The Faces of Faithlessness

The Faces of Faithlessness
Mark: Who is this Man?
Mark 8:1-21
September 22, 2024

We need to love, serve and have faith in the God who is.

Mark 8:1-10 - In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

This isn’t the first time something like this happens is it?  “How many loaves do we have? Seven” – they must have been like, here we go again!  But in Matthew’s account of the same event, it sounds like they sincerely didn’t know what they were going to do.

Matthew 15:32-33 - Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

• Jesus is doing the same thing He has done in the past, even in the same region and His disciples are still not sure how this is going to play out… And yet again, look what happens in the wake of Jesus’ compassionate, incredible miracle – Mark 8:11-13 - The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. 
• “Test” – (pee-ah-rah-zoe) the Greek word here shows up earlier in Mark in an interesting way – Mark 1:12-13 - The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
• The Pharisees were tempting Jesus here.  Not testing to see if He could do a miracle, they had already witnessed several – they were tempting Him to do things their way…

Mark 8:14-21 - Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

• Now they (His disciples) are in the boat with Jesus, and they forgot to grab some of the leftovers for their trip – and as they are discussing their issue, Jesus gives a stern warning - “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 
• Matthews account is slightly different: Matthew 16:5-6 - When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
• Not a mistake, two people remembered two different parts – Jesus must have said all three…. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees and of Herod.   
• So, what does it mean to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees and of Herod?
• First, what is leaven? It releases gas in dough which causes it to rise. We usually would use yeast as a leavening agent and any amount of it affects all of the dough it mixes with.
• So again, what does it mean to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees and of Herod? Matthew answers the question, at least in part:
  • Matthew 6:7-12 - And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 
• The leaven of all three groups, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herod are expressions of the same issue – faithlessness.  

 Main Idea: We can have faith in the Jesus of the Bible, and trust that His ways are better than our ways.  

I: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.

If you remember, the Pharisees are all about following the rules – not just the rules of the Bible, but they elevate the rules of the Rabi’s to be just as important…. Have you ever known someone to be super strict about smaller, more insignificant rules, then was found to be involved in some massive sin?  Worried more about outward appearance than with inward heart change.

A. The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy.
B. This is all about appearances and the danger become self-righteousness. Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
C. If your works are what keeps you in step with the Lord, you don’t need Him as much… But the problem is, you do need Him and His righteousness. Self-righteousness leads to self-reliance.
D. Hypocrisy about the Law is dangerous because in the case of the Pharisees it led to having faith in oneself and not in God.  And in their own strength, they begin to worry about the wrong things. Matthew 23:25-28 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
E. To combat the leaven of the Pharisees in our lives, we need to ensure that our hearts are right before the Lord.

II: Beware of the leaven of the Sadducees.

I have an old friend, who I once knew well and respected. But, it seems to me that he has completely sold out his beliefs for political advancement… Some people are all about themselves and their own advancement…

A. The leaven of the Sadducees is that they didn’t believe in the super-natural. – Luke 20:27 - There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
B. Because they didn’t believe in life after death, they lived their lives motivated by the here and now.
C. The high priest, responsible to the sham trials of Jesus and what went on at the temple – ie. turning into a market to take advantage of others. Matthew 21:12-13 - And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

D. Self-promoting people lack scruples and will go with the flow looking for ways to advance their own lives.
E. The Sadducees denied the supernatural and sought to make a profit off of the Children of Israel – mocking God.
F. To combat the leaven of the Sadducees in our lives, we need to believe in the power of God. 

III: Beware of the leaven of Herod.

Have you known anyone who was so caught up in their own affairs that it became what drove them?

A. The leaven of Herod is hedonism.  
B. Herod’s ethnicity is somewhat debated, he may have been Jewish, or half-Jewish depending on your source.  And one can see, for a moment or two, that he struggled with making the right decision. Mark 6:17-20 - For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
C. Having been raised a Jew, Herod had something inside him that was interested in John the Baptist’s message… So why did he kill him? To save face with his brother’s wife…
D. Herod was most concerned with his pleasure and made decisions based on that.  
E. To combat the leaven of Herod, we need to trust God and think of others first.  

Conclusion: The leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees and of Herod are all different but come from the same root – a lack of faith.  So, what do we do to combat faithlessness in our lives? We learn from those who were known for their faith… 

Challenge:

• Passage: Hebrews 11
• Read – Reflect – Respond in Prayer – Rest in the Word