📖 Mark 7:31-8:26

The Text

Mark 7:31–8:26

31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33 So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man's ears and spitting, he touched his tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!"). 35 Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. 36 He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were extremely astonished and said, "He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

1 In those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called the disciples and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a long distance." 4 His disciples answered him, "Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed these people?" 5 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked them. "Seven," they said. 6 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well. 8 They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. 9 About four thousand were there. He dismissed them.

10 And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."

13 Then he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side. 14 The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then he gave them strict orders: "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 16 They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. 17 Aware of this, he said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don't you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? 18 Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?" "Twelve," they told him. 20 "When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?" "Seven," they said. 21 And he said to them, "Don't you understand yet?"

22 They came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" 24 He looked up and said, "I see people—they look like trees walking." 25 Again Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him home, saying, "Don't even go into the village."

The Sermon

Lk. 12:4-7 "I say to you, my friends, don't fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear! Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Here is the sermon: God has provided you with exactly what you need.

Now, let me get into the brass tacks. We all need food, clothing, and shelter. We need income. We need medical help from time to time, hopefully not often. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Our temporal needs are real. And the lack of those resources is burdensome, almost to the point of feeling restricted and held back. If you had ever been that poor, you know that constant feeling like whatever you are doing is not enough to make it through this year, this month, this day.

First of all, if you ever find yourself in the predicament, please let us know. We are the church, and you are part of this local body of believers, and we are called to one another. If there is a need, we will do what we can to help one another (Acts 2:44-45). Just please let us know.

Temporal needs are just that: tangibly temporary. Our needs are right here and right now. God gets that. He made us. He is compassionate towards us. He knows we are made from dirt (Ps. 130:13-14). And of those temporal provisions–our food, clothing, shelter, our paychecks– come from God on high. "For our Father causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matt. 5:44-45).

What God is showing you and me is something beyond today, this month, or this year. God is showing you your real need for all of eternity. And what Christ is adamantly preaching is that our souls and hearts need something infinitely more--we need him. We need the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

10-12 And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him. Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."

Let me lay out three things we don't need.

First, we do not need signs, wonders, and miracles. We simply don't. If and when they happen in our lifetime, it will be a blessed moment. But it does not sustain us or continue to lift us up day after day and week after week. God has given us very simple, very ordinary means of grace to fuel our faith and bring us all the way home. Prayer, the sacraments, and the preaching of Christ and him crucified. If you have those things, I promise you, your faith will be sustained. If you come to church on the Lord's Day and if your pastor preaches the law and the gospel rightly, your soul will be sustained. God is almighty and infinite enough to give you what you need. Now, if you don't continuously receive these ordinary means--usually due to the lack of right preaching of the gospel-–guess what your soul tends to do? Tries to find the next great thing. But yearning for the next sign, wonder, revival, miracle, presence of God tends to pull us from the gracious worship of Christ for what he has done into something akin to a fairweather sports fan. In other words, we tend to not worship God for what he has done for us but rather make it all about us with an attitude of "What have you done for me lately?"

I say this as a forever Dallas sports team "homer". These type of fans really, really, really want championships every year. I am very much enjoying the Texas Rangers' championship run in 2023. I still enjoy it when the Stars go deep into the playoffs. I am still riding that joy-filled euphoric 2011 year when the Mavericks beat the Miami Heat "superstar" team. And I did enjoy those three Cowboys Super Bowls in the 90s–-I did enjoy them very much. But those are one-time memories. They do not sustain my fandom.

In a much better way, we don't need signs, wonders, and miracles to sustain our faith. And to that end, unbelievers don't need them to believe. Have you heard this argument, "If we had more signs and miracles, then more people would come to the Lord." But that is not what the Scriptures says. We come to faith by the ordinary preaching of the gospel of Christ. "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ" (Rom. 10:17).

When you hear about Christ, and the Holy Spirit does his work according to the grace of God our Father, you are now his. You belong to him. You are his adopted child, for whom he is well pleased. We are his blessed children who love him, adore him, and worship him because he is our great Father in heaven, and he has given us his Son in Christ alone and his Blessed Spirit. You are his forever. He has given you these means of grace. As his child, open your hands and receive what he gives you -- he wants to give you his Son every Sunday. Come and receive him.

Second, we don't need to test God because God is not tested (Dt. 6:16). As much as the Pharisees are famous for knowing the Pentateuch, Christ demonstrates time and time again just how little some of these priests actually obeyed the law of God they had diligently memorized. Yet, they always keep coming at Christ to test him because they did not believe he was the Son of God. But if you know that he is God, then you know you are not supposed to test God. Have they forgotten Job so quickly?

Job 40:6-8 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform me.
Would you really challenge my justice?
Would you declare me guilty to justify yourself?

What about us? Do we treat God like this? "Lord, if I do this, then if you are real, you will show up like this." The Holy God of the Bible is not some pagan god that you can move around and control at your whim. Any God that you can control by what you do is not a god at all.

And I will give you a stern warning about trying to test God. If these unbelieving, legalistic Pharisees grossly sinned by testing the Son of Man doesn't convince you, then consider their "father" (Jn. 8:44):

Matt. 4:5-7 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone."
Jesus told him, "It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God."

Christ did not deny that Satan was preaching his own word against him. "It is also written." But he didn't waste one additional breath in debating and philosophizing with the father of lies. "Do not test the Lord your God." One and done.

Lastly, along the same lines of testing the Lord our God, we don't need to put God in our debt. Or, put another way, we cannot place God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, in our debt. "Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness" (Rom. 4:4-5). In other words, we know that we do not do good works in order for God to save us. That is Soteriology 101. Yet, how many of us live by this subconscious drive: "If I do good things, God will bless me." You can do good things, but what if he doesn't bless you? Let me put it another way: God has already blessed you so whatever you are doing doesn't move God to bless you in the way you want him to. Let us not stray into treating God like a soda machine. Our good works are not the money we deposit into a blessing machine in order to receive a crisp, cold, refreshing can of God's blessing. God is not a soda machine. God is not a pagan god. God is not controlled nor moved by the actions and will of his creation. He is in the heavens, and he does what he pleases to his glory alone and to good pleasure alone.

Remember this fact of most importance: what pleased God our Father was to send his only begotten Son and ransom us to be with him forever and ever. And he said to them, "Don't you understand yet?" (Mark 8:21). As God's children, we do understand, but we are so quick to forget. Remember when we first came to God? We can with nothing.

"They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him" (Mark 8:32). Consider this before we knew God: we were deaf and could hear.

"They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. Aware of this, he said to them, 'Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don't you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts?' " (Mark 8:16-17). Consider this before we knew God: we could not understand the free gifts given to us by God (1 Cor. 2:12).

"They came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him" (Mark 8:32). Consider this before we knew God: we were blind and could not see.

The Conclusion

As quickly as you came to him with nothing but your sin, he lovingly and graciously snatches your sin away forever and instantly gives you his Son and his righteousness (1 Jn. 1:9, Ps. 103:12, Matt. 11:28-30). He gives you his heart so you can love and worship him. He gives you his Almighty Spirit to cause you to obey him for all of your days.

What is ours to do?

Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly (Mark 8:35). If God has opened our ears, do we entertain gossip and slander? Remember that the Apostle Paul equates gossippers and slanders to be on the same level as "God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful" (Rom. 1:30-31).

Instead, why would God open your ears? So that you and I can come and sit under the ordinary means of grace--that is, prayer, the sacraments, and the preaching of the word of God. So that you and I would hear his voice and hear his word that is found in Scripture alone--which Christ called, "the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4).

Speaking of mouths, is your mouth still full of vipers' venom, cursing, and bitterness? Is your tongue coated with deceit? Is your throat still an open grave (Rom. 3:13-14)? I know that we were "once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another" (Tit. 3:3). But not anymore. Instead, God has loosened our tongues not to curse but to bless. Not to lie but proclaim truth. Not speak evil but worship our God alone.

Before Christ miraculously fed tens of thousands of people, he preached the law of God in his Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matt. 5:6).

What are you hungry and thirsty for? Things of this world, the temptations of the flesh, and the idols of our hearts that cannot fully or finally satisfy our desires? The author of Ecclesiastes puts it this way, "God has put eternity into our hearts" (Eccl. 3:11). No wonder Calvin called the human heart a perpetual idol factory. We keep going after everything to try to fill that hole of eternity in our little hearts.

The only thing that can fill and satisfy an infinite empty space in our heart has to be something or someone of infinite magnitude and proportion.

That is why Christ said: "Eat of my flesh for I am the bread of life. I am the only one who can meet your needs" (Jn. 6:22-59).

Why do we gather on the Lord's Day? We have not come to serve God, for he is not served by human hands (Acts 17:25). Rather, it is God who serves us and gives us exactly what we need: his only begotten Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. We pray, sit under the preaching of the word of Christ, and receive the body and blood of the Lamb.

And he said to them, "Don't you understand yet?" (Mark 8:21). Oh, but we do understand! The Holy Spirit has given us the mind of Christ so that we may understand and believe what God has so freely given to his children (1 Cor. 2:12-16).

We do not have to be ignorant. Knowing God is never dependent on a person's intelligence but rather on God, who gives more grace. When the Spirit gives, the lowest intelligence and the biggest brainiacs all understand and believe the absolute good news that Jesus loves me; this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Just like the blind man in Bethsaida, who wonderfully received the almighty healing spit of Jesus Christ, we see things partially now, but not the whole. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known (1 Cor. 13:12) Right now, our eyes are opened, but we see the glory of God as in a mirror. So we don't see the glory of God in full. Not yet. But one day, we will behold the face of our loving Lord Jesus and be completely and utterly satisfied. Until then, we are being conformed and transformed from one degree of glory to the next (Ps. 17:15; 2 Cor. 3:18).

Since our eyes are open, we are called to look upon the risen Son of Man. Keep looking. Don't look at yourself. Don't look at your works. Just:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.