Mark 8 - Mother's Day
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Big Idea:
Big Idea:
Following Jesus requires crucifying our hard hearts.
Intro:
Intro:
Hi Church Online. Happy Mother’s Day!
I’d like to take a moment to ask God’s richest blessings on all our moms and on those who play a motherly role in our lives. I’d also like to honor the moms who are no longer with us, but always in our hearts. We honor you and thank you for all you do! God we thank You for these special women who helped us grow in grace.
Moms are extremely important to God’s creational intention for our world. They are often the path on which God’s love travels from heaven to earth. Their care can be a reflection of God’s heart.
As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
And though all healthy humans long to receive love and care, a mother’s job is no easy task, even when the receiving child is “good kid.”
Susanne Wesley was mom to two godly men of old: John and Charles Wesley. John was a great preacher. Charles a renowned worship leader. That being said… being their mother was no easy task. She communicated some of her challenges when she wrote her 16 Rules of Parenthood. For example:
Rule #4: Subdue self-will in a child, and work together with God to save the child’s soul.
Can you guess why this was a rule? Because kids are stubborn, amen? They’re hard-headed. And Susanne understood that the process of raising godly children required breaking up the soil of this natural stubbornness.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just a childhood problem. We grown folks are plenty stubborn. God told Moses… speaking of Israel...
And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
Doesn’t this describe us too? You know what a “stiff-necked people” are? They go like this [stiff-neck] when they refuse to do something based off of stubbornness.
I remember as a teenager I loved Hondas. I was a little street racer. And back then, if you raced Japanese cars, that meant you were supposed to hate American cars. And my uncle had a new Ford F-150. Sweet truck. And he’d offer to take me some where, but I’d be like, “I’m not riding in a Ford!!!” [Stiff-neck]. Stupid! Especially since I currently own a Ford F150 and out of all the vehicles I’ve owned, it’s probably my favorite!
Even when something is good for us, we are stiff-necked!
You should take a day off [No- stiff-necked].
You should exercise [stiff-necked].
You should take a nap or get a full night’s sleep (stuff we REALLY want) - No! [Stiff-necked]
We are a stubborn people! No wonder only God and our mommas love us! Today, in the Book of Mark, we’re gonna read about some more stubborn people. Check it out...
In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
Do you get the sense we’ve read a story like this before? That’s because we have… in chapter 6. The previous account was a little different, but they both have...
Jesus teaching a large crowd.
Jesus having compassion on the hungry crowd.
Jesus wanting to feed everyone, but there isn’t enough food.
And similar to last time, the disciples point this out, saying...
And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”
… and anyone who read the first story rightfully asks, “Don’t the disciples remember the miracle Jesus did last time? I mean, how do you forget feeding 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish?”
Say: How quickly we forget!
And, like last time, Jesus supernaturally multiplies the little food they have, feeds everyone, and there are baskets left over to spare.
Verse 11 continues with...
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
Once again, this seems familiar. That’s because… after the first time Jesus supernaturally fed thousands of people, he also ran into a bunch of religious leaders giving him a hard time.
The first time, they jammed Jesus up about his disciples not washing their hands before they ate.
This time they jam Jesus up by asking Him for a sign from heaven.
Now, I want to take a moment to explain their request for a sign, because it’s not like Jesus lacked power to give them a sign, nor did He lack the desire to do miracles (we’ll see that in a bit when He meets a blind man). And it’s not like the religious leaders hadn’t seen Jesus do miraculous things before that would’ve qualified as a sign. So...
Why are they asking to see another sign?
And why doesn’t Jesus just do it to shut them up?
I think Luke’s gospel can give us some insight into this… In Luke 7, Jesus said...
“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
“ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Back in the day, kids used to play games based on real life events they saw in the street. Two things they used to see were people celebrating (with music and dancing) and people crying (at a funeral procession marching down the street). But sometimes kids would be cranky - stiff-necked - and didn’t want to play at all.
I don’t want to play wedding party!
I don’t want to play funeral.
It didn’t matter what game the other kids picked, the stiff-necked kids weren’t playing.
And Jesus used this example to describe the people of his generation, specifically the religious leaders. John the Baptist acted a certain way and the stiff-necked Pharisees were like, “We don’t like that guy!”
And Jesus was, in many ways, the complete opposite of John. Yet, the Pharisees were like, “I don’t like that guy either!”
And Jesus points out the reality that nothing is going to make these guys happy, no matter what anyone did. Because they were stubborn, stiff-necked, and set in their ways!
So, when the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign, why didn’t Jesus give them one? Because it wouldn’t have made a difference anyways. A sign wouldn’t have changed their mind. They only said, “Show us a sign from heaven” because it was their way of justifying their stubbornness. Even if Jesus did give them a sign, they would’ve just said again, “Well, show me one more, then I’ll believe. Or, that’s not the right kind of sign!”
It’s very similar to the stubbornness Jesus talked about in another of Luke’s stories. In this story, Jesus talks about a rich man and a man named, Lazarus, who was poor. Lazarus begged outside the rich man’s house but never received helped. One day, both men died.
Lazarus ends up in paradise, but the rich man ended up in Hades. And there...
And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
Abraham refuses the request because the rich man must face the eternal consequences of his earthly choices. Then, the rich man says...
And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
The sense is, even if they saw a miraculous and heavenly sign, it wouldn’t help. Why? Because they were sinfully stubborn. And the same was true with these religious leaders here in Mark 8. They were so stubborn that a sign wouldn’t make a difference. So, Jesus isn’t giving them one.
But, what’s with the stubbornness?
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
What’s with the stubbornness? Verse 17 answers it… the stubbornness was sources from a hard heart. But here’s something we need to pay attention to...
Jesus is talking to the disciples - His followers...
Jesus says, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” - so He’s talking about the religious leaders...
Jesus also says, “Beware of the leaven of Herod” - which was a way of talking about the everyone else.
What’s this tell us? It says that hard-heartedness is everyone’s problem! Additionally, it’s contagious. Even if it starts small, it has an ability to impact (or corrupt) everything, in the same way a little bit of yeast can impact the entire batch of dough (which is why Jesus uses references to leaven and bread).
Jesus is letting His disciples (and us today - thru His living Word) that one of the biggest problems we have is a hard heart.
It’s what fuels a child’s rebellion towards a loving mother.
It’s what keeps us in unbelief or away from experiencing the Kingdom of God - the way life was intended to be and the life our soul truly longs for!
And just in case you’re wondering, “Do I have a hard heart?” Let me give you a quick two assessment question:
Do you believe what God says?
Do you obey what God says?
If you answered “No” to either or both of those things, you may have a hard heart. Because...
The reason you don’t believe what God says is because either you don’t understand like the hard-hearted disciples; or, there isn’t enough “proof” for you to agree, like the Pharisees who needed a sign. And honestly, we know the sign won’t make a difference. That’s a hard heart!
And the reason you don’t obey God is because you like the way your life is currently. When you are in control, not God. You didn’t lose that stubborn self-will as a child and you ain’t gonna let it go now! That’s a hard heart.
…and that’s a PROBLEM!
Thankfully, just as mom didn’t give up us, God doesn’t either. We get a glimpse of that in the next story...
And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
In many ways, this blind man represents the blindness of our hard hearts. And when Jesus heals this blind man, Mark is showing us a very important truth: JESUS WANTS TO HEAL US TOO! HE WANTS TO TAKE AWAY OUR HARD-HEARTS.
This is even more clear in verse 27...
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
This is probably one of the most important passages in the book of Mark… Think about the progression of events we’ve read...
We all have a huge problem: Hard hearts.
They keep us from experiencing true life.
But Jesus doesn’t give up on us.
And He moves to heal our hearts, so that we can clearly see Jesus! Like Peter, who was a hard-hearted disciple, but now declares, “You are the Christ!”
You are everything I’ve ever wanted.
You’re everything the world has been looking for!
I see You’re everything I’ll ever need!
And here’s another beautiful thing about this passage… notice both the blind man and Peter did NOTHING to deserve this healing. It was a gift of grace from a God who doesn’t give up.
Isn’t that the gospel?
We are hard-hearted sinners doomed to eternal death.
But Jesus didn’t give up on us.
Instead, He save us from our sin.
He heals us by grace because He loves us.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And it’s this salvation that Jesus begins to clearly reveal to His disciples...
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Okay, that took a strange turn and escalated quickly. Peter just has His spiritual eyes open, his hard heart infused with God’s grace, and then BAM! He blows it to the point where Jesus calls him “Satan!” What happened? Is there a misunderstanding? Are missing something?
One of my previous pastors (Pastor Steve) used to go to Sudan a lot. Things are different out there. And sometimes, things are misunderstood. A decade ago, people in that part of Africa didn’t have a lot of food. Only wealthy people ate well.
Well, Pastor Steve was a big dude. Easy pick for Santa Claus each year. And one year, an African pastor, wanting to give him a compliment, said, “Pastor Steve!!! OH… you are VERY FAT!” Meaning, you looking very healthy and must be successful man!
Pastor Steve was like, “Dang...” Misunderstanding!
Is that what happened here with Jesus and Peter? Was it a misunderstanding? I don’t think so.
Remember what Jesus said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” In other words, watch out for hard-heartedness! It’s contagious! And here, Peter’s heart is quickly and easily contaminated because he wasn’t paying attention! He wasn’t aware of the leaven Satan had planted in his heart, even if didn’t seem like a big deal. It’s not that Peter didn’t want God’s will to be done. He just didn’t want Jesus to die. However, any departure from God’s will always heads in the wrong direction. Sin is a slippery slope!
Since high school, I’ve been on a perpetual battle with my weight. When I’m exercising a ton and eating well, I can get down into the 180s. I feel good. I feel fit. But I have to actively maintain it.
However, when I don’t pay attention to it (a little ice cream, an extra donut), it’s very easy for me to get over 200lbs - way over. And when I am, I feel very unhealthy physically, mentally, and spiritually
That’s kinda like our heart. If we don’t pay attention (if we’re not aware), we’ll easily slide into hard-heartedness. Peter shows us this.
So, what can we do to keep our heart soft and healthily engaged with Jesus? Jesus tells us how in the final verses of chapter 8...
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Response:
Response:
As we close, I want to give us a way to proactively fight against having a hard-heart based on Jesus’ words. But before I do, I want to acknowledge something… I am fully aware the a lot of what I say in this “response time” seems to be on-repeat. But, let’s be honest, we need the repeat because we’re hard-headed and hard-hearted. Like a Mom repeating herself 100 times to stubborn children, so is God’s word often repeats things to us for our own good and to break our self-will (hard hearts), so that hopefully one day, we’ll live fully for Jesus.
The proper way to fight a hard heart is to crucify it. That can sound a little strange, so let me explain what I mean...
We need to repent (turn away from our old ways of thinking and living) and put our faith in Jesus who died on a cross for us. When we do, something miraculous happens in our lives. In a very real way, we die with Christ. Our old selfish and sinful nature, our hard heart dies...
And then, Jesus gives us a new life, with a new heart. That’s why the apostle Paul said...
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
But, even with a new heart, we can’t just go on cruise control, because the leaven of the world is super contagious. We must proactively crucify hard-hearted attitudes. But, as one of my favorite pastors, Craig Groeschel, says:
We cant’ defeat what we can’t define.
So, one way we defeat hard-heartedness is to identify it. And here are 2 ways that can help us identify if there is any leaven in our lives:
You might be hard-hearted if you quickly forget all that Jesus has done. Like the disciples asking once again, “How will you feed all these people?” We too forget all Jesus has done and become hard-hearted.
You might be hard-hearted if you keep asking God for a sign in order to obey Him. Do you really want a sign or are you simply giving yourself an excuse to keep on believing what you already believe? That’s being hard-hearted.
Once, you define it, crucify it. Deny yourself (that’s wants to keep those old ways), take up your cross and follow Jesus. Leave that hard-heart behind and put your faith in God.
This week, think of one thing you need to crucify (something selfish and hard-hearted) so you can follow Jesus.
It might be a belief you’re passionate about but know it’s against God’s word. You’ve been hanging onto it but you realize it’s creating a hard heart. Crucify it.
Maybe it’s time to quit asking God for a sign (knowing good and well He’s already given you a thousand that still haven’t changed your mind). You don’t need a sign, you need a Savior! It’s time to declare, “Jesus, You are the Christ!” You are everything I need! And I’m ready to leave behind my hard heart and receive a new soft heart from You!
Let’s pray...
God, we confess. Our hearts are hard. We don’t want to believe You. We don’t want to follow You. We actively resist You. But today, that changes. Today, we are going to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow You. Please remove this heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh that loves You.
Also, we pray a special blessing over the moms in our lives that have loved us with a love that is sourced from You. Be with them. Help them to know they are loved and honored. Pour out your favor on them. In Jesus name, amen.
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