Mark 8:11-13 Christians Do Not Need Another Sign!

Mark 8:11-13  The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.  To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.  He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.”  Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

As surely as Satan came to tempt Jesus in the desert, he used the Pharisees as they tested Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven to prove He was who He said He was.  In essence, they were declaring, your wisdom and these miracles of yours are not enough for us, call down power from on high to show us that God has truly sent you.  As always they hoped to show him up as a fraud.  When He sighed deeply, we sense his frustration and disappointment must have been great.  He undoubtedly considered all the Holy Spirit had led him to do and say when He asked, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?"  Why must I face so much unbelief?  Why must you continually try to trick me instead of turning from you wicked ways to God's holy truth?  He could have said as He did to the devil in the desert,  "Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” for He had no plan to react to their challenge.  According to Bible commentaries, when Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it (this generation),” this statement represents in Greek a shortened form of the Hebrew self-imprecation: "If I do such a thing, may I die."  In other words, there is no way God is going to send you a sign from heaven to verify his own work and Word when He has sent you his only begotten Son.  The Good News had not changed since the angel first spoke to the shepherds watching over their flocks at night: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  (Luke 2:9-12)

To further show his disdain for this interaction, Jesus immediately turns away from the Pharisees, gets back into the boat, and crosses to the other side.  He seems to say, if you cannot talk about the things of God, the holy things that men of God should speak about, then we will not speak at all.  Sometimes we think God is silent, and we ask him for a sign from heaven to prove He is alive.  Oftentimes, we are like the Pharisees: we are asking for the wrong sign from God, and we have failed to see the signposts along the way.  God has revealed himself to us in many ways and at many times, but we have not been looking for him or listening for his voice.  We want God to fit into our mold and our time schedule.  As Christians we have Christ in us, our hope of glory, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the great Comforter and Counselor.  Yet we sometimes want to be in charge of our lives.  The Bible is clear that we yield control of our lives to God.  As the disciples, we leave our old manner of living and take up the cross and follow Jesus.  We are more than able to follow the leading of the Lord because He constantly speaks to us: In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  (Hebrews 1:1-3)  If we truly believe He created all things and sustains all things, then we will trust him with all things pertaining to our lives.  As we pray in faith believing, we will not ask him as the Pharisees did to prove himself to us, but we will trust him in every circumstance to bring us through to glory.  It is not a trite saying to count your blessings, for they are many.

When Peter described the church of the living God, he was not at a loss for words: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  (1 Peter 2:9-10)  He did not require another miracle or a sign from heaven to know what Christ had accomplished at the cross.  When Peter looked back, He saw the finished work of God's mercy and grace.  When he looked forward, he saw lives in need of a Savior--people in darkness, waiting for the wonderful light.  Once Peter denied Christ, but he understood the forgiving love of his Lord, and he carried that love in his heart to all he met.  We have that same opportunity, that same responsibility.  The enemy will try to get us off track.  He will test us by trying to get us to ask God for a sign from heaven.  "If you are real God, give me what I really want."  A selfish request goes against the grain, against the heart of the gospel.  We must die to ourselves and come alive to God.  Jesus prayed, "Not my will but yours be done."  (Luke 22:42)  Paul said, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  (Galatians 6:14)  The way of the cross is a way of sacrifice, but it is also a way of joy unspeakable and full of glory.  We are free in the Lord, free from the weight of sin and the cares of the world.  We can joyfully declare: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)        

Mark 8:1-10 Jesus Is Moved with Compassion

Mark 8:1-10  During those days another large crowd gathered.  Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”  His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”  “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.  “Seven,” they replied.  He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.  When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.  They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.  The people ate and were satisfied.  Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  About four thousand men were present.  And having sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. 

In this account, we see Jesus once again concerned about whether the people will faint on the way home if they don't have food to sustain their journey.  As when He fed the 5,000, Jesus divides what food they have with the crowd.  In the first case, He had five loaves and two fish, and on this occasion the disciples bring him seven loaves and a few small fish to feed the crowd.  In both situations Jesus wants to meet the physical needs of the people before He sends them away.  We see Jesus full of compassion for the people's daily needs.  The crowd probably did not expect Jesus to be bothered about whether they had eaten in the last few days or not.  For them, Jesus was a man of God, maybe even a prophet: one who heals and drives out demons.  Why would He be concerned about a situation they could take care of themselves?  Healing and driving out demons was beyond their capabilities, but feeding themselves was not; they could eventually take care of their hunger with a little time and effort.  Yes, some of them might faint or collapse on the way home, but eventually they would find enough food to sustain them on their way.  In this story of feeding the four thousand, we find Jesus focused on the essential needs of everyday living.  This passage clearly shows Jesus' servanthood to the people.  He came to serve men, women, and children in every area of need.  Personally, He did not have a place to lay his head, and He sent his disciples out with the clothes they wore, dependent upon God and the love of the people for their daily bread and housing.  Yet we see Jesus at numerous times moved with compassion for the people.  Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  (Matthew 9:35-36)  

We read in the above passage that Jesus already had an agenda for that day: And having sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.  He probably knew at the beginning of that day what He intended to do after He got away from this huge crowd of people. Of course, Jesus had his own needs and desires, his own time schedule and purposes for that day; but instead of plunging ahead to fulfill his needs, He reflected on the immediate needs of the people.  He told his disciples that He had compassion for these people, for they must be hungry after three days of watching him minister to them.  Rather than move on, He asked the disciples to feed the crowd.  Think how long it would take to feed a crowd this large.  This was no easy task; it was not something one could do in an hour.  This probably was quite a time-consuming process: He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.  When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.  To distribute sufficient food to that many people and gather up the leftovers had to take a long time.  Yet, we find Jesus seeking to serve the people, thus further delaying his own wishes and agenda to meet the needs of others.  We know the continued effort of his ministry must have worn him out, for we see him many times seeking to get away from the people so He might rest.  Yet when the crowds followed him, He would always heal the sick and teach the Good News of the Kingdom to the lost.  Even after three days of ministering, He continued to put the requirements of the people above his own.  

In Mark 9 Jesus tells the disciples to be great in the kingdom of God, you must be the least, the servant to all.  In today's verses, we see Jesus illustrating this principle to his disciples.  He served the people before He fulfilled his own plan of going to Dalmanutha.  As a good and faithful servant, He placed others above himself.  As the body of Christ, this is our task each day.  We need to feed the 4,000 before we satisfy our own interests.  When Jesus describes the division of the sheep and the goats, He says whatever we do in his name, we do to him.  We give food, clothes, housing, and care to the least of these in the name of Jesus.  Jesus concludes his instruction to the disciples about who will be the greatest in the kingdom by talking about little children.  Little children cannot command our attention.  They might yell, scream, and cry; but adults can ignore all of that to do their own will, for a little child does not have the strength or authority to force adults to do their will.  Jesus took a little child and had him stand among them.  Taking him in his arms, he said to them,  “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”  (Mark 9:36-37)  Jesus tells the disciples directly, whoever is a servant to helpless little children who have no power,  whoever treats them kindly as a servant to them, welcomes me and serves me.  But you do not serve only me:  you serve my Father in Heaven, the one I serve.  Yes, Jesus fed the 4,000: He fed them because they are God's little children, made in his image.  He served them with love by providing for them.  Today, He asks us to serve people with love, tenderness, and generosity because we are the image of God on Earth.  We are to serve as Christ served, for He came to do the Father's will.  God bless you, dear servants of God.  

Mark 7:31-37 Jesus Does Everything Well!

Mark 7:31-37  Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.  There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.  After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears.  Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.  He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).  At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.  Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.  But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.  People were overwhelmed with amazement.  “He has done everything well,” they said.  “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” 

In this passage we see Jesus as a man of love, concerned about the disabilities and troubles of men and women.  We see him sighing deeply before He heals this disabled man, indicating the Spirit of God considered this incidental fact of Jesus sighing as very important.  His deep sigh tells us that Jesus found this man's circumstance and the condition of mankind in general troubling to his soul.  Yes, this particular man's needs would be met, but how many more people were in the same difficulties or even worse.  As he journeyed on this earth, Jesus met the needs of all of the people He touched with his healing hands and his kind and loving spirit.  Yet we can infer from his sigh that as a man of compassion, the scope of mankind's general predicament--a people sitting in darkness with many needs--must have weighed heavily upon him.  He knew there were so many people living difficult lives, harnessed with serious disabilities, sicknesses, and problems.  All of this because of Adam and Eve's disobedience, allowing for sin and sickness to enter into the world.  We see his frustration and his mercy when He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).  God did not plan for men to exist in disharmony and sin, inundated with troubles and sicknesses.  He did not plan for men to die, but sin entered the world to destroy the very breath that God placed in mankind.  Sin reaps death; but this was not God's desire.  This was the not the plan of God from the beginning: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.  (Genesis 1:31)  Seeing the great gulf that separated him from his creation, God had another plan: He sent his beloved Son.

As with everyplace Jesus went, even in Decapolis, which consisted of Hebrews and Greeks, we see Jesus healing people.  When they saw such an amazing act as a deaf man speaking, we hear these people, some who worship Greek Gods, say, “He has done everything well,”  “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”  They knew even the wisest amongst them could not open ears.  They knew their great and wise Greek philosophers could not perform such a miracle.  This man Jesus was performing miracles that no one could do from the beginning of time.  Even among the Gentiles, God was revealing himself through Jesus' mighty works.  The people had not seen anyone like Jesus, and He captured their attention.  Of course they were overwhelmed with amazement.  Later in Acts when Peter is called to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, he says, You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached — how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  (Acts 10:37-38)  Peter confirms the works of Christ and his death and resurrection to these Gentiles, and while he is yet speaking, they are so overwhelmed by the love of Christ, the Spirit of God falls upon them.  Then he baptizes them in the name of Jesus Christ.  There is power in the name of Jesus.  He overwhelms people and He sets captives free from sin and sickness, bringing them from darkness into the light.

The question for us today: Are we overwhelmed with Jesus' mighty works in 2013?  In the last several decades, technology and scientific knowledge have increased exponentially.  We are doing things now that no man could have envisioned a hundred years ago, let alone in the first century.  We are at the cusp of breaking through to knowledge of how basic matter was created.  We are searching for the foundational elements of life.  We are computerizing DNA so we can produce new life.  Is Jesus and his miracles enough for us today or are we entering into an age of greater unbelief because man is becoming like God in his creative ability.  Are we still overwhelmed with amazement at Jesus' teaching and supernatural power or have we become lax in our zeal for Jesus Christ and his works?  If we have fallen away, my Christian friend, we have failed the challenge of faith: we have gone back to the Greek Philosophers for our answers to life, dependent on human wisdom and knowledge.  Elevating human knowledge as our absolute answer to life replaces the saving grace found in Jesus Christ and his works of love and grace.  Knowledge and wisdom are a gift from God, but such attributes never replace the saving grace of God through faith in his Son as Lord of all creation.  Man seeks to bring God down to his level, but as we have seen in the progressive grossness and debauchery of our culture, man's wisdom and knowledge supply no answers for sin.  Only Christ is the answer: only He can make man a new creature with a clean heart.  Every day of our lives, we meet people who cannot hear: they are deaf to the word of the Lord.  We have the privilege to say: “Ephphatha!  Let your ears be opened to the Good News!  Jesus saves, and He came to heal and to save you!"  Bless you today as you go about doing good in the name of the Lord.  

Mark 7:24-30 Abraham, The Father of Many Nations

Mark 7:24-30  Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.  He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.  In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.  The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.  She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.  “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”  “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”  She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

"First let the children eat all they want," contrasts greatly with the scene we see on the day Jesus was crucified, When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.  “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said.  “It is your responsibility!”  All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”  (Matthew 27:24-25)  The religious leaders and the people surrounding them had eaten all they desired.  They wanted this inspired teacher, this healer, this lover of people to be crucified; and they willingly took the responsibility for his death upon themselves and their children.  These actions become all the more shocking knowing Jesus was sent to them because God was honoring his promise to Abraham, the patriarch of faith.  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.  I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.  The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:3-8) 

Jesus was sent to Abraham's descendants to witness to them that the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham had become a reality.  Jesus, Abraham's SEED, would not only bless the descendants of Abraham but all of the people of the world.  Sadly, the children of Abraham had become stiff-necked, self-righteous, and law-bound, not understanding how Abraham found favor with God, not understanding that Abraham found favor because of his total faith in God's words.  He found favor because He believed God would carry out his promises to him without him having to work to find God's favor.  Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.  (Romans 4:3)  Jesus' mission in the land of Israel was to reveal God's nature of grace and mercy by performing many signs and wonders amongst them and also to reveal their recalcitrant reaction to God's will through his many parables.  He desired, as John the Baptist did, for the people to repent of their religious self-willed ways and to return to God with contrite hearts.  But they would not receive his divine mission; they would not repent; they would not accept the marvelous works Jesus performed before their very eyes.  Instead they had their fill of Jesus.  He was in the way of their self-willed, hedonistic living.  Therefore, they wanted to dispense with him, to get rid of his teachings and his miraculous ways.  The crucifixion was their answer.

In the above passage we see Jesus referring to Gentiles in the Greek language as little household dogs.  His reference to the Gentiles as dogs does not mean he is demeaning the Gentiles.  He is merely saying that his ministry while He is on Earth is to the people of the Promise.  The food is for them: the Gentiles will come later as we see in Paul's ministry.  The table at this time was set for the Jews, not for the Gentiles.  Of course, we see a few Gentiles such as the woman in today's passage receive miracles at Jesus' hands, but primarily his healing power and ministry was for the Jewish people.  Jesus was implementing God's promise to Abraham, to bless his descendants and the world through his SEED.  However, instead of receiving Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise to bless all people in the world, they responded with anger, hatefulness, and rejection of God's gift.  They were so hostile to God's plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and his works that they told Pilate on the day of Jesus' crucifixion that they and their children would take full responsibility for the death of Jesus.  Jesus' exclusive ministry to the Jewish people ended on the day of his crucifixion.  We find after his resurrection, Jesus instructed his disciples to go out to the world and proclaim God's grace and mercy to all who would put their faith in his atoning work at the cross.  Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:17-20)  

We know all of these things depicted in the New Testament had to happen so that Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, would be slain by those who had received the most light from God.  Their starkly evil actions reveal the basic nature of rebellion against God's authority in the human heart.   We see this in the Garden of Eden: "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”  “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.  (Genesis 3:1-5)  The serpent plants the seed of rebellion: You can do as you wish.  You don't have to obey God!  To break this rebellion of the old nature, a new creature had to be created.  Such a transformation could come only through the death and resurrection of the Son of God, the creator of ALL THINGS.  Each new believer dies with him and is NOW RESURRECTED AS A NEW CREATURE, A HOLY TEMPLE, WHERE GOD CAN ABIDE.  We are no longer sinners, alienated from God.  We are known in Heaven as God's beloved children, HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE OF THE DEEDS OF JESUS CHRIST.  Even the dogs, those lacking the light of the God of creation, who did not know him or love him, have been brought into the family of God.  We Gentiles who were afar off have been brought near.  We now sup with the Lord, we hear his voice and do his will.  God's plan of salvation came out of a broken heart of love for those He called very good at the dawn of creation.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6)  Jesus came to Israel as a baby to redeem the whole world.  Those who should have loved him, who should have accepted him, rejected him; but we who are now in the household of God, chosen by his Spirit, cleansed by his blood, have received Abraham's promise of eternal blessing and life with him.  We will never cease to exist; we will be in the household of God FOREVER.  AMEN!  Rejoice dear ones!