When's the last time you took a test for those of you who are in
school or college? Might have been 2 days ago.
One of our kids had something like 4 tests in this last school
week and I was just talking to a college student who's got like 4
coming up next week. You know, midterms before spring
break. That last time you took a test,
how'd you feel preparing for it and then during it?
And then what about when you're reflecting on your performance
afterward? Or maybe the last Test you took
was not any kind of school exam, but a medical test.
You don't prepare for those in exactly the same way, but
they're still revealing. They bring something hidden to
light. They disclose something about
you that your doctor at least wants to know and wants you to
know about. And sometimes the results of the
test could be encouraging, reassuring.
Sometimes they could be unsettling or disturbing.
Sometimes they can feel like your whole life is a test.
Maybe it's the daily grind just wearing you down and making it a
little bit harder every single morning to show up for work or
to get up and take care of your family.
Sometimes the tests of life can be much more acute and extreme.
Suffering and hardship can come at you out of nowhere.
Something life altering and heartbreaking can just take you
by surprise. That's also a kind of test.
How do you respond? What do you do?
What do you rely on and what does that show you about
yourself? This morning we continue our
series in Mark's Gospel with chapter 8, verses 1 to 26.
If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand and someone
will bring you one. If you don't have a Bible, like
you just forgot it, that's OK. If you don't have a Bible, like
you don't have a Bible you regularly read at home, we'll
just keep it, take it home with you, and read the scriptures for
yourself. We'd be delighted for you to do
that. I'm going to read the whole
passage at the beginning, and as I read, consider what tests does
Jesus set for us and what does it take to pass them?
Mark 8-1 to 26. In those days when again a great
crowd had gathered and they had nothing to eat, he called his
disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the
crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have
nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry
to their homes, they will faint on the way.
And some of them have come from far away.
And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people
with bread here in this desolate place?
And he asked them, How many loves do you have?
They said seven. And He directed the crowd to sit
down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves,
and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his
disciples to set before the people.
And they set them before the crowd.
And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, He said
that these also should be set before them.
And they ate, and we're satisfied.
And they took up the broken pieces, leftover 7 baskets full,
and there were about 4000 people.
And he sent them away, and immediately he got into the boat
with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him
a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his
spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign?
Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.
And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the
other side. Now they had forgotten to bring
bread, and they had only one loaf with him 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 that you have no bread?
Do you not yet 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 5000, how many baskets full of
broken pieces did you take up? They said to him, 12 And the
seven for the 4000, How many baskets full of broken pieces
did you take up? And they said to him, 7 And he
said to them, Do you not yet understand?
And they came to Beseda, 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 let 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?
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. In this passage, we see Jesus
continue his saving mission, and that saving mission has a
particular shape and pattern. It's a fulfillment of the
Exodus, when God rescued his people from bondage in Egypt and
delivered them to the Promised land.
Jesus, too, is rescuing his people from bondage and leading
us into a land he's promised. And just like in the original
Exodus, the way in which God delivers us involves testing us
in the space between being rescued from Egypt and delivered
into the Promised Land. Our whole life is a series of
tests. So here's the point of the
sermon in a sentence. As Jesus leads us out of bondage
into his promised land, the key to every test is faith that only
he can give. As Jesus leads us out of bondage
into his promised land, the key to every test is faith that only
He can give. As we walk through the passage,
we'll consider 4 tests in the new Exodus that Jesus is leading
us through. 4 Tests in the New Exodus .1 Bread from Heaven We
see this test of the disciples faith in the 1st 9 verses Bread
from Heaven Look again with me at verses 1:00 to 3:00.
In those days when again a great crowd had gathered and they had
nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to
them, I have compassion on the crowd because they have been
with me now three days and have nothing to eat.
And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint
on the way. And some of them have come from
far away. If you have a remarkable sense
of Deja vu, you're not alone. We've seen this before.
This setup is remarkably like Jesus feeding of the 5000 back
in chapter 6. The need is the same.
Huge crowd, desolate place, nothing to feed them with,
nowhere to go, no supplies. Jesus motivation is the same.
He has compassion on the crowd if they've taken a big risk by
coming out to hear him teach in this remote place without any
idea of how long they'll be with him or how they'll be supplied
for their needs. But the way the problem begins
to be addressed in this case is different.
Last time, the disciples brought up the issue to Jesus.
This time, Jesus brings the issue to the attention of the
disciples. His implication is, So what are
you guys going to do about it? The disciples reply in verse 4.
How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate
place? Now if you're thinking about it
just on a human level, you bracket out what we've already
seen Jesus do. It's a reasonable question.
I can't feed 4000 people in the wilderness.
Neither can you. Not even Chick-fil-A could do
it. Humanly speaking, the objection
makes sense, but the disciples should know better.
They've seen this exact episode before.
Why are they so thick? Why don't they just tell Jesus?
All right, Jesus, we've seen you run this play.
We know you can do this one. It's not as if they've
completely forgotten. Later in the passage, Jesus
asked them about the first feeding of a multitude, and they
remember the details just fine. Their problem is not a lack of
information. The problem is a lack of
spiritual insight. The problem is they still don't
understand who Jesus is. They've seen a stunning miracle
and it hasn't sunk into their minds and hearts.
Their unbelief is so severe it's comical.
It's almost hard to believe. How could you see Jesus feed
5000 people in the wilderness and then not trust that he can
do the same thing over again? How can you see that and go,
well boy, wilderness? A lot of people, no food, don't
know how we're going to get out of this one.
That's exactly the point. You can't explain their unbelief
in rational terms. Their eyes are blinded.
It's like there's a screen over their eyes, so they can't make
sense of what they've already seen.
They've seen it, but they don't see it.
They've been there, but they don't get it.
It takes supernatural faith to receive the supernatural truth
of who Jesus is. Only by the miracle of faith can
you receive the mystery of His person.
In their lack of faith, the disciples echo the unbelief of
the generation of Israelites that God brought up out of
Egypt. Think about all that.
They saw the plagues in Egypt, deliverance out crossing through
the Red Sea. They'd seen God work marvel
after marvel after marvel, and yet they were unbelieving.
Psalm 78, verses 18 to 20 reflect on Israel's putting God
to the test in the wilderness in words that strikingly anticipate
verse four of our passage. They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the
wilderness? He struck the rock so that water
gushed out and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?
Just as Jesus is about to re enact God's miraculous act of
providing bread in the wilderness, so the disciples re
enact Israel's unbelief. Can God spread a table in the
wilderness? That is one of those passages
where it's easy to sit in judgement on the disciples.
How dumb can you get? How thick can you be?
But if you're tempted to judge the disciples in that way, I
just want you to reflect on your own spiritual life and ask, has
God ever provided for you? Has God ever answered a prayer?
Has God ever intervened in your life in such a dramatic way that
you can only say the Lord has done it?
And then have you ever forgotten the lesson he taught you by that
answer to prayer or deliverance? Have you ever looked back and
gone, wait a minute, I've God has done this, I've seen him do
it. I know He can do it.
He's proved himself. And yet there's been a gap
between what God taught you the first time and how you responded
the second time. Jesus is about to prove that he
can spread a table in the wilderness and he can spread a
table in the wilderness of your life.
Who can do that? Only God can.
That's what Jesus is going to prove.
In verses 5 to 9. He asked them how many loaves do
you have? They said seven.
And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took
the seven loaves and haven't given thanks.
He broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the
people, and they set them before the crowd.
And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said
that these also should be set before them.
And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken
pieces, leftover 7 baskets full, and there were about 4000
people. And he sent them away.
And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went
to the district of Dalmanutha, as Jesus did before.
He works with the supplies that the disciples had on hand.
As Jesus did before, He employs the disciples to distribute the
miraculously multiplied bread as Jesus did before.
He completely satisfies the hunger of the crowds that
there's even a bunch leftover. As Jesus did before, He
multiplies bread and fish from thin air.
He provides for the crowd's needs as only God can by putting
forth His power to create. The test here for the disciples
and for us is this. Will you trust in God's
provision when your situation is humanly impossible?
God loves to show off his power and grace and compassion by
providing for His people in situations that are humanly
impossible. He did that in the Exodus by
feeding his people with bread from heaven for 40 years.
Jesus did it here again by feeding 4000 people from teeny
tiny meagre supplies. And what Jesus did for them
then, he can do for you now. What do you need that only God
can supply? What situations in your life are
humanly hopeless? Whatever they are, cry out to
God and ask Him to do what only He can, the Puritan Thomas Case
wrote and his treatise on afflictions.
Israel learned more of God's all sufficiency in a land of drought
then she could have learned in the land flowing with milk and
honey. Namely, that God can feed
without bread and satisfy thirst without streams of water.
That He can make the clouds rain food and the rock give out
rivers. That the creature can do nothing
without God, but God can do what he please without the creature.
Thanks, Joe. When there's no food in the
wilderness, God can rain down bread from heaven.
When there's no way to provide for yourself, Jesus can multiply
what you need. That's how he provides for us.
That's how He provides not only our daily necessities, it's how
He provides salvation for us. Spiritually speaking, the
situation each of us is in by our fallen nature is even more
impossible than trying to feed 4000 people with seven loaves of
bread. Spiritually speaking, we're all
born blind to spiritual realities.
We're born with hearts deceived and distorted, set on the wrong
objects. We sin, and so we rack up a debt
that keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger
than we could never repay. When you see the situation here
of Jesus providing for the crowd, doing something humanly
impossible, you should think that's what it took to save me.
And if you're not a believer in Jesus, you should understand
that what it takes to save you is something no human being can
do. You can't do it yourself.
No parent can do it for you. No religious leader can do it
for you. Spiritually speaking, your
situation is humanly hopeless, which is why God sent Jesus into
the world to live a perfect life, to die on the cross, to
pay the penalty for all the sins of all those who had turned from
sin and trust in Him, and to rise from the dead.
Talk about humanly impossible. Jesus did what was humanly
impossible by rising from the grave after three days and then
ascending into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God,
and he calls all people now everywhere to repent and
believe. Jesus did for you what is
humanly impossible, so that if you receive it in faith, you'll
be right with God forever. Jesus became bred from heaven by
becoming Incarnate, by giving his body on the cross to be
broken for us, and by rising from the dead to become life
imperishable itself, to offer that same eternal life to all
who trust in Him. So often God tests us in how He
provides for us. He tests us in order to teach us
that Our Daily Bread comes from Him.
He tests us to train us to look for provision more from Him than
from any human or earthly cause. God tests us by withholding what
we need for a time. He tests us by delaying.
He tests us by letting things get worse and worse, so that we
cry out to Him again and again, so that it becomes undeniable
that the solution to our problem came as an answer to our
prayers. He tests us by putting us into
positions that look humanly impossible, so that we come to
learn by experience that what is impossible with man is possible
with God. Look again at verse 4.
How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate
place? What in your life most tempts
you to ask, how could God possibly provide?
Fill in the blank, whatever that is.
Make it a focus of persistent, persevering prayer.
Bread from heaven is a test because you have to look up to
God in prayer to receive it. Bread from heaven is a test
because God delights to provide by letting human means run clean
out so that it's evident that the means are all His.
God delights to provide for you in ways that put you to the
test. But because of that, and because
of the spiritual pride in all of our hearts, we're tempted to
turn the tables on God. We're tempted to put God to the
test .2 Testing Jesus. Testing Jesus.
We see the Pharisees put Jesus to the test in verse 10 to 13 of
our passage. Look with me at those verses.
And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went
to the district of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to
argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven to test him.
And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, Why does this
generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will
be given to this generation. And he left them, got into the
boat again, and went to the other side.
The main point of this section is that Jesus does not perform
proofs of His saving power on demand.
Notice the Pharisees posture here.
Verse 11 tells us they sought a sign to test Him.
They were not humbly inquiring. This was not faith seeking
understanding. Instead this is unbelief
demanding proof. Surely the Pharisees had heard
of many of Jesus miracles, but they weren't enough.
The Pharisees wanted a sign on demand.
They they were looking for reasons not to believe.
They wanted to discredit Jesus. OK, Jesus, so you're something
special. All right, Prove it.
Now, verse 11 tells us they sought from him a sign from
heaven. So I don't think that means they
were just asking him to do one more miracle like he'd done.
I think they were asking him somehow to summon divine
authentication, almost like a voice from heaven.
All right, Jesus, you represent the Father.
You claim to be the Son of God. All right, get him to tell us
what's going on here. It's as if they're asking him to
to whip out on the spot a kind of divine ID verification card.
But this is not how Jesus works. He refuses to give them any
sign. Jesus is not a dog who will do
tricks on command. Sit, lie down, roll over, sit
pretty. You cannot tell Jesus to sit up
and bark so that you'll come to believe in him.
Specifically, Jesus says this generation won't receive any
sign. Why does he use that language of
this generation? It's because he sees the
Pharisees as representing the unbelief of the people as a
whole. They're just like the Israelite
generation whom God rescued from Egypt, but who still perished
because of unbelief. Jesus says this generation to
align his opponents with that generation that Michael's been
preaching to us about from Numbers.
That's why he groups them together as a whole.
Now what did that generation do? Deuteronomy 616 tells us you
shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at
Massa. The wilderness generation put
the Lord to the test. The Pharisees put Jesus to the
test. What does that teach us?
It shows us that Jesus is the Lord who is leading his people
in a new exodus and who's being tested just like they tested the
Lord himself. Why does Jesus refuse to give a
sign on demand? Both because that's not how He
works and that's not how faith works.
If you demand that God himself prove Himself to you or you
won't believe in him who's supreme in that situation?
Who has the upper hand? Who's in charge you are?
Who's setting the standards by which this relationship will be
evaluated? You are.
You can never come to a true faith in the true God by putting
God to the test. You can never come into a right
relationship with God by putting yourself in God's place.
If you tell God I will not believe in you unless you prove
yourself to me. That's not faith, it's unbelief.
You cannot come to God by setting an exam for him.
All right, God, the results are in.
We've graded your test. You got a 98.
Very impressive. You've been working pretty hard.
There's one little mistake, but we can, we can overlook that.
So now I'll believe in you. Congratulations, you've earned
my trust. Some thoughtful non believers
can struggle with this demand for faith.
If you're not a Christian, maybe you'd say you have a very
scientific mindset. You like how science operates
empirically, meaning there's demonstration and verification
and falsification. You can prove something or
disprove it. You like the confidence that
gives you. And so it seems reasonable to
try to use that scientific way of getting at the truth to try
to settle all of life's big questions and problems.
But I want to suggest to you that if you try to answer all of
life's biggest questions through a scientific, empirical mindset,
you will hit wall after wall after wall.
Can science tell you what love is?
Can science tell you whether life is worth living?
Can science tell you why human beings have an inviolable
dignity? Can science tell you whether
there's a God? Can science tell you what the
good life is or how to live it? Just this week I was talking
with a non Christian whom I'm getting to know better.
He's very thoughtful. He understands a lot about
Christianity. He told me that he tries to seek
answers to life's big questions from that kind of empirical,
scientific mindset. And I asked him if he ever hits
the limits of what he can find out that way.
He's very candid, very frank. He told me, yeah, all the time.
He doesn't know what to do about it.
He feels torn. He feels conflicted.
What about you? If that reflects your mindset at
all? Have you ever hit any one of
those walls? What do you do then?
Whether you're a believer or a non believer?
Are you putting God to the test? That will not lead you to saving
faith or true spiritual insight or right relationship with God.
Instead you have to let God put you to the test.
Brings us to .3. Tested by Jesus.
Tested by Jesus We see Jesus testing his disciples in verses
14 to 21. Jesus rebukes them, examines
them, and prompts them to examine themselves.
Just to preview what we learned from these verses.
True understanding of Jesus requires spiritual insight.
It takes spiritual perception. We don't have that by nature.
We can't gain it by the flesh. Jesus sees into your heart and
knows whether you have that true knowledge of Him or not.
And as we'll see at the end, only He can grant that true
knowledge of Himself. Look at me at verses 14 to 16.
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. Again, this is just getting
ridiculous. They forget to bring bread
except 1 little loaf. But is that really a problem
after what they've just seen? Should they be concerned that
they are going to have a very light lunch after what Jesus has
just done for them? In verse 14, the disciples again
display their spiritual dullness, their denseness.
They're preoccupied with an earthly lack that should be no
problem at all. And Jesus uses that and pivots
to give them a spiritual warning.
In verse 15, Jesus uses the metaphor of leaven.
We often think of leaven as yeast, but it's not exactly
yeast. It's some leftover dough from
the last batch that's still active that you could use to
then help mix up the next batch of dough.
It's a little bit like a sourdough starter.
In any case, Jesus uses the metaphor of leaven to warn the
disciples about both the Pharisees and Herod.
Now why is that? They might not seem to have much
in common. Well, what does leaven do?
It spreads. It imparts its character to the
whole new batch of dough. It's an active ingredient that
sets off a process. It changes what it comes into
contact with. And so throughout Scripture, in
the Old Testament and New Testament, leaven is used as a
metaphor for sins roots in the heart.
It's used as a metaphor for our inward inclination to evil that
spreads into our thoughts and words and actions.
Our inward inclination to evil infects our whole person.
So what Jesus is saying is don't follow their example.
Don't be motivated by what motivates them.
Don't imitate the unbelief of the Pharisees or Herod's fear of
man and licentiousness and power grabbing.
He's warning the disciples against the roots of all of
those sins. If Jesus were to warn you today,
right now, not to be influenced by someone else's leaven, who do
you think he would name? Could it be a friend or a family
member? Could it be a professional
mentor or coach? Could it even be a therapist?
Who in your life has influence over you in such a way that they
might subtly turn your heart away from God?
But the disciples still don't get it.
Verse 16 shows us they missed the point of Jesus metaphor
altogether. He warns them about leaven.
They go, OK, I guess he must mean we don't have any bread.
Bad disciples didn't bring bread.
Do better next time. Thank you Jesus.
Right, They think he's still talking about bread.
So Jesus responds with an extended rebuke of their
incomprehension. It's a series of searching
questions in verses 17 to 21. 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? 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 5000, how many baskets full of
broken peas did you take up? They said to him, 12 And the
seven for the 4000, how many baskets full of broken pieces
did you take up? And they said to him, 7 And he
said to them, do you not yet understand?
In our passage, we're coming right up to the halfway point of
Mark's gospel. And here Jesus sets his
disciples a midterm exam. How are they doing so far at
understanding who Jesus is and what he came to do?
Of course, the questions themselves indicate the answer.
They're not doing so good. They are royally missing the
point. They're halfway through their
enrollment in Jesus class, Christology and Discipleship
101, and at this point they are failing miserably.
The answer to Jesus questions are pretty obvious.
They don't yet perceive or understand.
Their hearts are hardened. Their eyes don't see.
Their ears don't hear. Now, what's our new Exodus
connection here? It's that Jesus poses the same
challenge in the same wording that the Lord does to His people
in light of their hardness of heart in the wilderness.
So Psalm 95 verses 7:00 to 9:00 today, if you hear His voice, do
not harden your hearts as at Moribah, as on the day at Massa
in the wilderness, when your Father's put me to the test and
put me to the proof that they had seen my work.
The disciples are in danger of hardening their hearts against
all that Jesus is revealing to them, just like the wilderness
generation did. They're in danger of failing to
see Jesus, despite the fact that they're seeing him with their
eyes right now. There's also another connection
to the exodus here. Jesus asks them, do you not
remember? In the Exodus, God decisively
delivered his people and then established the Passover as a
yearly remembrance of that saving act.
Exodus 12/14. This day shall be for you a
Memorial Day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord
throughout your generations. As a statute forever.
You shall keep it as a feast. Not only that, but in Exodus
1633 to 34, God tells Moses to put some of the manna into the
ark of the Covenant, to be preserved as a standing memorial
throughout all of Israel's generations of how the Lord had
provided for them in the wilderness.
So how do we remember what the Lord has done for us in saving
US? One way is by celebrating the
Lord's Supper, which He's given us for this very purpose, which
we'll do at the conclusion of the service, just like in the
miraculous feeding in chapter 6. In our passage, too, Jesus
previews the Lord's Supper in verse six.
He takes the loaves, gives thanks, breaks them, and gives
them to the disciples, just like he would at the Last Supper.
We also remember what God has done by reminding each other of
it. And if you're talking with
another member of the church and they're struggling to remember
God's goodness and mercy, remind that believer of the grace God
has shown in saving them and the goodness God has shown in
sustaining them. Remind that believer, as Psalm
1O3 says, to forget not all God's benefits.
The answer to the last three of Jesus questions is a little more
complicated. Do they not remember the feeding
of the 5004 thousand? Well, their answers show that of
course they do. They were there.
It was pretty remarkable. They haven't forgotten.
They answered Jesus questions just fine.
They remember how many baskets of food were leftover.
Now scholars speculate over whether the numbers 12 and seven
have symbolic significance. Maybe they do, I don't know.
I'm not confident in any particular interpretation.
I think the main point of Jesus reminding them of the leftovers
is simply to highlight the abundance of the provision.
Not only did all those people get fed, but there was stuff
leftover. Who can provide like that?
Only God himself, only the God who is Himself, our infinite
satisfaction can satisfy thousands of people by
multiplying bread from thin air. Jesus highlighted that detail
that demonstrated divine abundance as a clue to his
divine identity. The disciples should have been
able to draw a straight and short line from what Jesus did
to who he is. They should have been able to
conclude that because Jesus provides in a way that only God
can, he is himself the only God to come in the flesh to save
them. What Jesus is doing in this
series of questions, not only is he examining his disciples, but
he's requiring them to examine themselves.
They should have been able to draw the right conclusion.
Jesus even lays out the evidence again for them.
Do you remember how many baskets full?
Jesus is putting a burden on them to examine their own
hearts, to examine their own spiritual condition, and to look
at what He'd revealed and draw the right conclusion.
Brothers and sisters, one way we can serve each other is by
asking careful questions that foster self examination.
Jesus questions were a Searchlight that he was shining
into the hearts of the disciples to get them to look inward.
How can you grow in asking other church members questions like
that? Sometimes before I'll meet with
a church member, I'll try to come up with just one or two
questions in my head. Kind of get the exact phrasing
if I want to put it at some point in the conversation.
Sometimes you can serve a brother or sister better by
asking a question than by giving an answer.
How can you grow in asking questions that prompt spiritual
self examination? And of course, we can also turn
Jesus flashlight around and shine it on ourselves.
If Jesus was going to draw up a personal spiritual midterm exam
for you today, what questions would he ask you?
Kids and teens in the congregation do that exercise
with me really quick, but just one question.
If Jesus were going to ask you a question to show you your own
spiritual state, to help you see where you stand before God, what
question would he ask you? Write that question down.
Talk about it with somebody. If you go to youth group, talk
about it as a youth group leader.
If you have an older believer you meet with, talk with them.
You could even talk about it with your parents.
This portion of the passage ends in an awkward, uncomfortable
place. Jesus question just hangs there.
Verse 21. Do you not yet understand?
Earlier in Mark in chapter 4, verse 12.
Jesus quotes Isaiah chapter 6, verses 9 and 10 to explain why
he teaches in parables. Why does he do that?
It is so that people may see but not perceive and hear but not
understand. That's what we expect from
outsiders, Maybe the Pharisees, the people who oppose Jesus's
ministry. OK, but in this story, it's the
disciples who have eyes but don't see, who have ears but
don't understand. It's the disciples who have
hardened hearts. That's disturbing, that's
troubling, it's haunting. It almost feels hopeless.
What hope is there for disciples who have eyes but don't see?
The hope is that the one they're following can give sight to the
blind. That's .4 sight to the blind.
That's what Jesus shows us he can do in verses 22 to 26.
And they came to Beseda, 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 let him out of the
village. And when he had spit on his eyes
and laid his hand hands on him, he asked him, Do you see
anything? Just a little note there.
When it says Jesus spit on his eyes, presumably it means he
applied saliva to them, not like spit in his face in any kind of
rude way. He took saliva, put it on his
eyes, 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. Why does Jesus perform this
elaborate series of actions instead of simply healing the
man by a word? It's just like as we saw in the
healing of the deaf mute man last week.
I think Jesus has two reasons for this.
One is kindness, compassion, to show the man what he's doing and
walk him through it step by step.
He begins by literally taking him by the hand and leading him
to be alone. But I think another reason for
it is symbolism. He's showing us that what this
man needs, the disciples also need.
And we all need, we all need Jesus to touch our eyes so that
we can see. We need Jesus to give us
spiritual insights so that we can see him as he truly is.
We need Jesus to heal our blindness, just like we confess
from our statement of faith. God, God's Spirit, enlightens
sinner's minds to understand God's word.
But then why does Jesus do it only halfway at first?
In all of Mark's gospel, this is the only healing or miracle of
any kind that doesn't do it all right away.
He only gets the guy halfway there.
This is unique in Mark's gospel, and whenever something is the
only one of its kind in any book of the Bible, that should make
you pause and go, OK, what's going on here?
This one is not like literally all of the others.
I think we understand part of the reason for this by looking
backward, and we get the whole reason by looking forward to the
very next passage. The healing that's only halfway
symbolizes that coming to understand Jesus truly is a
process. It doesn't happen all at once.
So when we look back to Jesus exam of the disciples that
they're failing, it gives us hope that they won't keep
failing. They will make progress, but we
shouldn't expect them to instantly flip from failure to
perfection. It's going to be a process, and
we see that very concretely in the very next passage.
So just glance ahead at the next few verses from 27 to 33.
In these verses, like in verse 29, Peter rightly confesses that
Jesus is the Messiah. But then Jesus starts teaching
what that means. He's going to be rejected.
He's going to be killed. He's going to rise from the
grave. And Peter starts to rebuke Jesus
and tell him that those things cannot and will not happen.
So what does Peter do? He gets Jesus exactly half
right. He got the Messiah part.
That's good. But he doesn't get the crucified
part. The man Jesus heals at first
receives half sight, and then Peter right after gets Jesus
half right. The disciples will soon make
spiritual progress, but that progress will not be perfection.
How does this passage connect to our new exodus theme?
It does so by echoing the passage of Isaiah chapter 42
that Kendra read earlier. Isaiah 42 prophecies how God's
servants will lead God's people through a new exodus.
And just as Michael taught us from Isaiah 49 verse six last
Sunday night, the servant is both the Messiah and God's
people. We see this super clearly in
chapter 42. So 1st to go back to verses 6
and seven, don't need to turn there.
We'll just read a few verses. Isaiah 42, six and seven.
I am the Lord. I've 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.
Here God promises that His servant will open the eyes of
the blind. That's exactly what Jesus is
doing in healing this man. But then consider verses 19 and
20. Who is blind but my servant, or
deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of
the Lord? He sees many things, but does
not observe them. His ears are open, but he does
not hear. How can the servant both open
blind eyes and also be blind? Because the servant is both the
Messiah and Israel. It's as if those last couple of
phrases in that prophecy were written about the disciples who
have ears but don't hear. Jesus.
The Servant heals blindness. Israel the Servant needs her
blindness healed. And all of this is meant to
bring home to us our spiritual condition.
By nature, each of us is born spiritually blind.
No one knows God rightly. No one knows themselves rightly.
Sin puts scales over our eyes, blinders on our faces.
Sin distorts our vision and keeps us from seeing God and
ourselves as we really are. Each of us needs spiritual sight
that only Jesus can give. If you're not a believer in
Jesus, ask Him to give you that spiritual sight.
Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
And if you are a believer in Jesus, praise God for the gift
of new eyes that He's given you. Praise God for the gift of
spiritual insight and ask Him to illumine your understanding.
When you come across a difficult passage of Scripture, pray for
insight. When you get up on Sunday
morning, pray for God to enable you to receive spiritual truth.
Pray for Him to work in your heart to do the work in your
heart by His Word and Spirit that only He can do.
Pray that God would open the eyes of your heart to behold Him
truly and to see yourself truly. What tests are you undergoing
right now, especially spiritual tests?
One of the keys to passing every test, both secular and
spiritual, is reviewing in order to remember what has God done
for you in saving you? Survey his goodnesses to you.
Review how God has loved you and cared for you.
And remember. Remember his love.
Remember Christ's saving death. Remember his death defeating
resurrection. Remember his soon return.
By God's grace, we intend to do all that together in just a few
moments as we celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that
you would give us eyes to see Jesus as he is and to embrace
him by faith. We pray these things in Jesus
name, Amen.