Let me summarize what happens in this text. Jesus does a miracle of feeding 4,000 people. It’s very similar to a miracle from earlier where he fed 5,000 men. He leaves in a boat, his favorite means of travel in Mark, and encounters the Pharisees immediately after arriving at his new destination. They have a conflict about signs. Jesus leaves right away. Then as a means of helping his disciples (and us the readers) to understand what all of this was about Jesus has a conversation with them. As usual, they are a bit dense. Jesus hits them with a whole bunch of questions. Specifically he asks them five rhetorical questions in verses 17-18. Let’s read them.

READ VS 17-18

Jesus asks them these five questions because each of them represents a failure on the part of the disciples that has resulted in them missing the point, not understanding Jesus, or being unfaithful in some way. So what I’d like to do this morning is to simply walk through each of these questions and consider what the failure was and how we can respond rightly.

#1 – “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?” (vs. 14-16)

[Don’t be overcome by urgent concerns]

The Bible seems to talk about bread a whole lot. Jesus talks about. Jesus does miracles with it. Here the disciples are busy talking about bread. But Jesus rebukes them. “Why are you busy talking about bread?” Why? Look at verses 14-16.

READ VS 14-16

’m trying to imagine in my mind what this conversation looked like. Jesus tells them, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.” Peter turns to James and says. “Did you bring some bread from the Pharisees?” He says, “No.” Then Peter asks, “Did you buy some bread from Herod’s marketplace?” James replies, “No. I don’t even have any bread with me.” Peter looks at the rest of the disciples, “Did any of you guys get bread from the Pharisees or Herod?” They all look back and shake their heads and say, “No. We don’t have any at all.” “Wait a minute. Did any of you guys remember to bring bread?” John pipes up in the back, “I have one loaf.” “That’s it? Thomas, I thought you were in charge of buying bread this time.” And the arguments and blameshifting commences. Until Jesus interrupts them. “Enough! Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?”

The answer to this question is very obvious. Because, Jesus, we need to eat food or we’ll die. Having bread is actually kind of important for us. When it comes to the hierarchy of our needs, bread tops the list. Clearly, bread is an urgent need. But Jesus tells them these urgent needs shouldn’t be what concerns you.

Do you understand the difference between urgent needs and important needs? There was a time where I used to divide up my tasks for the week on a piece of paper according to what was urgent and what was important. There were things that were more or less urgent as well as things that were more or less important and I tried to categorize them, so that I knew which tasks to prioritize. I can tell you from experience that tasks that were urgent were always capturing my attention more than tasks that were important. For instance, I have to write that email today and send it out immediately because the event is tomorrow! There’s an urgency. But it’s not really important. Or I have to hustle out to the store because those things I needed to buy were only on sale for a limited time! It was urgent. But the value wasn’t very significant. Unfortunately, the things on my list that were the hardest to get to, were the things labeled “Important, but not urgent”

I don’t think Jesus was in any way trying to devalue the urgency of needing bread. It’s important. But is it the most important? The disciples were living in the time of the Messiah. God himself was sitting in front of them on this boat. The universe would be forever changed because of his work and they were talking about how to split one piece of bread 13 ways.

I have to ask you, have you missed out on what’s important because you’re concerned with what’s urgent? I’ve talked to some of you and I am amazed at how many urgent things you can juggle. You have appointments and classes and groceries and kids and grandkids and work and volunteering at church. And you keep all of them up in the air. It’s amazing. But at the same time, just about everyone I talk to says, “I’m tired.” “I’m incredibly busy.” “I’m worn out.” So when it comes to the important things, spending time with the Lord, sharing the gospel with the lost, serving others in the church, leading our family spiritually, we’ve got no time or energy left. We forsake the important but not urgent, because we’re so busy with the urgent but not important.

But I’ll tell you, your time is running out. You can’t continue to push the non urgent further into the corner because there’s an end and you may end up leaving so many important things undone because you were so concerned with the urgent. Your appointments, your games, even your work - it’s ok to miss some of these things. But what you can’t miss, is the work Jesus calls you to because you’re busy arguing about bread.

Perhaps, the reason they weren’t concerned about the important is because they didn’t recognize that it was actually important.

#2 – “Do you not yet perceive or understand?” (vs. 10-13)

[Learn to connect the dots]

Jesus challenges them. Do you not get what’s happening here? Have you not noticed what’s been going on around you and what its meaning is? Have you not connected the dots?

The Pharisees certainly hadn’t connected the dots. They don’t understand who Jesus is. Look at verses 10-13.

READ VS 10-13

Jesus has this strangely brief encounter with them. He lands the boat. They yell, “Give us a sign”. He says, “Nope.” And he leaves. It’s kind of a weird story. But here’s what’s happening.

The Pharisees specifically ask for him to give them a sign from heaven to test him. They’re not just asking him to do a miracle. The Pharisees had seen him do miracles before. Even in Mark, they have directly witnessed him heal a lame man. They saw him heal a man with a withered hand. And they saw him cast out a demon. I’m sure they saw others of his miracles too. But here they ask for a sign from heaven. It seems as if they are wanting him to give some sort of specific proof that his miraculous power is from God. They might want the heavens to open and God the Father to say, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased”. Now that did actually happen as Jesus’ baptism, but maybe they missed that. But they don’t like Jesus, they don’t have faith in Jesus, they don’t understand Jesus, and they’re looking for a way to act like their lack of understanding is actually Jesus’ fault. “We’re doing just fine. But you’re the problem Jesus. You won’t do what you ought to do.”

Jesus tells them, “No. I’m not giving you a sign.” This isn’t because Jesus didn’t want them to know who he is. This isn’t because Jesus wasn’t capable of giving them a sign. Jesus refuses because he has already proven everything he needs to and they haven’t connected the dots. For 8 chapters now, Mark has painfully demonstrated for us who Jesus is and what he came to do. He is God over the sea. He is God over sickness and death. He is God over demons. He is God over the Sabbath and traditions. He’s been showing who he is all along, but the Pharisees have refused to see it.

Have you ever wanted something not to be true, so you kept refusing to accept it. This happens all the time when we start to get sick. The sniffle comes or the scratchy throat comes and we think, “As long as I don’t admit I’m sick then I’m not actually sick.” Or maybe we refuse to believe something more important is true. I remember shortly after Silvi and I were married, we finished school and all of my student loans came due. I had been irresponsible with money for a long time and I just came pushing them off. Now we had an enormous amount of debt and an enormous monthly bill to pay on them. I hated it so much I wouldn’t talk about it. I’d get angry if it was brought up. I didn’t want to believe it was true.

This was the case for the Pharisees. They didn’t want Jesus to be God because it meant they were responsible to submit to him. They refused to connect the dots because they knew where it would lead. Is there something clear that Jesus is calling you to that you simply don’t want to believe? Maybe he’s been knocking on that door for a long time now, but you keep ignoring him. He’s calling you to reach out to someone. He’s calling you to give up something. He’s calling you to obey him. Perhaps, he’s calling you to repent and come to him for the first time. But you keep stuffing that truth down and refusing to believe it. Do you not yet perceive or understand?

Each of us is guilty at times of this. But why is it that we avoid admitting the truth, when Christ so clearly wants to save us? It’s because sin clouds our judgment. Listen to Jesus’ third question.

#3 – “Are your hearts hardened?” (vs. 15)

[Don’t let sin cloud your judgment]

Explain – It’s difficult to follow the truth when sin is pulling you in the opposite direction. This is the warning that Jesus gives the disciples in verse 15.

READ VS 15

If you’re making bread, leaven is the ingredient that you will drop in the least amount of. Why? Because leaven spreads quickly. It fills up the entire bread and makes it rise. It doesn’t take much. The majority of the time the Bible speaks about leaven, it uses it as a symbol for sin. Sin is certainly something that spreads quickly. Paul tells Corinth to cast out a specific sinner from among them because “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”. Here Jesus is instructing his disciples to watch out for the infectious sin of the Pharisees and of Herod.

What exactly does that mean? We’ve encountered both of them in Mark. The Pharisees are convinced of their own righteousness. They don’t think they need Jesus to save them. Herod is someone who just lives for pleasure. He takes whatever wife he wants. He throws sumptuous parties. He doesn’t want Jesus to come save him. He kind of likes what he’s doing. So the leaven of the Pharisees is that they don’t think they need Jesus. The leaven of Herod is that he doesn’t want Jesus.

And in both instances, it was their sin that caused them to err. The Pharisees were filled with pride. We like looking good. Herod was chasing pleasure. I like feeling good. And their sins had hardened their hearts so that they weren’t pursuing Jesus.

One commentator made this interesting remark. He said, “The hardened heart is a particular problem for religious and moral people. An ignorant heart cannot harden itself. Only a knowing heart can harden itself, and that is why those closest to Jesus stand in the gravest danger.” You can’t refuse to obey a command that you don’t know. But if you know what’s true and you stubbornly choose not to do it, that’s a hardened heart.

I’ve said it before, but that’s why coming to church on Sundays and spending time in the Bible is good for you, but it is also dangerous for you. Because if you find out who Jesus is and what he wants you to do, but you don’t do it, ignorance isn’t a valid excuse. The only explanation for why you would refuse to obey after hearing is because you have a hard heart. The hardened heart values what sin is offering over what Christ is offering.

Sin offered the Pharisees respect and prestige. People will like you. They’ll think you’re important. They will give you things and treat you special. They hardened their hearts because that’s what they wanted. Pursuing Jesus meant confessing and repenting of sin. It meant being humiliated. They would lose all that they had built. Of course, all that they had built is worthless, but sin had clouded their judgment.

Sin offered Herod delight and happiness. Getting what you want when you want it is what will fulfill you. Doing what someone else wants you to do sounds horrible. Pursuing Jesus will make you a miserable slave. You’ll have to give up so many things you enjoy. Of course, all those things end in death, but sin had clouded their judgment.

Has sin clouded your judgment? Are you avoiding the truth because it would mean letting go of some sin that you hold dear? And if sin has clouded your judgment, how would you ever know?! That’s why Christ gave us the church. There are those around you who can tell you. There are those who give you wisdom and advice and point you towards Jesus. Don’t ignore them. Don’t brush them off. It’s very likely that they’re trying to help you to see clearly. The disciples hadn’t ever considered that their hearts were hardened until Jesus came along and said, “Are your hearts hardened?”

And so I ask you the same question. “Is your heart hardened?”

These first three questions from Jesus are hard and they deal largely with how we’re acting wrongly. But his next two will call us to act rightly.

#4 – “Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?” (vs. 1-9)

[Recognize the spiritual behind the physical]

Jesus had just fed the 4,000. Each of the disciples as far as we know had two eyes and two ears. They each saw what Jesus did. They each heard the conversations that were happening. But none of them saw or heard the truth of what was going on right in front of their noses. And it’s an easy thing to miss right? We probably missed it already. It seems like Jesus multiplies a bunch of bread and feeds people bread. This is a story about bread. But Jesus has already told us - if you’re talking about bread then you missed it! There’s a deeper truth here. There is a spiritual truth behind what you just witnessed.

So let’s read verses 1-9 again and try to discern what is happening beyond the bread. We can’t do this unless God reveals it to us so let me say this short and quick prayer - “Lord, open our eyes and our ears to see truth in your word. Amen.”

READ VS 1-9

Did anything happen that wasn’t about bread? First, Jesus is compassionate and sees your needs. No one has called out to him for food. He simply recognizes the problem and says something must be done. Friend, if you have a problem and you’ve called out to Jesus - he already knows and something is already in the works.

Secondly, Jesus cares about people dying. He doesn’t want these people to faint on their way home. He knows they are weak and don’t have strength and left on their own, they’ll die. Jesus cares about people dying.

Next, Jesus is able to give them life. He miraculously provides for thousands of people and it isn’t even hard. He has leftovers. He is able to save everyone from death.

Lastly, everyone who ate was satisfied. If you come to Jesus and he provides life for you. It will be enough. It will fill you. It will satisfy you.

These truths honestly sound a lot like the gospel to me. There is a compassionate God who sees your needs. He knows you are dying and wants to save you. Jesus provides the life that everyone needs. Not coincidentally he does this through bread which we later discover represents his own body. And everyone who calls on Jesus for life will be saved. Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “Have you been using your ears? Have you been using your eyes? How have you not seen this?”

I wonder what kind of things God’s doing in our lives spiritually that we completely miss because all we can focus on is the physical. I’m not interested in getting all mystical and starting to interpret dreams and clouds and stuff in the sky as messages from God. But I will say that occasionally, when you have a day where everything unusually goes wrong at one time, is it possible God is trying to tell you something. Does he want you to slow down? If you keep bumping into that same person, does he want you to share something with them? If he blesses you with a surprise extra amount of money, does he want you to serve him with it? Or if he blesses you with a surprise extra bill, is he trying to teach you to pray?

Look, we’ve mentioned this before in Mark, but unless God gives you the eyes to see and he gives you the ears to hear then you’re just going to be missing everything he’s doing. Unless you’ve prayed for him to give you ears to hear truth and unless you’ve been in the Scriptures to train your eyes how to see truth, then you’re going to miss it. The God of the universe will be on the boat in front of you and you’ll miss it.

This isn’t the first time Jesus has revealed who he is and what he’s doing to the disciples. He’s done this all before. Have they simply forgotten?

#5 – “And do you not remember?” (vs. 19-21)

[Consider God’s great acts in the past]

I’m so thankful for this story of the feeding of the 4,000. Sometimes people might think it’s silly to include a miracle that’s not new and unique. It’s just Jesus doing the same thing twice basically. But I’m so thankful because even though they’ve seen this almost exact same thing before it seems that it has slipped their memory and they have fallen into the same disbelief as the first time. Listen to Jesus asking the disciples if they remember.

READ VS 19-21

And do you not remember? Each of us has our own pattern of thinking. We tend to do the same thing in the same way. Even when it comes to making mistakes, we tend to make the same mistakes over and over again.

This was a big struggle for me as a newlywed. I tended to have a pattern of responding to conflict in a certain way. And trust me IT WAS THE WRONG WAY.  It was not helpful. So I would learn that lesson the hard way and resolve to do better next time. Only when the next conflict arose, I would respond the same way. I really needed Jesus to look at me and just say, “Do you not remember?” No! I didn’t. I fell into the same patterns and I failed to stop and think.

I know I’m not unique in this. The Israelites in the desert were given miraculous food and water from God, but every time they got hungry or thirsty their immediate response was, “Wah! Wah! We’re going to die here in the desert.” Do you not remember? Abraham gets scared of the powerful ruler of another nation so he lies and claims his wife is his sister. God rebukes him. He repents. And a few chapters later, he gets scared and calls Sarah his sister again. This is literally the same exact thing I thought we resolved already. Jonah pouts and runs from God, so God has to send this whale to bring him back and correct him. He obeys God, but then he runs and pouts again. All of us tend to fall into the same fear, the same trap, and the same weakness. It would be humorous if it wasn’t so sad.

So Jesus holds the disciples' hands as he walks them through remembering. Do you remember when we had 5000 people to feed and I only had five loaves? Was I able to provide more than enough for you? Yes. Do you remember when we had 4000 people to feed and I only had seven loaves? Was I able to provide more than enough for you? Yes. Have I not proven to you throughout the course of this book that there is no obstacle that can stand in my way, no burden that I can’t free you from, no need that I can’t solve? How many times do I have to feed thousands of people before you start to recognize how I can care for you?

And Jesus asks us these same questions. You wreck the car, you break a leg, your AC falls apart, your taxes come due, suddenly you owe an enormous amount of money. Our unbroken pattern is to begin panicking again. Jesus says, “Haven’t we dealt with things like this before? How many times do I have to provide thousands of dollars before you start to recognize how I can care for you? Or maybe we find ourselves drawn towards the same sin, the same vice, each time it promises to give us relief or escape or delight. And each time we find that we feel broken afterwards. Each time we have to repent and call for forgiveness and each time Jesus lovingly welcomes us back. He says, “Do you not remember? Don’t you remember what happened last time? Don’t believe the lie that sin is selling you!” Spend time remembering what God has done for you in the past. Share it with others. Thank him for it in your prayers. Let the great things he has done already be what fills your mind, not the great gaps that he hasn’t yet filled.

The disciples thought their greatest problem was bread. The thing directly in front of them. The urgent need of the hour. They failed to see Christ working. They failed to connect the dots. They let sin cloud their judgment. God has blessed you with eyes and he has blessed you with ears. The only reason you have for failing to notice the work that Christ is doing in your life is because you have failed to look and failed to remember. Let’s not fail to see him.

Prayer