Prophet to Priest, Jesus Turns the Corner - Mark 8:27-33 - July 5, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for July 5, 2020. We are now meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 8:27-33 Prophet to Priest, Jesus Turns the Corner

Good morning! We are continuing our study in the Gospel of mark chapter 8, verses 27-33, page 844 in the pew Bibles.

You’ll remember from last week’s study that we talked about Jesus holding the threefold offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, he’s the only One who is qualified for all three and how each phase of Jesus’ ministry He was, or will be, fulfilling each of those offices.

Up to this point Jesus had been serving as a prophet, THE Prophet, speaking on behalf of God and calling people to repentance and faith, but now Jesus is turning a corner in His ministry, having served as the Prophet, He is beginning down the path of Priest.

I want to break our text down into two pieces, verses 27-30, and then verses 31-33. The publishers did us a favor in sticking a heading right in the middle so we’ll know when to quit!

But first, let’s pray.

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?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus and His disciples were just outside Caesarea Philippi on the shoulders of Mount Hermon in the northern part of Israel. I have been to Caesarea Philippi, it one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. It is a place full of natural springs and cliffs and caves. When I visited there there was even water gently bubbling right up through the paved pathways to a giant cave that was called, “the Grotto of Pan,” also known as, “the Gates of Hades.”

Knowing that that was where Jesus and the disciples were becomes really important if you read Matthew’s account of Peter’s confession where Jesus says, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Geography isn’t just novel, it’s really important!

Ok, back to the text. Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying that He was, after all this time of preaching and teaching and performing miracles, have people caught on yet?

Well, had they? No. They were getting there, but no.

The disciples told Him that people were saying that He was John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

The people that the disciples quoted weren’t meaning to be disrespectful, they were well meaning, they were aiming at the truth but they were missing the mark. The people recognized that Jesus had been sent by God, that God’s power was at work in Him as proven by His miracles, but their understanding was limited, cloudy, like the blind man from last week.

So Jesus moved His question to the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”

This is, perhaps, the most important questions ever asked of anybody! And the response is equally important!

Was Jesus John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah reincarnated, or raised from the dead? That’s the only way the people could explain the power that was at work in Him. Clearly, He wasn’t, He isn’t.

“But who do you say that I am?” The “you” is plural here. Do you guys think that I’m just a ghost?

Peter speaks up on behalf of the disciples and confesses, short and sweet, “You are the Christ.”

It’s important to remember that the Gospel of Mark is Mark’s record of Peter’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry. In Matthew’s account of this event, in Matthew 16:13-20, he goes into more detail on Jesus’ response to Peter, but Peter, in his humility, elected to leave it out of his own account. 

And to spare you a sermon within a sermon I won’t quote it to you now either. But I would encourage you to read it for yourselves. There is a lot in there and a lot of false teaching has been based on those verses. I would be happy to talk about it and your thoughts on it some other time.

Matthew does call Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ the bedrock that he will build His church on, not Peter himself, but faith in Jesus as the Christ.

Peter declared, on behalf of the Twelve, their conviction that Jesus is the Christ.

Christ is not Jesus’ last name, it is His title. The Greek word, “Christ,” and the Hebrew word, “Messiah,” both mean the same thing, Anointed One, God’s Anointed.

Peter simply states on behalf of the Twelve, “You are the Christ.” He doesn’t say, “We think you’re the Christ,” or, “We believe you are the Christ.” This was not a statement of opinion or belief, it was a declaration of adoration in the language of worship, “You are the Christ! God’s Anointed One! Messiah!”

God’s Anointed One! Who else got anointed in the Old Testament? Kings, that’s who.

The prophet Samuel anointed Saul as king of Israel, and later king David. The Jews were looking for a Messiah like that, a new King sent from God to free them from their oppressors the Romans, to reestablish the kingdom of Israel.

But Jesus isn’t that kind of King, His ministry as Messiah has a much broader scope.

Were the disciples wrong in confessing that Jesus is the Christ? No. But did they understand what that really meant? Still no.

This confession marks a turning point in the ministry of Jesus, adding to the office of Prophet the office of Priest. But that’s not what the disciples thought was happening.

He strictly charged them to tell no one about Him. If they did, at this point, they wouldn’t tell the story right, they’d tell about a Jesus who was a prophet, and they’d tell about a Jesus who was a king, but they’d leave out the part that He must also be a priest.

Let’s look at the second half of our text, verses 31-33.

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

What is going on here?! We go from Peter confessing on behalf of the disciples that Jesus is the Christ, this great moment of faith to, ”Get behind me Satan?!”

This is the proof that the disciples, Peter included, still did not understand. Peter was good with Jesus’ role of Prophet, and He was clearly behind His role as King, but the idea of Jesus serving as Priest made no sense to him.

The High Priest, in Israel, would bring the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkle it on the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies, the innermost part of the Temple in Jerusalem. And he would do this once a year on the Day of Atonement. Today we call it Yom Kippur, this year it falls on September 27-28.

When Jesus began to plainly show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised, He was describing His role as High Priest.

The difference was, was that Jesus would provide the blood for the sacrifice Himself, his own blood would be shed to atone for the sin of the world.

Hebrews 7:23-28 says,

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Peter wasn’t ready for this, the disciples didn’t understand this yet, so Peter pulled Jesus aside and rebuked Him. Can you imagine how that conversation went? 

Well, we don’t have to imagine, “Lord, don’t talk that way! You’re Messiah, you’re the King, we won’t let them touch you!” “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

And the Lord Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Simon, who Jesus had now officially renamed, Peter, a word that sounds like the word for, “rock,” Jesus now called Satan, a word borrowed from Aramaic and given as a title to the devil that means, “adversary.”

Peter wanted to skip from Prophet to King and skip over Priest all together. He didn’t want the Lord to suffer, He didn’t want the Lord to be killed, his mind was set on the things of man. 

The things of man, the mindset of man, is to protect oneself, to put ourselves first, our comfort, our best interests, that’s all Peter was doing. “You’re the King, Jesus, you don’t have to suffer and die, we won’t let that happen!”

But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, and His service as Priest was necessary for all of mankind to be freed from our real oppressor, our own sin and sinfulness.

And though Peter failed here, his confession still rings true, “You are the Christ.”

John Calvin wrote, “The confession is short but it embraces all that is contained in our salvation; for the designation, ‘Christ,’ or, ‘Anointed,’ includes both an everlasting kingdom and an everlasting priesthood, to reconcile us to God, and, by atoning for our sins through His sacrifice, to obtain for us a perfect righteousness and having received us under His protection, to uphold and supply and enrich us with every description of blessing.”

That’s what we receive when we confess that Jesus is the Christ, atonement for our sins, reconciliation with Father God, perfect righteousness, and protection, and supply, and every description of blessing.

All because Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King.

May we all hear His Word, receive His sacrifice, and submit to and serve Him.

Amen

Only Half-Blind - Mark 8:22-26 - June 28, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for June 28, 2020. We are now meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 8:22-26 Only Half-Blind

Good Morning! We are continuing our study in the Gospel of Mark this morning with chapter 8 verses 22-26, page 844 in the pew Bibles.

We are going to be looking at a very interesting and odd event in the ministry of Jesus, the healing of a blind man near the village of Bethsaida. What is unique about this event is that Jesus healed the man in stages, a partial healing and then a complete restoration of his sight.

It’s also important to understand that this event takes place outside a village called Bethsaida. There are two Bethsaida’s around the Sea of Galilee, one on the western side and one on the north eastern side called Bethsaida Julias, and that is where this event takes place.

So let’s look at our text, Mark 8:22-26.

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 people, 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.”

Let’s Pray.

The Gospels record something like seven blind people were healed by Jesus, this wasn’t the first and it wasn’t the last, but it certainly is the most unique.

We must remember that Jesus was not unaware of the Father’s program for Him here on earth, the things that He did and said during His earthly ministry were strategic, they always had a purpose. 

I try very hard to not take these individual accounts from the Gospels and turn them into parables or fables as if they are merely imaginary object lessons. There are certainly lessons for us to learn from these accounts but here Jesus is working to instruct His disciples and point to things that were coming.

You may have heard it said that Jesus holds the offices of prophet, priest, and king.

The prophet declares the Word of the Lord, calling God’s people back to Himself. The prophet puts on display the Word, works, and wonders of the Lord, speaking as the Father’s mouthpiece. That is what Jesus ministry had been up to this point, preaching repentance with power and authority accompanied by signs and wonders.

But Jesus also holds the office of priest, High Priest, offering sacrifice to God on behalf of His people for their sin. The High Priest would bring the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkle it on the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies, the innermost part of the Temple in Jerusalem, once a year on the Day of Atonement.

Last week we looked at verses 11-13, when Jesus was pressed for a sign by the Pharisees, Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit because He was accepting the first steps on the path of the Ultimate High Priest, a way of suffering and pain, a way of not merely offering the blood of bulls and rams on the altar but His own blood offered for the sins of the whole world.

Moses held the offices of both prophet and priest, speaking on behalf of God to the people and behalf of the people to God. David served as prophet and king, speaking on behalf of God and ruling over God’s people. But only Jesus could serve as Prophet, Priest and King.

The people of Israel knew these offices even if they didn’t recognize Jesus, they knew who the prophets were, and they knew who the priests were, and they knew who the king was, but they didn’t understand who Jesus was, and neither did the disciples. The disciples were just like this blind man.

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 people, 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.”

It would be easy to settle for shallow sermonette-type thoughts on the surface:

Some people brought their friend to Jesus for healing. We should bring our friends to Jesus for healing. This is not wrong.

Jesus led the blind man by the hand out of the village. We should trust Jesus to lead us even if we can’t see where He’s taking us. This is not wrong.

Jesus spit on the blind man’s eyes and laid His hands on him. Sometimes Jesus uses different methods to heal people and sometimes we don’t understand them but we can trust Him. This is not wrong.

The man wasn’t completely healed at first, his healing came in stages. Sometimes healing is a process, sometimes it’s gradual, so we should be patient. This is not wrong.

Sometimes Christ’s healing in people’s lives is gradual, sometimes it takes a process. Our part is to reach out our trembling hands to the Savior and trust Him. He will lead us and He will heal us, maybe not physically, maybe not even emotionally, or mentally, but spiritually. Our ultimate healing will come in His eternal kingdom where we will be made like Him free from sin, and pain, and death.

What a wonderful truth! 

But it’s not the only truth here in this passage.

Scholars have speculated that the two stage healing of this blind man was somehow due to a lack of faith in the village of Bethsaida or in this man. Both could not be further from the truth. That idea suggests that Jesus was somehow wanting in power, no, this was deliberate, Jesus was up to something.

This man knew what it was to see once upon a time. That is evidenced by his comparison of people to trees walking, but either by disease or some tragedy he was blinded. After Jesus spit on his eyes and laid His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”

What the man saw was a foggy, misty, incomplete image of people, they looked like trees walking around to him. You may relate to that if your prescription is strong enough!

But who really should have related to that statement was the disciples, because that’s exactly how they saw Jesus. Their image of Him was foggy, misty, and incomplete. They couldn’t yet comprehend who He was or what He was there to do. In fact their picture wouldn’t be clear until after His resurrection from the dead, after the Holy Spirit was given to them.

They needed a second touch from the Lord to fully comprehend His person and work which they received on the Day of Pentecost.

In a way, this blind man also represents humanity.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God, they saw Him and talked with Him in the sweet fellowship of innocence and holiness. 

But then the ultimate tragedy when they disobeyed God and sin entered the world. They were blinded by sin, they could no longer walk with the Father in the Garden in the cool of the day, they could no longer see Him face to face. Sin marred them and forever scarred the human race, and now all the generations that followed share their spiritual blindness.

But then Jesus appeared, bringing hope and healing and forgiveness through faith by God’s grace. 

Through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead He offered healing for the blindness of mankind through a method that didn’t make sense to us, much like spitting on the eyes of a blind man.

He could have healed Him with a word, He could have made it so the man was never blinded, just as He could have prevented mankind from falling from grace, but He didn’t. 

He didn’t so that He could display the wonders of the Father and just how great His love is for His creation, for you and me.

For now, we are bound to see things as foggy, as misty, as incomplete. 

Through faith in Jesus we are no longer blind but we are not yet complete, we are not yet completely healed. That complete healing will come with Christ’s return as King to gather His church to Himself, when every eye will see Him as He is and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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 people, 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.”

One day we too will see clearly, but you have to ask yourself right now, do I even see partially? 

Have I offered my hand and my heart to Jesus for healing and forgiveness and restoration? 

If so, do you trust Him as King, does He have complete rule and reign in your life?

I’ll close with a quote from Charles Hodge,

“We as fallen [people], ignorant, guilty, polluted, and helpless, need a Savior who is a prophet to instruct us; a priest to atone and to make intercession for us; and a king to rule over and protect us. And the salvation which we receive at his hands includes all that a prophet, priest, and king in the highest sense of those terms can do. We are enlightened in the knowledge of the truth; we are reconciled unto God by the sacrificial death of his Son; and we are delivered from the power of Satan and introduced into the kingdom of God; all of which supposes that our Redeemer is to us at once prophet, priest, and king.”

Amen.

Do You Not Yet Understand? - Mark 8:11-21 - June 21, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for June 21, 2020. We are now meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 8:11-21 Do You Not Yet Understand?

Clearly we are going through a hard time. A global pandemic, protests and riots, conspiracy theories, and fear and hate abound.

In Mark 8 the disciples were also having a hard time, like us they had difficulty interpreting what was going on around them. They had seen some amazing things, done some amazing things, but still had trouble staying on track with what was happening, what their role was or was to be, and who Jesus really was.

But I have to ask, are we any different? Is our warning from the Lord any different? Are the questions He posed to them any different for us?

We are going to look at Mark 8:11-21, page 843 in the pew Bibles and consider Jesus’ warning to the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod as well as His barrage of questions for His disciples about bread.

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. 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?”

Let’s pray

So once again, we find Jesus and His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Here in this account Jesus was confronted by a group of Pharisees seeking a sign from Heaven. Now these Pharisees were not just after a miracle, they had already witnessed miracles. In fact, Mark even uses a different word for a miracle than he did for a sign from heaven.

What these Pharisees were after was Messianic proof, they wanted Jesus to prove to them that He really was the Messiah. For Jesus, this was another temptation in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted here to depart from the Father’s program, to depart from the way of pain and sacrifice and choose the path of political salvation instead of spiritual salvation. 

Many of us are faced with the same temptation today, to trust in the ways of the world, to vote the right way, to protest the right way, to support the right cause, to count on politics to make the world right again, instead of trusting the Lord and counting on the gospel  to make the difference in the world. The world needs to trust in Jesus and accept His sacrifice for their sins for things to really change.

When faced with this test from the Pharisees, this demand for a sign from Heaven, Jesus makes a difficult choice. He sighed deeply in His spirit, His sigh the sigh of silent resolution to enter the path of tribulation. If He had given in, no doubt the Pharisees would have used Jesus Messiah as a political pawn to further control and exploit people. But that was not the Father’s design. This conflict was the first step down the path of scorn and rejection, of betrayal and suffering, and salvation.

The Pharisees were hypocritically offering Jesus a way out, but it was a way that betrayed the Father’s will, a way that would only further the way of the Pharisee, the way of outward religion and empty ritual and control.

But Jesus stood firm. Verse 12 says, “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.”

Matthew, in his account expanded little bit. He wrote that, “No sign would be given this generation except the sign of Jonah,” a detail that Mark elected to leave out.

So what is the sign of Jonah? As Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so would Jesus spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The only sign that generation would receive to prove that Jesus is Messiah is His resurrection from the dead.

So from here Jesus and the disciples get into the boat to sail for the other side and once again they are faced with a bread shortage.

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And [Jesus] 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.

Now something to keep in mind at this point, it’s very important so listen closely: the disciples… are idiots.

They had yet to figure out that Jesus was usually talking about more than just what you could see on the surface. He warned them about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod, but they assumed that He was talking about their lack of bread and started pointing fingers at each other as to whose fault it was that they only had one loaf of bread with them in the boat.

So why did they make this incorrect connection? In order to understand that, we have to understand what leaven is. So what is it?

Leaven is yeast, it is a key ingredient for making bread, it’s what makes bread rise and form all the little air pockets that you see that get filled with peanut butter and jelly.

Jesus uses the picture of leaven several times in the Gospels and Paul also refers to it in his writings. Leaven doesn’t always represent sin in Scripture but it does always represent an invisible, pervasive influence, something that works its way all the way through the lump of dough and affects the whole thing.

So what was the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod? They weren’t really two different things, more like two sides of the same coin.

That coin is the coin that says, “all that matters is what’s on the outside.”

For the Pharisees, their doctrine said, “All God wants is outward performance, follow all our religious rules and you will be acceptable to God.”

For Herod, his doctrine said, “All that matters is what people think of you, as long as you are accepted by people you’re good.”

Both of these doctrines are still pervasive in the church and they both lead to spiritual dullness and death.

But Jesus offered the disciples a way out, and thus He offers us a way out. It seems harsh at first but Jesus’ barrage of questions to the disciples and thusly to us, gives an alternative to those pervasive thoughts and a way out of the spiritual dullness that they bring.

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?”

When the disciples couldn’t understand what was happening or what Jesus meant, their minds went to bread not sin, so Jesus asked them: why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? They could only see what was on the surface, so Jesus questions them to train them, and us, to look deeper.

Jesus’ questions for them fall into four categories, mind questions, heart questions, spirit questions, and history questions.

First Jesus starts with their minds: Do you not yet perceive or understand? Perceive or understand what exactly? He is asking them if they could perceive or understand what was true. What was true is that Jesus is Messiah, they were in His care, they didn’t need to worry about bread, or provision, or anything else, He had everything under control.

So I pose the same question of you: do you understand what is true about who Jesus is and your relationship to Him and with Him? Understanding that truth will chase off spiritual dullness.

Then Jesus moves to their hearts: Are your hearts hardened? He’s asking, how will they respond to what they know is true. He is the Son of God and has taken them as His own, does that pull at the strings of your heart at all? 

I like to look at it this way: We all understand that gravity works, right? We are all stuck to the ground and we don’t go flying up into space, cool, right? It’s always been that way, we all know that gravity works. Stop there and you just shrug your shoulders as if it’s no big deal, this is the condition of a hardened heart, “Meh.” But if you move beyond that gravity works and stop and think about how gravity works your appreciation for the truth that gravity works will explode!

The next question is a question of the spirit: Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? This is a challenge to see beyond the physical, a challenge to appreciate that the Lord is at work even if you don’t understand how or why. To look beyond the surface, to dig in, to see more than just the words but get to their meaning, to hear beyond the sound of the trombone playing, “wah, wah, wah,” like Charlie Brown’s teacher and listen for the voice of God in His Word.

And then there is the question of History like we talked about last week: 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.”

Remember what He has done: He has provided before, he will do it again, He has delivered from trial before, He will do it again, He has dragged you through the keyhole of tribulation, through things you thought you couldn’t endure, He will do it again! Don’t forget what He has done, he will do it again!

All this to answer Jesus’ main question: Do you not yet understand?

Do you not yet understand that it’s not about your outward performance or looking spiritual? Do you not yet understand that it’s not about what other people think of you or being socially acceptable? Do you not yet understand that it’s about what is true, really true, that it’s about how you respond to what is true, that it’s about looking beyond the physical realm to see the Spirit at work?

We would all do well to pause and consider, to remind ourselves of His goodness and faithfulness, to examine ourselves and the purity of our own doctrine, to consider what the Bible actually says not just our interpretations or biases, to consider what Jesus has actually done for us, in His teaching, on His cross, and through His empty tomb.

Do you not yet understand?

Let’s pray.