Mark 8:11-21
11 The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. 12 Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side. 14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? 18 “HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Jesus is getting frustrated because everyone is still focused on the physical and worldly perspective instead of understanding the Kingdom perspective. In John 4, Jesus exhorts them:
[quote]48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” [/quote]
Yet, as we learned what Jesus said to Doubting Thomas, “Blessed is he who believes without seeing.” Jesus had a similar argument after He fed the five thousand. In John 6 we see the people reasoning with Jesus when He is trying to explain to them that the people do not come to Him and believe in Him because they see signs, but because God has revealed to them the Kingdom:
[quote]26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” [/quote]
Our struggle with faith is understanding this concept; our belief in God and Jesus as the Christ comes from Him! It is a saving revelation to us. So, why then did Jesus say that no sign will be given to that generation of Pharisees? Because they seek physical signs instead of seeking first the Kingdom of God. They are trapped in self-righteousness and physical pleasure instead of trying to understand better the spiritual realm. No sign will be given to them because it would be wasted time. Even seeing they wouldn’t believe…because they didn’t. They didn’t believe in Jesus through the miracles He performed or the love He displayed, they only plotted to kill Him because He was destroying their religion. This is why James (1:27) tells us that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” The Pharisees had become stained by the world. They sought their own status and stature instead of the advancement of the Kingdom. It didn’t matter what signs they would see, they still would not see the Kingdom of God because their vision was obscured by their selfishness and pride. We should then be careful not to fall into the same trap.
This is why Jesus was so frustrated. His disciples spent every moment of every day with Him and heard and saw the same message repeated by their hardness of heart prevented them from breeching past their insecurities and trusting in God. How many times has God proven Himself to us in our lives but we continue distrusting Him or looking to worldly ways of sustainment? Jesus said in John 6 that if we consume Him as the bread of life, we will not hunger, we will not go without, nor will we worry about what is to come. We must do more than just nod our heads at this principle, walk away, and then start worrying about the rest of our day. Our physical bodies after eating eventually need more food, but our soul will be continually satisfied with the Bread of Life that is Jesus.
Jesus’ concern was that His disciples were falling into the trap of the Pharisees. That their refusal to trust God despite not seeing was becoming contagious and was affecting the disciples. The Pharisees were respected and regarded as the experts of God, but Jesus exposed them as self-seeking hypocrites. The disciples, however, whom were raised Jewish and taught to respect and regard these men of high societal status, had to unlearn following them as an example. Jesus was exhorting the disciples so that they could begin to understand that living in the Kingdom of God isn’t about signs and wonders, but about an intimate connection with God the Father. It’s about trusting Him for the simple things and relying on Him for the big things. To quote Jesus, “Do you not yet understand?”
