Seeing the King Clearly

Mark 8:14-26

Transcript

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All right. Well, good morning. It's good to see you all here. All right, if you have a Bible with you this morning, we're going to be back in Mark chapter 8 as we continue through our servant king study. Now, if you weren't here last week, Josh walked us through the basically the beginning of chapter 8. We saw the feeding of the 4,000. And then we also see the Pharisees and arguably the Sadducees coming to Jesus, demanding more signs, right? Demanding more clarification that he is who he says he is. And we just see Jesus being like, I'm done with you guys. I'm fed up. But we uh are back this morning. We're going to be in verse 14, going through 26. But before we jump in, I want you to think about something familiar for a minute, probably to most of us. I want you to think about the last time you went and got your eyes checked. All right? And you're sitting there, right? You got the puff in the eye, your eyes have been dilated, right? Now you're sitting in the big cushy chair, the optometrist comes in, he wheels over that big contraption on your face, and then comes like the quiz of all quizzes, one or two. One or two. And you're always like, I don't know, man. Maybe one? I don't know. He's like one or two. One or two. And the thing is, I grew up with really good vision. I don't want to brag, but I grew up with a really good vision. I had four older brothers and sisters. I had my parents. Out of my whole family, I was the only one without glasses. I think my mom was nearsighted. I think my dad was far-sighted. Maybe somehow that met me in the middle. I don't know. But I remember going to the eye doctor every couple years. My mom was pretty diligent about that. And every year I'd go in, they'd puff my eye, they'd do the little thing, and they'd be like, 2020, get out of here. And I'm like, I'll see you guys later. Right? And I'd brag about it. I remember dating Carrie, and Carrie, if you don't know, has not great vision. Uh I love her, but her vision's pretty bad. And I'd be like, man, that must be awful for you. And then the Lord humbled me, right? And I got out of grad school and I started having headaches and I started having all these symptoms. I'm like, what's going on?

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I go to my primary charity, he's like, You're good, but you probably need to go get your eyes checked. I'm like, dude, I don't know, I don't need to get my eyes checked. Like my eyes have been great my whole life. But I go, right, and I'm sitting in the chair, one or two. I'm like, it's the same. One or two. That's the same. Then he hits me with one, and then he hits me with two, and I'm like, oh my gosh. That is the clearest vision I've ever had in my life. And I'm seeing clearly for the first time, probably in a long time, right? And I had no idea how distorted my vision had slowly become over those years. And me being prideful in myself thinking I had good vision the whole time, right? Kinsler's like, dude, I see you. No pun intended, right? Now, the reason I share this story, no matter how on the nose it might be, uh, I think this is a little bit of what Jesus is doing here in this passage. That he is flipping the lens for the disciples and for us. That how easy it is to think we have perfect perception, how easy it is to go through life thinking we have this perfect vision, and we think we do until we see clearly, maybe for the first time in our lives, and then we look back and think, I didn't really have that good a vision this whole time. And so throughout this text that we're going to read this morning, a question hangs in the balance. And the question is, who is the Jesus you're actually living with? Or even better, do you see Jesus for who he truly is? Or maybe do you just see Jesus for who you want him to be? Or maybe do you see Jesus only partially? And so with that, let's stand together as a church family, and we're going to read through this passage. Again, starting in verse 14. It says, Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, Watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Do you not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear, and do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to him, Twelve. And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to him, Seven. And he said to him to them, Do you not yet understand? And they came to Betheda, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes, on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him, Do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, Do not even enter the village. Let's pray. Father God, Lord, we thank you this morning for Lord, first and all who you are. We love you, we thank you, we praise you, Lord, that you went to the cross for our sins, Lord, that you laid your life down. And in that, God, you have given us everlasting life. But not only have you given us life, God, you that you make our life abundant and joyful, Lord, that you walk with us. We just praise you and thank you. Lord, I just pray that as we go through this word, Lord, as we work through this scripture, God, you enlighten us. Lord, you open our eyes, Lord, you open our ears, you soften our hearts, Lord. Conviction. Let it be where it needs to be, God, and encourage us where we need encouragement. Lord, we love you and we thank you. And God, I pray that if there is anyone here that does not know you, Lord, I pray today is the day of salvation for that person. God, it's in your holy and precious name we pray. Amen. All right, you can have a seat. Alright, I want you to sit with the frustration that Jesus has to be experiencing here in this text. I mean, he's coming off feeding the 4,000, right? He's looking at all these people, he has compassion for them, right? He's like, I'm not gonna make them walk all the way back to their homes and for them just to faint from starvation, right? I'm going to feed them here, right now. And he's performing many miracles, right? He's been doing so many teachings. He has been subtly, but also blatantly exposing to the world that he is son and flesh, he is God come to earth, he is the Messiah, he is the one to come, he is God. Yet the Pharisees, the people around him, even his most trusted disciples, still don't fully see. Maybe in their own different ways, but they're not seeing clearly. And we even saw it last week, right? Josh walked us through, even to the passage where we see the Pharisees coming demanding a heavenly sign, right? He's like, well, you can do all these earthly things, but maybe why don't you do a heavenly thing, right? And even Jesus, what does he do? He just sighs deeply in his soul. He says, What's wrong with them? Do they not see who I am? And the truth of the matter is, this is us so many times. That maybe we're the ones coming saying, God, if you would just do this in my life, then I would really trust you. Or man, God, if you would just, if you would just be this way for me, man, that then I'll see what you're really trying to show me. We just come with all these preconceived notions, right? We try to make Jesus our Jesus. We try to put him in a box, we try to shrink him down, we try to make him what we want him to be when allowing him to make us what he calls us to be. But this word in this passage challenges us to see Jesus for who he is, and he is our servant king. And this passage ultimately begs the question: are we seeing the king clearly? And so that gives us our title this morning. And as we enter this passage, right, coming off of the 4,000, coming off of the Pharisees demanding a sign, we see the emotional and spiritual high of the feeding of the 4,000. I mean, imagine seeing that. I know we talked about it last week, but still I just can't wrap my head around it.

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Because we know it's just 4,000 men, but that doesn't include the women and children. Doesn't include the fact that this is the second time Jesus performed this type of miracle. I mean, seeing that, I would like to think in my heart, I'd be like, man, that would seal the deal for me forever. That if I saw that, I'd be like, dude, it's Jesus. Doesn't matter what you say, doesn't matter what you do. Without a shadow of a doubt, he is God in flesh. But man, is that not the human condition that we still demand something more? That it's never enough. And we see the disciples, right? They're back in the boat with Jesus. They're coming off, I would argue, the greatest ministry stretch of anyone apart from Jesus. Right? They've seen the feeding of the 5,000. They've seen Jesus walk on water. They've seen him cast out demons. They've seen him heal the blind, the sick, the lame. Now they've seen him feed the 4,000. And now they're in the boat, and what do they do? Oh no, we don't have bread. Can you imagine the irony of coming from feeding 4,000 people with seven baskets of bread and thinking we don't have enough bread? If I was Jesus, I would slap them across the face, if I'm being honest. Like, are you kidding me? They're sitting here going, guys, I don't know what we're gonna do. Jesus, I'm sure you're just as worried as we are. We've only got one loaf of bread for 13 men. And you look at the disciples and you're like, really, guys? Come on. But then if we're being honest, I think, man, I'm I'm in the same boat, right? Figuratively, right? I'm like, man, I would be the same way, just so worried about what's right in front of me when the bread of life is sitting next to me. And I think that's something that Mark specifically does. He didn't have to mention that it was one loaf of bread. But I think he does that with intentionality because they're sitting with the one person who is the bread of life. But yet they're worried about something so carnal, something so physical. And they're sitting there and they're worried about the food situation, and then here's Jesus talking about leaven. What? Why is he talking about leaven? And Jesus, in his perfect ways, takes this opportunity, not mention leaven in the form of yeast, but leaven in the form of influence. And the influence of sin, the influence of the world, right? Why? Because it's a picture of something small, something quiet, right, that slowly changes the whole loaf. Just like my astigmatism bilaterally has slowly warped my vision over the years, right? We see this imagery used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 and Galatians 5, right? A little leaven leavens the whole lump, right? And he's talking about the influence of the church, right, in the gathering, and how sin can spread amongst people, right? What you are entertaining in that habitual sin doesn't just pertain to you, but it's to the people around you. But not only does Jesus mention the leaven, but then he ties it to two examples, the Pharisees and Herod, right? Beware, watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And so that begs the question: what is the leaven of these two groups? Why is Jesus even bringing this into the conversation?

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They're sitting here worrying about bread, and now Jesus is giving them a warning of influence, of sin. Now we have seen throughout the book of Mark, it is no, it is no uh a misconception, it is no uh a hidden truth that the Pharisees do not like Jesus. They have come again and again and again to discredit, to dishonor, to sabotage Jesus and his ministry. And we see in the parallel account, right, we have some synoptic gospels with Mark, we have Matthew and Luke, and we see in Matthew that it wasn't just the Pharisees, but it was also the Sadducees. That Matthew tells us that the beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And it's an interesting thing because when you look at the Pharisees, man, the Pharisees were zealous for doctrine. I mean, they were, they went by the book, they went by the T. They were so focused on external perfection, they were so focused on works-based righteousness. But then you come over here to the Sadducees, who were a little bit different. They didn't really care so much about the doctrinal side, but man, they love the materialism. They love the pragmatism, uh, pragmatism pragmatism. There we go. So much so that they love to exploit the temple, right? To elevate themselves. And one thing we know about the Pharisees and one thing we know about the Sadducees is they did not like each other. That they were bitterly opposed to one another. We see that in Acts. But they were unified on one thing, and that they hated Jesus. I mean, you gotta think, two rivals coming together to then go after their common enemy, that's basically what's happening here. And then like last week, we see them coming and they're requesting a sign with the goal of outing Jesus, right? Sabotaging his ministry. Because when we see the Pharisees, man, they were the men entrusted to lead the people to God. They were the ones entrusted to lead the people in relationship with the living God, but they're blinded by their desire for authority and religious tradition. Eleven of doctrinal errors. And we even see in Luke, it is eleven of hypocrisy. Those who elevated rabbinic tradition to the level of scripture itself. A system of external perfection with works-based righteousness. And we know this why? Because look at what Jesus says in Matthew 23, right? To the woes of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus says this: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanliness. And then we see the leaven of the Sadducees, right? It consists of materialism, right? That they denied God's truth. We see that they will eventually deny the resurrection, right? That they'll deny the spiritual aspect of the faith? And their willingness to use the temple to exploit people financially. The desire and practice of using God's words, God's truth, and they use it as vehicles for manipulation and self-fulfillment. And we must ask, is that leaven not present today? Is the leaven of external perfection not present today? That I'm gonna work my way to heaven? Is the leaven of maybe not even just that, but then coming here or coming to God with the preconceived idea of how are you gonna serve me versus how am I gonna serve you? Or man, how can I use this system to get ahead in my life? Even if it means I'm leaving a wake of people left manipulated and used. It is eleven that leads to spiritual blindness. And that's what Jesus is getting at here. That it is eleven that leads to blindness, and that gives us our first point. A blindness that doesn't lead to humility, but to pride. A blindness to the power of God and his holiness. And we also see Mark include Herod in the examples of leaven, right? So we see the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, right? This religious manipulation. But this is a specific Mark in detail, right? Mark is specific that he includes Herod. We don't see Herod in any other synoptic gospels. Now we don't see contradiction here, right? We don't see that Herod was not supposed to be in this, but Mark specifically makes a point to include Herod in this mention of Levin. And we know that Mark had a unique view of Herod. Because in Mark's gospel, we see the just powerful story of John the Baptist's death, right? And Herod's role in that. Because Herod is an intentional and important example to make in this context. Because we knew that Herod knew who Jesus was, right? We know that. Even so much so that he thought Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. Right? He was afraid of Jesus. He was like, oh my gosh, the man, the John the Baptist, the man I killed, has come back to kill me. Right? We also know that Herod entertained the gospel. I mean, he was fascinated with John. He loved John. John was so different to him. He was enamored with this message of this kingdom being ushered in. So much so that when John was ultimately killed, Scripture tells us that King Herod was exceedingly sorry. That he was a broken man, seeing that he sent this holy man to death. But with Herod, we see a level of worldly influence and the priority of status and political acclaim. The Herodians were known for just self-indulgence. They were known for just living for pleasure. If I have an appetite for it, I'm going to pursue it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. We see the leaven of Herod is carnal mindedness. That I'm so focused on the pleasures here around me that I'm willing to forsake the truth of the gospel. Because, see, Herod entertained the idea of Jesus, but he never allowed Jesus to permeate his life. But what he did allow to permeate his life was every worldly pleasure he could get his hands on. Every party he could go to, every political move he could make to make him more powerful and those that threatened him out of the picture. And we'll see that even Jesus, he does the same. That he even sends a Jesus and says, Go to Pontius Pilate, because I'm not going to let you threaten my kingdom. I'm not going to let you threaten my pleasure and my life. 11 that says, I like Jesus as long as he's has as long as he does not get in the way of my power and my plans. I will entertain Jesus, but man, I will not let him be Lord of my life. More blindness. The religious leaders we see distort through good things, right? What should be good, scripture, doctrinal law, the truth of God's gospel, and it's a leaven that looks holy, but it's broken on the inside. The leaven of Herod distorts through self, right? Power, pleasure. It's a leaven that serves me, that builds my kingdom. And like all of us, and just like the religious leaders, and just like Herod, we all have different idols that we entertain. We all have different idols that are just so enticing to us. But I'm telling you this morning, those idols lead to blindness. A distorted view where you don't even know how blind you might be. Jesus warns the disciples of this leaven because this leaven is dangerous. This influence is dangerous. The influence of sin and things of this world that dishonor God and destroy the relationship with him. And the reason it is so dangerous, and this is something we've touched on in this gospel, is that the blindness that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and Herod exhibit here is one that can lead to a permanent blindness. Permanent blindness where you are so hardened of heart, there's no changing that. A permanent blindness that is three unmistakable features. One, it hates the light. Sign after sign, miracle after miracle, and every time the light comes closer, they recoil from it.

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John 3 tells us, and this is the judgment, the light is coming into the world. And people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed. A second feature we see is the response. To the light with more rejection. That not only do they recoil from the light, but they double down. We see this with Pharaoh, whose heart grows exceedingly hard with every plague in Exodus. And the third feature is that persistent rejection of the light will bring eternal darkness. I don't think it's a coincidence that when you see in the Gospels and you see in the New Testament that hell is described as outer darkness. But that is an eternal blindness. You're separated from the glory of God forever. Romans 1, Paul tells, for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies and among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. And we see this with the Pharisees, right? The Pharisees again come demanding a sign last week. And what does Jesus do? He sighs deeply in his spirit. He said, Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given. And then what does he do? He leaves them. There is a truth here, Christian, that there is a blindness that you can entertain for so long that God will give you up to that blindness. He said, If that's what you so desperately want, fine. I will leave you to it. And it's a blindness that will last for eternity, and it's a blindness you don't want to live in. Not because Jesus hated them, right? Not just because not because Jesus is against them, but he gives them the blindness they so desperately cling to, even in the midst of opportunity and grace. I mean, think of the amount of miracles that Jesus has done in Mark so far. That doesn't include the ones recorded. Think of the amount of times that Jesus has come to the people proclaiming the truths of God's kingdom and backing that up with miracle and healing and signs of wonders, and yet they choose not to believe. And what does Jesus do? He leaves them. And he gets in the boat with his disciples. And we see this transition happening that Jesus is now ending his ministry and he's focusing on the equipping of his disciples because he's preparing them for the cross. To reject Jesus and his gospel is to be cast into outer darkness. And now we come to the disciples, right? We're seeing this leaven that leads to blindness. And ultimately we see that the disciples are also a little blind here. That God is sitting here, or Jesus is sitting here, proclaiming that he is God in flesh, and they're sitting here worried about a loaf of bread. I mean, it's comical when you see Jesus say, watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And then they begin discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. I mean, picture Jesus in this moment, right? They're worrying about the bread. He goes, hey guys, beware of the leaven that you are entertaining right now. Beware of the blindness that you are living in, because I'm right here. And they're looking at Jesus and saying, Jesus, you don't get it. We don't have any bread. And Jesus is, oh man. He exercises so much grace for them that I wouldn't, I would have just pushed them out of the boat and kept rowing. But Jesus was discussing the spirit, and the disciples were focused on the mundane. Jesus was talking about eternal mindset, and the disciples were so carnally focused. And man, is that not us? That we are so focused on what's in front of us here on earth that's temporal and passing away, and God is doing eternal things right in front of us. But hear me when I say this, that the spiritual blindness of the disciples is different than the Pharisees and the Sadducees and Herod. Because their blindness is a temporary blindness. And it's a point that Mark is intentionally making. Now, the disciples had been blind like the Pharisees once, like just like all of us. We were all blind. But praise God that through his salvation and through the cross our eyes have been opened, that the veil has been lifted, that we see when we did not see at all. And they are in the boat with Jesus. I mean, they chose him, they left their nets for Jesus. They forsake the religious leaders of the time for Jesus. And notice that Jesus presses in. He doesn't leave them in the boat. They lack clarity about Jesus and his kingdom, but it's a clarity that they will gain. Let's be honest, we all have experienced blindness at times. We've all been blind to the works of God in our life. If you are a Christian this morning, this isn't an issue of justification. This is an issue of sanctification. That my eyes have been opened, but man, I don't understand, God. I don't fully see what you're doing, God. I don't fully understand the gospel and what you did, but I'm here. Because we are all susceptible to the leavens of this world. And I'm telling you that the leavens of this world, the influences of this world, the things that we entertain in our life can distort our view of God, can distort our understanding of who Jesus is. And that's why we always must ask ourselves, who is Jesus to us? Right? Who is Jesus? A love for Jesus is genuine, but man, it's mixed with all kinds of earthly thinking. But it is a heart that is being actively transformed. And this leads us to something that Jesus does with the disciples. Because he doesn't leave them in their blindness, he presses in. He is delighted to shepherd them. Because he sees the tenderness of their heart. He says, Oh disciples, do you not yet understand? Are you still struggling with this as I sit right before you? Jesus was aware of their blindness. And Jesus has every reason to be frustrated with them, but his response is seven questions. And if you really want to take it to the numerical side, seven is the number of completion in the Bible. Questions that are not meant to belittle or embarrass the disciples, right? But rather questions that are meant to reveal and expose the blindness that the disciples are sitting in. And that leads us to our next point. It's questions asked to reveal. A series of rhetorical questions that form a mild rebuke for the disciples. Again, not out of hate, but out of loving wounding that needs to happen so that they wake up. Do you not yet see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see? Having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And for the seven, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? Do you not yet understand? Jesus sitting before his disciples asking him, have you not seen what I've done? Have you not been with me this whole time, disciples? Have you not seen the works of the Father through me? Have you not heard what I've said? The disciples have every reason to see Jesus for who he is, and he is the Messiah. They have every reason to see Jesus as the Son of God, living in flesh, who has come to take away the sins of the world. And the sheer irony that they're sitting here worried about bread when the bread of life, who has made thousands of loaves, is sitting right in front of them. And this is difficult because does this not hold up the mirror, Christian? Do we not struggle with this? Do we not so many times saying, God, I kind of see what you were doing there? My bad. Man, I fought. I gnashed my teeth and I dug my heels in every step of the way, but now I see what you were doing. Man, you were right. We're so capable of being dull-headed, Christian. We're so often taken up by the carnal things of this earth, the leaven of the world, when the eternal truths are staring us in the face. Because how often do we worry about what tomorrow is going to bring? How often do we get taken up about that job? How often is that is my post on Instagram gonna get enough likes today? Right? I mean, if am I finally gonna find that husband, that wife that I've been so desperately looking for? Rather than focusing on the living Christ who has inherited for you a kingdom of eternity. You're so worried about what's gonna happen today instead of focusing on what's been given to you for eternity. I mean, think of the irony that we live in every day, that we have been given eternal life. Your sins are paid for, your life is changed. There's no place for the living in the land of the dead, but yet we sit here and we focus on the carnal things. I don't have enough bread, Jesus. I don't have enough bread. But yet, in our blindness, Jesus shows grace. Yet in our fight for clarity, he steps in and he exposes us where the blindness lives. Jesus asks them, Do you not yet perceive or understand? Jesus is ultimately saying, Your mind has not yet laid hold of who I truly am. That you're not there yet. But what grace that he says you do not yet perceive, telling us that one day they will perceive, that they will understand, that one day we will fully understand. And praise God that one day we will be eternity with him and we will see all things. We will understand the mysteries of the kingdom. Jesus also asks if their hearts are hardened. He says, Are your hearts hardened, disciples? The Greek word is calcified, hardened like bone, the same word he used in chapter 6 when they were, when he was walking on water. And then he echoes the prophets. He says, Do your eyes not see? Do your ears not hear? Words and phrases used by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, language to indict Israel of their hard-heartedness. And then Jesus draws on his most recent miracle. He says, the feeding of the five and four thousand, but what we don't catch right away is that he uses two different words for the baskets. The feeding of the 5,000 was in Jewish territory, and he uses a word for a Jewish style of basket, and there was 12 for the 12 tribes of Israel. And the feeding of the 4,000, we know happened in Gentile territory. And he references a larger basket, the basket we see Paul lowered down, right, later in the New Testament. And it's one used in Gentile culture, seven, a number of fullness and completeness. Jesus is saying, right now, think of Jesus' perception, think of the disciples' perception. The disciples are sitting here saying, We don't have enough bread. And Jesus says, Do you not remember what I have done? Do you not see what is happening? That the Jew and the Gentile was fed in front of you? That the Messiah has come to save the nations and you were worried about one loaf of bread? This teaches us, man, our blindness can often make us focus on the most insignificant things, and we're missing the most amazing things that God is doing in our life. That the disciples were witnessing physical prophecy being fulfilled that Jesus has come to feed Jew and Gentile, and they're focused on their bellies not being full. But praise God that he's patient. Praise God that he's loving enough to do surgery on our hearts. And here we see Jesus is flipping the lens and revealing our lack of clarity. Right? That man, one was looking pretty normal, and then he asks these questions, and two comes into the screen and goes, Man, I'm seeing things way clearer than I used to. But then comes a hard conclusion to these series of questions. Jesus asks, Do you not yet understand? And then silence. Nothing from Mark. Now Matthew gives us further clarity and says that the disciples understood the warning against the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which I think is great. We see that they understand, but I think that even kind of details still their dull-headedness. Because Jesus is laying down spiritual truth on these disciples, and they were like, okay, we get it, we get it. The Pharisees and Sadducees are not good to hang around. And Jesus is like, whatever, man. But I think Mark and his cleverness leaves us hanging for a reason. Because in the next passage, we are given an answer. Because the story shifts dramatically. And then we find the disciples in Beseda, the hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Philip. And here we witness a private healing, right? A private healing, one performed outside the city amongst the disciples. And here Mark pulls the camera in close because Mark has just pressed on Jesus' warning of spiritual blindness and the leaven that leads to spiritual blindness, and that Jesus presses into the believer to expose spiritual blindness. And then we encounter a physically blind man. And we see the only healing that occurs in two phases in this gospel. Two instances of laying hands on the blind man. Now, we have seen Jesus heal with one touch. We even see Jesus heal with a word. He doesn't have to do anything. He's Jesus. This is not because of Jesus' inability to heal or his limitation and power. We know that in his healings there's no rehab involved, right? We know that in his healings there's no progression to full clarity. No, it is restored immediately, but Jesus does something intentionally because he is displaying in this blind man the disciple's condition. And to us, our condition. Because the first touch, the opening of the eyes. Immediate sight was restored to the man. But in his response, his sight was blurry. He only saw partially. He says, I see people, but man, they look like trees. Which I can only imagine what he was seeing as people walked around. But the man was no longer blind. And to this man, this was sight. He describes his vision, and it is our ability that we know that his vision wasn't complete. To him, this was vision. He says, I can see. But we know because we've seen clarity that you're not seeing fully, my man. People don't look like trees walking around. But then comes the second touch. And then his vision was sharp. And his vision was restored fully and clearly. And he saw everything as it was. The fog was gone, the vision was perfect. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. Philippians 1.6. First Corinthians 13, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. It is no coincidence that the healing of a blind man follows the scene in the boat of spiritual blindness. And in this private miracle, it underscores important truths, Christian. First, Jesus is God in flesh capable of healing anything. Second, this is prophecy fulfilled in and of itself, right? Isaiah 35. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, then they shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. Isaiah 42, I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. We must understand that Jesus isn't just come to heal people's physical blindness. He has come to heal and restore the spiritual blindness of this world. That there is a blindness that is darkened and permanent, separated from God, and you can have it if you want it. Jesus will let you live that life if that's what you want. But Christian, this morning, your eyes have been opened, but you don't always see clearly. And sometimes we don't see clearly because, man, we're infants in our faith. We're still figuring it out. Sometimes we don't see clearly because we have enticed and invited the leaven of the world to distort our view of Jesus and his kingdom. But praise God that he doesn't leave you in your blurry vision. But he comes and he touches and he heals and he restores your vision. But that gives us our third truth here, and that Jesus is the only one that will give you the clarity in life. That he is the only one. He is the only cure for your blindness, Christian. Because in his mercy, he reveals to us who he is. God in flesh, our servant king. I'm gonna have the band come back up as we close. Praise God that in his grace, he came to heal our blindness. I mean, that in and of itself is enough for us to run out of here praising God in the world. That he opened my eyes. That I once was blind and I didn't even know I was blind. But now I see. But man, in his grace, he reveals to us the mysteries of the kingdom as we press in. He says, You knock, the door will be answered. You ask, and it will be given to you. That not only, man, was I unaware of how blind that I was, but man, every day I press into Jesus, he reveals to me even more how little I saw before, and how amazing He is, and how good He is, and how I look at the world with the lens of the gospel, and I see so clearly the follies of man, and I see so clearly clearly the glory of God and his creation. He reveals to us the mysteries of the kingdom. He opens our eyes because the importance of this passage is we need an internal mindset, not a carnal one. We need eyes set on the heavens and God and his kingdom instead of eyes set on the thing that sits in front of us that we put so much weight in. In Mark 4.11, it says, and he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. That's Jesus speaking. To the Christians this morning, you get the mystery. You've got the kingdom. Kingdom's here. Something that may not make full sense quite yet. That in our walk with Christ, we still do not see clearly and we struggle to understand. But praise God that we can come to Him and say, God, I don't get it right now. I don't understand what you're doing in my life, but I trust you in it. I don't see it clearly, but I know that you're gonna give me my vision. I know that you're gonna get me there. God, I don't understand why this sin is so dangerous to me. And I don't know why I still want it, but man, I'm trusting in you that you are my fulfillment, that you are the bread of life, not the loaf that's sitting in the boat with me. Because Jesus is turning mystery into clarity. We were all once like the blind man. We were hopeless without anything. And in God's grace, we were ushered in and he touched us, and our eyes were opened. And then we sit here and we say, I can see. I can see these trees walking around. And in Jesus' grace, he doesn't leave them there. The blind man would have been happy, by the way. The blind man would have been, Man, I can see whatever it is, I can. See it. And Jesus presses in again and touches him again. And what does he see? But everything in its entirety, everything fully known. In his grace, he has gifted us with the eyes of faith and grows our understanding of truth. So take heart, Christian. It's okay if you don't get it quite yet. Take heart that you don't understand all the things. That's okay. You're not home yet. 2 Corinthians 3 tells us, and we all, with unveiled face, right? The veil has been lifted, beholding the glory of God, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. And just like the blind man, there is no going back once you see clearly for the first time. There's no going back for the blind man thinking, oh, that was living. No, he is seen for the first time. There's no changing that. He will never be the same again. And for us as Christians, man, our eyes have been opened to the truth of God's grace. And how many times do we open this word? How many times do we press into Jesus and we think, my gosh, it didn't make sense before, but now it does. How was I so obtuse for so long? How was I so dull-minded, Jesus, but you have given me truth. Oh man, it has changed everything. And I will never see it the same again. This is the sanctification that Christ brings, the clarity that the disciples receive. That leads us into the next passage for next week, where Peter confesses, you are the Christ. And I don't think that's coincidence either. That Jesus is sitting here and saying, Do you not yet understand? And then Jesus looks at Peter and says, Who do you think I am? And Jesus says, You're the living God. You're Christ who has come to take away the sins of me. I'm going to have you close your eyes and bow your heads this morning as we close. First and foremost, if you don't know Jesus this morning, I'm telling you now, you're living in darkness. Your eyes are closed, you do not see. But right now, if you come to Jesus this morning, he'll open. He'll open your eyes to a life that's so abundant, so joyful, and it's a life of eternity. If you leave this place, if you reject Christ and his light, then what's waiting for you is outer darkness for eternity. So if you if you don't know Jesus this morning, grab me, grab Josh, grab any of us. We want to see your eyes open. We want you to be a part of this with us. And to the Christian this morning, man, your eyes are open, but man, maybe you're seeing dully right now. And so I ask you the questions that Jesus asked these disciples. Is your heart hardened? Do you remember the glories and the truths of God? Do you know his word? Do you come to Jesus with this preconceived idea of who he is? That, man, he's the Jesus that saves me, but man, he's not my Lord. And he's the Jesus that makes me feel really righteous and really good about myself, but I'm not willing to do the hard work. He's the Jesus that gets me out of tough situations, and I'll pray to him when I'm really struggling, but when I'm doing good, he can go back on the bench. Or is he Jesus, God in flesh, Lord of your life, light of the world, the Lamb of God. Jesus is inviting us into spiritual clarity. But it's up to us to press in. So this morning, Christian, I encourage you to get into this word, get into this community, that your eyes be opened further to the glory of who Jesus is, and take heart in knowing that He will see you through to the end. He will see you to completion. He loves you. He's for you. He will not leave you in your blindness. Take this time, this altar is open. We're going to close with this song as we leave this morning.