| Mark 6-10 Continued...
Mark 8:1-38
"Let's say another word of prayer together.
'Lord, thank you once more for this meal we can have together.
No doubt if we are open in faith to hearing you, we will be
fed, we'll walk away satisfied. So I ask, God, that you give
us the faith so your Spirit would just be upon us this morning.
And I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.'
Let's begin in verse 1, Mark chapter 8. "In those
days, the multitude being very great, and having nothing to
eat, Jesus called his disciples to him, and said to them,
'I have compassion on the multitude because they have now
continued with me three days and have nothing to eat. And
if I send them away hungry to their houses, they will faint
on the way, for some of them have come from afar.' And his
disciples answered him, 'How can one satisfy these people
with bread here in the wilderness?' He asked them, 'How many
loaves do you have?' And they said, 'Seven.' So he commanded
the multitude to sit down on the ground and he took the seven
loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples
to set before them, and they set them before the multitude.
They also had a few small fish, and having blessed them he
set them also before them. So they ate and were filled and
they took up seven large baskets of left-over fragments. Now
those who had eaten were about 4,000, and they sent them away.
Immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and came
to the region of Dalmanutha (Mark 8:1-10). Sound
like you read that before? Maybe sound familiar to you? We
were in a text very similar just a couple weeks ago. You know,
I remember the first time I read about the two different feedings,
it was a struggle for me. I was, 'What's up with that?' Two
different feedings, sounds kind of questionable to me, you
know. Did somebody, maybe a scribe, recopy the same event
twice? Just change some of the detail or just get confused.
It just sounds very odd to me. And I began to question, this
is a number of years ago, and I began to study, and every
time I've come to a point in my life where I begin to question
the Bible, the Word of God, I always find as I begin to seek
through, find some answers, God just increases my faith--faith
that this is the Word of God and that it's accurate, it's
authoritative. There are some critics that will use this text,
and many other texts to just bring questions to the Word of
God. But as you compare the feeding of the five thousand with
the feeding of the four thousand, the five thousand we've
studied before in Mark just a couple chapters ago--you're
gonna see a lot of different details as you begin to lay them
side by side. Obviously, there's a different number of people,
there are different numbers of fish and loaves, a different
number of baskets that are collected at the end, even a different
type of basket--if you look at the Greek. In the first feeding
there were small baskets, and in this feeding they were large
baskets, probably due to the fact they were in different regions,
one feeding is on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, the
other on the east side. The number of days that the crowd
is with Jesus is different. In the first feeding they're with
Jesus about a day, a little less than a day. And here they're
with Jesus three days. That's a long time. Three days, imagine.
The time of the year is probably different because in the
first feeding Jesus has them sit down on green grass. Here
it says they're seated upon the earth, just literally the
earth, the dirt. So it's probably a different time of year.
The number of blessings, Jesus prays once in the first feeding,
here he prays twice, so there's a difference there. But it's
very possible too that the density of the crowd is different,
because on the west side of the Sea of Galilee it's probably
mostly Jews that are before Jesus. On the east side, here,
it's a good chance there are many Gentiles that are before
Jesus. So it's a different crowd, a different make-up of a
crowd. It's also possible that, well, the disciples are the
source of the bread and the fish here, to feed the crowd.
Before it was a small boy, if you put all the accounts together
that has the fish and the loaves. But here the disciples just
produce the bread and the fish, so it's possible that it's
their very own bread and fish that they used to feed the crowd
with, this time. It's pretty interesting.
Well some think though that it would be absurd for Jesus to
confront his disciples with this same situation twice, and
with the same question. Basically he asked them the same question.
Some say that's absurd, and some critics would say it's even
worse, or that the disciples would respond in the same manner.
But you know, as I read the Old Testament I don't think it's
ridiculous at all, when I watch the Israelites, that's for
sure. And then when I look at my own life I say it's not absurd
when I find that God has to repeat things over and over with
me before I begin to clue-in. You know, how many times does
God have to provide for me or us before we begin to trust
him and believe in him for what he can and will do. So quickly
we do forget the miracles and forget about his compassion
for us. This crowd has been with Jesus three days, so the
crowd is very, very hungry, obviously, if you could imagine.
If you've ever tried fasting for multiple days, the third
day is about the worst when it comes to going without food.
And Jesus, realizing that of course, in his compassion wants
to meet their need and minister to them. And he uses this
as an opportunity, the situation, to teach his disciples once
more.
Now Jesus doesn't desire anyone here this morning to leave
hungry. Jesus doesn't desire anyone here to leave unsatisfied.
As we study this account and study the Word of God, God wants
all of us to leave this morning satisfied, because he has
what we need to be satisfied. Jesus has compassion upon you
as he sees your need. He doesn't want you to leave and later
faint in despair. He doesn't want that to take place in your
life. You may wonder also, 'I'm in the wilderness, things
are pretty barren around me! How can I possibly be satisfied?'
Or 'How can Jesus possibly satisfy the many needs of those
folks around me?' We're gonna be reminded today that Jesus
truly satisfies, truly satisfies--truly satisfies the deepest
yearning in our heart, if we just allow him to do that. Paul
declared in Colossians chapter three, he says, "When Christ,
who is our life, appears..."--what is Paul saying when he
says that? He says that Christ not only came to give us eternal
life, but also that the life that he now gives us is his very
life. The life that you have today is the very life of Christ.
The life that you can experience today is the very life of
Christ. Bob Hoekstra, in the Calvary Basic book "The Psychologizing
of the Faith", he put it this way, he said "The life that
Christ gives to us, when we believe on him, is his own life."
The life that Jesus shares with us is the life that we are
yearning to live. You know, all of us have desires. We all
desire to be satisfied, and so often we find ourselves looking
in other places to be satisfied. But Bob Hoekstra reminds
us that Jesus is our life. He wants to satisfy you completely.
He doesn't want you to be a dissatisfied person, a discontent
person. He wants you to experience contentment. There is absolutely
no doubt that Jesus can satisfy every single heart, every
single need here this morning. He is the answer to the yearning
of every heart.
Paul a few verses later in Colossians chapter 3, verse 11,
he declares "But Christ is all in all." You know, we sing
that song, "Our all in all"? Do we let him be that? But Paul
says, "Christ is all, and in all." [If you want to get technical,
through the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ
dwells in the midst of every single atom in the Universe,
and holds every single atom together (Heb. 1:1-3).] Is he
your all? Is he your everything? It's God's purpose that you
would be satisfied. It's God's purpose that you would be content,
because he's provided his son, who's ultimately the only place
you're gonna find contentment and satisfaction. You know that's
why Paul can say in Philippeans "For me, to live is Christ."
To live is Christ, man. He's so satisfying. He just meets
my needs. You know, we're just like the disciples, aren't
we though? Rarely trusting, often doubting, often questioning.
But Jesus, as he was with the disciples, is right here this
morning. He's right here with us. He's right here ready to
satisfy, ready to be our everything, ready to meet every need.
Why do we look elsewhere? Why are we in despair, you know,
seeing the wilderness around us. Sometimes you look, you say,
'Oh there's a wilderness. Man, it's barren, bum deal.'--assuming
there's greener grass somewhere else. But Jesus is our all
in all. He wants us to realize that he is the Bread of Life--that
he satisfies our every yearning and our every desire. The
Christian life is a life of contentment. It's a life of joy,
because of who Jesus is, because of what he desires to do
in our life. He says, "I'm the Bread of Life and I've come
to give life"--and that's abundant life. Maybe it's a little
barren in your life, things around you. But it's abundant
life in Christ. And that's where satisfaction is. Jesus is
come to be your everything, to satisfy all your needs. If
you are dissatisfied it's because you haven't understood that
basic truth that Jesus is all and in all. You haven't understood
that he can be and should be your everything, that he is the
answer to the yearning in your heart, and that he is the Bread
of Life coming to give life abundantly. If you're not satisfied,
so often we're discontent, Paul says, "For me, to live is
Christ", Christ my life. Allow Jesus to satisfy you today.
As you read there, at the end of this feeding--you know, Mark
is just a fast-moving gospel, forty-two times he says "immediately"--when
Jesus is done, and immediately, probably because he doesn't
want them to, you know, he's fed them--and he doesn't want
them to use him for some type of personal or selfish motive,
so he gets into the boat and they depart and they go to this
region of Dalmanutha. And there's little known about this
region. We can only guess and speculate where it is. We don't
have much historical data to go by as far as this region of
Dalmanutha. But it's evidently on the west side of the Sea
of Galilee.
Let's continue in verse 11. "Then the Pharisees came out and
began to dispute with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven,
testing him. But he sighed deeply in his spirit and said,
'Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly I say to
you, no sign shall be given to this generation.'" A little
later we find the Pharisees once again, they come to Jesus,
dispute with him, and just confront him. They're just bugged
by him. And here they're seeking a sign from him, a heavenly
sign, to validate his ministry. For some reason the miracles
that he's performed in the past aren't enough, you know. I
mean, he's raised a paralytic from the ground, you know. The
guy ran out the door, and yet, you know, it wasn't enough
to validate that he's the Christ [Messiah] to them. So they've
come asking for a sign. You know, you remember before, they
try to write off his miracles as 'a demonic thing', you know--got
his power from Satan. So they've come just to say, "Hey, we
need a heavenly sign Jesus, if we're gonna accept your ministry."
You know, I wonder what sign would be enough for these guys?
What sign would be enough to satisfy them. If they can't believe
already, they write off his other miracles as demonic empowered,
I would think that no matter what he did, they're gonna really
still question his ministry, and eventually arrive at the
same conclusion. If he responded to their pressures here,
I'm sure it would only temporarily satisfy them. They would
see, maybe, this great fire come from heaven, you know, and
all these angels fly around. And they would leave and they'd
begin to question, 'Well, you know, he could have done it
with a trick, it could have been magic', and go back and say,
'You know, yeah, we're not satisfied. We need some more Jesus.
Need something else, man.' Are you this morning awaiting a
sign from Jesus also?--in order to determine whether or not
he's the real thing? What sign could possibly satisfy you?
What do you want to see? I mean, even if the heavens opened
and you saw God on his throne and saw the angels and you saw
all the throne room there, would that be enough to satisfy
you? Maybe it would be. Maybe it wouldn't be. But would it
be enough for you to chose to turn away from your ways and
follow the ways of God? Would it have any effect on your heart?
Maybe you say, 'Well God, you're real, and Jesus you're real.
But maybe your heart would say, 'I'd rather go this route
anyway.' 'I like what I do, I don't really like the things
that your Word says that I'm supposed to do and not supposed
to do.' Would a miraculous sign change the condition of your
heart? It didn't change Pharaoh's heart. He saw a lot of miracles.
It changed his heart a little bit to let the Israelites go,
but as far as putting his faith in God, not a chance, man.
Not a chance. He saw some great miracles. You know, seeking
a sign, a lot of people are sign-seekers. Seeking a sign can
be very dangerous. It can be very dangerous. The Pharisees
were right in deducing that demons and Satan can perform miracles
and use people as instruments to do that. They're right in
deducing that. We read in the Bible that sometimes false Christ's
come and do exactly that. They do the miracles, perform miracles,
they raise the dead sometimes, in order to deceive those hearts
that are just seeking signs. Paul wrote in Thessalonians,
he said, "The coming of the lawless one is according to the
working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders,
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send strong delusions
that they should believe a lie that they might be condemned
who did not believe the truth but have pleasure in unrighteousness."
If you don't respond in the greatness of God's love today,
if you don't respond to that--just the love and patience he's
had toward you today--certainly a miracle or two is not going
to have too much effect on your heart. I mean, God is just
so loving with you as it is, so patient, just willing you
to himself. If the love of God isn't gonna change the condition
of your heart. When it comes to God, salvation is by faith.
Faith pleases God and asking for a sign just shows unbelief.
But faith pleases God.
Verses 13-21, "And he left them, and getting into the boat
again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten
to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with
them in the boat. Then he charged them saying, 'Take heed,
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.'
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because
we have no bread.' But Jesus being aware of it, said to them,
'Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet
perceive or understand? Is your heart still 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 fragments did you
take?' They said to him, 'Twelve.' Also when I broke the seven
for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments
did you take up?' And they said 'Seven.' So he said to them,
'How is it that you don't understand.'" Because they're in
the boat, and he says 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of Herod, and they're like, 'Oh man, we don't have bread!'
'You know, we don't have bread, what are we gonna do?' And
Jesus is like, 'Wait a minute, what does it have to do with
the quantity of bread? Don't you remember, I multiplied bread,
I made abundance of bread, you know I could fill a whole grocery
store with bread from one piece? What do you mean 'We don't
have any bread?' 'What does having enough bread have to do
with anything? I've already shown you that.' They still aren't
quite getting it. You know, here you see Jesus refer to the
two feedings. Matthew also records the same conversation as
you see here, so it's highly unlikely that Matthew, and Mark
probably writing from Peter's data, that Peter and Matthew
got confused about the, you know, there's two feedings instead
of only one. It's pretty clear as you put it all together,
there were two feedings, and Jesus is trying to teach those
around him, especially the disciples, something that they're
still not quite clueing into. Well, what is he warning the
disciples about here? He's warning them about the leaven of
the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
And what is the leaven of the Pharisees? What is the leaven
of Herod? We learn in Matthew 16 that the leaven of the Pharisees
is the doctrine of the Pharisees, we read right there in Matthew
16. In Luke 12 you can also learn that the leaven of the Pharisees
is hypocrisy. It says both of those directly. So you have
hypocrisy and you have doctrine, that's the leaven of the
Pharisees. Putting the two together, the leaven of the Pharisees
is then the doctrine of the Pharisees that leads to a hypocritical,
a self-righteous lifestyle. That's the leaven of the Pharisees.
It's a doctrine that causes you to think that you can become
righteous as you strictly adhere to the traditions of certain
men. It's that 'holier than thou' type doctrine. And Jesus
exhorts us, 'Beware, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.'
This doctrine that teaches you that you can get righteous
by doing certain things.
And then the leaven of Herod is most probably something to
do with political trickery or worldliness, as you look at
Herod's life. It doesn't say directly anywhere in the Bible.
But that's a good guess at what it is. It's those teachings
or movements that get you focussed on the world, the worldly
kingdom rather than on the Godly kingdom. You know, politics
can be good, we have certain freedoms here in America, but
sometimes politics, political movements come through that
really get us focussed on this earthly kingdom a lot--they
start to rip you off, start to get you angry, start to get
you just focussed on this or that political agenda rather
than on the heavenly kingdom. And that, I think, is part of
what Jesus is warning of, because that's a leaven. These doctrines
are really alluring to us at times, especially as they get
mixed with truth, you know. They throw in the stories of Jesus,
they pull out a Bible verse and say 'Well you need to go do
this, you need to go do that.' And they become very alluring
to us. But the net effect upon our life is not good. The net
effect, he refers to it as a leaven, is bad. So he says 'Beware,
beware of these doctrines.' You know, Paul challenged the
church in Colossi. He said this, "Beware, lest anyone cheat
you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the
tradition of men, according to the tradition of the world,
and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). He says these
doctrines, if you get into them, they're gonna cheat you.
They're gonna rip you off, you're gonna miss out on what you
really need. You're gonna be cheated if you get into the philosophies
of men and the traditions of men. You're gonna miss out on
the real power that God wants to work in and through you.
And as Paul says, verse 8, he goes into verse 9, he says this,
"For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
And you are complete in him..." "You are complete in him,
who is the head of all principality and power." As Christians,
he says he doesn't want you to get cheated in these other
things, because in Christ, Christ satisfies. You and I are
complete in Christ. You're not missing out on anything. You're
not coming short on anything, you have all you need. You're
complete in Christ, completely satisfied. If you adhere to
someone's philosophy or someone else's teaching to improve
yourself, you're going to find that you get cheated and probably
find yourself in bondage to other groups. But we're already
complete, those of us that are Christians this morning, we're
complete in Christ. We're not missing out on anything, we've
got it all. He's our all in all, we just need to accept that
in faith and experience the power of it. Well, maybe today
you're being cheated, trying something else. You know, you
think "I look around and I know Jesus says this, but don't
know, I don't know if I get it, so I'm going onto these other
things, going to try these other methods." So often too, the
methods are the methods of psychology. That is why Bob Hoekstra
wrote the book The Psychologizing of the Faith [available
from http://www.thewordfortoday.org,
click on "Products", then on "Other Materials" and then scroll
down and click on "Calvary Basics Series" (second booklet
down).] because psychology is just moving into the church.
And psychology is just human humanism and thinking. I'm not
saying it isn't good to study the behaviors of man, but psychology
itself tries to reason things out by man's wisdom. But the
Bible teaches that you are complete in Christ. You're not
missing anything. You're complete. You're not missing anything.
You don't need to seek other answers. You've go it all already
in Christ. He's all you need, if you would just accept it
in faith. You know I was talking to someone yesterday on the
phone, somebody who was just struggling, trying to encourage
this person. You know, I knew how they were going to receive
it, because you say these things, you're like "Well, they've
heard it. But they don't accept it in faith." But I try to
say again, "You know, if you just would get along with the
Lord." This person was really having a hard time, man, I just
never experienced that in my life, so I can understand the
pain. But I said "If you get along with the Lord and just
experience him, you're gonna find strength and hope and life.
You will. You will experience it." And you know, their response
was what I expected. "But, but, but, but..." The truth is,
you are complete in Christ. What does that mean? If you're
complete in Christ, what does that mean? What else do you
need?--if you're complete. You're not falling short. You have
it all. He's your all in all if you would just let him become
your everything and experience that in your life, accept it
in faith. And it's the good life to have Christ. He wants
you to know that he is the Bread of Life. Well, are you being
cheated? You know, leaven man, leaven symbolizes evil, and
leaven can really sour, if can ruin the whole batch when you
look at it from the biblical perspective. I've seen leaven,
man, I've seen the fruit of leaven and how it works. I can't
help but think of Galatians and Paul when he wrote to the
Galatians, he says, "You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying
the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls
you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump." You know, when
we start questioning God, and "Ah, this isn't enough, I've
got to go somewhere else", then that leaven gets in there,
man, it just spoils. And when the church opens up to psychology
we begin to just spoil. We miss out on the power. I was reading
through Leviticus in my daily devotion [personal daily Bible
study], and I thought it interesting in Leviticus, one of
the earlier chapters, when it was talking about the grain
offering. God was focussing and making the Israelites understand
that there shouldn't be any leaven at all in that grain offering.
It should be without leaven at all in that grain offering.
It should be without leaven, because it's to be Holy, set
aside to him, and if there was any leaven in it he wouldn't
accept it. And then Paul kind of carries those thoughts also
in 1 Corinthians 5. He says 'You know, just purge yourself
of that leaven, so you can enjoy the feasts and sacrifices
of God' kind of referring back to Leviticus, that as a church
we need to be pure, in the truth, to enjoy the power of God
in our lives. I tell you, leaven comes in man, and it just
spoils. You get your eyes off just Jesus and being completely
in him and being satisfied in him and start having, adding
other things, you're getting leaven into your life--and you're
being cheated. That is the result, you're being cheated. Why
would we want to be cheated? I don't like to be cheated. Jesus
wants you to know that he is the Bread of Life. He doesn't
want you to be cheated from the experience of his goodness
and his power. He doesn't want you to leave hungry and dissatisfied
today or later find yourself in despair. He wants to be your
life, and life abundantly. So feed on him, taste and see that
the Lord is good, the psalmist says.
Verses 22-25, "Then he came to Bethsaida and they
brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. So
he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.
And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him,
he asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said,
'I see men like trees walking.' And he put his hands on his
eyes again and made him look up and he was restored and saw
everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his house saying,
'Neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town.'"
So these people again, as many times, just urging, begging
Jesus to heal themselves or heal a friend, and here there's
a group that has a friend as Jesus is in Bethsaida, and say
'Hey, heal our blind friend Jesus, you can do it.' And interesting,
this is the only time that Jesus does a progressive healing,
where he does it in stages. In every other instance, and we
can only theorize as to why, but there's this man when he
comes to Jesus, you know his friends are really eager, and
this man maybe has some questions. So Jesus is even helping
his faith a little bit, by, you know, giving him a little
bit he says "Wow!" Alright, I believe man. Give it all to
me!" And that's a possibility. I don't know. But you know,
it does tell me that sometimes there is progressive healing.
Sometimes there is stages for some reason. You know, some
come to Christ and Boom!--they've got it all and experience
it all. And of course, we've all got it all. But some of them,
you just see the experience right up front, they're just delivered
from every bondage, and they're just rolling in Christ right
off. And sometimes, for some of us, it's a progressive thing.
You know, we're healed a little bit, and experience life a
little bit, and then we go on a little bit more and we experience
a little bit more life, it's a progressive thing. But just
because you're not all the way there doesn't mean you're not
going to get there. Just because you haven't been healed completely
doesn't mean you're not gonna get there. You can just look
back and know where you've come from. Look at where Christ
has brought you from. Rejoice in that. Sometimes it does seem
that there's a progression sometimes for some of us, you know.
A little bit at a time. Maybe it's just an issue of our faith--we
accept, a little, a little bit more, a little bit more. I'm
not sure. Well don't be disappointed anyway if you're in progress.
Don't be disappointed in that. Just rejoice. Look back where
you've come from. Rejoice in that, and walk in faith.
Verse 27-30, "Now Jesus and his disciples went out
to the towns of Caesaria-Philippi, and on the road he asked
his disciples, saying to them, 'Who do men say that I am?'
So they answered, 'John the Baptist, but some say Elijah and
others one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do
you say that I am?' And Peter said to him, 'You are the Christ.'
And he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about
him." We don't have everything in this account. We
learn a little bit more in other gospels. But Jesus is teaching
them, obviously he's teaching, teaching them about who he
is. So now he's even beginning to question them and see if
they're learning, if they're growing. So he says "Who do people
say that I am?" and they say "Some say that you're Elijah,
some say you're a prophet, a good teacher, a great man." But
he says "Who do you say that I am? What do you guys believe?
What is true to you?" And Peter stands up and says "You are
the Christ. You're the Son of God." If you're the Christ,
you're the Son of God. Isaiah, you know, God says through
him that God's gonna send his Son. We read in other gospels,
that he says "that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the
Living God." Well this morning who do you say Jesus is? Jesus
is just talking to you saying "Who do you say I am?" "Who
am I to you? Who am I to you? What do I mean to you? What
do I mean to you in your life? Am I your life? Am I your everything--your
all-in-all? Maybe just your ticket to heaven, you know. 'Hey,
I purchased the ticket, I took it. I'm on my way, but now
I have to deal with these other things, on my own.' Who is
Jesus to you?--the Christ? You know, if you say the Christ,
Paul says in Colossians, he says, "In him, the Christ, is
the fullness of the Godhead." Man it's just all of God is
in Christ, all of Him is there. Is he that to you? Who do
you say Jesus is? Maybe not just verbally, but by your life?
What does your life say that Jesus means to you?
Verse 31, "And he began to teach them that the Son
of man may suffer many things and be rejected by the elders
and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three
days rise again.' He spoke this openly, then Peter took him
aside and he began to rebuke him. But when he had turned around
and had looked at his disciples he rebuked Peter saying, 'Behind
me Satan, for you're not mindful of the things of God for
the things of men.'" You know, this is an interesting
account here with Mark, because it's a good chance he's getting
his source from Peter, so it's interesting to note because
in the verses 27 to 30 when just a minute ago Peter says "You
are the Christ", and Jesus' response is 'Blessed are you,
Peter, you know, only the Father in heaven revealed that to
you.' So he kind of looks pretty good. But Peter doesn't include
that in this part, evidently, as he's talking to Mark. Doesn't
include the good thing that Jesus says, just points out that
a few minutes later he was rebuked by Jesus. Interesting to
note. I guess, a statement of his humility. But Jesus earlier
said, "Blessed are you Peter", in a different gospel account,
and a minute later he's going "Get behind me Satan!" You know,
I can relate to that. I'm doing good for a moment, you know,
behind the pulpit, just sharing the Word, and get in my car
and get alone with my kids for whatever, and it's totally
opposite, you know. Well, Jesus says, he's just beginning
to teach them, that you know, 'I've come this initial time
for the very purpose to bring salvation and I'm going to suffer
and be rejected by men and the Pharisees and Scribes are going
to get me and they're going to kill me. But after three days
I'm gonna rise again.' And he's teaching them that, and with
that, Peter comes to him and says 'What?! No way, man!' Maybe
all the disciples are thinking the same thing, so Peter's
the only bold one. So Peter goes up to him and says, "No Way!
Jesus, you got to assert yourself, man. You can't let these
Pharisees and Scribes push you around, man. What are you talkin'
about? I mean, look at things you do, you could just dust
these guys, you know. Come on, stop thinking so pessimistic
man. Optimism is what we need around here, you know?' Just
not understanding the things of God. And maybe that's you
too this morning, questioning God, you know. 'God, how can
it be? What'ya mean, suffering? Come on Lord. Rejection, hard
times, what are you talking about? We need some optimism around
here Lord. No suffering Lord.' Are you questioning God? Maybe
not verbally, but maybe your actions are speaking, just that
you're having a hard time with what God is doing. It's possible,
and I would say it's a good guess, because you have the perspective
of man. That's the perspective of man, to question the ways
of God. Say it doesn't quite go the way I think it should,
or, 'This doesn't make sense to me.' That's what Peter's doing,
as he (Jesus) says, 'You've got the perspective of man.' And
it says "Get behind me Satan", he rebukes him. And it's possible,
I mean, Satan basically tried to get Jesus off his course,
and here Peter is actually doing the same thing, you know,
saying "Don't go ahead with that." And, you know, it's about
six months until Jesus is going to go to the cross. And as
a man he understands where he's going. So you can only understand
from the human side, he's going, "Wow, this is what I got
before me." So in a sense, you know Peter's just trying to
side-track him. And of course, the human side would be tempted
by that. So he just rebukes him, he says, "Get away from me
Satan! I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear this
easy-road stuff." Well, sometimes we just need a perspective
change and get alone with the Lord and see that all things
work together to the good that (for those who) love God.
Verse 34-38, "When he had called the people to himself
with his disciples also, he said to them, 'Whoever desires
to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's
will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give
in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and
my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him
the Son of man will be also ashamed, when he comes in the
glory of His Father with the Holy angels.'"Well Jesus
goes on and just begins to talk of the ways of God from that
point. He says "I'm gonna suffer and you're having a hard
time with that. Well let me tell you about the ways of God
here, and the ways of Christ. He says, "My ways and what is
required is that those who desire to follow me, it's the way
of the cross, taking up the cross and following me, it does
include suffering, challenges and rejections. It is the good
life, but if you can't handle that, if you desire to save
your life, this type of lifestyle you have, this goal you
have, this thing you desire--well you're going to lose out
on life from my sake and the gospel's. But if you lose all
that other stuff and just say 'I want you Jesus, regardless
of what it is, you satisfy, you're the Bread of Life, you're
the Bread of heaven, that's what I want', he says you're going
to find life. And then he says in verse 36, "What will it
profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own
soul, what will it profit a man?" You know, you've been reading
in the newspapers, maybe listening to the news about different
people in the world that seem to have it all. On the top,
man, they got it all. From the looks, to the power, to the
money--but man, it can leave you pretty quickly. The grave
is still there. Having it all, what is it gonna profit you,
in the end? What is it gonna profit you? You know, there's
the story of Charlemagne, this great king. 180 years after
his death officials of the Emperor Ortho were sent to open
his grave and, you know, probably get the treasures. So these
guys went into Charlemagne's grave, this tomb he had been
buried in 180 years before. Of course they found some great
loot, a lot of great treasures buried there with the king.
But they were also surprised to find something else, and that
was the skeleton of the king sitting on his throne, still
had the crown on his head. A little eirie to see. But his
bony finger was laying on a part of parchment of the Gospel.
It was laying on this exact text, his finger, right here on
verse 36, "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole
world and loses his own soul?" That would give you the chills,
you know, I'd go in there and I see this gold and I'm stuffing
my pockets, you know, I see the treasures and I'm filling
my truck, and then I see the skeleton there saying "What will
it profit a man if he gains it all but he loses his own soul?"
Pretty heavy statement, powerful statement that was said there.
Jesus, let's look at Luke 12, "Then one from the crowd said,
'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.'
But he said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator
over you?' And he said to them, 'Take heed and beware of covetousness,
for one's life does not consist of the abundance of the things
he possesses.' Then he spoke a parable to them saying, 'The
ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully and he thought
within himself saying, 'What shall I do since I have no room
to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this. I will pull
down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all
my crops and goods. And I'll say to my soul, 'Soul, you have
many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease. Eat, drink
and be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool, this night your
soul will be required of you, then whose shall those things
be, which you have provided?' 'So is he who lays up treasures
for himself and is not rich toward God.'" You know, you can't
help think of the news and think of this parable, you know.
Just storing it up, storing it up, and then find that God
comes to them and says "Fool, man you just made yourself rich,
but you didn't have any of God in your life, and you've really
come up on the short account. Jesus said, "I am the Bread
of Life." He says "Take heed," right here, "and beware of
covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance
of things he possesses." That's not life, man. The abundance
of things, that'll just keep you going, you'll never get enough.
But Jesus said to Satan when he was being tempted, he said,
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God" [Matthew 4:4]. That's a meal,
man. That's what satisfies the yearning and the heart--the
Word of God, His Truth, abiding in it and obeying it, receiving
it in faith--being complete in Christ. I wonder, some of the
people we've been reading about in the paper and watching
on the news, what they're thinking now. Now a little while
ago, thinking they had it all, on top of the world, man. But
some of those people on top of the world, life takes a change.
Life comes to an end, and you wonder what they're thinking
later, as they have to confront...Is God saying "Fool!--you
all that, but you didn't have me. Look what you get now in
the end. And all your possessions are left with other people."
Jesus wants you to know that you are complete in him, that
he is the Bread of Life, that he gives abundant life. He does
not want you to leave today dissatisfied, discontent. He wants
you to be fed and be filled to overflowing with his love and
his Word and himself. That is what we have in Christ.
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