Kevin Huber
March 2, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Mark 9:30-41
Mark
Sermon Slides
March 2, 2025 Sermon Notes
Our apologies no audio was recorded this week. Instead Sermon notes and slides are available.
Mark 9:30 - 41
Those Days refers to the days ministering in the Decapolis region (10 Cities, Gentile territory, perceived enemy of the Jews). This event is in contrast to the feeding of the 5000 which was a Jewish crowd. Large crowd, Mark emphasis is on Jesus popularity, even in a gentile crowd. Expanding the mission. At the same time opposition to Jesus is rising. Strange to think a healer would have enemies.There is always a battle between those who want to help others and those that want to control others by harmful means.
Nothing to eat, the helper wants to solve the problem while those who don’t care leave the problem as is.
I have compassion, Jesus tells the disciples how he is feeling. He doesn’t usually do this, I’m sad, I’m happy, etc. He make it a point to say he has a feeling of compassion toward them, why?
Because he wants them to share in his compassion. I have it, you should have it is implied.
Three days… have gone by, no comment as to what they did, … see Matthew 15:30-31
Parallel Passage:
And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
After several days of healing and marveling at Jesus, people work up an appetite, they are in a remote place without food, but they are willing to stay and be famished just to hear and see what Jesus is doing.
How hungry are you willing to be physically to feed your soul? Which is more important to us?
Hungry to the point of potential collapse and a long distance from anything. Jesus is in part the reason for their dire condition, it is also because many are desperate to see him.
Jesus feels compassion for the both physical and spiritual. We n’t should care for both as well.
We should do it with balance. All Physical leads to no spiritual rebirth, all spiritual will make them feel like we don’t entirely care about them. Practice both in ministry.
Remote place, can anyone (limited size of group) enough bread (who has this much prepared)… This is logistically a hard problem (default answer to many things).
typical response unfortunately. Always focused on our limitations. It sounds like they are saying it is impossible for them by the means they are capable of doing.
Why didn’t they say something like, we are eager to help you feed them like we have done in the past?
Why not declare our hope in the Lord for a good outcome? We should never be a people without hope.
No situation should make us feel powerless if we are in a relationship with God.
Especially situations he has already provided for in the past.
Did they forget about before? I doubt it. Why the poor response? Maybe they didn’t want to help gentiles?
Maybe being outside of Israel made this uncomfortable for them?
Helping those who are not like us or may even hate us can be awkward.
Jesus makes it clear that hate has no place in what he is doing in this moment, it is about compassion.
Jesus by passes their sentiment on logistics, doesn’t address any prejudices if that is the case for their lack of enthusiasm.
He jumps right into a familiar action. What can we start with?
What can you offer now that God can multiply?
Even if the answer was nothing, Jesus could have spoke bread and fish into existence right then.
Seven… is what they got, not sufficient in its current state help others.
Sit and be ready to be served… There is not enough yet, they prepare for what God will provide.
Give thanks for what you have… Giving, thankfulness, and preparation proceed before God brings us gifts.
Are you giving? Are you thankful for what you have? Are you prepared to receive more?
To multiply God has to have it in His possession and then He breaks it up…
God doesn’t leave things in the same condition that he finds it when it is offered freely to Him.
In the same way… God has to break us up metaphorically for us to be grow spiritually for him.
There is a constant submission process (giving of ourselves) that allows God to change us.
If we don’t come and offer up ourselves, just as we are, their will be no change.
We can’t hang onto what we have and expect God to make change in our life.
What do we need to let go of for God to make something great with us?
God does the work, we then distribute or serve out the blessings to others.
When you give, you change, when you change others benefit from it as well.
I don’t know why he does 2 separation events, We do know each time he expresses thanks then distributes.
Notice the end up with volume more than what they started with, more than enough, satisfied with leftovers for later.
Provisions that will last for several more days.
Back to Jewish territories, after ministering and hiding with gentiles.
(no sign Except the sign of Jonah) left out of Mark’s account.
Mark leaves us thinking about the last sigh Jesus gave someone was for the benefit of healing a deaf and mute person.
This time it is as if the Pharisees are deaf and mute.
The problem is they are physically normal, but spiritually deaf and mute.
If only Jesus could say be opened and the world could gain spiritual sight.
The physical is easier to deal with than the spiritual.
Testing and looking for signs are not entirely bad things.
Jesus tells us to test things out for truth and others asked God for signs and got them.
What made this wrong is that no sign would ever change their mind and Jesus knew it.
Their mind is already made up and they are not making a good faith offer.
Whatever Jesus did would be twisted against him because it violated their traditions, their preferences.
If the pharisees had offered themselves to Jesus, imagine what good they could have done for the people, usher in the kingdom of the Messiah.
Instead they miss out and give that opportunity over to the common place people they looked to enslave by their traditions and practices.
Jesus could and would have stayed if he was welcomed, instead he gets into the boat and leaves again, onto another scene.
Is Jesus going to stay or go? Will you prefer the Lord's ways over your own preferences?
Does Jesus get back into the boat when he sees you?
While the scene and time has shifts again, the issue of bread is still being used as an object lesson by Jesus.
This time the leftovers are gone and they are down to 1 loaf. Why, someone forgot, Mark attributes the mistake to all of them. He’s kind and doesn’t single out one person.
Maybe they are all truly to blame, makes you wonder who had the one loaf?
Jesus who has a habit of talking about physical things to make points about spiritual things,
Makes the observation that yeast, or influence, by the Pharisees or Herod is dangerous.
Watch out, be careful! These are things you say to someone who might not be fully aware of the danger.
The people who are in charge can’t be trusted is what Jesus is saying. Not very complicated or hard to connect with,
given the tension and the escalation of conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees.
There is good influence and bad influence in life. Yeast is the active ingredient that will cause good or bad to rise.
Yeast relates to Truth. Does Truth influence you more than lies?
Pharisees are defiled by the means of the false things in their heart.
Maybe a guilty conscience led them to think physical instead of spiritual in this moment.
Maybe because they are hungry at this point.
Notice when things look bad we tend to make things worse then what they really are.
They have one loaf, but they say we have no bread
Maybe the person with one loaf isn’t planning on sharing.
I have some of those in my household who don’t like to share.
They are missing Jesus point about influence and they are missing the point on hunger.
Jesus says don’t you see, do you trust your eyes and ears ? (are you like the deaf and mute?)
Can’t you understand, are your hearts hard? (are you like the pharisees?)
Don’t you remember? Jesus could have stopped their and let the shame settle in,
but he gently walks them thru it like one would with a child.
Jesus reminds them by taking them back to the events.
Jesus does math lessons with them.
How many did I break, 5? Then how many came back 12?
Hmm. … interesting…
How many? Dis many 7…
Do you still not understand?
Was that rhetorical or did they get it?
We don’t know Mark ends the scene and leaves us guessing.
Did they go to bed hungry or did Jesus make more loaves for them?
Did they acknowledge they need to follow Jesus Truth and not the sayings of religious leaders of their time?
What happened?
WE see the mistakes they made but we are not given the voice over on how the rest of the night went.
Maybe the story is not meant to be finished because it is up to us to consider our own story in light of this.
If Jesus came to us would he be teaching us math lessons on the provisions in life he has already given us in our past?
Or would he be telling us whose voice we shouldn’t be following today?
Would He look at us and say, they already have their mind made up, get back the boat, I’m going away from here?
I pray that we have offered ourselves up to God faithfully, 1 loaf, 5 loaves, or 7, it doesn’t matter what you start with.
It only matters if you finish this life with Jesus.
What is it going to take for us to realize nothing matters but the words of Jesus?
