Good morning church! If you’ve been tracking with us over the past few months, as a church we’ve been studying the Gospel of Mark. We work through each passage expositionally. We are right in the middle of our Mark study right now in chapter 8.
The first half of the gospel focused on “who this Jesus Is” and the next half of the gospel will focus on “what Jesus Is going to do” by dying and laying down his life for us. As you’re turning to Mark 8 verse 11-26, let me set it up for you by recapping what we read last week. Jesus performs another astonishing miracle…this time in a Gentile territory displaying His power and compassion by feeding 4000 people in the midst of a desolate area.
What a wonderful thing to see God’s heart for not only the Jews but for the Gentiles! Jesus moves on from that place and has an encounter with Pharisees in v11.
[11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. [12] 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.” [13] And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
[14] Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. [15] And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”[b] [16] And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. [17] And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18] Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? [19] When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” [20] “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” [21] And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
[22] And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. [23] And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” [24] And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” [25] Then Jesus[c] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. [26] And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
Unbelief is a topic that I never heard a lot of preachers preach about in my earlier years as a believer. The assumption was that if you are a believer in Christ, then there shouldn’t be any unbelief. But we all know through that we don’t perfectly believe all the time.
At least not until Christ comes back again. In fact there may be times in a Christian’s life when he or she experiences moments of deep despair and hopelessness where God’s promises may seem blurry and unclear to us. The encouragement for believers is that Jesus understands and He has the might to power through and work in your moments of unbelief. We see two examples of unbelief mentioned in today’s passage:
1. Unbelief of the Pharisees
[11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. [12] 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.” (v11-12)
I find it interesting that this event comes right after the encounter with the Gentiles. We saw the Gentiles have a great desire to be with Jesus. So much so that they didn’t think about carrying extra food while they went to spend time with Jesus. Unlike the Gentiles, these Pharisees who were the most religious people of the time came to Jesus and argued with him. A very different approach. A different heart.
Were they unbelieving? Yes. I want us to consider two words that we’ll be using to analyze this text : FRUIT AND ROOT. Fruit is the outward action being displayed and Root is the inward attitude that causes it. So let’s look at the Fruit and Root of this type of unbelief:
FRUIT: Demand Barrier.
They argued with Jesus because they wanted him to show a sign from heaven that proved Him to be the Messiah who was sent by God! The first time I read this I was like “really”? They need more signs to authenticate Jesus? Healing lepers, paralytics, deaf, blind, raising the dead, casting out demons, feeding thousands….are these not enough? What more are they looking for? Sometimes it’s easier for us to judge the Pharisees but it gets a little touchy when we have to ask ourselves the same question.
When it comes to obeying Christ and surrendering ourselves to Him, do we put up demands like “Jesus, if you do this for me then I’ll fully commit myself to you”? Or like “Jesus, if you perform this one miracle in my workplace or marriage or heal me from this disease, then I’ll give up my sinful life”. One of the main problems of this approach is that it seems to make us think that God exists for us. And that’s not the teaching of the Bible. We exist for God!
Isaiah 43:7 says “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made”. He places the demands, not us. And that brings us to the root
ROOT: Sin barrier.
For the Pharisees it says they did this to “test him”. They were trying to find a way to maliciously trap him by making this demand. If we have to ask ourselves this question today, what’s our motive behind placing demands before God? Do we really think that we’ll be fully committed to God once God performs a miracle? Or is it just an excuse so that we don’t have to surrender? So that we don’t have to give up our way of life? And more often than not, it’s not the lack of evidence that keeps us from believing but it’s the unwillingness to change.
So we’ll keep arguing and debating on issues that are not central to the message of salvation. We’ll talk about spiritually intellectual topics and linger there but not allow it to penetrate through your heart.
Some years back I remember connecting with this one friend who knew a lot about the Bible. He used to listen to the best preachers and I’ve enjoyed some good moments of fellowship with him. One day when we met he openly shared and told me that he didn’t think he was a believer.
He shared about his repeated pattern of sin that he was struggling with. He spent months without reading the Word or prayer and then he commented saying that he was at that point of unbelief that only if he saw Jesus perform a big miracle for him, would he believe. I was quite shocked because we led youth groups together. We had theological discussions but still he was still in place where he was looking for a big miracle to believe.
I know some of us are in this position right so I don’t want you to feel that I’m downplaying this. Jesus Christ has performed the greatest ever miracle by coming down to the earth in the form of man. The Word says that He took the nature of a servant and then humbled Himself by dying on a cross – the worst punishment of that day to rescue you and I from the eternal wrath of God due to our sins.
He rose again and gave us new life – living His life through us unto God. We have the most amazing privilege to know the Almighty Creator God and live for Him every single day. Could there be a bigger miracle than this? Absolutely not.
Please don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong in praying for a miracle in your life. But what we want to resist and repent of the need for a miracle to give us a reason to believe. Christ has given us ample number of reasons right from Creation – heavens declare the glory of God, the Bible that speaks plainly of who God Is and Jesus Christ who suffered and died for you and me to give us Himself. Not only is there unbelief among Pharisees but there is a kind of unbelief of the disciples.
2. Unbelief of the disciples
[14] Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. [15] And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”[b] [16] And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. [17] And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18] Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? [19] When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” [20] “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” [21] And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Just after the encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus cautions his disciples to be careful of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians. Leaven is the yeast that was used in the bread. In this context, yeast or the leaven would mean the legalistic teachings & corrupt attitudes of the Pharisees could easily influence the disciples.
Remember the Pharisees were the legalistic, super religious and knowledgeable people of the time. It could be that the disciples looked up to them or were fascinated by them. Jesus warned them to be alert and not allow their teachings and attitudes to affect them.
The disciples on the other hand thought that Jesus was referring to the fact that they didn’t have bread. Now on the exterior it might seem like a simple misunderstanding out of ignorance but Jesus points to their hardened hearts.
FRUIT: Discernment Barrier.
Jesus says that they couldn’t perceive or understand because their hearts were hardened. Then he said they have eyes but can’t see. Ears but can’t hear. What is Jesus talking about? Jesus was referring to the spiritual eyes and spiritual ears which were blocked due to their hardened hearts
You and I could listen to best preacher of all time who’s speaking in the clearest possible manner with the right illustrations and applications but still have difficulty understanding. Not because of the language or vocabulary but because our spiritual capacities aren’t receptive to receive what we need to receive.
Guess what? The disciples were listening to the best preacher ever – Jesus Christ and yet didn’t understand. We need to recognize that our hearts get hardened with sin and that makes it difficult for us to hear and see the glory of Scripture. What could be the root here?
ROOT: Worry Barrier.
The disciples were so concerned about the lack of bread & that was their main discussion among themselves. Their concern for their lack of bread prevented them from understanding and applying spiritual truths. Again, let’s compare them with the 4000 gentiles who were fed and satisfied. They were more concerned about being in the presence of God and didn’t even carry extra bread.
I think this falls in line with what’s described in Matthew 6.
[31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [32] For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
For some of us, it’s anxiety regarding our physical & emotional needs that often prevent us from being concerned about understanding and applying spiritual truths. Ask yourself this question – how many times do I allow my anxieties to reign over my time in the Word and prayer? Like we are sitting in front of the Bible or listening to a sermon but our mind is just all over the place getting worked up about work or home or relationship or finances.
It’s interesting how Jesus responds to this. He makes the disciples introspect and think about the condition of their hearts? He talks about the need to have their spiritual ears and eyes opened. And then he reminds them about what He’s done and what they’ve witnessed in person. There were 12 baskets of left overs left after he fed 5000! There were 7 baskets full of left overs after he fed 4000! Jesus showed who He was through those miracles. He is the Creator God who feeds and satisfies His people. He compassionately cares and looks after their needs. Therefore, he can command his disciples “to not be anxious”.
Strange right? Why didn’t Jesus just make a suggestion? Something like “I think it’ll be good idea if you could not worry for a while”. No, Jesus can command because He knows He will provide. It’s for our hearts to find rest in those promises so that we can focus on understanding and applying Scriptural truths.
Let’s take that as an encouragement personally and even corporately…when we are perplexed, we know we can lean on his promises because He is faithful and we can pursue in prayer because He cares for us!
Finally I believe the healing miracle is a real event but Mark uses it to illustrate the heart condition of the disciples. The same manner in which the blind man was brought to Jesus for healing can be paralleled with the disciples great need for Jesus.
The blind man’s partial sight was similar to the unbelief of the disciples. Inspite of witnessing Jesus’ character, words and works they still weren’t able to acknowledge Him as Lord. But the amazing part is just as Jesus didn’t allow the blind man’s unbelief to prevent him from seeing, Jesus is able to power through the unbelief of the disciples to help them understand, believe and come to know Him as their Savior and Sovereign Lord!
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