Jesus wants to strengthen your faith this morning. He wants to give some of you faith in him this morning. Or point you in that direction. What is Christianity? What’s the essence of what it means to be a Christian? I talked with someone at USC who said that the church is corrupt, they take your money, and they don’t even follow the Bible and all the early Christian teachings. When I asked him what the essence of Christianity was and the core of Jesus’ teaching, he said it was “the golden rule.” Now Jesus taught the golden rule. But if that is the core and essence of Christianity then you have a Jesus of your own imagination or some particular subculture’s current shaping of him. We want to know, love, and spread a passion for the person of Jesus according to who he really is. And we can’t know that by trusting my expert opinion, since I’m not an expert. We can know Jesus by going to the Scriptures and learning from God directly through this book.
Jesus wants to birth or strengthen your faith in him by learning 4 things about him from this passage.
Jesus is able to restore physical hearing, speaking, and seeing (7.31-37; 8.22-26)
The first story reads (ESV): 7:31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
Jesus gave this man ears to hear again and a mouth to speak again. He opened his ears and released his tongue to hear and speak. Jesus didn’t just do it by a word this time, or by simple touch, but by sticking fingers in his ears and touching the man’s tongue with his own saliva. Then Jesus spoke and they were opened and restored. Why the spittle and fingers in the ear? Why the touching of the tongue? This seems a bit odd if someone did this in LA in 2010. James Edwards, after stating that some spit was looked as unclean, explains, “The spittle of certain persons, however, was considered by the Jews to have healing power, especially when it was accompanied by conversation, applied to the area of sickness or injury, and accompanied by a formula prayer” (The Gospel According to Mark, 225). We have this in the church today where we commonly think that pastors praying for us is better than having another person pray for us.
What are we to learn from this? First, I see that Jesus varies in the way he restores and heals people who are broken. Sometimes he speaks to them, sometimes it’s a simple touch, other times it’s a word to a representative of the person in need. Here it is Jesus touching, interacting with, and then speaking into this person’s life. Jesus works in various ways through various circumstances to various people in various situations. Don’t lock Jesus into one way to work when he works in different ways that are demonstrated in passages like this one.
Second, Jesus uses means in this case. He doesn’t heal only by speaking a word though he could. The fingers in the ears, the spitting and touching the tongue, then the speaking, all work to the healing of this man. God could give a vision and people hear the gospel and believe. He could send an angel to proclaim it in the sky (Rev 14.6). But he could also use Christians to explain the gospel, bear gospel fruit in the church relational web, and tangibly love their neighbor. Sometimes God uses all of that to heal, restore, and save.
The story continues: 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Now why did Jesus charge them to keep the matter private and secretive? He was already wildly popular in Jewish areas and increasingly so in Gentile regions. Plus, he never told the Gentiles to keep it quiet as opposed to those in Jewish contexts. What was the report that went out? According to verse 37, the report was, "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak." So why the charge to not say anything? What’s so bad about that report? I think part of it is a little different than the reason earlier in Jesus’ ministry. Earlier Jesus wanted to fill in the understanding of who he was and what he came for. He didn’t want the popular understanding of the messiah, the kingdom, and the fulfillment of God’s promises through the prophets to be the mold he was squeezed into. Now the reason is a little different. Maybe it was because the Jews already heard much of Jesus’ teaching and words that explained his works, yet they were hardened in heart and not willing to accept Jesus’ teaching on who he is and what he was doing as the Messiah. So it’s past the “let me define messiahship and the kingdom on my terms” reason to the “I told you and you don’t want it the way I revealed it to you” reason. Commentator James Edwards writes, “The command to silence to both Jew and Gentile is a reminder that knowledge of Jesus by his wonders alone is inadequate knowledge. Adequate knowledge of Jesus – and hence proclamation about him – must await the revelation of the ultimate mystery that can come only through suffering and the cross (15:39)” (226).
Jesus is able to restore hearing to the deaf and speaking to the speech impaired. He can do what we and others on our own cannot do. God wants us to recognize that afresh this morning. At the same time Jesus wants us to receive him on his terms. This becomes clearer in the next section (8.27ff). The main burden of Mark’s gospel is for the reader to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, who is the Son of God (1.1). So we should let Jesus come to us and reveal himself and his actions on his terms and on the terms of his apostles, not our latest ideas, what’s popular in culture, or what our favorite Bible teacher says.
We need to hear Jesus on his terms. We need to see Jesus as the Bible reveals him. And we need to see it with fresh eyes. We can be so familiar with Jesus, so affected by comic books and sci-fi stories that the healing and restoration of a deaf and mute man seems boring and uneventful. But it is amazing. Jesus heals well and does all things well (7.37).
The story in 8.22-26 is very similar, with two key differences: 22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 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?" 24 And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."
The man was brought by others. Jesus restores the man eliminating the impairment. Jesus does it through actions and not just straight up or immediately. Jesus does it in private. Jesus tells them to tell no one. There are two key differences though.
The first difference is that here Jesus heals blindness, not deafness or muteness. Secondly, Jesus heals the man in stages. The reason why is not immediately apparent. Jesus spit on his eyes and laid hands on him as the means to restore his sight, and it started to come back, but it was not fully given. Then Jesus lays hands on his eyes again and opens his eyes restoring his sight. And Jesus tells him not to enter the village which also signals a desire to keep this miracle a secret.
So Jesus uses means. And Jesus tells him not to tell for similar reasons as the previous story. The difference here is that Jesus restored sight. And we must take note: Jesus healed the man in stages and not at once. He saw a little bit. Then he saw clearly. We’ll pick up on this later on.
So the first thing we learn is that Jesus is able to give hearing and sight to those who physically lack it.
Jesus is able to sustain our lives (8.1-9)
The story: 8:1In 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, 2 "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 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." 4 And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" 5 And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." 6 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. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
There are several lessons to be drawn from the feeding of many with bread. All the gospel accounts point to Jesus feeding the multitudes at least once, Mark and others twice. And there are many lessons to draw from this if we looked at the other accounts, but let’s stick to Mark’s and try to get Mark’s main point with this story. I think it’s to show that Jesus cares, Jesus can provide physical sustenance, and it’s a setup for a lesson Jesus is going to drive home in 8.14-21.
Jesus expresses his compassion and gives the reason for it: 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" (v. 2-3). Jesus cares about the whole person, their physical, emotional, and spiritual state. They are connected and inseparable. So if they leave hungry, they faint on the way, and then they’ll be potentially endangered and harmed. And Jesus cares about that. It’s not just the spiritual though it is that as well. Here it is the physical need and danger that concerns Jesus and stirs his compassion.
Jesus can and does sustain our physical needs. He does more than this, but not less. So we look to God to provide our daily bread and we know that our God will supply all our needs, according to what he deems our needs, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Jesus cares for the whole person and does not divide the person. It is not just providing for food while letting them go to hell to be crushed under the wrath of almighty God forever. It is not just the spiritual salvation while he lets them starve and go hungry when he can bless them well. It’s both. Our danger at CrossView and from our evangelical and Baptist heritage is to care for the soul to the neglect of the body, though the best of Christianity, evangelicalism, and Baptist history have cared for the whole person, just like Jesus did.
Jesus refuses to undermine faith and repentance (8.10-13)
The story: 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 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." 13 And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
Along with Jesus, the disciples, and healed persons, the Pharisees are the other major group of characters in this unit. The deaf and blind persons need help. The hungry people need food. The disciples need to understand what they’re seeing in Jesus. And the Pharisees, well, they don’t feel their need, they don’t look to Jesus to supply anything for them, and they reject the need to understand and learn anything Jesus is trying to teach. They come with their unbelief and skepticism and dare Jesus to overthrow it. They come to argue with him and seek a sign from Jesus. This sign wasn’t for them to believe, it was for them to test Jesus. The thought had to cross their mind at some point that Jesus may be a prophet and might even be the Messiah. They demand a sign to see if they should even entertain that thought for more than a few moments. Jesus did many miracles. They weren’t asking for one of those. They wanted a sign from heaven, something different, maybe writing in the sky, fire from heaven, or the sun getting dark like the prophets prophesied.
What were they testing for? Maybe it was to test whether Jesus was prophet or more. Maybe it was so that they could find out if they had at least a little control over him in some way. Maybe it was to gather more evidence and reasons why they will continue to encourage people to reject Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t pass the test. He doesn’t give them a sign. If Jesus did what they wanted, then that wouldn’t strengthen or birth their faith, it would strengthen their belief that they could tell God to come down to their terms. It would reinforce that they don’t need to repent from their righteousness and trust what God reveals as their only hope of righteousness. It would reinforce that they already figured it out and didn’t need the Son of God, the Messiah, to reveal to them what they are unable to understand, grasp, or believe on their own. If Jesus succumbed to their demand, he wouldn’t give them faith, he would undermine the very actualizing of it.
Their hearts and intentions are in the wrong place and Jesus senses that (cf. Matt 16.4). No sign will be given because they’ve already rejected what they’ve received. They don’t want glasses to see what is written on the board, they want more words on the board that they can misread. The issue isn’t the lack of signs or reasons to trust Jesus, the issue is the heart and mind that refuses to come to Jesus on his terms. Why? Because it’s scary, it’s surrender, it’s putting yourself at the mercy of the will of someone else. But that’s already the case and he’s completely trustworthy.
Jesus is who he is. God is who he is. And he is who he reveals himself to be. You must understand that God allows the truth to be communicated to you in terms that you can understand. (If you don’t, ask me or another Christian here to explain what we have learned to you. Ask your questions.) But He doesn’t communicate in a way that compromises who he is, what he reveals, or what he wants for you (which is also what is best for you).
Jesus wants his disciples to get it (8.14-21)
The story: 14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 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? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 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." 20 "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." 21 And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
Jesus warns them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (religious teachers) and Herod. The disciples think Jesus is talking about physical bread. He’s actually talking about something different. He’s talking about something far more important and significant. He clarifies that he isn’t talking about bread, because he could provide that if that was his issue. He was talking about their need to understand and have soft hearts (v. 17). They need to see and hear (v. 18). They need to get it (v. 21). Here’s the main point of this section and of the message today. Jesus wants them and all those here today to get it. To understand. Understand what?
First let’s define clearly what Jesus meant by the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Leaven is the yeast that ferments, causing the dough to rise. It permeates the whole thing. In Matthew 16 he’s referring to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew doesn’t include the mention of Herod. The Pharisees taught that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah. Herod also opposed Jesus and saw him as a miracle worker, who was probably John the Baptizer, but wasn’t the Messiah, Lord over all, or one that he should trust with his whole life. So Mark doesn’t mention teaching as the leaven. It’s more the opposition and rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees and Herod.
But why not bring the teaching of the Pharisees/Sadducees to the forefront like Matthew does? Matthew is big on Jesus’ words and teachings and contrasting that with the Pharisees is critical. “Who’s teaching will you trust?” is Matthew’s point. Mark identifies the problem not as faith in a teacher but something else. They hardened their hearts. The disciples couldn’t see what they were meant to see. They couldn’t hear what they were meant to hear (8.18). Their hearts were hard and the spiritual senses were dull (8.17; 6.52). They hung around Jesus yet couldn’t get what he was about. They needed sight and hearing. And who has the power to restore hearing? Who can put fingers in a person’s ears and say be opened and it is opened? Who can spit and rub eyes and give clarity of sight? JESUS! So, Mark is driving the readers to look to Jesus not as their authoritative teacher (like Matthew) though he is that. He wants the punch of his story to be in looking to Jesus as their miraculous and powerful sight-giver and ear-opener.
Remember how Jesus healed the blind man in three stages (from blind to seeing people like trees to clear sight)? Well, just as Jesus gave clarity of sight in three stages, so he would give the disciples clarity of sight in three stages (from no understanding [8.17-21] to misunderstanding [8.27-33] to complete understanding [15.39]). Jesus is the powerful sight-giver and ear-opener who died on the cross for sinners and rose from the dead to give sight, hearing, forgiveness, faith, and hope by reconciling us to God the Father. If you see Jesus, if you have eyes to see and savor him, then you savor him for his life, death, resurrection, and can look forward to his return when he makes the world the way you always dreamed and felt in your best moments that it should be.
But just like one of the disciples in this story we can choose to not watch out and beware of the false views and blindness within. Judas ended up betraying Jesus and not watching out. You can be so close to Jesus, so near to him, witness powerful things and grasp powerful truths and at the end of the day reject him just like Judas did, just like the Pharisees did. Judas wanted to believe, the disciples said they believed, but they needed understanding.
“If intellectual and spiritual blindness lead to hardness of heart, blind faith without content must inevitably lead there as well. The faith for which Jesus appeals is a faith born of understanding and insight. The disciples are not chastised for not believing but for not seeing and understanding” (Edwards, 240).
CrossView Church needs to beware and intentionally pursue a more accurate and robust biblical understanding of God, Jesus, ourselves, and our world. We can’t be content with what we already know. We must go deeper in seeing and understanding lest we become hardened and disbelieving. We are in danger because we know some things about Jesus and are constantly hearing about him. We might actually train our ears and eyes to miss Jesus, shut him out, and disbelieve in him all the while thinking that we’re ok just because we’re around Jesus and his people. Beware CrossView Church! God is lovingly and solemnly warning us. And if we don’t hear the gravity of this warning, that only further testifies to our hardness of heart, blindness, and deafness. Fear deafness while hearing! Fear blindness while seeing! Run from it! Run to Jesus! He alone can save us.
Jesus gives the sight and hearing that we lack. The solution to their problem of understanding is Jesus. He must grant us understanding. He must speak to us. And we must think over what he says. 2 Timothy 2.7 captures it well: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” So should we think hard or should we ask the Lord Jesus to give us understanding according to Paul and the Holy Spirit? It’s both. We must think. But we must also be given understanding. To just think is rationalism and reason without any supernatural power. To just be given understanding without thinking is mysticism and subjective opinion. This is why we spend the bulk of our time thinking about what God’s Word says about Jesus. This is why we have Mission Small Groups, to discuss the sermon and think over what is said. This is why we have lunch in part. This is why we need another bible study venue to just go deeper in knowing God, knowing Jesus, and learning the truth of the Bible.
Jesus wants to birth and strengthen faith in you this morning. I pray he already has. If you have not turned to Jesus and you think Jesus is birthing in you this morning faith in him, then please talk to me or the friend who brought you here. We want to think with you and discuss your questions and tell you about Jesus. If you want to become a Christian, the way you respond to the Jesus and his truth is to repent from your righteousness and sin, and trust in Jesus righteousness, death, and resurrection for you. Call on him to save you and forgive you and he will answer.
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