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Mark 7:24-8:26 Believing is Seeing
Mark chapter 7 verse 24 to chapter 8 verse 26. You hear the word of the Lord and From there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon and he entered a house and did not want anyone to know.
Yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile a Syrophoenician by birth and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter and He said to her Let the children be fed first for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
But she answered him Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs and he said to her for this statement You may go your way. The demon has left your daughter and she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis and they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment and they begged him to Lay his hands on him and taking him aside from the crowd privately.
He put his fingers into his ears and after spitting touched his tongue and looked up to heaven. He sighed and said to him a froth Be opened and his ears were opened his tongue was released and he spoke plainly and Jesus charged them to tell no one but the more he charged them the more zealously they proclaimed it and they were astonished beyond measure Saying he has done all things.
Well, he even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak 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 I if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on that 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 said to 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 4 ,000 people and he sent them away and immediately he got up into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of down with nothing.
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 this generation and he left them Got into the boat again and went to the other side.
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.
And They came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him and they 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 men, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and his and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored and he saw everything clearly and he sent him away to his home saying do not even enter the village.
May the Lord at his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. But what do you see? Right now what you see? Don't you think you see me? The backdrop of some musical instruments. A blue and red wall. A Screen with an image on it and some words foreground.
Got a pulpit. It's a table right there. Yeah, but what is it? What do you see all this as? You interpret the things you see. You might interpret this as as you're saying this is Church and so to you a positive a good thing.
A visitor who wandered in here I'd never been to church before might interpret it all is strange. Why this long lecture and. Then it's like a school. But you're not tested over anything and then why do they sing before and after we don't sing in school.
They might all look at this and think this is this is weird. To people who don't know what to see it as. What do you see when you see people? Do you see someone maybe like you. Someone who could be a potential friend.
Someone you could relate to. Maybe someone you think. Maybe someone I can use a potential customer. Someone you can get money from. You know, some people even come to church to look for customers. Marianne.
I went to a church and someone tried to befriend her and it turns out they were trying to sell. Was it amway or Something like that. She took the person is being friendly to her and then when she told the person she's not interested in the amway products the person was not interested in engaging her anymore.
A Potential customer. Some people see others as some people are. Maybe they look at another's if you're lonely see a potential partner. They're the right sex and some people see. That's the way they look at things.
So people see potential sexual partners if they see people they can't use like that amway of salesperson. Sam sales lady. They see someone they can't use. Not gonna sell anything to them. They hardly see them at all anymore.
You just ignore them. What about people of another race? There are some people who hardly see race as hard as that is to us to imagine. In Singapore, they had a TV show entitled watch you Kong. Which is a Chinese name.
The big character was a Chinese character. The actor who played the leading role. Was Gurmit Singh. It's an Indian man can't tell by this name. Now to an American it appears strange to have an actor of one race playing a character of another race.
Singaporeans didn't see the problem. What do you see is worthy of respect? Athletes. Maybe somebody you couldn't really respect you see an athlete. Do you when you see one? There's there's talent combined with self-discipline and hard-work.
So what you see? Are you just see kids playing a game? I may be worse. They're adults playing a kid's game. What's up with that? Maybe it's academics. You see an academic a scholarship that you see is respectable a 4 .0 grade point average a PhD you see.
Something to be esteemed. How about wealth? You see a rich successful person as deserving respect. No, someone makes it big in business, they're a billionaire. Do you think ah he or she. They're a genius at their work.
They invented something they did something innovated something. That's why I got all that money. That's that way you see them or. You see the man there are there a robber baron. Exploited others they got rich off the backs of the working man or working woman to make themselves into a false Aristocracy, you know men like Andrew Carnegie William Randolph Hearst John D Rockefeller Cornelius Vanderbilt in 19th and early 20th century.
They were seen by some as these champions of business these innovators. These is and so it's great men and others accuse them of their robber barons. That term has now become passe hardly anyone uses it, but we still have this conflict over how we see success in business.
How do you see? Steve Jobs. Bill Gates. Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos. We like to think seeing is objective that is just obvious can't can't you see. He's a champion of business or he's a robber baron. It's just obvious.
If only you could see LeBron James play basketball. Oh, you'd be in awe. You'd know that's worthy of respect. If only you could know people of another race. You'd see that they're just human just like you and you would relate to them.
Of course, the fact is some people Dealt dealt with people of another race all the time and they were still racist. What they see can't overcome their racism if you could only see his doctoral dissertation.
You'd respect that if you could see what it takes to succeed in business. If you could see what went into innovating the first smartphone. The genius that went into that or the Amazon distribution system.
Oh, you'd be amazed that earn your respect. But it's not so people can see all these things and still not see indeed. Paul says in Romans 1 that people that is everyone. Everyone to even the most vitriolic atheist.
Paul says Romans what clearly sees it's which it's obvious in creation. God's invisible power and event divine nature. It's he says it's it clearly seen in the things that have been made in creation in the universe.
Which declares the glory of God everyone can see it. It's been made known. But of course, I Mean even though anyone can see it many people don't see it. They'll say Seeing is believing. But they're wrong If they don't believe.
They can't see what we see here in four miracles in which Jesus revealed himself. We see him. Some see him clearly. Some only partially in a step at a stage and some not at all. What do you see? Well first one sees Jesus she sees him as Lord.
She calls him that and and as one who has authority over the Spirit. She falls down at his feet in verse 25. She sees Jesus is worthy of respect oddly enough. She's a Gentile a dog now Jesus has Traveled clear across northern Israel from Galilee to be in the region of Tyre and Sidon near the Mediterranean coast as Gentile territory.
He wanted to be incognito. But his reputation has spread even there and remember in chapter 3 great crowds had formed around Jesus with people even from Tyre and Sidon as He healed many and they took news of Jesus to the people of Tyre and one of those people was a lady with a daughter now the girl had in verse 25 and Unclean spirit and Jesus had just talked about how you can become unclean.
Remember at the end of last last week. What makes you unclean? By what comes out of you now a mother wants him to cast out an unclean Spirit from her daughter. She begged Jesus in verse 26 notice that she begged him.
In fact, we'll find that several times in this passage people begging begging is taking the position of an inferior. Begging is what you do when you have nothing else to offer. You have no what way other than Begging to get what you want out of the other person.
Nothing to offer an exchange nothing in my hands. I bring. So I can only beg. Now religion and moralism Teaches that we can we can bring something. That we can exchange we can bring something that we can use to exchange With God what we want, you know, we want blessings restoration Healing and we think that if we do the religious thing we do the moralistic thing.
We would go to church enough give enough. It would be moral enough we can then Take that and exchange that kind of like money. To buy what we want from God. Now this woman knows that she cannot do that she sees that she has nothing to offer and Jesus has the power.
So she begs. Jesus's response to her sounds to us and the way we're taught to see things awful I admit it if this were not in the Bible and If we're not from Jesus and say we say we were told That someone like a pastor or a teacher or whatever responded like this to a needy person coming to him for help.
And that person responded like this like Jesus does here. We'd condemn this wouldn't it we'd condemn that. Especially we Americans today. That's why we almost been trained to see things. That's the way we would see it.
We of course, we're not saying right, right? Look what he says in verse 27. Let the children be fed first for it is not right to take the children's bread and Throw it to the dogs. Now first what we see in this analogy is that Jesus is saying that some people and only some people.
Are God's children his heirs his priority some not all some are God's children and others are dogs. Now that's already bad enough in our day in which we're taught that universal inclusion is sort of the ultimate good.
Got to include everybody except for those people who don't believe in universal inclusion. You can Exclude them, but never mind that but what's worse in the way? We see things is that in this analogy?
He's just compared this woman to a dog instead what he's doing. He's saying no, I'm not gonna do it for you because I do things for the for God's children. Not not the dogs now technically literally the word there in Greek is a little the dogs is a little house dog an indoor pet.
Like our like our little dog when commentator trying to say this isn't as bad as it sounds because he's not comparing the woman to like a wild dog out there. As a scavenger, he's just comparing her to a little dog under the table a little pet.
Kind of like we have in our house. I was thinking no, that's still I mean if you were compared to a little house dog. That's you would still find that demeaning but that's what he's doing. He's comparing this woman to a little house dog and by implication.
Seems to be making the member of the way we're taught today be making a racist statement that her whole race. You're all a bunch of you here entire where I've gone. It's just like a bunch of dogs, which is pretty much what the Jews of his day believe.
This is what the Jews of his day would believe. That's why it's so much. There's so much emphasis. There's teaching there's statements over and over again in the New Testament that God loved the world.
That is all kinds of people that Jesus didn't die just for for us. He didn't die. He didn't just redeem us. Us Jews it means but for the whole world. Meaning people from every race in every nation those verses now often by the way.
Those verses now often get misinterpreted to say that Jesus died. People misinterpreted say that Jesus died for every individual without exception. When they're really remember this the setting. They the Jews would believe these other people are dogs when they're what they're really saying not that Jesus died for every individual without exception, but.
That Jesus died for every people that is every ethnicity without distinction. Let the children be fed first that is the people for him he's come God's children let them get the blessings of God's kingdom.
That's what he's come for. There his priority. Because he says it is not right literally the word not good. It's a statement of morality of rightness is not it would be the wrong thing to do to do. Otherwise, it's not it's not good to take the children's bread.
What's theirs by? By right because they're related to the father Doug. Right now good to take their bread and throw it to the dogs. Now who are the dogs. The traditional interpretation of the statement is that Jesus came first for the Jews?
And so now is not the time for Gentiles like her to get the blessings of the kingdom. Oh, we got a wait lady. Not your time yet. That's the traditional interpretation. The woman here understands that she's being compared to a dog.
She gets it right now. A lot of people would be offended by that I'll be all of us here would be we were compared to a dog. We might think how dare he talk to me like that and just storm off but remember.
She's begging. She knows that she has nothing not even dignity to bring. She knows that she has no she has no right to a place at the Lord's table. Religion or moralism tries to get you to think what you can you can earn a place at the table.
You just keep these laws you do these things. Then you'll get a place. You won't be a dog if you do that you can earn your bread. Now she had been deluded by her religion or by her sense of dignity. She would have revolted at the idea of being compared to a dog instead.
She accepts her status as someone who has nothing to bring. She has no right. She has no place at the table. Instead of claiming that she has something to leverage Jesus with and was to make him do what she wants him to do.
Something in her hands to bring to pay him off. Maybe today with our idea that need gives a right we would think you know. But I need this and my need gives me the right to demand it. My need gives me a right to have my need met.
Well, no instead she accepts the demeaning status and says in verse 28. Yes Lord. She's just been called a dog. By her and she responds by calling him Lord. Yes, Lord yet. I was despite that. That's true Lord.
Despite that even the dogs under the table. Eat the children's crumbs. What a perfect answer. And Jesus responds to verse 29 for this statement. You may go your way. The demon has left your daughter. He's willed it.
Jesus has he's willed it done so it's done because of the Gentile woman's humble response she went home and found her daughter well. Now the traditional interpretation of all of this is that Jesus came first for the Jews.
But this woman is an exception. She's an exception because she responded with such humility and faith like her her just humble brilliant answer. Witty answer just sort of earned her a crumb. That's sort of a traditional interpretation, but what if instead of that Jesus a statement is right.
Let the children be fed first for it is not right. It's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs then. This Gentile woman by her humble nothing in my hands. I bring faith proves That she's not a dog after all.
What if her faith? Proves that she's a child with a place at the table. For whom it is good to give her bread now sure. If we would see her if we were like the people then we would see her as a dog. She's a Syro for Nisha and she's a Gentile Someone who's outside.
Who is it one of the children of God? What is it one of God's people is it one of the Lord's sons and daughters who have a place at? The table of his great banquet. That's the way we would see her. But then she says I Am a dog.
I have no rights. No place at the table. Nothing in my hands. I bring my religion my morals my status earns me nothing and That Humble faith Proves that she's a child of God. She's one of the people for whom Christ came so Jesus does what is good and Gives her this blessing of the kingdom.
What do you see? Well, the second miracle is After Jesus has traveled back Actually to east of Israel. Gone not only across Israel, but actually on the other side of it East of the Lake Lake of Galilee and the Decapolis the ten cities starting in verse 31.
Some people brought to Jesus. They're a deaf man who could hardly speak. He stuttered a lot. He apparently wasn't born deaf because he had been taught to speak. I don't know. I would think it would be difficult if not impossible to teach a deaf at that time.
Teach a deaf person how to speak but he suffered some kind of disease or injury and now Couldn't hear and he stammered a lot. Now the people who brought the man to Jesus also begged Jesus in verse 32 again begged.
Notice the details in verse 33 Jesus takes the man aside privately. He's not gonna make a spectacle out of him. Jesus isn't doing this to show off and he put his fingers into the man's ears then then spits.
Apparently in he does say but apparently into his own fingers and then touches the deaf man's tongue so touching both his ears and his tongue and then in verse 34 Jesus looks up to heaven Praying to the Father and he sighs Deeply.
Sighs, this is the same word is in Romans chapter 8 verse 22 where the creation groans. Because of its bondage to decay because of the calamity of the fall on The creation it groans here. Jesus himself groans because this deafness and stammering is part of that calamity.
We groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as sons and daughters. That is the resurrection of our bodies when we don't have to wonder worry about any more about cancers or Declining or broken legs until then.
We groan from our suffering from a fragile Declining body now Jesus here sighs deeply for this man. Who doesn't yet have that body? He says if Rafa and his be opened. Speaking it into being giving him one of the benefits of the resurrection hearing and speech.
What do you see here? Just just a healing a miracle. What's it mean? No. Now prosperity gospel people would say well this shows that Jesus can heal if you follow the right steps. You too can have your healing.
Probably one of those steps would include giving them a big offering. That's how they see it. We tend to see everything in the Bible as a recipe a Pattern for what we should do that we can get this blessing if we do thus and so.
We improve our habits. We do these disciplines and sure there's blessings for living. There is blessings for living God's way. It's a better way to live overall, but that's not what this is about. This is about the kingdom of God.
Jesus sighs deeply groans from his heart. Because it's not yet fully come the kingdom of God has not yet fully come and this man Suffering for it in Isaiah chapter 35 verses 5 and 6 it says that when God's kingdom has come fully and he's restored all things then.
The ears of the deaf will be unstopped. The tongue of the mute will sing for joy. Jesus here is showing that God's kingdom has come. You see this man now speaking plainly you should see That what you need is not first.
Follow the steps of this religion improve your life gives such-and-such amount of money. You don't you should not see that instead. See that you need to turn from your old life. So that you be born again and can be in the kingdom of God.
See that Jesus is King and as they say here in verse 37, he has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak fulfilling Isaiah 35. They were so excited about what they had saw what they had seen.
That even though Jesus told them to keep it to themselves. They couldn't help but proclaim it. It's kind of funny. They see him for what he's done. He can do all things well, and yet they didn't turn around and disobey him.
Their own confession should remind them of Isaiah 35 of the signs of the kingdom and realize then that Jesus is The king the king of the kingdom of God and so they should submit to him instead. They see the miracle.
But they don't understand it. They don't know what they're seeing and so they turn around and disobey Jesus. They don't see Who he is? What do you see? Well in chapter 8 the disciples see another miracle of feeding a multitude just like in chapter 6 there He fed 5 ,000 men and here 4 ,000 people.
He's repeating a miracle like a good teacher repeats a lesson in a repetition is the mother of learning. Just like before Jesus has compassion on the crowd. In verse 2 he says that they've been with him for three days.
And now they have nothing to eat if he dismisses them now some will collapse. For lack of energy while they try to get back home and some of them have come from afar. Now notice that Jesus himself reports all of that.
Why is Jesus here saying? What the disciples? Should be able to see for themselves right, they should be able to see the situation as Jesus has described it. Thousands of people now without food who can't make it back home unless they get something to eat.
Now like before Jesus has created the need. Remember in chapter 6 Jesus intentionally taught until that evening. Protracted his teaching and then he told the disciples Take care of the problem that he had just created by keeping him for so long here.
He kept them for three days. Now any food they brought with them they have consumed already. The disciples should look at this and See that Jesus can take care of the problem, right? They should have learned that lesson by now.
They should be able to see that by now. Instead they say. Sounds like they're kind of shrugging their shoulders in verse 4. How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? Oh, I don't we have no idea.
We've talked about it. We can't figure out how to do it. Jesus. How are you? How are we gonna do it? They didn't learn anything from the first mass feeding. So Jesus asked how many loaves of bread they have seven.
Not only is it literally have seven but it's a symbolic number. They also have a few small fish and then he has the people sit down on the ground. He gives thanks for the food. Right starts distributing it to the disciples to the to distribute it to 4 ,000 people.
And somehow it's enough. Even more than enough is they able to pick up seven baskets full of leftovers. Seven again a symbolic number for completion for perfection. Jesus has completely fed the people in the wilderness and now he can send them home and He crosses the lake again.
To be on the Jewish side. What do you see? What you should see by now is a Lord who has compassion on his people who will provide for their needs. The Pharisees though they see someone to argue with. They demand from Jesus a sign.
Some that is some token like a miracle. They proves what he's saying a sign give us a sign Jesus. And they're his disciples. He's probably thinking well, you mean like ordering demons out of daughters or healing a deaf and stammering man.
Or feeding 4 ,000 people with seven loaves of bread. It's not like that. Something like that if if we see it, we'll believe it. They probably said Sing is believing, right? Jesus has been overflowing in miracles lately.
It should be no big deal For him to do one. For these skeptics, right? He's done so many miracles one just one more. Just go find a needy person. Maybe a cripple or a blind person or a deaf person. Anything maybe you were hungry give him a just a tiny little bit of food and have him feed everybody with it.
You know, why not. Instead in verse 12 He sighs. Deeply again in his spirit. This is the same word as before this time though with a prefix showing it's an even deeper sign a groaning from the bottom of his heart in his spirit the deafness and the stuttering and the cancers and the heart attacks and the Alzheimer's and the strokes and the death has creation itself and even the Lord groaning but even worse.
The unbelief the faithless self-serving moralistic religion has him groaning even deeper within. It's an even worse curse of the fall. It's an expression of the lack of faith. That is the essence of sin.
Whatever it is. Not of faith is sin. Moralistic religious people think of sin is just breaking some rules, you know do these things and if you do them You're good. And if you don't you've sent but sin can clothe itself in religion.
It can engage like here in Theological debate demand proof. Give us a sign. But why not do them? Why not do a sign. This whole section of a mark is full of Jesus doing signs that right in the middle the religious people.
Demand a sign. Why not give them one. What just one more? Why not? Precisely. Because the blessings of the kingdom the bread Is for the children. They're not tricks for the dogs. The El Moody said Jesus sent no one away empty.
Except those who were full of themselves. So Jesus declares in verse 12. Why does this generation? Seek a sign because they don't believe and Seeing isn't believing it's the other way around. Truly I say to you you can bank on it.
No sign Will be given to this generation not one that will actually make them believe. Because if you see him without faith No sign will make you believe. With that he departs. Jesus is now crisscrossing.
I've lost count of how many times he's gone across the Lake of Galilee just in this story. Be crisscrossing the Lake of Galilee on the way back across the disciples. Find that they only have one loaf of bread with them.
And they start arguing about whose job was it to bring the bread. Someone should be in charge of the food. And Jesus tells them watch out. You're only seeing one loaf of bread. So you're saying are you what are they saying.
They're saying a lack. They're saying hunger. But you're not saying right. So beware of. The leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod now leaven or yeast was the one thing in their time That people understood could be caught.
That was we would say contagious. They may not have understood that there were microorganisms at work. But they could see that if someone took up just a pinch From a lump of dough that was rising and put it in another lump of dough that the same effect began to happen in.
The second lump it too began to rise. They could see that the leavening could be transferred. It was contagious. They didn't know exactly what they were seeing. They couldn't describe scientifically what was going on, but they used it for what what they needed for making bread and.
This was the closest thing that they understood to what we would call now and infection yeast infecting one lump. Being contagious and then passed on to others. So when the Lord Jesus here tells them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees He was warning them against allowing the yeast that is the infection of their hypocrisy of their empty religion.
It's all about appearances and moralism. It's about laws. You can keep it's about rules to be followed about Eating or drinking this or that or not eating or drinking this or that but never dealing with the heart.
Beware of being so hard-hearted. That after Jesus has willed an unclean spirit to leave a girl after healing a deaf and stammering man after feeding a multitude. Again still like these Pharisees still you're not seeing who Jesus is and demanding a sign.
Beware of the religion that kind of religion infecting you you disciples the church. Beware also of catching the infection infectious disease that Herod has. Remember Herod loved hearing John the Baptist.
But wouldn't. Wouldn't wouldn't obey it when Bay is preaching beware of enjoying the preaching of your favorite. Whatever strong biblical preacher but of being too weak to stand up for him of actually doing it of living it.
Beware the love of preaching is void of repentance and courage here. Jesus is saying in our terms. Beware of catching what they have. Hypocrisy the arrogant demand that God performed tricks to satisfy my doubt.
Beware of a convictionless spineless love of Religion. You love religion, but you're just not gonna obey it. You're not gonna live it. Watch out because that is contagious it spreads. Like the corona virus from one infected person.
To anyone who comes close to him or her? Well, the disciples hear that. You know, here's some say something about yeast and they they think Jesus is complaining about the bread. We were arguing about the lack of bread and he's making some comment about that.
They just assume Jesus knows that. That all they can see is the bread or the lack of it. And so he says. Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? You know, you shouldn't be worried about that.
Right. You seeing this situation here. Do you not yet perceive? You not see me you not yet understand. Are your hearts hardened that is despite what you've seen. They still don't believe. Their seeing has not led to at least not to full believing.
It never does our hearts have to be changed. This is what is wrong with reducing the Christian life to kind of a stepped plan on how to be better. Do these steps be moral be religious do the right thing give so much money avoid the wrong?
And then you'll be if you do all that then you'll be Accepted. No. You need a new heart first. Replacing that stone-cold dead heart and only God can give that to you that new heart. Will then See things differently from your new living soft warm heart will come faith.
Believing. You will see. They're still here. Jesus says to the disciples having eyes. Do you not see. And having ears do you not hear. They seen him fill. They've seen him feed multitudes of the wilderness twice now think about that.
They've seen him do that twice. Remember, he asked him in verse 18. He gives him a little quiz verses 19 and 20. Remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5 ,000. How many baskets full of pieces did you take up? 12.
But they were eyewitnesses of that. And the seven for the 4 ,000 how many baskets full of broken pieces. Did you take up? Seven they saw it with their own eyes. But seeing isn't believing in verse 21.
Do you still not understand? Apparently not. Because they're arguing about bread. They're looking at Jesus. They're looking at one loaf of bread and they're still thinking we're gonna run out of food.
We're gonna be hungry. They still don't see him. For who he is. Speaking of not seeing that is of having eyes but not able to see. They come to Bethsaida on the sort of on the north eastern corner of the lake starting in verse 22 and there's some people brought Jesus a blind man and Again, they begged him to touch the blind man to heal it begging.
Again, showing that they knew they had nothing to offer in exchange. They had no religion no morality to impress him with to earn some status that compels his attention. But Jesus responds graciously in verse 23.
He takes the blind man by the hand. You can see him see him. Holding the hand of this blind man leading him out of this village again out of the spotlight and for the blind man. Nothing in his hands he brings.
But only to the hand of Christ he clings. In verse 23 what seems odd to us in the way, we're taught to see things. He again spits. Here in Mark. It just says that Jesus puts spit or saliva on the man's eyes in John chapter 9 verse 6 Jesus mixed his saliva with some dirt to make a little mud pack and then cakes it on the another blind man's eyes.
Maybe he did the same here. Maybe mix it with dirt, but that's not the point. It's it's it's the symbol something coming from him. Touching the one in need and being the instrument for healing people at that time saw saliva as Healing as like an ointment.
We see things differently. About to see things through their eyes here. Now. The man doesn't see at all. He apparently was at born blind because he knows what trees look like and I'm kind of amorphous.
Undefined. And Jesus applied the saliva laid his hands on him and asked if he could see. The peculiar thing is why he is not instantly fully healed. Why isn't he completely healed the first time Jesus lays hands on him after all it's not a lack of ability on on Jesus's part.
It's not as though the first time he only had enough power to get him 50 of the way there and it took another Effort to get him the full healing full sight. No, that's not what's going on. The first time the man says he can see vaguely.
He says he sees people like trees or the fuzzy a nebulous blobs walking around. Why is he healed in stages. This is the way the disciples are seeing Jesus in stages. They're not completely blind like the Pharisees the religious people, you know demanding a sign they're just totally blind.
They don't see him at all. They're not that bad. But they aren't seeing him clearly yet either. They still don't see that Jesus is the bread supplier the bread of life the Lord. They see Jesus Vaguely.
They're seeing in stages. Maybe you are too. So Jesus laid hands on him again in verse 25 directly on his eyes and his sight was restored 20 20 vision. No glasses or LASIK required sending him home. Notice.
He sends him not back to that village that they came from. So he wouldn't tell the news that he had been given his sight. Why not? Because if they don't believe in Jesus. Seeing the blind see Won't help them see.
Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing. What about you. Do you see. Are you only seeing in? Stages, I Don't think you're like the religious people here the fact the Pharisees thinking. They deserve a place at God's table thinking with enough morality.
With the right religious steps that they can earn they can earn bread from God. They can deserve it come to God with something in your hands. Your decent life your baptism your offerings your church attendance.
Hopefully you see better than that by now and know like that Gentile woman That you can only beg. It's only because Jesus has made you his child. That you have a place at the table but sometimes. Sometimes we see.
Just believing is seeing. But our faith is weak and so is our vision. We mix a little Religion a little works and moralism into our gospel now is the time to see clearly spiritual 2020 vision so that when you Draw your fleeting breath when your eyes Shall close in death when you rise to worlds unknown.
Then you'll behold him see him clearly on his throne. Believing is seeing. So What do you see.