Jesus provides Food for the 4,000: The Response of the Crowds, Pharisees, and Disciples

“Oh why didn’t I listen!?" The rich man cries out from the depths of hell, to this very day in 2023. He needed salvation dearly but could not see it. And he looked and saw Lazarus, comforted, in paradise. The rich man in sorrows, why didn’t he listen? He was rich, he was powerful, he did not have ears to hear of the savior, and so he remains where he is to this day. He said in the parable, send someone to preach to my family, but the Lord said, they already have the prophets, Moses, and the testimony of scripture. But if someone comes back from the dead, surely they’d believe then, right? But billions today don’t believe, though one did rise from the dead, Jesus Christ.

Today we look at Mark chapter 8, the feeding of the four thousand.

And I think we’ll see today, the time to trust Jesus humbly has come for all of us, lest we make the same mistake as the Pharisees, Herod, and the rich man from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

In Mark 8, Jesus has gathered crowds again who are following him and listening to him explain how the kingdom of God works.

These crowds have followed Jesus for three days. They’ve gathered and followed him, listening to him teach all day. Then they’d go to sleep, wake up the next day, and follow Jesus as he taught for another day, then another day. And it’s been three days.

Jesus is grateful for their dedication to follow him. There are four thousand of them following and listening. He has compassion on them, and wants to help them.

In Mark 8:1-3 it says, “During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

Jesus has compassion on them.

These four thousand people have probably been eating what little they had with them when they began following Jesus, which probably wasn’t much. They may have found sources of water along the way. But they’re now in a predicament, they’re too far out from sources of food, but they’re all very hungry.

It’s no doubt to me that Jesus set up this scenario to build their faith. They had to follow Jesus and trust that he would provide for their needs even if they brought nothing with them.

Now it’s come to the point where Jesus will now provide. We often must wait in faith, and then comes the moment when Jesus provides.

So Jesus tests his disciples also by asking them, what should we do?

Let’s see how his disciples responded.

In verses 4-5: 4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

The disciples have something to bring to the table. They have seven loaves of bread. They had some fish as well, we’ll find out in a moment.

We all have something we bring to the table. That is our gifting, our abilities, our zeal for the Lord. We apply it in a given situation. And then, God multiplies it, to produce much more than we’d expect.

Let’s see what Jesus does next, in verses 6-10: "He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha."

Just like when Jesus fed the 5,000 this time again, he multiplies the loaves and the fishes, by God’s power, to produce enough food for every person there to eat their fill.

The people were satisfied by their savior. He provided for their need. They were filled. So we also long to be filled. We serve Jesus and through the struggles of live we get exhausted and we need to be recharged. Then God comes and provides the refreshing we need. He refreshes me again and again and again in my life. Come to Him, and in His time, he will refresh you in the journey of life.

He said in Psalm 23, "I will lead you beside still waters." And in Psalm 1:3, "That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers."

After everyone is done eating, the disciples gather seven baskets full of broken pieces left over from what everyone had ate.

He sent the crowds away, now safe to travel home after eating, and he traveled again to a different region. Jesus was always on the move, teaching and speaking the message to people in the area.

Jesus enters this new region after traveling by boat, and he encounters some of the religious leaders in the area, and they begin to question Jesus.

It says in verses 11-13: "The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.”

Don’t always expect a sign from God. God does give signs from time to time. Jesus did many miraculous works in his life. These were signs of who he was. And sometimes in our own life God will give us signs, nudges, in the right direction, to let us know His will for our lives. But many other times he will simply tell us to trust Him and follow His lead day by day.

Jesus immediately again leaves this area, and heads to another.

Then in verses 14-16 it says, “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.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

What does bread do when it has yeast in it? The bread rises. It becomes puffed up.

The pharisees and king herod had something in common, they were puffed up. They were proud. Power and influence had made them prideful. Many of the pharisees were so focused on their own power and influence, their own selfish ambitions, that they saw Jesus as a threat, and they missed the savior of the world because of it.

Jesus says, beware! Be very cautious. Even in ministry for me, it’s very common to be drawn to the idea of wanting to promote yourself. It’s easy to put your career before the message, your desire for promotion. Your desire to show how brilliant you are. It’s very dangerous. Pretty soon the message of the gospel becomes secondary to our own selfish ambitions and pride. I’ve seen it so many times, and it’s dangerous.

Jesus says beware. If you’ve been drawn in by selfish ambition to climb your own way, and make yourself great, repent in dust and ashes, cry out to Jesus for mercy and he will forgive you pride, and humble you, and have mercy on you.

Those who are caught in the sin of selfish ambition will not see the kingdom of God, let no one deceive you. It is a deadly sin.

Pride is what caused angels to fall. Pride is a deadly danger. It led the pharisees to reject Jesus, as the crowds followed him, trusted him for all they needed, the pharisees were fearful, arrogant, angry, and demanded signs from Jesus.

Pride is so deadly because it makes us unable to listen. We can’t hear anything. We won’t listen to anyone. Thankfully God will humble us when we become prideful. That’s never fun though.

Don’t be like the puffy bread, like the pharisees, puffed up with pride, but instead be like the flatbread, close to the ground, aware of your nature as a servant of Christ, and follow Him humbly. If you can get that lesson, to stay humble, deeply humble, as a servant of Jesus, you are very close to the kingdom of God, I believe. Humility is vital to the kingdom of god system.

Herod had wanted a sign from Jesus, but Jesus had already done so many miracles. The pharisees wanted a sign from Jesus, but Jesus had already so many miracles. It was clear and plain who Jesus was, for anyone who could humbly examine it. But, to demand a sign was a rejection of all Jesus had done.

It kind of reminds me of when a couple has an argument, and she says give me one example, and he gives her an example, then he or she demandes another example, and she demands another, well he can’t think of a third, so it’s never quite enough.

I was at middle school camp last week, and I had offered the children to ask questions. Many of the students would ask good questions and I would try to answer. But, there were some children who were looking to have fun with me, so they would ask one question, then another question, then another, and you could tell by the look on their face, they didn’t really want an answer, they were just trying to stump me, to make their friends laugh. So I finally said to one of them, you don’t really want an answer, so I’m not going to answer you. That kind of reminds me of this situation with the pharisees.

In any case, the disciples don’t seem to get the point. They instead are asking about bread. They wonder if Jesus is noticing that they didn’t bring enough bread.

Here is how Jesus responds to them: (verses 17-19) 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? 18 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?”

This portion of scripture ends off with this open-ended question: Don’t you understand?

Even after everything, don’t you understand? Can’t you see the plain truth? Jesus is the messiah, the king of the universe. He can make food appear out of thin air. Jesus tells his disciples, you saw it happen twice now, where I made all this food appear, through God, and you still don’t understand?

Do you have ears but they don’t hear? Do you have eyes but they don’t see?

For many in this world, you could explain the gospel in the clearest form, you could have Billy Graham explain it to them himself, for hours, and they wouldn’t quite be able to get it. Their minds are focused on earthly things, not on the eternal truths of God.

Even for Jesus disciples, people He chose, they still struggle to understand. But we know over time they would come to understand and believe, and really trust that Jesus was their Lord and God on Earth. Praise the Lord.

We can talk about his disciples or the Pharisees, or Herod, or people today, but let’s get right to the point: What about you? Do you understand? Do you finally get it? Do you know and believe and trust that Jesus Christ is the messiah, the Lord, the King of the universe? Do you see beyond the physical, to these spiritual truths we discuss each week? Have you applied them to your life? 

Do you now live seeing the world through spiritual eyes? Do you see not just humans, but souls who need Christ before they die? Or are your eyes still blind? Do you really see what’s going on in the world around you?

Do you see a spiritual war taking place between good and evil? Do you see angels and demons in the unseen realms? Do you see souls struggling in darkness? Do you see reborn blood washed saints spreading the truth? Do you see heaven and hell beyond the grave? Do you see life beyond death?

That is the question and the challenge I leave you with today. See the truth. Believe the truth. Take the truth as your own. Apply it your life. And wear the truth as your armor. See the world through the eye glasses of the spiritual truths of God, and you will see truth and live truth and be truth in your life. Amen.

King David achieves victory over Five Surrounding Nations

God has brought David from shepherding sheep as a boy, to shepherding a nation, as king of Israel. He’s spoken to David through the prophet, promising to be with him. David answered with praise, saying, "Who am I that you should do such great things for me?" 

But a problem remains, the nation of Israel remains surrounded by enemy kingdoms. To the west are the Philistines. To the south is Edom. To the east you have Ammon, Moab, and the Arameans.

That is a lot of enemy nations to deal with. But God has blessed Israel, and has given the Jews this land to call their own. So now David must fight against these enemy nations that constantly attack and raid their lands. King Saul had often fought with these nations, particularly the Philistines, but did not succeed in defeating them. In fact, Saul eventually died in battle with the Philistines.

In 2nd Samuel chapter eight we see a grand campaign in which David conquers these nations one by one.

This reminds me of what it means to be a new Christian.

Do you remember when you first became a Christian? I do. It was about 11 years ago. I found myself a new person, but in the midst of a wasteland of my own making, there was much destruction surrounding me. There was post-traumatic stress, there were dark memories, there were sins that I still needed to be freed from. There were broken relationships with family members. 

It seemed almost post-apocalyptic in nature.

And immediately after I became a Christian the battle began. The war began. It was time to go from battle to battle, repenting of past sins, quitting smoking, finding recovery, reconciling with parents and grandparents, paying off piled up debts, finishing my education, finding work, overcoming lust and lying and stealing and other issues that I faced.

But, with God with me, with the Spirit living within me, with Jesus Christ as my savior, the battles could all be won. And we see David as well, going from victory to hard fought victory.

It says in 2nd Samuel 8: "In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines."

That name “metheg ammah” has puzzled biblical scholars. But the believed meaning is “bridge of the mother city” which is a reference to Gath. If you recall Goliath was born in Gath. And Gath was believed to be the main capital city of the Philistines. So in essence, David conquered the capital city of the Philistines. That's total conquest.

Similarly, in our own lives, if we work on an issue in our lives, smoking, drinking, stealing, lying, manipulating, selfishness, masturbation, whatever it might be, it’s not enough to make some progress. Maybe drink a bit less, smoke a bit less, lie a little less. That’s not gonna deal with the problem. You’ve gotta go right to the root of the issue, and destroy it for good. Destroy it to the point that it never happens again. End of story. Total repentance. David took the capital, Gath, and had total victory.

Next David defeats the Moabites, a nation to the east of Israel, on the other side of the dead sea. Ruth, the mother of David’s grandfather was originally a Moabite, but left Moab to become part of an Israelite family. Despite this, Moab made constant war against Israel. And David intended to defeat them.

In verse 2 it says, “David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.”

This was seen hundreds of years earlier by Balaam, who noted that a great leader would defeat Moab (Numbers 24:17).

There was also a great kingdom, Zobah, who seems to have controlled an area north of Israel during this time in history. David fought and defeated Hadadezer the king of Zobah as well.

It says in verses 3-4: “Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River. David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.”

But Zobah had allies, the Arameans of Damascus. And they counter attacked to help protect Zobah. But they too were defeated.

It says in verses 5-6: "When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. 6 He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.”

So as a result of that situation, Zobah was conquered, and the Arameans were also conquered.

One phrase I want to point out to you: “The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.” David was a great warrior, but only because God made him one. David was only King because of God. And in the end David gained all these victories because God was with him. The Lord gave David victory.

Remember that in your own life: God is the one who gives victory.

Next we see in verses 7-12 David gathering all sorts of fine metals from these conquered nations and dedicating them to God. It’s possible that the metals were later used in the construction of the temple by Solomon.

It says in 7-12: “David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tebah[c] and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.

9 When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.

11 King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: 12 Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.”

Additionally, we see in verses 13-14 that David became famous because of his victory over the Edomites, and in particular a battle in the Valley of Salt. 

It says, “And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.”

Again we see total victory. We see David’s attention to detail. He fights these battles wit the purpose of not having to fight in the future. He sets up garrisons throughout Edom. That means he left troops behind in the major cities of that nation to make sure they never again fought against Israel.

The United States did something similar after World War II. They left troops in Japan, in Germany, in other nations to make sure that such wars never took place again in the future.

When you overcome a sin in your life and put it to death, make sure it stays dead. Take actions to keep it gone from your life. Sometimes it will try to sneak back in after a few years. Make sure you've left a garrison behind to keep it from coming back. Make sure the last battle was the final one, that it won’t ever be able to come back.

Lastly in chapter eight we get a listing of some of the leaders of Israel during this time.

It says in verses 15-18: “David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. 16 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; 18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.”

It says King David did what was just and right for all his people, all the people in his care were blessed by his leadership. Joab was over the army, Jehoshaphat was historian, Zadok and Ahimelek were priests. And it even says that some of David’s sons were priests before God.

All around David is blessed. He gains victory over five enemy nations, he gathers supplies for the court and temple, and he has excellent leaders around him, even his own sons are serving as priests in the ministry.

So in review, the main points were as follows:

1. After we become a Christian, the real battle begins – defeating past sins, and healing from past hurts

2. Slow progress on an issue isn’t enough – gain total victory, like David when he took the capital of the Philistines.

3. God gave David victory – with you in your life, only God can give the final victory

4. When you overcome a sin make sure it stays gone – take actions and make plans to keep it under control forever

5. David did what was right and just – he was blessed – do what is right and you’ll be blessed (through difficulties)

A Syrian Phoenician Woman comes to Jesus for Help

How does the gospel of Mark all fit together? It’s all one cohesive message, to answer the question, who is Jesus really? It begins with John in the wilderness proclaiming the entry of the messiah into history.

We see God step into the picture at this point. Then, we see Jesus preaching a message of repentance and faith. He proclaims a new kingdom, the kingdom of God, a new way of living, a new system of society. We see numerous events where Jesus heals someone miraculously, or drives out a demon from someone.

Jesus also begins to teach in parables to the crowds, and confront of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.

We see him doing things no mere human could do, he feed thousands of people by an act of will, he walks on water, he calms a storm by simply speaking to it. We see also that the response to Jesus is very mixed. He is being rejected by some, embraced by others, and it’s clear Jesus is not necessarily the messiah Israel was expecting.

Every event in the book of mark here is written to help us understand as non-jews, around the world, who Jesus is, and what his purpose was in coming. So again today, we’re going to get more answers about who Jesus is.

Last week we talked about Jesus discussion with the pharisees about hypocrisy and the heart. Today we see Jesus traveling north from where he was to Tyre. There he encounters a woman from Syria, a gentile.

In verses 24-26 it says, “Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.”

Jesus ministry was centered for most of his ministry, in a small area called galilee in ancient Israel. He crossed into Samaria at points as well, and would eventually move his ministry to Jerusalem the capital city itself.

But Jesus ministry was to the Jewish people two thousand years ago. That was his target audience. Later, he would command his disciples to take the message to all the nations across the face of the earth. And so it came to be.

So it’s an interesting incident for this Phoenician woman to come and ask Jesus for help. She is a Greek, not a jew.

Jesus spoke to her, and then she replied. It went like this:

27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Jesus gives what seems like a harsh response. But, Jesus was often blunt and clear about his purposes. He was sent during his life to the people of Israel. But she gives a clever response, in hopes that Jesus will help her.

Jesus is impressed with her response. In verses 29-30 it says:

29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.”

Jesus doesn’t even have to be in physical proximity to the child of the woman to remove the demon and set the child free.

Time, distance, space, matter, energy, these things are under the control of Jesus, through God the Father, as he sees fit to use it. He is able to, by acts of choice, to manipulate, time, space matter, and energy as he desires.

Can you do that? Can anyone do that? No. Only Jesus.

What does this incident tell us about Jesus? Well, his earthly ministry was originally to the nation of Israel, but, we get a sense here in this event, that Jesus ministry would extend to all the nations, Greeks, Romans, and even Americans today.

But in this passage, we see Jesus in another country, he’s in Phoenicia, he’s probably hiding out for a while in this house to try to let things cool off in Galilee, because word is spreading much too quickly.

God came first to Israel, more so, he founded Israel, through Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Joshua. But eventually, the message of salvation would go out to the entire world.

Next, we see our second incident today, Jesus heads back down to the Decapolis, where he met the man who wandered in the tombs a few chapters back.

It says in verses 31-32: Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

So, we have a deaf and mute man, brought by some caring people to the feet of Jesus to seek help.

We should do the same. We should be people who bring our friends to the feet of Jesus. Who have you invited to church recently? Who have you invited to bible study recently? Or women’s group? Everyone needs Jesus. Every single person you know needs Jesus to wash away their sins, or they are going to spend eternity in hell. Never forget that. We should have an urgency to get them to Jesus, just like this man had friends who brought him to Jesus.

Do all you can to help people to know Christ. But do it by the Spirit’s leading. The Spirit will help you to share the message with others. Who can you invite to church? Who can you pray with? Who can you share scripture with? Who can you begin to mentor, meet with for coffee, and talk with about faith in Christ? That is our challenge.

Let’s see what happens next… verses 33-35, “33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.”

So just a few verses earlier, we saw Jesus healing the little girl without even going to the little girl in person, now we see very physical contact with this man, touching the man’s tongue, putting his fingers in his ears. Spitting.

He looks up to heaven, then said to the man, “be opened!” and the man’s ears were opened and he was suddenly able to speak normally.

You know, there was another incident where Jesus met a roman guard, and the man said that Jesus didn’t even need to come in person, he could simply give the command and his son would be healed. And then it happened. It seems like gentiles have a faith that allows for distance to not be a factor. Or maybe it’s an indication that after Jesus is crucified, rises again, and then goes to heaven, afterward, Jesus will do much distance healing and salvation for people like you and me throughout our lives.

But while he was with the jews, he would lay hands on them, and heal them that way.

Have you asked for healing in your life? Ask for healing. Many of you have and God has said no, or not yet, so be it. But always pray for healing, for yourself, for others, because, the worst God can say is no. And he’s healed me in many ways. But the key is you have to ask. You have to come to him. If you don’t take that opportunity to bring it to Jesus, it’s a missed opportunity.

And yes, often Jesus doesn’t heal us in the moment. It’s something we’re meant to be dealing with in the moment. But always ask. Worst he can say is no!

Lastly, we see the chapter conclude in verses 36-37:

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus again tries to mitigate the spread of the message, so it doesn’t blow up too fast. But people can’t help but talk about what’s happening. It’s very exciting. The people are amazed.

As I was amazed when I got salvation. As we were all amazed when we began our journey as Christians. We were amazed.

As the crowds said, Jesus has done everything well. It’s hard to argue with what Jesus teaches and what he does. It’s all good and it’s all right and holy and pure and true. It’s perfect. It’s of God.

And again we find ourselves increasingly answering the question who is Jesus? He is God, perfect, true, full of love, strong in truth, righteous, full of justice, merciful, challenging the religious leaders, healing the sick, casting out demons, walking on water, opening the ears of the deaf, and it’s all right, and true, and good, and wonderful, and beyond this world.

It’s beyond us. And that’s how we know that it’s something special. It’s beyond us. It’s glorious and true and good. And we should all want to be part of what Jesus is doing, what he did, and what he is doing today in the world. God isn’t done yet. He’s at work in this world, leading people to salvation, through his hands and feet, the church.

1. In your mind, begin to see who Jesus Christ is to you the book of Mark (piece it together)

2. Jesus can do miracles, he can do anything in His will, believe anything is possible

3. Invite people to church, pray with the lost, share the gospel, spread the gospel

4. Believe and pray for God to heal you and others

5. Understand that Christ is perfect, he makes no mistakes

6. Get excited about faith in Christ, explore your faith outside of church on your own time

7. Believe that Jesus Christ is still at work in the world (through you)

The Pharisees confront Jesus: What does it mean to be a Hypocrite? An issue of the Heart

A lot of the scriptures that we look at, I feel like we get to understand another piece of the puzzle about who Jesus really is. It’s like we dive into a moment in history and we get to look over the shoulder of Jesus and see what he does, and why he does it, and we’re amazed. We want to live like that. I feel lucky, blessed to be here, at this moment, almost following Jesus around, listening to him. Even though I’m a hypocrite at times.

Behind closed doors, we’ve done things that don’t match who we say we are. We’ve treated people poorly when we’ve claimed to be Christian. We’ve done bad things and then hid it, covered it up, and that’s a shame. It really is. Because I want to be like Jesus. I want my life to mirror his, and I want my death to matter like his did. I see Jesus and what he does. I see how I live. And it doesn’t match. But there is this hope, in knowing Jesus, that I can live like Him somehow. That’s a beautiful mystery… that it’s not out of reach. It’s possible to really live like Jesus in this world.

Today we look at a moment when the religious leaders of Israel came to question Jesus. The pharisees were the religious leaders of Israel, men who devoted their lives to God, and sought to enforce the torah, the old testament law of Moses, and help teach it to the people, and guide the people to live according to God’s ways.

The pharisees today are often regarded as hypocrites, mean, nasty, people who killed Jesus, and it’s true that they plotted against Jesus. But in general these were not bad people. These were religious leaders trying to help the people live according to God’s ways.

But, just like any position of authority or importance, corruption begins to spread, and pretty soon pride begins to seep in, and selfish desires take over, and eventually, many of the religious leaders became oppressive and cruel and dangerous. And this had happened in Jesus time. Many of the pharisees were honorable and really did love God. But many of them had become focused on self, and pride, and their importance and their position, and as a result, the entry of Jesus onto the scene was not welcomed. They were jealous of Jesus and how he influenced the people. So the pharisees come to see if they can cause trouble for Jesus.

It says in Mark 7:1-5, “The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

So here we have the setup for this situation, Jesus is gathered with his disciples. His disciples are eating without washing their hands. The pharisees ask why his disciples aren’t following the traditions of the elders.

Here is how Jesus responds…

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’

What is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is someone who doesn’t actually live what they say they believe. They say that they love God but they don’t really live for God. They tell people not to swear, not to lie, not to steal, but they do those things when others aren’t looking.

We are all hypocrites from time to time. I think one of the greatest battles in Christianity is fighting the battle to slowly see our lifestyle begin to line up with what we say we believe. And over time it looks closer and closer to who we say we are. Eventually, hopefully we can say, I’m really living what I believe.

Jesus calls them hypocrites. Then he quotes a particular portion of the old testament. Jesus is quoting there from Isaiah 29:13, “The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught”

So for the Pharisees, they claim they are doing all this work for God, but their hearts aren’t really in it. They pretend to care about God, but really they teach their own traditions and human rules, and call it the truth.

You can show up to church, read the Bible and pray and your heart can still be far from God. Where is your heart today? Do you really love God? Or are you just going through the motions?

If your heart has become hardened, and you’ve drifted away from God, you can always come back. He will welcome you with open arms. And he will heal your wounds. Return to Him. He Loves you.

It’s very important that we stay focused on God himself. The Bible tells us about God. Theology helps us understand scripture. Prayer helps us make our requests to God. But, our goal with Bible, prayer, church, is to meet with the God described in all of it.

Some stop at the Bible itself, and make the Bible their God. These types often become very obsessed with a particular theological system. In fact, they love the system, the theology, more than God himself. God is an after-thought. It’s about how it’s being described. It’s about fancy sermons. It’s about showing how much we know.

That is a pride of it’s own. A pride in self. A pride in one’s own perspective. And that isn’t true Christianity. It’s human traditions, human theology taking the place of God himself.

In verse 8 Jesus sums it up well when he says, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

I think many of us in modern day evangelical Christianity simply teach human traditions.

We shoot out these quick catch phrases, I know, I’ve used some of them, like…

Love the sinner, hate the sin

God loves everyone

His love is unconditional

God knows my heart

You can never lose your salvation

I sin everyday but his grace is enough

God will never let you down

God will never give you more than you can handle

Have you ever heard those quick answers? Some of them are probably more true than false, some of them are just blatantly false.

But there is this heresy, this false teaching cropping up in modern Christianity that really worries me. I call it “feel good Christianity.” And for this group, they will only listen or receive the scriptures that feel good, like, when you read them, they make you feel encouraged.

There are many scriptures that make us feel encouraged. And that’s good. But there are just as many scriptures that make us feel uncomfortable or convicted.

Now what happens if we remove all the scriptures that make us feel uncomfortable, and only teach or talk about the feel good verses? Well then you get modern Christianity. You get modern Christian rock lyrics. You can get modern luke-warm churches. You get a Christianity that can walk in step with the world because it never offends anyone.

What are some of the feel good verses? Just look at the top most searched bible verses.

Verses like John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Or Jeremiah 29:11, ““’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

Or Joshua 1:9, ““Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Or Philippian 4:13, or Romans 8:28, or any of those common bible verses.

And I think as we gather those 20 or 30 Bible verses, out of context, all very encouraging, very hopeful, very “feel good” we soon ignore and reject scriptures like…

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

Or Mark 9:43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

You don’t see those scriptures stenciled on the wall in the bathroom at grandma’s do you? But they’re just as true as the feel good verses.

In our modern day and age, we aren’t much like the pharisees, where we add human traditions to the Bible to make it harder. We don’t add rules or regulations as much anymore.

But we become pharisees in a different way. We subtract from the word of God, we remove the Bible verses that talk about sin. We ignore the bible verses that talk about doing good works. We ignore the bible verses that challenge us to grow. We don’t even mention the bible verses that talk about judgment or hell.

Aren’t we just as much pharisees when we remove something as if we add something?

So that’s my challenge to you today, take all of the scriptures, even the hard ones, and grapple with them. God will help you to embrace even the more challenging verses as part of your faith walk with Christ.

Let’s see what Jesus said next:

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

The pharisees had setup this rule, not found in the Bible, they just kind of added it in there, that if you have something, some money, that you’re going to use to help your parents, but if you decide to “devote it to God” maybe give it to the synagogue, then you no longer would have to provide for your family. And in that way, this rule had nullified the command of God to honor your father and mother.

I feel that much of our Christian theology today often has the effect of nullifying the word of God. When we tell people, hey you can never lose your salvation. Or you can live as a sinning Christian who just keeps sinning everyday, never repents, we’ve nullified essentially half of the commands of the entire new testament to be holy as he is holy, to abstain of sinful desires, to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, to serve other Christians, to not judge, we nullify all of it with our fancy theology, that says hey just believe in Jesus and that’s all, then you’re fine, don’t worry about not sinning, don’t about worry about attending church, reading your bible, just pray this little prayer, believe, then you’re done, and you can go back to sinning, and you’ll go to heaven when you die. That is false. A lie. And our theology has then had the effect of nullifying hundreds, even thousands of scriptures from the entire Bible. Scary stuff. We must be very careful what we teach. Because us teachers will be judged more strictly.

So Jesus deals with the pharisees by calling them out on their poor teachings. He says what you’re teaching is man made theology, man made tradition, and it’s nullifying the word of God and the commands of God.

Then Jesus turns his attention to the crowd. He had a word for the teachers, now he has a word for the average everyday people standing around listening.

In verses 14-16: “Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16]

Sin isn’t really about what goes into you. If you eat a turkey, eat a bean casserole, if you wash your hands or don’t wash your hands, those things aren’t affecting your salvation. They aren’t defiling you. Jesus says, what really matters is what comes out of you. And Jesus is going to explain what he means by this soon, with his disciples.

The pharisees were so concerned with external matters. But Jesus is concerned with our heart.

Interesting note, that some ancient manuscripts don’t include verse 16, others do, in fact the NIV Bible translation doesn’t include verse 16, but only as a footnote. I don’t suppose it matters much, it’s simply a refrain Jesus would often make when addressing a crowd, saying, “if you have ears to hear, then hear this.”

Next in verses 17-19: “After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

If you recall, in the Old Testament law of Moses the Jews would only eat certain foods. In fact, even to this day, conservative Jews will still eat only kosher foods. But Jesus explained that the Old Testament eating rules were no longer in effect, and he here declared that all foods were clean to eat.

Jesus continues, in verses 20-23:  He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

What is the key problem for someone lost in sin? It’s not external, it’s internal.

What happens when we sin? First, a temptation comes up in the flesh. We start to think about it, and as we think about it, our heart grows fascinated with that sin. Then eventually as we think about it, and feel it in our heart, eventually, these swirling thoughts and emotions give birth to sin. And in our actions we take action that is sinful. We sleep around. We steal something. We lie to someone. We spread rumors about someone. We bad mouth someone behind their back. And a pattern begins to be established, the temptation grows stronger, the emotions and thought around it grow stronger, more focused, more powerful, and a pattern of action takes hold. We begin to practice sin almost daily. It become part of who we are in our heart. And that’s why we all need a savior, we need Jesus, because without Jesus we’re doomed, we can’t escape that pattern of sin by our own strength.

So, in conclusion today, let’s take a look at applications, how can we live what we’ve learned today?

We are all hypocrites from time to time, but less and less as we grow in Christ

-If you’re noticing more hypocrisy, not less, time to pray, and ask for God’s help

Make sure your heart is focused on God, not on externals

-If you find yourself looking at others and judging others, turn back to look at your own conduct, and to your own heart

Refuse “feel good Christianity” embrace biblical Christianity

-The feel good verses are biblical, but you must also embrace all the harder truths of scripture, or you are making an idol of god in your own image, and it will lead to ruin

Train your heart and mind to embrace “hard truths”

-Proverbs says a wise person is impressed by a rebuke. Train yourself to be impressed when scripture rebukes you, be amazed, impressed by god’s glory, and let those hard verses speak to you too.

Don’t be afraid, Jesus can change your heart completely

-Lastly don’t be afraid, if you are noticing your heart isn’t right, you’re a hypocrite, then take it to God right now. Ask him to change your heart. Or give your life to Jesus for the first time today. He can change you completely. Praise the Lord.

-But don’t hide it if there’s a problem in your heart or if you’re sinning secretly, take it to God in prayer ,talk to someone one on one and get some help, you aren’t alone. The enemy wants us to try to hide our sin. But the word says instead we should take it to God, turn away from the sin, and turn toward God, and God will help us. Bring it into the light. .

God wants your heart. But he doesn’t expect you to clean it up and bring it clean to him. Bring it dirty, broken, smashed, hard as a rock, and give it to him like that, totally messed up ,and watch Jesus completely transform it. He will take your mess and turn it into a message, a ministry, a mission of hope, and new life. God bless you today.