A Hardened Heart
Mark 2026 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.
And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.
Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.
And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
Introduction
Introduction
One of the greatest enemies that we face is our pride. In our passage, the disciples fail to see their need of the work and Person of Jesus. We also often miss the greatness of who He is.
Mark was likely the first Gospel written. Under the inspiration of God, he writes with an intent to point his readers toward the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Those who read are faced with a question: who is this Jesus?
As we grow in our walk with God this year, we want to be Following in the Life of Faith. That means that we must begin with the correct Person to put our faith in. Mark gives us the message of Jesus to all people.
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Will you commit each day to believe God and His promises? Will you confess your sins and choose to grow in relationship to Him? If you have not yet, will you believe in Him for salvation? Let’s Follow in the Life of Faith this year and see God do something amazing!
What is one thing that every person who plays a string instrument always has at some point? Calluses. Violin players get them usually at the beginning. Cello players develop them as they become more advanced. Guitar players with metal strings seem to have them all the time. Calluses are a way that the human body protects itself from repeated soreness by consistent motion.
The problem with calluses is that they remove the opportunity for noticing what is happening. They remove the sense of touch found in other skin.
A hardened heart is covered with the calluses of continuing to reject the clear working of God in the life of a person. God does good things. God tests faith. God allows hardship. No matter what a person is facing, a hard heart is the result of turning away from the truth toward some other idol in their life. We can listen to our own thoughts and reject the clear truth of the made visible care of God. One writer tells us,
Institutes of the Christian Religion Chapter XI: Impiety of Attributing a Visible Form to God—The Setting up of Idols a Defection from the True God
the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.
Jesus is dealing in this passage out toward the Pharisees who seem beyond hope. Jesus is also dealing with in toward His disciples who need to make a choice. We are invited to open our eyes to the truth of who Jesus is today!
Declaration
Declaration
Beware of your pride and self-righteousness. Jesus is showing the disciples the danger of a heart that is closed to the wonderful works of the kingdom. Today, we must choose faith in the way that we live in service to Him.
The Warning of Jesus
The Warning of Jesus
And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
The center thought in the passage is found in verse 15. We will see that this is what Jesus wants the disciples to learn from verses 10-14. Jesus is clear in this verse as He confronts the disciples. There are two commands here: “Take heed” and “beware”. Jesus tells them to listen up and watch out for two sources of pride and self-righteousness.
the leaven of the Pharisees
the leaven of Herod
In the Law, leaven was not to be included in the bread at the Passover. The entire house was to be cleansed of the leaven in order to show the purity of the bread and sacrifice. Leaven was something that was not to be found in the Exodus, whether the old one or the new. Jesus is now showing His disciples that the kingdom has come and the journey is from bondage to sin and freedom in Him.
The warning of Jesus is that His disciples then and today must take care against pride and the righteousness that comes by doing. When we are “good” people because of what we do, we are in danger of neglecting our hearts. We become callous and complacent. The Pharisees and Herod loved to impress other people but their hearts were not pleasing to God. Hosea called the people to this same repentance.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground: For it is time to seek the Lord, Till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; Ye have eaten the fruit of lies: Because thou didst trust in thy way, In the multitude of thy mighty men.
We see here the two dangers of this self-reliance. The Pharisees are now going to be contrasted with the disciples in these verses.
1. Danger for the Pharisees
1. Danger for the Pharisees
And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
Of all the people that were close to the kingdom and missed it, the Pharisees were there the most. They focused on being careful to live out the Law in so many ways. But we see here the danger for the Pharisees.
The Pharisees began their interactions with Jesus believing that the Messiah would come with fanfare and interaction with the purest only. They had rejected Jesus as He discussed and then healed the man with the withered hand in chapter 3:1-6. They had identified His removal of demons with the power of satan in chapter 3:20-30. Instead of being the first to receive their expected Messiah, they were the first to reject Him. Paul tells us,
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
Jesus was pointing everyone to the arrival of the kingdom. Repentance and faith are the correct responses. Instead of being ready to have their hearts cleansed of their sin, the Pharisees are looking for a sign in verse 11. Jesus sees it as a temptation and knows their evil intent. The sign has been clear.
And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
The sign of Jesus is the changed lives of all those who come to Him in repentance and faith. The miracles of Jesus point to His Deity and authority. The danger of the Pharisees is clearly seen in their choice to ask for a sign when many had been given.
Many people will ask for God to speak to them when they have already decided not to listen. What is your answer to the question of Jesus in verse 17? “Have ye your heart yet hardened?” This morning do you believe that Jesus is the only One who can take away sin and change your life? The Pharisees had decided not to allow the truth to enter their hearts.
The example of the rich man in the parable of Lazarus is instructive. He called for Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers of the punishments ahead in hell. If those men will not listen to the clear Word of God in Moses and the Prophets, it doesn’t matter if even a person came to them who was dead and is now alive.
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Jesus came to His own and they did not receive Him. Have you already given up on Him? Are you paying attention to all that He is doing for you? Are you willing to believe? This was the danger of the Pharisees who had already decided against the truth.
2. Danger for the Disciples
2. Danger for the Disciples
Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
The danger for the disciples is their pride and self-righteousness. They have not yet arrived at the level of the Pharisees but they are going that way. In these verses, the focus of Jesus is on the multitudes and the contamination of sin. The focus of the disciples is on their failure to have provisions in the boat. They expect to do things for Jesus and that the problem He is addressing is with their failure to do something. Jesus gets to the heart of the problem with His statement in verse 15. The heart of the life of a faithful disciple is about being with and through Him.
We have already seen that the disciples are missing what is happening. Do you want to know what is happening in the world? We are moving toward the final victory of Jesus and the arrival of the eternal rule of God. The war is already won.
For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.
Spurgeon is clear on what our unbelief tells us about our spiritual growth.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XXXI Certain Curious Calculations about Loaves and Fishes (No. 1,822)
Our unbelief is the undeniable evidence that we have not learned all that we ought to have done, for the outcome of spiritually seeing, perceiving, and understanding is faith. He that believeth little hath learned little; he that doubteth, and is troubled, is but a babe, needing still to learn the rudiments of holy scholarship?
The disciples knew the truth and seem to have turned away. They expected something and did not like what they saw. Many today will look at what is going on in the world and discount that God even cares about us. Surely, the time is done and nothing will happen now. The disciples saw the miracles without seeing the Miracle-worker. There was no faith despite the consistent care of the Saviour. The disciples chose not to see with their spiritual eyes. Instead, choose faith!
But, the hardening of hearts is not permanent. Jesus is clear - get it right today! We need to be sure that we open our eyes to the wonderful things that God is doing. Be happy for those who are being blessed by Him. In this world of discouragement, find joy in the continued work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn unto the Lord your God: For he is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness, And repenteth him of the evil.
The danger we face this morning is the same as the disciples. We have the Bible in our hands that tells us that God cares about us. He has promised to return one day to take us to be with Him. He has removed our sin and given us new life. But we live as if our lives are our own and everything depends on us. All around us are the miracles of God. Is your heart hardened to Him?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Beware of your pride and self-righteousness. Jesus is showing the disciples the danger of a heart that is closed to the wonderful works of the kingdom. Today, we must choose faith in the way that we live in service to Him.
This morning, what we must do is simple. We must confess our pride and our self-reliance to Him. We must call out for a softening of our hearts. We must ask God to open our eyes to the many things that He is doing.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God loved His creation and He sent Jesus to die in their place. We all are prone to missing the wonder of the Cross. The love that sent Jesus is still reaching out to you today. Will you repent and open your eyes? Will your acknowledge what God has done and who He is? Will you believe Him?
Jesus died for you. Jesus rose again and gives eternal life to those who accept Him. If you need to do that today, receive Him. He will turn none away.
As we prepare to observe the Lord’s Supper, be sure that your heart is not hardened by doubts or pride to the wonders of the Saviour. He cares today. He died for you.
