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READ: Mark 8:11f
CHALLENGE: Let’s Have a Contagious Faith
- MAY YOUR HEART BE OPEN TO GOD
Vv11-13 – The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
You would think that asking for a sign would be a great indicator of faith, right? Perhaps they’re finally open to recognizing God – “we’re ready now”. Finally! Perhaps they’re open to Jesus being the Messiah? Just do ONE MORE THING for us! Sometimes one more thing is not the answer because enough has already been done.
This request shows their lack of faith, and it came from deep within their blind hearts. Here are some signs of a heart closed to God.
- When You Ask God to Prove Himself to You
They want to “test” Jesus. Humans wanted to “test” the son of God. Like you test drive a car or try out a piece of equipment. You test it to make sure it’s powerful enough or strong enough.
And why would you test something? The only reason you would test it is because you’re uncertain. We will acid test gold to see whether or not it’s real. We had a few gold rings marked 18K and we acid tested them and discovered that they were fake. The acid doesn’t dissolve the gold, but it does dissolve fake stuff.
I know this, parents get tested and especially their patience! I don’t know that a child intentionally gets up in the morning after a night of dreaming up new ways of driving their parents crazy and then gets after it like a professional patience buster. They do however, have a way of testing your limits.
The Pharisees are doing what? Come here Jesus – let me test you. It’s not because they believe, it’s because they don’t.
But isn’t it cool to test God? It depends. There are parts in the Bible where God says, “Test me in this”. In Malachi 3, If you give, then God rains down blessing. We obey God and God blesses and that kind of testing is out of faith.
There is another aspect of testing that’s devilish. It’s like when the devil is testing Jesus and he wanted him to do something foolhardy like jump off the temple because the angels will catch him. God, you need to prove yourself to me by doing what I think you should be doing. Jesus responded that we should not put God to the test.
The devil was trying to make Jesus prove something in the parameters that he was setting. Rather than in letting God be God. Like at the cross, if you’re really the Messiah save yourself and come off the cross. But that was not God’s will. God was saving the world and had His own plan. For us to set up tests that say, “God, if you do this and do it this way”, then I’ll believe, shows that we don’t believe. That’s not what faith is.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus to do something on cue because they had no faith. And that’s tragic because God had already done plenty to build their faith. They didn’t believe because they had already decided not to. Jesus wasn’t about to try to wow a bunch of unbelievers and haters like he was doing tricks in a circus.
God doesn’t need to do more to prove himself because He already has proven Himself.
- When You Don’t Appreciate What You Already Have
Their eyes were wide shut. Their hearts were hardened and impervious to any kind of light from God above. They were spiritual zombies long dead.
They said, “We’d like to see a sign from heaven”. What would it take for them to believe? How big a sign are we talking about? I like signs that I’m at the right address so it’s great when you see a clear number on a mailbox. Or if you’re looking for a yard sale and they have a sign sign and balloons at the end of the drive.
Jesus comments back, “Why does this generation want a sign”. And especially THIS generation out of all generations? It would make more sense if any other generation had asked because they had not seen what THIS generation had already seen. But THIS generation which had already seen an encyclopedia’s worth of miracles demands a sign! It’s truly ridiculous.
We want a sign! The feeding 4,000 people with seven loaves not good enough? You want a sign like seeing sick people lining the streets being healed? Like a deaf / mute being healed. You mean like the lame walking and lepers healed.
What a sadly comedic comment. If you would just give us a sign so we can believe! He was a walking parade of signs! It was one sign after another and they’re sitting around, “If you’d only do something really amazing”. They already had enough to be convinced so one more sign wasn’t the issue. Some people will never be convinced. It doesn’t matter how many facts you present, they are closed off to it and you might as well just keep quiet.
Showing these people another sign would be like showing a blind person another postcard after they haven’t seen the first 100 you’ve shown them.
When Peter preached that first sermon he talked about the signs. Acts 2:22 – “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.”
Jesus didn’t need to give more signs because he had already done plenty. God did plenty, He just didn’t throw off Rome and bring the fire of God down on the Caesar. They had to have it their way.
- When You Say, I Need to See More of God Before I Believe
The reason that Jesus said that they were not getting any signs is because they already had enough signs. If they didn’t believe what they already had, they certainly were not going to believe even if someone came back from the dead. Jesus did and still people refuse to believe.
Jesus said that If Sodom and Gomorrah would have seen what those people saw, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. They are truly without excuse.
I like the story of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man asked for Lazarus to return from the dead and warn his brothers so they didn’t suffer the same fate. But, if you don’t believe what you already have, why would you believe something else?
Luke 16:30-31 – “No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
They had all that they needed to believe! 2 Peter 1:3 – His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
You have all that you need for life and godliness. We don’t need the book of Enoch! If I just had one more book of the Bible, then my life would be full to the fullest. You don’t need one more book. We have everything that we need for life and godliness.
You have everything that you need to believe in Jesus Christ. What more do we need to see?
Psalm 23:6 – Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
You should be able to look at your life and see all the goodness and love of God. And how it has literally been following you every day like our cats follow us everywhere we go in the yard. You will see answers to prayer. You will experience love for people when they are unlovable. You will find a strength you never knew you had.
I’ve seen God in many places including the specific timing of things. I’ve seen God provide over and over again. In addition, look around at the never-ending complexities of this world. We are not here by happenstance.
Sometimes more is not the issue. The issue is you believing what you have already seen. I never had to say of my mother’s love … prove it. My mom cooked for us all the time. She took us to ShadySide Lake and let us fish. I have great memories.
That generation didn’t need a sign because Jesus had already done so many miracles. Another miracle was not the issue.
B. MAY YOUR FAITH BE SPIRITUALLY CONTAGIOUS
Vv14-21 – The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” 16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod. Yeast is what you put in bread that makes it rise and it works its way throughout the entire loaf. Yeast multiplies. You only need a little and it will grow and expand and become more.
The Bible talks about the yeast of sin that gets into a person’s soul and then is a contagion to others. What is the yeast of the Pharisees? Isn’t it their disbelief? Doubt expands and grows. It is a spiritual contagion.
This story comes right after they ask for a sign. And why do they ask for a sign? They ask because they don’t believe. Every great thing that Christ did was answered with astounding disbelief. They even accused him of being full of Satan and that being the reason that he could do miracles. In their warped minds – the devil was doing miracles through Jesus like casting soldier demons out of people. That made no sense. But that’s what rampant doubt will do.
When you are determined not to believe no amount of contrary information will ever change that. We need to be open to God and what God can do. Open to belief. Open to prayer. Open to the Word. Open to church. They had Jesus pinned as some type of imposter no matter what he did. And that doubt blocked what God could truly accomplish.
If they treated Jesus like that, people certainly treat others like that as well. Sometimes we pin people in certain points when they weren’t at their best. They could do a thousand other good things but that yeast of when we wrote them off is still in there and it’s all that we’ll ever see. We can only see bad because bitterness, unforgiveness, and a lack of grace. No amount of their good can ever fix it in your mind
The doubt and disbelief regarding Jesus is a spiritual contagion. It multiplies. Let’s make sure our faith is certain. We can completely trust in God because of all the things that he has already done.
Moms your faith is contagious as well. Keep the faith and allow that to impact your children. Our children learn so much from us. There is as much caught as taught as they say. As they see your demeanor, it’s probably going to reflect you, right?
I’ll hear guys wonder why their children are so lippy to their mothers without ever thinking that they’re learning it from you. Contagion. If we are worry warts, why should our children feel safe or secure?
What if our children are behaving negatively because they are reading the room and reflecting the vibe that parents are putting off? The uncertainty. The lack of peace? We are pace setters really and we want to set a great pace. I used to teach my children that each of you have the opportunity every day to be the pace setter. What pace are you setting?
It’s a contagion – we rub off on people all the time.
C. MAY YOU ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT GOD PROVIDES
Vv18-21 – Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. 20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” 21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”his is what
Jesus is trying to talk to them about spiritual things and all they can think about is if they have enough bread. Jesus is helping them to understand, that’s not what you need to worry about. You need to worry about spiritual things and not just about physical things.
We don’t have to worry about how God will provide because He does provide. He continually does great things. Remember! Think back to what you’ve already seen and that will be powerful.
I don’t have time to recount all the miraculous ways that God helped my family survive while we were growing up. I know God does provide. I can scarcely explain my own place in the world and how I got there when I had so little. All I can say is that God provides.
Remember where you’ve been. If you remember what God has already done, you typically have no worries at all.
2 Timothy 1:5 – I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Where did faith begin. Where did young Timothy first encounter it? He encountered it his his mother and grandmother. And that positive spiritual contagion went.
I’m thankful for my mother and I’m thankful for my faith. A faith that impacts generations to come. Keep the faith. Keep trusting and keep believing that God has this.
Thanks moms for all that you do. Your work is endless but so appreciated as well.
My parents taking me to church is a huge part of who I am today. I was a little child in a sea of children flowing into a junior church and hearing a simple gospel. I embraced that gospel through faith. They probably had no idea that the life they touched would touch others. The path of faith that they started impacted my family for sure. Let’s be spiritually contagious.