This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 5, 2007, and was taken from Mark 8:1-21.
This week we turn our attention to the eighth chapter of Mark’s gospel. Because of the things that Jesus has been saying and doing, tensions are beginning to mount. Jesus is loved and adored by the people, hated and despised by the establishment, and increasingly viewed with caution by the Roman empire. Many missed the gospel because of arrogance and unbelief, many because they were focused on the wrong thing. In today’s message we are going to see an amazing miracle, an astonishing response, and a disappointing performance from Jesus’ disciples.
- An Amazing Miracle: Our Lord graciously reveals himself as the bread of life in the feeding of the 4000. This is not the retelling of the same feeding told in chapter six, but a separate event. We learn three lessons from this miracles:
- He is revealing that he is the bread of life. He is the second Moses.
- He is the bread of life, not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. This second feeding was among the Gentiles.
- He supplies in abundance, and his supply meets and exceeds the demand.
- An Astonishing Response: Blinded by arrogance and sin, Jesus’ enemies are blinded to the weight of this glorious miracle. In verse 11, the Pharisees ask for a sign, and Jesus turns away from them and leaves. The most terrifying judgment of God is when he turns his back on you.
- A Disappointing Performance by Jesus’ Disciples: Jesus is disappointed with the response of his disciples. In our desire to understand the present, we fail to grasp the eternal. We often suffer from the tyranny of the lesser things. We are preoccupied with ourselves rather than with God.
Our greatest need is found only in Jesus Christ. Flee to Christ.