, they reached a point of no return where they could not believe. Like Pharaoh in Exodus, who continually hardened his heart despite the miracles. It says God eventually hardened Pharaoh's heart even further because of Pharaoh's unbelief. It was the same case for these religious leaders who were, they were supposed to be the shepherds of Israel. You know, these so-called dog Gentiles, as they would call them, received Jesus with joy. But these leaders, they need another sign. And Mark says that Jesus sighed deeply. We saw that in the last passage in Mark 7, that he sighed deeply in response to the deaf man. And I think he was grieving the brokenness that sin had brought into this world. Here, I think he's sighing in deep sadness at the hardness of heart. How can you be so hard? The hardness of heart that he was seeing in these leaders. You know, Ezekiel 18 tells us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Not an ounce of pleasure. 2 Peter 3.9 declares that it's not God's will that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Matthew 23, verse 37, Jesus is approaching Jerusalem for the last time before his arrest and his death, and he says, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings? And you were not willing. You just need another sign, always another sign. The clear testimony of Scripture is that God is grieved at the thought of anyone dying in unbelief. He is grieved. Are you grieved by it as much as he is? An ounce of what he is? Are you grieved by the thought of your coworkers going to hell? Are we grieved by unbelief as God is? He longs for us to come and find the life he offers and experience eternity with him, yet he will submit to anyone's desire to be without him and the presence that he offers. Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. Matthew's account adds that he says, Except the son of Jonah. What's that? The son of Jonah. It's his resurrection. Three days buried, just like Jonah, three days in the well, and rising to life on the third day, the son of Jonah. He says, No more signs for you. You've had all that you're going to get. I will give you one more. And even when I rise from the dead, you still won't believe. Remember they bribed the soldiers to lie about what happened at the tomb? They had every opportunity. The soldiers came, told them what happened. Well, let me give you some money. This is what you need to say, what happened. They knew he rose from the dead. They knew he rose from the dead, and they still rejected. Wow. You know, but there are those today maybe even here in this room who say, you know, Jesus, if he would just give me a sign, I believe, or I'd follow him closer. Maybe I'd read the Bible if he would if he'd give me a sign. No, no, you wouldn't. Not according to Jesus. We have everything we need in this clear, supernatural testimony that is God's word. We have everything that we need. So come and find life in his name. Now that's not to say that God doesn't sometimes, out of the abundance of his grace and wisdom, provide a supernatural sign to those who humbly seek him. But we have all that we need to believe. Mark says after that, he left them, got into the boat again and went to the other side. There's kind of some power in that phrase. There's some finality. He left them. That's it. It's kind of the last straw here. They had hardened their hearts to a point of no return, many of them had, and they were going to now face the wrath of holy God apart from Jesus. There's a warning here for us, even as believers. But for you, if you're not a believer this morning, certainly for you, don't harden your heart to the word of God. Don't become just numb to hearing the word, to reading the word, to enjoying the word. Whether you're an unbeliever this morning who refuses to humble yourself before Christ for salvation, or whether you're a believer, and there's just certain things that God has said that you've just hardened your heart to in favor of feelings. This just seems right. Or maybe you've become callous to the word and reading the word, callous to prayer. Don't harden your heart this morning. This is your sign. Wake up. Wake up. Ask the Lord, restore to me. Didn't we just read that? Restore to me the joys of your salvation, Lord. Don't harden your heart. Come and find this one. It's the only place you're going to find abundant life. Come and ask God to restore that joy that you once had, if that's missing this morning. Stop chasing these empty things and find life in his name. Don't miss the bread of life that satisfies because you're chasing things that won't last, or because you're looking for a sign. We're going to close this morning. I'm going to ask the band to come on up. This passage really covers a lot. We've gone from the great compassion of Jesus. Even for the unbelievers. He has compassion for you. We've gone from that to the unbelievable, overabundant power of Jesus displayed here. And then all the way to the judgment of Jesus, which all will face who continually reject Him. As we close this morning, I want us to see the contrast of responses to Jesus that's present in this passage. Let's not miss this. It's representative of people today, maybe people in this room even. Let's look at that one more time. On the one hand, we have the Gentiles, the outsiders, the unworthy, as the Jews would say, the dogs. They have nothing to offer Jesus except their need. They're just hungry. Yet they brought that need and their hunger to Jesus, joyfully receiving him, worshiping him, and just humbling asking him to move. And because of that humility before him, they received his compassion and his provision, and they left satisfied by the bread of life. On the other hand, we see the insiders, we see these religious experts. And they believe they have all the answers. They believe that they can put Jesus on the stand and demand more evidence. Prideful. They're coming to Jesus, but they're coming in pride. Instead of hunger, they brought arguments and their demands for more evidence. And they left empty. Two different heart postures this morning, two different responses from Jesus. For the proud who reject his free offer. And even for believers, if you're going to be in your pride and stubbornness and shame, what is he going to do? I mean, you want him to fix your marriage, but you won't ask. You're not desperate enough yet. To just seek his face in it. You want to be a bold, more bold witness? You just think that's going to happen? You're not willing to sacrifice time to seek his face, to memorize scripture? We could just go through thing after thing of brokenness. And I think as Christians, sometimes we're just we're not desperate enough. We're not, you don't really want that. You're not desperate enough for that. And when we will get to that point of desperation, you know, that's that's when he really moves. When we get to that point of just I've got nothing but hunger. Can you feed me? That's when we'll see him. Are we desperate enough as a church? Are we humble enough as a church? We're still holding on to other things and how we think things should go. Let's ask the Lord in this time, Lord, make us desperate. Show us how to be desperate. Now that's dangerous. Boy, that's dangerous. Show us how to be desperate. It's dangerous, but if it gets us to the point where we see stuff like this, we see him move in ways only he can move, well then that's where we need to be. That place of desperateness, desperation. See, for the humble and the hungry, Jesus offers his compassion for the weary, he offers his presence to satisfy us, he offers his abundance. If we will seek his kingdom first, he will move in amazing ways in our lives. As we close, I just want you to bow your heads and close your eyes and uh just I don't know that question, but am I desperate enough? Is just resonating in my mind right now. Maybe ask him. Am I desperate enough for you, Lord? I want to be. Come to him this morning and and just desperation, emptiness, humility. If you want to come to the altar and pray, if you're struggling with something like why not? Come up here and that's a sign. That's a sign of desperation, physical sign. Well come. We'll gather around you and we'll pray. I don't know, I don't know where this message needs to touch your life this morning, but I know the Holy Spirit does. So will you ask him, Holy Spirit, where where does this message need to touch my life? I'm gonna give you a few moments to do what you need to do with Jesus. I'll be in the back if you need me. and then we'll worship together.