Sermon Cloud

 

We will be looking today at a passage of Scripture

• ….a passage of Scripture that covers 2 different episodes in the life of Jesus

 

 

 

But we will connect these two together…..because in a way…

• …these two stories are really one story

 

 

Mark 8.1-13

 

 

 

So we see in this passage;

• …two different episodes in the life of Christ

 

 

First; we see Jesus, once again, having compassion on a group of people;

 

 

v 2

"I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

 

 

 

Jesus is the Savior who is fully human……who has deep, moving compassion on the people

 

 

 

 

We saw this same thing in the first feeding miracle

• …and do you recall the reason that Jesus had compassion then?

 

 

Mark tells us;

 

 

7.34

…and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

 

 

 

So in that miracle….Jesus has compassion because He sees the people’s lostness

• …their hopelessness
  • …the fact that they are without a shepherd…without spiritual guidance in their lives

 

 

 

The reason from Jesus’ compassion is somewhat different here;

 

 

v 2

"I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

 

..so now….Jesus’ compassion on the crowd is based on something entirely different…..

 

 

 

Instead of being based in their spiritual need for leadership and guidance

• …it is based on two things;

-their physical need

-and their loyalty to Jesus….

 

 

 

Jesus has compassion because they have nothing to eat

• And…Jesus has compassion because they have been with Him for three days now…

 

 

Now…this idea of being with Jesus for three days is much stronger in the original Greek than it comes across in our English…..

 

 

This word that Mark uses to communicate their “being with Jesus” actually carries a meaning of abiding….or remaining faithful…..to cleave to

 

 

 

We see it used in places like;

 

Acts 11:23

…he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose

 

There’s that same idea of abiding in the Lord…of cleaving faithfully to Him

 

 

 

We see this word show up again in Acts 13.43

 

 

Acts 13:43

…Paul and Barnabas…urged them to continue in the grace of God.

 

 

Again….the idea of remaining faithful….of clinging to God in faith

• That’s what these Gentiles are doing
  • …they’re not just following Jesus out of curiosity
    • …they’re not just following Jesus hoping to be healed

 

They are faithfully clinging to Jesus….they are abiding with Him….

• …this is perhaps the most positive description of a crowd in the entire gospel of Mark
  • ….(and make note….this is a Gentile crowd…..not a Jewish crowd)

 

 

 

These Gentiles are following Christ faithfully….and Jesus has compassion on them because of their faithfulness…

 

 

 

But we’re still left with the question;

• …why did Jesus repeat this miracle

 

Because the similarities with the feeding in chapter 6 are remarkable

• …they both take place in a deserted location
• …they both involve large crowds that are following Jesus
• ….they both multiply a small amount of food…that satisfies a large crowd
• …and they are both followed by Jesus departing on a boat…

 

 

 

We recall from chapter 6

• …when Jesus fed 15k+ people from 5 loaves of bread and two small fish

 

 

Here…Jesus feeds 4k people from 7 loaves of bread and a few fish

 

 

The similarities between the two stories are unmistakable…

 

 

 

And so, we ask the question….why did Jesus need to repeat this miracle?

 

 

 

Well, I think to answer that question, we simply need to consider what it was that Jesus was teaching when He performed the first miracle

• ….and where Jesus is now that He performs that miracle again…

 

 

 

When Jesus fed the 5k men in chapter 6

• …that was done near Bethsaida….an area of Galilee that was primarily a Jewish area

 

 

This was during the first part of His ministry which we call Jesus’ Galilean ministry

 

 

The crowd that was gathered was primarily Jewish

 

 

 

This time, when Jesus performs this miracle;

• He does so in the area of the Decapolis…….

 

 

 

Look with me, back up at verse 31 of the preceding chapter;

 

….in the region of the Decapolis.

 

 

 

…Now….look at how Chapter 8 begins….

 

In those days

 

 

Jesus is still there in the Decapolis…

 

 

Jesus does this miracle in the region of the Decapolis

• …an area that we know is Gentile…..

 

 

This crowd that was gathered here was primarily a Gentile crowd

 

 

So, Jesus performs the miracle the first time for the Jews….

• …and He performs it the second time for the Gentiles….

 

 

Why was that?

 

 

….Well, to answer that, let’s look at what it was that this miracle was teaching….

 

 

In both miracles….Jesus was teaching that He alone is our satisfaction…

 

 

Look with me at verse 8

 

 

v 8

And they ate and were satisfied

 

 

…now, recall with me the first feeding;

• …Mark tells us there, in 6.42
  • …look with me there (pew Bible, on same page)

 

 

6.42

And they all ate and were satisfied.

 

 

 

Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the satisfaction for the Jews and for the Gentiles…

 

Jesus alone will fill them with Himself…..and He alone will be their supreme satisfaction

 

 

Man can be satisfied with nothing less….

 

 

 

Everything else you pursue in your life…

• …everything;

-career success

-personal accomplishment

-power

-wealth

-status

            ….it doesn’t matter…..it’s all the same

 

They all can provide satisfaction and fulfillment in your life for a time

• …but that satisfaction is not lasting

 

 

 

….the satisfaction that we receive from anything else….

• ….it always fades...

 

 

 

…but only Christ provides lasting, permanent satisfaction and purpose

• …satisfaction and purpose and fulfillment that never fades

 

 

And Christ is saying here;

• …I am the satisfaction…I am the fulfillment for the Jews and for the Gentiles….

 

 

Secondly….when Jesus fed the 5k…He was teaching that all they needed for spiritual growth and victory was already within them…

 

 

 

Recall with me….where the bread and fish came from in the first feeding…

 

 

6.37…again, on the same page

…You give them something to eat…

 

 

….here, once again….Jesus says;

 

v 5

How many loaves do you have?

 

 

This is a teaching that will be fulfilled in Acts 2

• …when the Holy Spirit comes and fills the believers with His power and His Spirit…

 

 

Everything that we need to live the Christian life perfectly has been given to us…

 

 

 

There is no second blessing….there is no second filling of the Holy Spirit

 

 

When Christ redeems your heart….You are sealed with His Spirit….

• …and that Spirit testifies to you that you are His
• ….that Spirit leads you into all truth
• ….that Spirit works to convict you of sin
• ….that Spirit enables you to live the life that God has called us to live
  • …that Spirit conforms us to the image of Christ…

 

 

Jesus is performing this miracle to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit will be sent to Gentiles who place saving faith in Christ…

• …as well as Jews….

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

This is a precursor to what will be taught through Cornelius in Acts 10

 

 

(Recall the story)….Peter receives a vision….

• …in which God declares to Peter that there are no more unclean foods

 

 

At that moment….a messenger comes from a Gentile who is seeking God….by the name of Cornelius

• …and Peter is to go to this man Cornelius (a Gentile)…and speak the gospel to him….

 

 

You see….just like our passages from three weeks ago and four weeks ago

• …Jesus teaches; there are no unclean foods…and there are no unclean people

 

 

….Then….Peter goes to Cornelius

• …and Cornelius receives Christ and becomes filled with the Holy Spirit…

 

 

Acts 10:44-45

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.  And [they] were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

 

 

…we wonder why they were amazed….because Peter was there in Mark 8

• …he was there for the feeding of the 4k Gentiles….in which Jesus taught that His Spirit…His salvation will be sent to the Gentiles as well as the Jews…

 

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

…but that is what is being taught here in the feeding of the 4k

 

 

…after this….Jesus gets into the boat….and He crosses to the district of Dalmanutha (verse 10)

 

 

 

…No one is exactly sure where that is….but we are fairly certain that it is on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee

• …once again in Jewish territory…

 

 

…and He is only here for a short time….

• …because it seems that the Pharisees were just waiting for Him…..

 

 

 

v 11

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

 

 

The Pharisees meet Jesus…

• ..and they argue with Him…
  • …they contend with Him…
    • ….they quarrel with Jesus…

 

 

…they argue with Him about what?

• …..about a sign from heaven…to test Him

 

 

The Pharisees are sign-seekers….

• …and they argue with Jesus….wanting Him to jump through their hoops
  • …to sit, and roll over like a dog at their command….
    • ……..to prove to them that He is who He says He is…

 

 

And Jesus will not play that game….

 

 

He will not submit His ministry to their requirements

 

He will not allow them to take the driver’s seat of His agenda…

 

 

 

….They are not seeking a sign in which to believe in Him

 

 

…they are simply seeking justification for their unbelief

 

 

 

 

They claim that if they were given a sign from heaven that they will then believe in this man Jesus…

 

...and once again….no one comes to faith in Jesus Christ by witnessing a miracle…..

 

 

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God….

• ….and in Jesus’ day….just like in our day today….
  • People come and say; if you can show me a sign…..just one miracle and I will believe….

 

No_they_won’t

 

 

Nevermind the fact that Jesus has demonstrated miracle after miracle for them

• …just as we studied in the message from two weeks ago….

 

 

Jesus demonstrates His power before a crowd that believes in Jesus

• …and they exclaim…..He has done all things well...

 

 

He has made the blind to see and the deaf to walk

 

 

He has fulfilled Isaiah 35.5-6

• He is the fulfillment of the prophecies….

 

 

That is the reaction that men have when they have faith in Christ and then they see His power manifested…

 

 

 

This is why it was important to see the faith of the crowd that is following Jesus at the beginning of the chapter;

• …that crowd believes in Jesus…..and what do they see?
  • ….they see a manifestation of His power…

 

 

 

These Pharisees do not believe….and what does Jesus give them?

• …a cold shoulder…..

 

 

 

God has chosen that in this life….His power will not often be shown to the disbelieving world….

 

 

 

We read back in 6.5

• …as Jesus left His disbelieving hometown of Nazareth
  • …we read that Jesus did no mighty work there because of their unbelief…..

 

 

But when men do not have faith in Christ….no miracle will change their mind…

 

[…]

 

Jesus tells a story in Luke 16 of the poor beggar Lazarus

• ….who dies and is ushered into heaven

 

 

Meanwhile….the rich man who despised Lazarus when he was alive

• …he also dies and he goes to hell

 

 

He looks up, and sees Lazarus in heaven…

• …and he pleads that Lazarus send someone to tell his brothers about this place….
  • …for surely….if someone from the dead comes to them with this message, they will believe it….

 

 

IOW; It they see a miracle….they will believe…

 

 

…and Jesus says;

• No…..they have all they need to believe in Me now….they have the Word of God
  • …and if they won’t believe in My Word…then

 

 

Luke 16:31

…neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

 

 

 

 

…and in the same way;

• …these Pharisees do not believe in Jesus….they have opposed Him from the start
  • …….and likewise……neither will they believe…even if Jesus shows yet another sign from heaven

 

 

 

 

…and so, Jesus, does not oblige them….

 

 

v 12

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.

 

 

 

…now, don’t miss the significance here…

• …these Pharisees come to Jesus….arguing with Him…
  • …..contending against Him…

 

 

Seeking to demonstrate Jesus as a fraud….asking Him for a sign from heaven in a thinly veiled attempt to discredit Him

 

 

…and Mark says that Jesus…….left them….

 

 

Now, in our English, this word does not come through the translation with the same force as in the original Greek

 

 

In the Greek…this is not the word that simply means to leave a certain place…or to depart

• …it has a meaning closer to abandon….to discard…..to leave for good

 

 

I think we can see this clearly by looking at other occurrences of this word in Mark’s gospel….

 

 

 

Chapter 1, verse 18…Jesus calls Simon and Andrew to follow Him…

 

 

Mark 1:18

And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

 

 

…they left their nets…..never to return….they abandoned their nets,

• They abandoned their boats
  • They abandoned their fishing businesses…and their lives as fishermen of fish
    • …in order to assume a new life of fishing men….

 

 

 

Again, in chapter 1, verse 30

• …Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law….

 

 

 

Mark 1:31

And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her…

 

 

The same idea here….the fever is gone…..it’s not coming back…..

 

 

 

We see the same word, just three verses later

• …as Jesus casts the demons out of the people….

 

 

 

Mark 1:34

…and [he] cast out many demons…

 

 

…the demons are gone for good….

 

 

 

…you see…the idea is stronger than Jesus just got into the boat to make an exit

• …the idea is that Jesus is shaking the dust from His feet…

 

 

Jesus is abandoning these stiff-necked Pharisees who desire only to drag Him down

• …and along with Him….they wish to drag down their people as well….

 

 

The teaching here is not easy…..

 

 

For sign-seekers…..for those who wish to put God to the test

• …for those who demand from God proof….

 

 

…there comes a time in which God……..abandons you….

 

 

 

Our God is patient and longsuffering……

• ….but His patience does not endure forever…..
• ….His patience is not without limits…..

 

 

Peter says that God is not slow to fulfill His promise (2 Pet 3.9)

• …but He is patient…not wishing that any should perish

 

 

But that patience is not without end….

 

 

Numbers 14:18

'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty…

 

 

[…]

 

If you are seeking God…..if God is drawing you unto Himself…..

• …but you persist in asking for irrefutable proof…

 

 

There is a time for asking for proof….there is a time for asking God to prove Himself to you

• …..but we all must accept Christ on faith….there is no other way…

 

 

The Bible is clear….we receive Christ one way only…through faith

 

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith

 

 

 

.....If Jesus Christ were to appear bodily in this room right now

• …and speak to you directly….
  • ….showing you the scars in His hands and in His sides

 

 

…and by so doing….give you undeniable proof of the resurrection…

 

 

 

 

…then there would be no room left for faith….

 

 

You could not then receive Jesus on faith…..

 

[…]

 

God is not afraid of your questions…..there are good answers for every question that mankind raises about God

 

 

 

….but there must come a time in which the questions must move to acceptance based on faith……

 

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

…and Scripture is just as clear about faith….it is a gift….

 

 

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

 

 

Faith is a gift that we receive…..

 

 

 

Now….how do we receive gifts from God…..

 

 

…we ask for them….

 

 

Jesus says;

Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

 

 

 

If you lack faith this morning…..then there is nothing you can do to please God

 

 

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that without faith….it is impossible to please God…

 

 

You are unable to do anything….think anything….or be anything that is pleasing to God……..without faith

 

 

 

…and even more convicting than that….

• The Bible says that anything that we do that is not done in faith….is sin….

 

Romans 14:23

…For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

 

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

Jesus tells us (John 16.33) that anything we ask in His name….it will be given to us

 

 

….ask Him to grant you faith to believe today

• …commit to Him that your time of seeking signs from heaven is over

 

 

…and through His gift of faith

• …your time of faithfully following Him in the grace that is His gift of faith has begun…..