1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:01,920 I've titled our sermon this morning. 2 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,200 See and understand When Jesus walked this earth, one of the 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:12,880 struggles that people often faced and they still face today 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,040 is lack of faith. That's an ongoing struggle. 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:23,120 We have lack of faith. When faith is lacking, it is 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,960 often because we do not see what God wants us to see or we choose 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,640 to look elsewhere. We choose not to trust. 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,920 If we're going to be able to see in a way that we can understand, 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,960 it will take faith. And maybe you're here this 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:44,920 morning and you're someone who's struggling to see and you feel 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:50,040 you don't understand. There needs to be a connection 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,720 to for that to happen. Faith is something we must 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,880 choose in our text this morning, which we will go into in a few 14 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,840 minutes. We will see the importance of 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,680 being able to see and understand, and it takes faith 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,519 for that to happen. The writer to the Book of 17 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:09,200 Hebrews and Hebrews 11 verse one and two and three writes this 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,480 now. Faith is the substance of things 19 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,360 hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the 20 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,720 elders obtained a good testimony. 21 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,720 By faith we understand that the world's were framed by the word 22 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,840 of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:34,280 which are visible. One comparison that we can 24 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,520 perhaps use would be that of a road map. 25 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,800 We have the GPS, so we don't use Rd. maps that much anymore, but 26 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,680 I remember very much when I relied on road maps, Rd. maps to 27 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,240 get anywhere. We'd go to Mexico to visit 28 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,680 family and I'd take a road map to travel through through the 29 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,240 States, and there were places I had never been to before. 30 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:54,880 I'd take a road that I'd never taken before. 31 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,680 But I looked at the map and I trusted what was written on that 32 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,840 map and I acted on that information. 33 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,040 Faith is believing that this is the reality that will come to 34 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:07,600 pass. Faith is the trust and 35 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,160 confidence that we're doing the right thing without having seen 36 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,360 the outcome yet. And everybody in this world has 37 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,960 faith at some level of some sort, even people who would say 38 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:21,200 without I don't believe the Bible. 39 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,640 That doesn't mean that they just believe in nothing. 40 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:24,960 They just have a different world view. 41 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,120 They have a faith system of some kind, a value system of some 42 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:33,720 kind by which they live. Jesus invites us to make him our 43 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,240 focus, to make him the object of our faith. 44 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,560 He wants us to see him, not physically as we see in our 45 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,280 physical eyes, but see him mentally or cognitive. 46 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,600 He wants us to see Him be sometimes asked, don't you see 47 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:50,960 well, see what? Well, the truth, Don't you see 48 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,440 this? And so he wants us to see him 49 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:57,720 that way, understand him. Jesus invites us to seek him, to 50 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,160 look to him, and to build our faith on him. 51 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,040 And it's important that we understand this correctly. 52 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:09,320 Our faith in God may be real, but our but our understanding 53 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,760 may still be shallow and maybe our understanding is immature 54 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:18,120 and may be flawed. Many people find themselves in 55 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:19,960 this predicament. I do too sometimes. 56 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,160 Some. For some believers, they believe 57 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,320 in God but are still very problem focused. 58 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,000 In other words, they have a tendency, as they say, to see 59 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 the glass half empty versus half full. 60 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,480 They're pessimists at heart. Maybe some of us here this 61 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,160 morning find ourselves in that place. 62 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,840 We sometimes find it easy to complain, to live as if faith is 63 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,320 not real. We say it is, but then our the 64 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,800 evidence is not really always there. 65 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,040 Jesus came to this world to bring us back into relationship 66 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,840 with God, to have faith in God and live our life accordingly. 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,440 And it's His will that we live in unity and harmony with him 68 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,120 and serve in a faith relationship. 69 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,920 We've been going through our sermon series and Mark, and this 70 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,800 morning we will look at Mark chapter 8, beginning verse 1 to 71 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,880 30. In this passage, we find several 72 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,840 stories that the writer Mark records and we want to see how 73 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,399 all of these different events, how they happened, how they 74 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:22,880 interconnect and build. 1 on the other, the stories of the 75 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,880 miracles that Mark wrote about, they were not written just to 76 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,240 let the reader out. And oh, by the way, Jesus can do 77 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:30,760 this. Oh, Jesus can also do that. 78 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,160 Sure, Jesus did those things. He performed miracles, and yes, 79 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,720 they were done for people, for the benefit of the people, but 80 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,680 there was a deeper purpose behind it all. 81 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,160 Jesus performed miracles to direct people's minds and hearts 82 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,160 toward God. He wanted his works to be the 83 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,160 signs through which people would see God working in him and 84 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,880 through him. But people were generally slow 85 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,280 in getting the purpose and the message and sometimes they got 86 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:02,480 the message all wrong. And then of course there were 87 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,720 always the Pharisees who refused to get the message for a large 88 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,280 part that people were not seeing and they were not understanding 89 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,960 or and they were slow and believing. 90 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,680 So this morning we want to read Mark chapter 8 beginning verse 91 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,600 one and it would like to turn into your Bibles and to your 92 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,320 whatever you use to begin reading Mark chapter 8 verse one 93 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,320 to the end of verse 30. In those days the multitude 94 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,640 being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his 95 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:37,120 disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the 96 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,160 multitude because they have now continued with me 3 days and 97 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,560 have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry 98 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,440 to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of 99 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,800 them have come from afar. Then his disciples answered him, 100 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,280 How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the 101 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:57,120 wilderness? Pessimist point number one. 102 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,840 There he asked them, how many loaves do you have? 103 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,480 Jesus doesn't say, OK, by the way, just send them away. 104 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,120 Then he's how many loaves do you have? 105 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,360 They said 7, verse 6. So he commanded the multitude to 106 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,240 sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and 107 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,000 gave thanks and broke them and gave them to His disciples to 108 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,960 set before them, and they set them before the multitude. 109 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,840 They also had a few small fish, and having blessed them, He said 110 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:25,400 to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and 111 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,560 they took up 7 large baskets of leftover fragments. 112 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,320 Now those who had eaten were about 4000. 113 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,920 And He sent them away immediately, got into the boat 114 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,880 with His disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha. 115 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,200 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, 116 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,080 seeking for Him a sign from heaven, testing Him, another 117 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,960 issue. But he sighed deeply in the 118 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,280 spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? 119 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,640 Assuredly I say to you, no sign shall be given to this 120 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,840 generation. Then he left them, getting to 121 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,760 the boat, departed to the other side, It's gone again. 122 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,680 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not 123 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:05,800 have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 124 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,920 Then he charged them saying, take heed, beware of the leaven 125 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,960 of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod, and the reason among 126 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,320 themselves saying it is because we have no bread. 127 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,520 Another issue. But Jesus being aware of it, 128 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:19,880 said to them, Why do you reason? Because you have no bread? 129 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,440 Do you not yet perceive or understand me? 130 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,160 Don't you see? Is your heart still hardened? 131 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,320 Having eyes you do not see and having ears do not, you do not 132 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:29,800 hear? You're not, Do you not hear? 133 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,760 And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 134 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,560 5000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? 135 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:40,920 They said 12. Also when I broke the seven for 136 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,640 the 4000, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take 137 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:44,680 up? They said, 7. 138 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,120 He said to him, How is it you do not understand? 139 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,000 Then he came to Bethsaida. They landed again, and they 140 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,480 brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 141 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:57,800 So he took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the 142 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,880 town. And when he had spit on his eyes 143 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,760 and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. 144 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,760 He looked up and said, I see men like trees walking. 145 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,200 Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up, 146 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,760 and he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 147 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,640 Then he sent him away to his house, saying, neither go into 148 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,480 town nor tell anyone in the town. 149 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,160 Now Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea 150 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,240 Philippi, and on the road he asked his disciples, saying to 151 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,320 them, Who do men say that I am? So the answer John the Baptist, 152 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:32,120 but some say Elijah, others one of the prophets. 153 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,720 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 154 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,840 Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. 155 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,240 Then he strictly warned them that they should tell no one. 156 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:43,960 That's for the reading of God's Word. 157 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:48,120 You see, last Sunday we look at the story of Jesus teaching the 158 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,680 crowds on what defiles a person and it's not what you eat, what 159 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,280 defiles you, it's what you say, what defiles you, that the 160 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,680 actions and the words you say that defiles you. 161 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,680 The diet you have is not what defiles you and the the 162 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:01,840 Pharisees, they had this tradition. 163 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,640 You wash your hands this many times a certain way and and 164 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,680 that's how you do not get defiled and we won't go. 165 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,480 We don't did not take time last Sunday to go over the stories in 166 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,680 the end of Chapter 7, which we won't again today. 167 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,320 But basically Jesus healed a demon possessed daughter, a girl 168 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,560 from a Gentile woman from the she was demon possessed. 169 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,800 Jesus healed her and then Jesus also healed him healed a man who 170 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,040 was had a speech impediment. He couldn't talk and Jesus 171 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,240 healed both of these and he spent some time in that area. 172 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:36,160 And today we pick up the story in chapter 8 and what happens 173 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,240 there. A large crowd of people has 174 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:45,080 gathered there with Jesus and they're there three days. 175 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,480 It says in verse one to three, the multitude being very great 176 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,720 and having nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and 177 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,800 said to them, I have compassion on the multitude because they've 178 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,840 now continued with me 3 days and have nothing to eat. 179 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,840 And he said if I send them away Hungary to their houses, they'll 180 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:01,640 faint on the way. For some of them have come from 181 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,480 afar. Jesus cares. 182 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,800 That's the first thing we notice in this passage. 183 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:11,440 Jesus is a shepherd, who cares. One speaker I listened to 184 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,480 mentioned that the reason the people were with Jesus for this 185 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,240 amount of time was not because they all wanted healing. 186 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,640 Of course some obviously wanted healing, but to be with Jesus 187 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,840 for that amount of time. Three days listening to one guy 188 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:25,880 talk. That's a pretty good stretch. 189 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,800 Jesus was teaching, and every day for three days in a row they 190 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,800 had been listening to him. Now, if somebody came just for 191 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:34,640 healing, it would come and get healed and leave. 192 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,200 But no, they came for something more Jesus was getting. 193 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:40,560 Jesus was getting their attention. 194 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:46,400 They stayed with him, but what they were getting was not yet 195 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,440 the best that was to come. They were going to see who he 196 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,520 was. And John relates the story in a 197 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,240 bit different way. We're going to get to that in in 198 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:55,000 a little while. But what was happening here is 199 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,360 very interesting. Jesus teaching the people about 200 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,520 God, what God is, who God is and so on. 201 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:06,360 And oh, there's a food issue. He doesn't want to send them 202 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,800 away with nothing and makes one think, well, where was the 203 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,400 planning committee for this event? 204 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,120 Didn't they think of this? Look, if we, we would, we would 205 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:18,960 at least plan, would we not? I mean, if we're going to have a 206 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,160 guy come here to speak for three days and nobody goes home for 207 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,560 three days and we're far away from food sources, from 208 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:25,600 anything, wouldn't we plan at least? 209 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,680 Well, Jesus of course, knew what he was doing, but the disciples, 210 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:30,520 I'm wondering if they wanted what he was doing. 211 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,680 We're not told. But the point of the matter is 212 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,640 they have no food. They need food. 213 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,320 They're hungry. To send them away is not an 214 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,320 option. Now we've got to do something. 215 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,960 And Jesus says, I, I don't want to send them away. 216 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,720 I have compassion on these people and the disciples, true 217 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,720 to their nature. What are we going to do? 218 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,960 How can we satisfy these people with bread? 219 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,560 Here in the wilderness? We don't have bread. 220 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,560 And so Jesus, as he had done before in Chapter 7, he begins 221 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:00,560 in chapter 6. Rather, he begins with what's 222 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:04,120 available, which really is just nothing for 4000 people. 223 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:08,280 And he has a few loaves and two fish. 224 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,560 And as he did back then in chapter 6, he did it again back 225 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,480 then it said that he did it in Jewish territory, and this is in 226 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,680 Gentile territory. And he takes this bit of bread, 227 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:23,360 gives to the disciples. Well, thanks for it gives to the 228 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,480 disciples and they eat. And miracle of miracles, there's 229 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,360 a lot leftover. And just a bit of a side note 230 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,680 here, Mark Chapter 6, it says they gathered 12 baskets full. 231 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:40,200 And now and Mark it says they in Mark 7-8 it says they gathered 7 232 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,240 large baskets. And it's not original with me, 233 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,000 but somebody drew attention to the fact that there's a 234 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,600 difference between these baskets. 235 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,960 In chapter 6, the baskets were just baskets that carried food 236 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,920 and just small baskets. But the word basket in chapter 8 237 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,680 is different and that the Greek words are not the same and it 238 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:00,880 means something large like a hamper per SE. 239 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,720 And they acts Chapter 9, verse 25, where the apostle Paul is 240 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:09,000 lower over the wall in Damascus and he escapes the Jews who want 241 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,120 to kill him. There's the same word, use 242 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,000 baskets big enough for a person to sit in, in other words. 243 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,920 And so they have seven large hampers or whatever, full of 244 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,520 leftover. Well, Jesus did this miracle for 245 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,040 the purpose not only of feeding the crowd, He wants to send a 246 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,360 message. He saw the need of the crowd. 247 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,080 He cared for the need He could have at the outside, planned 248 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:30,320 something. He could have said on day 2, hey 249 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,000 guys, we're going to run out of food. 250 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,200 Day 2 is here. Send them away so they don't 251 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,840 starve. But no, he had a more important 252 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:38,360 thing. He wanted to show the crowd who 253 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:42,480 he was, what he was. Look, the point here is where 254 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,680 people see problems, Jesus sees opportunity. 255 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:50,160 Isn't that like us? Where we see problems, Jesus 256 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,720 sees opportunities. And we're sometimes the flip 257 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,120 side is also true. We see opportunities. 258 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,960 Oh, what an opportunity. Jesus sees problems. 259 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,640 You do that, you're going to have problems. 260 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:03,880 We don't always see the same way. 261 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:05,880 And so our seeing and understanding is different than 262 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,560 Christ seeing and understanding is. 263 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,400 You see, how we see influences how we determine and how we 264 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,840 respond. Well, Jesus was possibility 265 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:22,480 minded, opportunity minded, the Sysypus were scarcity minded. 266 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,560 You know what, we haven't got enough. 267 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:27,680 We're short, what are we going to do? 268 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,400 How well we see, how far we see and what we see depends on what 269 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:37,040 we look for. If we just look at the negative, 270 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,640 the dark, the difficult, that's what we'll find. 271 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,360 I'm not saying that there's no problems. 272 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:45,800 There's no issues. There are times we have to 273 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:47,800 simply call things as they are. This is not possible. 274 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,800 And some things, but oftentimes it's because we don't want to be 275 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,800 bothered. We don't want to wrestle. 276 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,960 We don't want to struggle. What would have been a better 277 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,160 thing for the disciples to say instead of where we're going to 278 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,360 find this saying, Lord, we're here to serve you. 279 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:06,640 You do this, Lord, we're here to serve. 280 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,200 That would have been faith. Are we so problem focused that 281 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,440 that consumes us? I have to confess, sometimes I 282 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,920 am. Jesus wanted to show the people 283 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:23,600 about his power and his glory. And so to wrap up this three day 284 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,800 teaching ministry event, He fed them and it says that he right 285 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,760 away got into the boat. He dismissed the crowd, got into 286 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:32,480 the boat and came to the region of Dalmanutha. 287 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,040 Now Jesus is again in Jewish territory, and we might say he's 288 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:42,400 in Pharisee country again. And after he arrived in this 289 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,480 place called Dalmanutha, who comes to see him? 290 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:49,640 The Pharisees, Mark says they came to test him back in March. 291 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:51,960 Mark Chapter 7. The Pharisees came all the way 292 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,920 from Jerusalem, engaged him in an argument all about the 293 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,920 cleanliness and washing of hands and those things, and Jesus put 294 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,200 them in their place, so to speak, and here they come to 295 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,800 test him. And notice what he says in Mark 296 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:07,640 chapter 1211, eight verse 12. But he sighed deeply in his 297 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,760 Spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? 298 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,240 Surely I say to you, no sign shall be given to this 299 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:14,800 generation. And he left them, and getting 300 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,120 into the boat, departed to the other side. 301 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,680 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread and did not have 302 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,440 more than one loaf with Him on this boat trip. 303 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,440 Then he charged them, saying take heed, be aware of the 304 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,040 leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod, and the reason 305 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,040 among themselves saying it's because we got no bread. 306 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:36,120 How much bread does He need to feed a crowd? 307 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,840 7 loaves. There are only 12 guys and 13 308 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,520 guys in the boat. Wouldn't one loaf suffice? 309 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,600 Somebody made your attention to that, but that's not what's 310 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,640 going on here. But just imagine this. 311 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,200 First the Pharisees, Jesus just walked away. 312 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,440 They asked for a sign to test and He refuses. 313 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:52,600 The crowd hadn't asked for anything. 314 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:55,400 They weren't there to test him. They had come to listen to him, 315 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,080 to see what this master has to teach the Pharisees. 316 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,080 They don't come to listen, they come to find fault. 317 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,880 Jesus had healed a number of people earlier, yes, on the 318 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,280 journey up to northern Tyre and Sidon, but here in Jewish 319 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,480 country, the Pharisees come to see a sign and he refused. 320 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,000 He knew why they came. They came with no good 321 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,480 intentions. And he's deeply concerned about 322 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,880 the life of the Pharisees, the teaching of the Pharisees, what 323 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,400 they're doing. They had religion, but not real 324 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,520 faith. They were very religious. 325 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,240 Everything has to be done a certain way, a certain pattern, 326 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,520 a certain way, and everything has to line up a certain way. 327 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:32,560 And Jesus says, you guys got it wrong. 328 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,280 And here you won't even engage them in a conversation. 329 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,440 And Jesus is concerned because they're leading people astray. 330 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,760 So Jesus wants the disciples to see and understand falsehood. 331 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,000 So he warns them. He warns them against the leaven 332 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,480 of the Pharisees. He knew what they were after. 333 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,680 They were only trying to bait Jesus and to catch him in some 334 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,480 statement they hoped he would make, and they would slam the 335 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,040 trap and he would be discredited. 336 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,760 And what what the Pharisees did, It affected Jesus deeply. 337 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,280 Jesus was human after all, like we are, and the things that 338 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,040 affect people affected him and he had limits. 339 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,840 He got tired as he sighed deeply, Mark writes. 340 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,680 He sighed deeply in the Spirit. Why does this generation seek a 341 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,280 sign? You know, sometimes in life 342 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:22,880 there are times you just walk away. 343 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,400 You just leave. There are times to just walk 344 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,680 away. There are people who make it 345 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:35,680 their mission to discredit, to give bad reputations on what 346 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:39,200 they don't understand and what they have no business even 347 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,920 talking about. The Pharisees were those kinds 348 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,320 of people. They were not there to 349 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,480 understand Jesus, to learn to get to know Jesus, even to 350 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,280 listen to Jesus is what can we find wrong with him? 351 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,200 And those kinds of people live then. 352 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:55,600 Those kinds of people live in our time. 353 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:59,160 There are people who will see and hear, never understand. 354 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,040 They will discredit the good that God is doing and that is 355 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,000 happening. He says no sign shall be given 356 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,680 to them. Sometimes when a contentious 357 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:14,320 person asks you a question, you already know why they're asking. 358 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,240 You can already guess what they've decided the right answer 359 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,040 is. They just want you to give a 360 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,320 response they can hook onto, and then they got you and set you up 361 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,880 for a fall. Jesus didn't fall for it. 362 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,440 So he leaves there. He leaves the religious leaders 363 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:32,760 behind, gets into the boat to their side. 364 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,680 And the disciples, uh oh, we have no bread with us except one 365 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,040 loaf. And Jesus used that as a 366 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,240 learning, as a teaching tool. Beware of the leaven of the 367 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,400 Pharisees. Beware of the leaven of Herod. 368 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,920 He starts talking about leaven. This is not maybe yeast that we 369 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,600 would have in a little cannon pour into the water and mix 370 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,360 them, put in a dough. I don't know if they had that 371 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:52,960 yeast or not, but writers suggest this was some sourdough, 372 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,960 a lump of sourdough. They mix them with fresh dough 373 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,920 and it kind of reacts with the dough and it puffs up. 374 00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,960 And so you have, it's the yeast reaction in it. 375 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,880 Anyway, Jesus says beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the 376 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,960 leaven of Herod. And he wants the people to 377 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,520 beware and not fall for their teaching or not fall for the 378 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,520 pressure. In many cases, the Bible uses 379 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,320 the illustration of fermentation to illustrate the idea of 380 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,240 influence. Paul used that illustration in 381 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,880 First Corinthians chapter 5, where he responds to the issue 382 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,120 in Corinth of this man who's living sexually immoral. 383 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,560 And the congregation is actually approving of it or tolerating it 384 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,280 at least, and they're not accepting responsibility for it. 385 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:35,520 And Paul has a clear word of warning. 386 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,600 He says Your glory is not good. Do you not know that a little 387 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,320 leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge of the old 388 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,640 leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are 389 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,080 unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover 390 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,880 was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let's keep the feast, 391 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,000 not with old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, 392 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,000 but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 393 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:00,760 So Paul had a good understanding of what Jesus was talking about 394 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,280 when Jesus talked about leaven. And this idea of leaven is very 395 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,400 relevant because if you have a little bit, you tolerate a 396 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,560 little bit soon. The whole thing is if infected 397 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:11,840 Jesus to the apostles, be careful. 398 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,840 Those guys are no good. Be careful of the leaven of the 399 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,520 Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. 400 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,400 There's no, there's no part. Let's meet part way. 401 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,920 Let's link hands on and and kind of compromise doesn't work that 402 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,080 way. He is warning them not to be 403 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,040 influenced or to be pressured by the ways of these religious 404 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,040 leaders nor the influence by King Herod. 405 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,240 And then he goes on and he he says to them, verse 17. 406 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:43,480 He says, but he's being aware of what they're talking. 407 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,280 We have no bread. He said to them, why do you 408 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:46,880 reason? Because you have no bread? 409 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,400 Do you not yet perceive or understand? 410 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,280 Is your heart still hardened, having eyes you do not see and 411 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,560 having ears do not hear? Do you not remember when I broke 412 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,080 the five loaves for the 5000? How many baskets full of 413 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,360 fragments did you take up? They said to him, 12. 414 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,880 Also when I broke the seven for the 4000, how many large baskets 415 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,840 of fragments did you take up? And they said seven. 416 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,600 He said to them, How is it you do not understand? 417 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,880 You see friends, even his disciples. 418 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,920 It sounds like a little bit of exasperation. 419 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:23,160 The voice of Jesus, He was a man and he had so much patience and 420 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,560 he never gave up on these guys. And I'm so thankful he didn't 421 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,400 because he doesn't give up and he doesn't give up on us. 422 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:31,840 If he had given up on them, then he could give up on us, but he 423 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,040 doesn't. How is it you don't understand? 424 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,000 But maybe we should ask the question to ourselves. 425 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:41,360 How is it we don't understand these men whom Jesus had chosen? 426 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,400 They too struggle to see and understand. 427 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,440 That's so often our situation as well. 428 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:50,400 We struggle to see and we struggle to understand, but that 429 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,680 doesn't mean that Jesus gives up on us or abandons us. 430 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,600 He continues to guide us and teach us. 431 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,200 And this story is a man. Jesus showed by his questions 432 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,840 what he was one of his disciples to get. 433 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:07,680 And Jesus asks 9 questions in this short passage. 9 questions, 434 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,280 especially the last one hits hard. 435 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,560 How is it you do not understand? He's not the problem. 436 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,920 The works are not the problem. The teachings are not the 437 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,120 problem. It's my own limitation that's 438 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:24,720 the problem. I wonder how the disciples must 439 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,160 have felt. Well, these questions, maybe 440 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,480 they were embarrassed, maybe confused, maybe puzzled. 441 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,280 How is it that you do not understand? 442 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,160 He asked. This was one of those lessons 443 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,160 they found hard to grasp. And Jesus wants his disciples to 444 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,920 see with eyes of faith. If we had to be part of a 445 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,360 ministry like Jesus did, how much would we complain? 446 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,080 I'm afraid plenty. We do now. 447 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,280 And much of it is because we have. 448 00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:58,720 We don't see, we don't understand. 449 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,520 We want to, but we have too much stuff in our lives that doesn't 450 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,320 work. And so we have to have eyes of 451 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,880 faith. Jesus wants us to see with eyes 452 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,920 of faith. They'd seen enough miracles, the 453 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,160 feeding of the crowds, healings, and so on. 454 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,800 They'd seen a lot of stuff, but it seems like the lessons we're 455 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:20,560 not catching, we're not grabbing, not having the impact 456 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,520 that they should back in the gospel. 457 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,720 And and yeah, in the Gospel of John in chapter 6, verse 1 to 458 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,640 15, that same story is related, the feeding of the 5000. 459 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,840 And what Jesus did was he dismissed. 460 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,760 The crowd went off into the mountain to pray. 461 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,440 But if you read the story, it says he perceived that they were 462 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,760 going to come and make him king by force. 463 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,320 Mark doesn't talk about that. Mark is very brief, but why did 464 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,120 they want? Why did Jesus deal with that? 465 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:47,520 Because he didn't want to be their earthly king. 466 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,960 He saw that they were not seeing it from a from the, from the 467 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,280 right perspective. They saw him as a powerful man, 468 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,200 as the, as the, as the Messiah, but with a selfish motive. 469 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:00,240 But let's not be too hard on ordinary people. 470 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,200 Imagine this having a leader that if you have him as a 471 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,360 leader, he'll always be able to turn everything into what you 472 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:12,040 want it to be. That would be great, right? 473 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:17,120 No, it wouldn't be because we're sinful, sinful people bound by 474 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,440 sin nature and we need to be free, but that sin nature always 475 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,600 crops up and we would destroy ourselves. 476 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,800 Sinful nature's too unstable, too unpredictable to be left 477 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,760 unchecked. And Jesus can see how far he can 478 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,880 go with these people. Sinful nature will always try to 479 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,600 influence. Jesus is trying to get the 480 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,760 disciples to see from a different lens, from a different 481 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:42,160 perspective. And so he asked, how is it you 482 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,240 do not see? Jesus saw everything clearly. 483 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,360 And after Pentecost, the disciples would see too. 484 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,160 But at this point, there was still a lot long ways to go. 485 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,880 He did not want them to get caught up in the local, the 486 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,080 cultural, the ritual, the legalistic, the political, all 487 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,440 those things. It's easy to fall for these 488 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,600 pressures. He said there's so many things 489 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,960 you know, like well, in fact, John Chapter 7, his own brothers 490 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,160 says Joseph and Mary had had more children after Jesus was 491 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,920 born and they were married. His own brother said him show 492 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,800 yourself to the world do do something. 493 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:16,800 They wanted him to prove himself. 494 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,560 While we find Jesus moving on here in Mark chapter 8, he moves 495 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,840 comes into the land of Bethsaida and they bring a blind man to 496 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:26,800 him and they're begging Jesus heal him. 497 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,160 And Jesus response is very interesting. 498 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,200 Similar to the deaf man in Chapter 7, Jesus now led the man 499 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,400 away from the crowd like he did in seven. 500 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,080 It says here verse 22. Then he came to Bethsaida and 501 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,640 they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 502 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,160 So he took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the 503 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,720 town. And when he had spit on his eyes 504 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,840 and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. 505 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,920 He looked up and said I see men like trees walking. 506 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,160 Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up 507 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,160 and he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 508 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,080 Then he sent him away to his house saying neither go into the 509 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,360 town nor tell anyone in the town. 510 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,520 Mark goes into quite a bit of detail how Jesus did this 511 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,480 healing and the man sees partially after the first act 512 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,600 and not clearly yet Jesus puts his hands on his eyes again and 513 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,240 then he's totally healed. We wonder why. 514 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,640 Why would Jesus do that? I mean, he had healed people 515 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,080 with just a word at other places, other times. 516 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,480 Why not now? We're not given the information 517 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,040 in the Gospel of Mark as to why one way or not another, but 518 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,880 scholars have ideas, and some point out that Jesus was doing 519 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,400 this by way of an object lesson. He had been talking to the 520 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,040 people a lot about seeing and hearing. 521 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:39,120 He did heal a deaf man in Mark Chapter 7. 522 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,000 He was hearing, hearing, healing a blind man. 523 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,200 But he does this in stages and he heals the man and the way 524 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,680 some people come to sight, instead of healing him with a 525 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,280 few words, he he heals him with spitting in his eyes something 526 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,240 that was considered maybe medicinal value. 527 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,320 Spit had medicinal value apparently, and touching him and 528 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,120 he saw something. And then do you see? 529 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:06,160 I see medic trees walking. And then he does it again. 530 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,800 And then he sees clearly. And it's true Christ's 531 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,800 intervention that he sees clearly. 532 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,880 And so it's with us. Many people struggle in life 533 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,200 don't see clearly. It's good if we know we don't 534 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:17,520 see clearly. That's a good thing. 535 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,000 But we don't have to stay there. Just like this man who could not 536 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,440 see. He was helpless, and so are we 537 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,240 until somebody helped him. And so are we. 538 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:30,040 We need someone to help us to see clearly and lift the fog 539 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,080 that's around us. Jesus had been with his 540 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,160 disciples for quite some time now, and repeatedly he had to 541 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,120 help them move past their limited sight. 542 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,480 He used the physical object lesson to highlight this. 543 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,040 You see these disciples, they had blind spots, but we don't, 544 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:48,960 do we? We don't have blind spots, do 545 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:50,720 we? You see when we have a blind 546 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,560 spot, we're not aware that we have a blind spot because we 547 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,920 need somebody to tell us, am I not seeing something that you're 548 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,120 seeing? The quickest way to get rid of a 549 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,880 blind spot is to admit we have one and ask somebody else, am I 550 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,120 doing something you don't understand or that you see is 551 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,800 different wrong? In this man's case, after the 552 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,040 second stage he's healed. Many people go through life 553 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,960 never see clearly. In the case of the disciples, 554 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,840 they still had a lot to learn and after the healing of this 555 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:20,360 blind man, Jesus now goes on again, this time to the towns of 556 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,320 Caesarea Philippi. In Mark chapter 8 verse 27, it 557 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,080 says now Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of 558 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,800 Caesarea Philippi and on the road he asked his disciples 559 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,440 saying to them, who do men say that I am? 560 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,680 So they answered John the Baptist, but some say Elijah and 561 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,280 others one of the prophets, and he said to them, but who do you 562 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,400 say I am? Peter answered and said to me, 563 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:41,400 you're the Christ. Then he strictly warned them 564 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,360 that they should tell no one about him. 565 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,000 Jesus did not really need to ask his disciples, who do people say 566 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,080 I am? He knew who people said he was, 567 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,040 but he needed to hear it from them. 568 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,880 He wanted the disciples to tell him this is what people say you 569 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,120 are and it wasn't bad. Elijah, prophets and so on. 570 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,840 He had called his disciples to follow him, but he wanted to 571 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,080 hear from them. Who do you say I am? 572 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:08,680 And Peter says you're the Christ. 573 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,040 You see, that's the objective. If we get that right, we're 574 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,360 pointed in the right direction. The rest is a journey. 575 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:19,800 Some go quicker, some go slower, but we're all on a journey. 576 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,360 We may come from different cultural backgrounds, 577 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,000 traditional backgrounds, but if we're pointed to Christ, we're 578 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,600 pointed to him. And so we must see clearly who 579 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:29,240 Jesus is if we're going to follow him. 580 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,760 I trust that we here today, we do want to see Jesus for who he 581 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,760 who he is, not for what we would like him to be. 582 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,320 It's amazing how many people want to see Jesus just for the 583 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,400 unselfish ends. People want to politicize him, 584 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,680 make him do some financial health and wealth guru want 585 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,080 these all kinds of social fronts and platforms, some Jesus 586 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,400 movement, Jesus government. Jesus never came for any of 587 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,000 that. He didn't come to take sides. 588 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,000 He didn't come to push earthly temporal agendas, political 589 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,280 agendas. He came to restore humanity back 590 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,520 to God. He came to be the Christ, the 591 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:09,320 one who redeem us from our sins, who would die so we could live. 592 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,280 And throughout his earthly life and all these activities that we 593 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,200 read in the Gospels, Mark and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, he 594 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,560 did these things to live out the calling that God had on his life 595 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,400 as a man where things went wrong with the crowds and even some 596 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,000 extent the disciples, they expected this and that from 597 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,360 Jesus, do this and that. But Jesus never engaged it. 598 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:35,280 He never fell for it. And then after only three years 599 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,280 of ministry, was killed as a young rabbi. 600 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,680 Of course, God had ordained, planned this would happen, but 601 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,640 he was going to use the earthly, sinful ways of men to bring it 602 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,800 about. Back then, when all this went 603 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:51,320 down, when this all happened, Peter, his fellow apostles, had 604 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,280 no idea what was going on. All they knew Jesus was the 605 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,800 Christ, and to them this meant power and control. 606 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,200 Even at the Last Supper, they still could not see clearly. 607 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,640 Little did they realize that Jesus was a completely different 608 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,520 person, had a completely different agenda than they 609 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,120 envisioned him to be. He was not some earthly Messiah. 610 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,520 In a way this may not to sound crass, but it's almost like, hey 611 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,400 Jesus, yay, what can we do with Jesus? 612 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,200 He's going to help us. We can do this for Jesus. 613 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,200 With Jesus. That's blindness. 614 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,680 That's not seeing who Jesus is. You see we don't get Jesus. 615 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:28,360 He's Jesus gets us. We don't get Jesus, He gets us. 616 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,640 He's not there to make us into something that's for us. 617 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,400 We're here for His purpose, not our own. 618 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,640 We need to see that. We need to understand that that 619 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,800 turns the tables. I'm placed here to serve him, 620 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:48,800 worship him, glorify him, honor him and everything I am and do. 621 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,480 The disciples got some of it. The Pharisees got none of it. 622 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,080 And the the crowds, they were fairly fickle. 623 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,560 But Paul has an understanding of this in in first Corinthians 624 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,640 chapter 13, he writes verse 11. When I was a child, I spoke as a 625 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,360 child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. 626 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,160 But when I became a man, I put away childish things. 627 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,480 For now we see in the mirror dimly, but then face to face. 628 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,280 Now I know in part, but then I shall know, just as I'm fully 629 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,040 known. It's coming, It's going to 630 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:21,200 happen. We may not see clearly now. 631 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,760 We may be moving in stages, so to speak. 632 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:28,360 When you see dimly what sight is coming, and so is understanding. 633 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,920 Jesus wants us to see that He cares, wants us to see and 634 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,920 recognize Him for who He is. Wasn't to understand the dangers 635 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:39,960 of falsehood and see it with eyes of faith. 636 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:43,480 He wants us to see clearly. We must see Jesus where he is. 637 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,920 It's safe to say that after these had left this earth and 638 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,360 gone to heaven, the disciples, different points in time may 639 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:51,240 have reminisced. Yeah. 640 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:53,400 Yeah. Now that makes sense. 641 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:54,920 Yeah. That boat journey about the 642 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,640 leaven, Yeah, that makes sense. But that healing, I understand 643 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,040 now. I believe the same holds true 644 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,560 today. If we want to be in relationship 645 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,280 with Jesus. It will not happen by asking 646 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,679 Jesus to bow to our wishes, our dreams, our wants, our goals, 647 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:11,719 our desires. It will happen as we repent, 648 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,760 receive him, and receive Him on His terms. 649 00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:20,880 Jesus invites us to follow him, not in physical boats or on 650 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,400 desert treks, not where we see physical bread multiplied or 651 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:29,120 physical illness healed, but to places in life where our sight 652 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:32,560 is restored and our understanding grows. 653 00:34:33,159 --> 00:34:35,719 The prophet Isaiah had a good grasp of God's love and mercies, 654 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,960 and he invited his audience to come to God and receive and 655 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,800 receive what they needed. It says in Isaiah chapter 55, 656 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,120 verse one ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. 657 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,800 You have no money, Come by and eat. 658 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,679 Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. 659 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,480 Why do you spend money for what's not bread and your wage 660 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,440 for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat 661 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:04,240 what is good and let your soul delight itself in abundance. 662 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:09,720 May God give us eyes to see, minds to understand His message. 663 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:16,160 Let us pray, Lord, we're grateful for the teaching of 664 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,480 Your Word, who you are, what You came to do. 665 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,680 You came to claim us, to save us as your children, to heal us, 666 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,440 that we can walk with you. We thank you, Lord, that you're 667 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,640 our Savior. They've paid the debt of sin on 668 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,200 our behalf. We thank You that you guide our 669 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,960 steps, Lord. We pray, Lord, that our hearts 670 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,560 will be tuned to You and that we would experience the richness of 671 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:39,440 Your grace and presence in our lives. 672 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,320 We pray that You'll give us sight and understanding as to 673 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,560 what it is that You want to do in US and through us. 674 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:46,280 We thank in Jesus name, Amen.