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Hi everyone. 
Welcome back to the podcast 

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again. 
Today, we're looking at a short 

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passage, But continuing the 
gospel of Mark. 

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So Mark chapter 8 verse 11 to 13
The Pharisees came up and 

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started a discussion with Jesus.
They demanded of him a sign from

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Heaven to test him. 
And with a sign that came 

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straight from the heart. 
He said, why does this 

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generation demand a sign? 
I tell you solemnly, no sign 

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shall be given to this 
generation. 

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And leaving them again, Andre 
embarking. 

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He went away to the opposite 
Shore. so the last time we heard

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from Jesus, He fed the 4000 that
was the last thing that happened

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in the gospel of Mark. 
It appears that some time has 

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passed since then. 
So, Marcus skipped ahead a 

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little bit in time. 
Now the Pharisees come up and 

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start a discussion with Jesus, 
so remember the Pharisees are 

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the popular Jewish leaders of 
the Common, Man, it appears that

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they did have legitimate 
religious Authority from God. 

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They did sit on Moses seat and 
they could make laws and 

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restrictions Etc, that were 
binding on the do. 

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People. 
So they were exercising a 

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legitimate religious Authority. 
The problem was they were wrong 

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about a lot of things and a lot 
of the things that were saying, 

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were not God's intention for the
people. 

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So, these Pharisees could be the
ones from Galilee or they could 

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be sort of higher ranking ones 
from Jerusalem. 

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The text doesn't tell us. 
So they start a discussion with 

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Jesus or another translation is 
they began to argue with him. 

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So clearly their intent here is 
hostile. 

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It's not a legitimate question. 
They're asking, which they do 

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sometimes hear. 
They're setting out to argue 

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with him straight away. 
Notice their approach here is 

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quite different from the 
approach that we've had in 

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recent times in Mark. 
So we've had the syrophoenician 

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woman and the deaf-mute person 
both approaching Jesus in faith.

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And here, the Pharisees approach
with unbelief And they demand of

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him a sign from Heaven to test 
him. 

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So the thinking is probably 
something like this. 

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If you really are a messenger of
God, perform an amazing sign 

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from Heaven, that proves it. 
So now they don't believe is 

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from God and so they don't think
he's going to be able to do it. 

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So why would they say this? 
Jesus has already been doing 

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miraculous signs and you think 
that that would be enough? 

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What they want is something 
blindingly obvious there, 

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couldn't possibly be resisted 
like an on-the-spot miraculous 

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Cosmic phenomenon. 
But that's not how God or Jesus 

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works. 
And this is, I think this 

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principle still applies today. 
God never does something a 

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miracle that's going to coerce 
people to believe in him. 

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He only does Miracles that in 
some sense, cooperate with 

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faith. 
He never does this coercive 

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magicians, kind of miracle. 
There's another aspect of this 

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which could be that. 
They're just being lazy, perhaps

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they perceive that if Jesus is, 
right? 

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They would have to put their 
trust in him and change their 

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life and have kind of a go on a 
religious Journey with him and 

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really kind of make some 
sacrifices if what Jesus is 

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saying is, right? 
So, what they kind of saying is 

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force us to believe, so that we 
don't have to put our trust in 

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you or change your hearts. 
So, they're taking the easy 

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Road. 
They're saying, come on, Jesus. 

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Give us a sign. 
That will overwhelm us so that 

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we have to believe. 
And so they're kind of being 

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lazy and making Jesus do all the
work for them in a sense. 

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So, all of this is quite 
reminiscent of numbers 14:11 in 

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the Old Testament where the 
people have been complaining and

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been quite difficult. 
The Israelites are being 

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difficult in the desert. 
And God says, this is from God's

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own mouth. 
He says, how long will this 

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people spurn me? 
How long were they refuse to 

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believe in me? 
Despite all the signs? 

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I have performed among them. 
And that's seems pretty similar 

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to this situation here with 
Jesus and the Pharisees. 

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Versed W 12 with a sigh that 
came from his heart. 

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And that's quite a beautiful 
translation. 

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Another translation, is he 
sighed deeply in his spirit. 

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So Jesus here has a deep sigh 
and it is probably sorrowful 

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about the unbelief of the Jewish
leaders of Israel. 

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Because these are the people God
has appointed to look after the 

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Israelites, and they're not 
doing a great job. 

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And so Jesus is genuinely 
sorrowful, and pained about the 

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hardness of Heart of these 
Pharisees. 

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He says, why does this 
generation demand assign when he

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says this generation? 
He means the leaders of this 

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generation probably also that 
the phrase this generation 

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probably would have called to 
mine for Mark's readers in the 

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Old Testament. 
When Israel wanders in the 

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wilderness, kind of that 
rebellious generation God, often

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refers to them. 
As this generation. 

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This generation shall not 
inherit the promised land. 

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This generation is not following
me with their hearts. 

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So, perhaps Jesus say, Saying 
this generation is making a 

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parallel there. 
He says I tell you solemnly or 

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truly I say to you or. 
Amen. 

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Amen. 
As other translations put it. 

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So that tells us tips us off as 
the readers that Jesus is about 

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to say, something very 
important. 

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He says no sign shall be given 
to this generation. 

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The way he says this no sign 
shall be given to this 

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generation. 
Probably implies that Jesus or 

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God could actually do the 
miraculous sign that they're 

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asking for. 
It's possible that God can do 

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what he can do anything. 
So we can certainly do a miracle

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that would fulfill their 
criteria. 

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But because of the unbelief of 
this generation of the end of 

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the Pharisees, God is not going 
to give them that sign. 

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His miracles and deeds, Jesus, 
miracles and deeds, invite faith

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and cooperates with faith, but 
will not coerce it. 

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Jesus never does a miracle. 
If he perceives that it's going 

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to be a coercive kind of forcing
people to believe kind of thing.

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For those who reject the 
Miracles Jesus can only walk 

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away and that's exactly what he 
does next verse 13 and he left 

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them. 
That's what the text says he 

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left them. 
So that Implies that Jesus 

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deliberately separates himself 
from the Pharisees and he 

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decides to go somewhere else 
instead and it says he went away

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to the opposite Shore. 
So once again, he crosses the 

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Sea of Galilee and go somewhere 
else in the region. 

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Now, significantly this 
rejection by the Pharisees is 

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actually the end of Jesus 
ministry in Galilee. 

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If you read on in Mark, Jesus 
doesn't spend any more time in 

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Galilee for quite most of the 
last few chapters. 

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And the several weeks we've been
spending in the gospel of Mark, 

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Jesus has been around the Sea of
Galilee that's now finished. 

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Now that has been rejected by 
the leaders in some sense Jesus 

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moves on So what he does from 
here on out in Mark, is he does 

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kind of private training with 
his disciples, getting them 

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ready for his own death and 
obviously the gospels of Mark 

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and Luke. 
Sorry of Matthew and Luke and 

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John, and in some additional 
information of other places 

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Jesus goes, but Mark, just 
mainly focuses on the Sea of 

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Galilee Ministry which is just 
finished and then he starts to 

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highlight the things that 
happened later in Jesus 

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ministry, which is what we'll 
hear from next. 

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Next. 
Jesus does come back to Galilee 

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once more in the gospel of Mark,
but that's in secret, not to do 

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public Ministry, and that's in 
9:30. 

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So, that's the end of our 
podcast today. 

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Hopefully you've learned 
something new There's been quite

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a lot of religious writing on 
this passage. 

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So Pope Benedict, the 16th said 
of this passage that God is Not 

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subject to God cannot be 
constrained into 

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experimentation. 
And he goes on to say how in our

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day and age people will only 
believe in things that could be 

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experimental e proven, but God 
can or God can't be sort of 

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confined to those limits. 
And so there's been a lot of 

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discussion about this passage in
contemporary theology, but 

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there's no appearances of this 
in the catechism so we'll leave 

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it there for today. 
Hopefully, you learned something

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new, please keep sharing this 
podcast and we'll see you again 

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tomorrow.