Sermon Tone Analysis

1-10

You might be forgiven to think that we have looked at this passage before for it sounds very familiar yet it was only two chapters before that we had the feeding of the 5000 but today we have the feeding of the 4000.

What is happening here?

Has Mark got confused and just repeating himself?

This is what some critics say.

Everything we have read today is so alike to Mark 6. Whilst the two are alike they are also different.

So, what IS happening here?

When things are repeated in Scripture it serves to underline them for there is a lesson to be learned, and what is the best way to learn, except by repetition.

And it is deliberate that these things happened the way they did.

And did they all have to learn: that Jesus is the Son of God.

So, what are the differences apart from there being 4000 here and 5000 previously plus women and children?

Well, the 4000 are not the same people, not even in nationality, as in the 5000, for in the earlier one they were exclusively Jewish.

But in this event they were almost all exclusively Gentile for He was in the region of Decapolis.

Last week we found out that Jesus had gone north for about 6 or 8 months.

Mark’s Gospel wants to make it clear that the Good News goes beyond Israel to all peoples.

I am always careful to not overstate the symbols of numbers in Greek and Hebrew, however we can tentatively see that

When the 5,000 Jews were fed, there were twelve baskets left, emblematic of God’s full provision for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Here there were seven great baskets, the number of fullness and completion, as Christ is more than sufficient for the whole world!

Then the circumstances are different.

In the feeding of the 5000 Jesus had compassion because they were sheep without a shepherd.

They were not hungry for they had been with Jesus for only a day.

But here, with the 4000, they had been with Jesus for three days, there were no local shops as they were in the desert, and Jesus had compassion on them because they were physically hungry.

Jesus feels and has compassion for both spiritual and physical hunger and on both occasions fed them with teaching and with bread.

In the previous feeding we find that the disciples say: Send them away.

But Jesus tells them to feed the people.

They replied: Shall we go and spend 200 denarii’s worth of bread?

Then, In the present feeding they simply ask: ‘How?’

In the earlier they asked: ‘Why?’ but now, with faith, they asked: ‘How?’ ‘Why?’ is the sceptics question, ‘how?’ is of one who wants to believe.

The disciples had grown; something had begun to sink in.

And with the bread in both cases God uses what they have and works miracles with it.

I will leave you to find the other differences for they exist because they are to different audiences.

I wonder what was going on in the minds of those who ate.

It was a miracle right before their eyes but perhaps they were just so hungry that spiritually they didn’t perceive.

This miracle was about as obvious as it could get; it is impressive to feed so many people.

Could they not see Jesus breaking the bread and the fish?

How long, do you suppose, it took Jesus to break enough fragments for that many people?

These people must have seen and I reckon that bread was the best bread they had ever tasted.

Mark, in recording these incidences is alluding to something about Jesus; that Elijah is like Jesus, and that Moses is like Jesus and vice versa.

Elijah, if you remember, was sent to a Gentile in her time of need and the flour and the oil did not run out but the woman had to put her faith in Elijah to start with as she had to make him a cake with what she had left.

Moses was sent to the Jews in their time of need and they were provided with manna even though they did not have faith for it moaning and groaning all the time, never satisfied.

We can see with this crowd that Jesus fed were mainly Gentiles and He provides for them even though they were not people of the faith.

Jesus had revealed who he was – he was like Elijah, he was like Moses – he provided at their time of need – no one but God could do such things.

He had revealed himself to be the Son of God.

11-13

Shortly after this he encounters the Pharisees and here they were asking for a sign from Heaven – I mean, what more did they want?

They had already seen great signs which they could not deny, and yet credited them to Beelzebub (3:22).

Yet they wanted a “sign from heaven,” something spectacular from the skies.

This was a diabolical repeat of Satan’s temptation of Christ in the wilderness when he tried to get Jesus to do something stupendous, saying if he would do so he would give Christ the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8, 9).

It was a temptation to take the easy way, apart from the Father’s will.

Jesus would have no part of it.

They did not believe their eyes or the ears.

Jesus sighing deeply: what is that about?

Do you suppose that it was because he was grieved at their unbelieving?

There is no rejoicing over lost souls but grief for them for their lot could be life eternal and yet it was spurned for this temporary world.

How we can be like these Pharisees – not seeing, not hearing, not doing, and not believing – all because they want things their own way rejecting what is best for the appearance of what is good and to try to keep power over the people instead of allegiance going to Jesus.

It is interesting the way Jesus puts this sentence in the Greek; literally it is: “If shall be given to this generation a sign—!”

He doesn’t finish the sentence - Jesus simply gets back in the boat with His disciples and sails away.

Sometimes there is no hope, no argument, nothing that can change their hearts for they are already set in stone, so there is no point in continuing the conversation.

14-21

Then on the way across the lake Jesus is a little cryptic about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod meaning the doctrine of both.

Leaven in the bible does not get a good press – when it is time for the Passover, even today, they hunt for any leaven in the house and purge it of it – it is symbolic of evil - and in the same way we should be seeking out this leaven in ourselves and purging ourselves of it whilst at the same time being on the guard of it in others – just a little yeast and the whole bread rises for it permeates it.

Beware of it, Jesus said.

for it can pervade our lives and our fellowship.

There is one kind of leaven that is possibly the most destructive of all and that is gossip and backbiting.

It can easily get out of control and many lies are told to justify it.

It can tear apart families and fellowships; so the key is that if you are told something the buck stops with you, you are responsible with what you do with the information and it should go no further unless it is a safeguarding or criminal issue.

We also need to be clear about doctrines; that they are important and should be defended at all costs in love but not at the defacing of truth.

Jesus thought it was important, Paul thought it was important, Jude thought it was important and so we, too, think, it is important.

And one doctrine above all others cannot be devalued and that is: there is no other name given among men whereby we MUST be saved (Acts 4:12).

My own translation of the Greek says: And there is not in another, not even one, Salvation, for there is not a different name under Heaven given among men in which it is necessary that we are to be saved.

This verse is SO emphatic.

It is not a name whereby we can be saved but a name where it is so definitely and necessary that we must be saved.

That means that Jesus is exclusive .

So it matters what we think for any other way is the wide road to destruction.

There is one way and one way only.

What was the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod?

Pharisees and Herodians both rely upon human forces to keep them in power.

The Pharisees rely upon the rigidity of their legal interpretations of the law to control the people.

Herod, their secular counterpart, risks his regime upon the brutality of military might to assure his authority.

Constantly having to confirm their positions, the Pharisees call for signs from heaven that fit their law, while Herod marches his legions through the streets as a sign from Rome.

Although the Pharisees would vehemently deny their commonality with Herod, neither can understand Jesus’ vision of a spiritual kingdom.

Evil human nature and corrupt human systems can see no further than the end of the earth.

But we know that the spiritual is above all this and is eternal.

Today is no different where religious authorities try to maintain power over people or dictators or leaders trying to undermine freedom for so-called security, it is all about control of people.

Power and money define authorities and we need to see through them to those things which are of the Kingdom of God.

And the disciples, oh boy!

They did not get anything Jesus was saying.

They think Jesus is really, actually, criticising them for not taking bread!

These disciples are asleep!

Wake up!

What has just happened?

Open your eyes and use your mind, Jesus said.

There is the story:

like the man who went into a bank and said he wanted some money.

The teller asked him to make out a check.

But the man would not do it.

So the teller said, “If you won’t sign the check, I can’t give you any money.”

The man went across the street to another bank, where the same conversation took place.

But after this exchange the teller reached across the counter, took him by the ears, and banged his head three times on the counter.

After which the man took out a pen and calmly signed a check.

The man then returned to the first bank and said, “They gave me money across the street.”

“How did that happen?” asked the teller.

“They explained it to me!” answered the man.