Mark: Do you still not understand? [Mark 8:1-26]

Mark: Do you still not understand []

Stand for the reading of the word of God []

Repetition is a wonderful and effective teacher. Sometimes on the first, second, and even the third attempt we fail to get it. If you’re a slow learner like me it may be in the double digits before the lesson finally sinks in. Well, if you’re like me in that way don’t be discouraged, you’re in good company. The disciples of Jesus were the same way.

If upon reading this section of scripture you have a sense of deja vu or feel we’ve been here before in our study of Mark, you’re right. Chapter 8, the beginning of it anyway, parallels the same type of events in chapter 6-7. Now they are not the same events, but the same type of events. For example

Feeding of a great multitude 6:30-44||8:1-9

A boat trip 6:45-56||8:10

Confrontation with the Pharisees 7:1-23||8:11-13

A conversation about bread 7:24-30||8:14-21

A miraculous healing 7:31-36||8:22-26

A significant confession 7:37||8:27-29 [we didn’t read]

While these events likely happened in this order, I believe Mark is using them in this way for the purpose of theology [the study of God], especially as it relates to discipleship. The lesson Mark is laying out for us is this...

Remembering what we have seen the Lord do in the past should help us trust Him in the present. It’s s simple but useful lesson, unfortunately, we often still don’t understand do we??? Sometimes we forget and are even hard-hearted, in spite of seeing the Lord work in the past, often think He can’t handle the present. Sometimes we just don’t get it!

The next four events in Mark prepare us for the great confession of Peter, “you are the Christ.” Which is a turning point in Marks gospel, we said at the very beginning of our study through Mark that is the turning point or second half of the gospel’s message…that Jesus is the Christ. We’ll get to that next time. But for today’s study, we’ll kind of fly over these 26 verses at a distance, we won’t get into every detail but look at them as a whole lesson preparing us for the great confession.

Jesus has the solution, but we tend to focus on the problem []

The first 10 verses are on the feeding of the 4,000. This is different than the feeding of the 5,000. Some skeptics say this is the same event, but just a glance at the detail and you’ll see it’s not the same event. For example,

Feeding of the 5,000 Feeding of the 4,000

Feeding of the 5,000 Feeding of the 4,000

5,000 men [15,000-20,000] 4,000 people total

5 loaves and 2 fish 7 loaves and a few small fish

1 day in the wilderness 3 days in the wilderness

spring time/North Galilee no time/SE of Galilee [Decapolis]

12 baskets leftover 7 baskets leftover

one prayer two prayers

mostly Jews mostly Gentile

and finally Jesus clearly states there were two feedings in . I think the two different feedings are significant theologically as well…yes Jesus is the long awaited Jewish Messiah…but He’s also the savior of the world.

Now there’s a simple lesson learned from this feeding that also points out that sometimes as followers of Jesus we still don’t understand Him. The lesson…Jesus has the solution, but we tend to focus on the problem. How true is this? How often do we focus on the problem and not on Jesus? I did it while I was stuck in New York trying to get my passport. I was trying to focus on Jesus but all I could see was the problem…and while I was in the airplane flying to Tel Aviv, I prayed “Lord forgive me for doubting you and focusing on the problem and not you.”

We’ll the disciples did the same thing, even though they had seen Jesus solve this problem before they still focused on the problem… “how can we feed these people in this wilderness?” On one hand they were right, they couldn’t, but Jesus could, because Jesus cares. Those two words are music to my ears…Jesus cares. As we sing in our hymnals, Jesus knows all about our struggles; He will guide till the day is done. There’s not a friend like Jesus, no not one. Not only does he know and guide, he cares and has compassion. Jesus own words, I have compassion on these people. He knows their need just as he knows our need…Jesus cares, and...

Jesus own words, I have compassion on these people. He knows their need just as he knows our need…Jesus cares.

Jesus provides. Once again Jesus involves his disciples in the problem. It’s another teachable moment. Sometimes Jesus involves us with the problem so we may learn to trust His provision. We may not like that, but Jesus cares for us to much to leave us where we are, he wants to bring us to where He is. Praise God for that.

So Jesus calls the disciples to himself, tells them his heart [compassion], explains the situation, and the twelve respond in unbelief…how can we do anything. And the irony is that’s a good place to be, to be in the place were we say, “Lord I can do nothing…you are the only hope.” are you in that place? Or are you still trying to solve everything in you’re own power…surrender to Jesus…surrender to His care, thank him for daily provision and trust him as you sole and sufficient provider…he will provide for you need.

Jesus satisfies. there’s a wonderful sentence in verse 8, “they ate and were filled.” Those who followed Jesus were not just provided for they were satisfied. Jesus satisfies all who follow him. However, even though Jesus satisfies there are still some who don’t get it and reject Him as Lord.

Unbelievers demand a sign but reject the word of God []

Mark abruptly interrupts this miraculous event with the religious Gestapo-the Pharisees. We’ve seen this before in Mark, in chapter 2, 3, and 7 these self-righteous men once again a thorn in Jesus side. In spite of the numerous miracles, and teachings that give overwhelming evidence that Jesus is the Messiah…they reject the living word of God. In reality they’re stance is, “our minds are made up about Jesus and the facts will not get in the way of that.” There are those today who still have that mindset. Refuse to believe the overwhelming evidence of Jesus as Messiah. So what do they do...

They test the Lord. Mark says they began to argue with Jesus and test him…they wanted a sign from heaven. Well the reality is they didn’t want a sign, Jesus had been performing signs all over the place, they wanted to discredit him before the people. It’s one thing to put the Lord to a test in faith [I’m going to trust you in this]. It’s quite another to test the Lord in unbelief [prove to me who you say you are], that’s what these guys are doing. Jesus doesn’t play those games. Teachers know if a student asking a question has a legitimate desire to know a thing or if they’re just trying to waste the teachers time and make the teacher look foolish…Jesus knew what these men were about as well. You see a contrast between Jesus’ response to the crowd which was compassion and Jesus response to the Pharisees which was frustration. If you come to the Lord looking for reasons not to believe him don’t be surprised when you get nothing from Him. Jesus doesn’t play games.

They grieve the Lord. For the second time in two chapters it’s recorded that Jesus sighed with deep emotion. If we remember when an emotional response like this is recorded about Jesus, it’s rare, it’s usually because of the effects of sin upon humanity. Here Jesus is grieved by those who refuse the evidence, who refuse to hear, who refuse to see, and remain hard-hearted towards the Lord Jesus. Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus? The rich man died and was in hell and asked the Lord to warn his family…but the Lord told him…they have Moses and the prophets, if they won’t believe them they won’t believe even if someone would rise from the dead. i.e. they have the word of God and if they won’t believe the word of God no miraculous sign will convince them either. Faith comes by the word of God. When God’s word is truly taught then God’s voice is truly heard. Do you believe that? I do! This is why we teach the bible. Never forget that truth! There’s something wrong in your life, you need the bible! Don’t grieve the Lord by saying, “I need some sign from you God, so I know you’re there and listening.” No, remember God’s word testifies to Jesus compassion and mercy and grace…that is sufficient. Don’t be like these hard-hearted, unbelieving people...

They lose the Lord. Verse 13 is a chilling verse… “and He left them” The word used there is the same word and idea that Jesus told to his disciples when they go into a city and those people don’t receive them, leave them by shaking the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. This is a sign of divine judgment. I cannot stress how significantly important this is…if you are here today and have not repented and received the Lord Jesus as your savior, do so today! Because one day it will be to late and there will be no second chance!

The disciples will see great works but fail to fully understand []

The Pharisees were not the only ones who did not understand, who had hard-hearts and lacked spiritual ears and eyes, the disciples did as well. However, unlike the Pharisees who were moving in the wrong direction away from the Lord, the disciples were making progress towards the Lord, slow as it was, it’s still progress. They had a ways to go, and even though the disciples will see great works, they’ll fail to fully understand…in fact they won’t fully understand till after the resurrection.

There will be times when we misunderstand the words of Jesus. The disciples did here in this next section. They get in the boat and for some reason they failed to take the bread they gathered up with them. So they found themselves with only one loaf of bread. So here they are in the boat and they forgot the lunch, a discussion ensues, perhaps they were blaming each other I don’t know, but whatever is going on they failed to see the irony of their situation…they forgot what the One in the boat with them could do.

So Jesus uses the visual aid of the bread, since their going on about bread, as a teaching aid. He cautioned them to watch out, beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. A little bit of leaven permeates the entire batch of bread dough, so the warning of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. The leaven of the Pharisees is marked by unbelief, the leaven of Herod is marked by hostility toward the gospel. So, the leaven of unbelief in Jesus has gripped the hearts of the Pharisees, the leaven of hostility toward Jesus has gripped the heart of Herod and has taken control of their lives. So Jesus warns his disciples not to let unbelief enter and take you away from the divine truth you’ve heard and seen.

The disciples misunderstand what Jesus is saying, they say… “it is because we don’t have any bread.” How dull are these fellows? How incredibly stupid they are. I don’t mean to be rude to these guys but come one fellows. But…Oh how I see myself in that boat. Oh how I see myself as dull and stupid. Jesus has every right to say to me, “do you still not get it Brian?” Do you see yourself here? You should or you’re just fooling yourself.

But even though they misunderstand Jesus words and Jesus works, as do we. Jesus slams them with a series of questions in verses 17-21. Now these questions are not so much to rebuke and make them feel stupid as they are a teaching tool once again. Why do you reason? Do you not perceive? is your heart hard? Do you have ears and eyes?… sounds like a parent, use you ears use your eyes, every parent has used that phrase at some point. use your ears use your eyes…I must have told you 100 times! Parents say this out of frustration.

Jesus is using these questions not to shame them but instruct them. For sure the disciples are slow learners, but then again, so are we. How hesitant are we to embrace the truth of , “For nothing is impossible with God.” We like to say that but don’t we hesitate when trouble hits? How hesitant are we to embrace the truth of , or at least we misunderstand what it means… “I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” How many times do we misunderstand that text.

Just like the disciples, we often hear our Lord’s great words and see His great works in our lives but still fail to fully understand and trust Him. But praise be to God, that’s not were we stop…this next miracle, the healing of this blind man is so important to this teaching of our Lord.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

The blind will see, but it may come gradually []

These verses constitute as a visual parable for the disciples, though this really happened physically to the blind man, it also serves as a symbol of the spiritual pilgrimage of the disciples and all who follow Jesus. This gradual healing was intentional by Jesus, Jesus could have easily healed this man instantly, he did so often, but this time it’s used to serve as a lesson to His disciples as a picture of the gradual, step by step understanding of the disciples.

The disciples are slowly coming to see and understand that Jesus is the Messiah. This leads up to Peter’s great confession in verse 29, however we will see that even after this confession of Jesus as the Christ…they still only have partial sight and understanding. It’s only after the resurrection that they will fully get it…they are just like this blind man who recieved his sight gradually. Jesus touches this blind man the first time and says can you see? The man yeah but it’s distorted. Jesus touches the man the second time and says, can you see now? Yeah everything is clear.

The point Mark is making clear here, is it’s going to take divine intervention for these disciples to understand. It always takes divine intervention or divine illumination for people to see the Lord clearly. that is why you can read the bible and get nothing from it, you can listen to the bible taught and learn nothing…without divine illumination, you’ll never get it. You can concern yourself with the affairs of religion and it’s just be like water off a ducks back…until the Lord removes the blinders from your eyes and the plugs from your ears, you’ll get nothing at all from it.

This leads us to next week when Peter makes the great confession of Jesus as the Christ. In Matthew’s account Jesus says, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. i.e. The only way any man or woman can come to know the Lord Jesus is through God’s divine hand of grace. This is what gives us the confidence that we can bring the hurting to Jesus and this is what gives us the reassurance we can trust the hurting to Jesus because Jesus will not turn away those who come to Him seeking his mercy and grace.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see.

That was true for the blind man, it was true for the twelve disciples, it’s still true for you and me today. Have you trusted Jesus today? If not I invite you to turn to Him in faith this morning.

Pray: Father, we know that when your word is truly taught your voice is truly heard. Help us, by your divine hand, to hear your voice and see your works. In Jesus name, Amen.