Authority Comes From Identity

Authority Comes from Identity

Mark 8:22-30

Good morning.

When I was in my early twenties, I often ate lunch at a Hamburger restaurant in San Francisco, near my work.

One day, the owner of the restaurant was arguing with me about something and the owner said, he would give me his restaurant if he was wrong; and the next day, he discovered I was right.

My boss at the time, found out about the wager as we went to the restaurant that day for lunch. As we walked into the place, my boss went behind the bar and fixed himself a drink.

When the owner of the restaurant saw my boss behind the bar, he asked him what he thought he was doing. My boss replied, “Well, you lost the bet to Rich and now he owns this restaurant”

My boss should have had every right to make himself at home at that restaurant, because of his relationship to me; and my new found authority as the new owner of the restaurant.

A person’s authority comes from their identity; however, to make a long story short, the man did not honor his bet with me and I never did own that restaurant.

Please open your Bibles to Mark 8 as we continue in that study

Last week, in the Gospel of Mark, we learned about the Pharisees demanding a sign from Jesus, to prove Himself.

Then Jesus, the King of heaven, the Messiah, who came from the Father, sailed away and left the Pharisees on the shore!

Then Jesus warned the Disciples with a metaphor of leaven to beware of the sin of unbelief of the Pharisees.

As Christ followers, we must also beware of the leaven of unbelief; it can rot away our faith and it can even prevent us from having saving faith that leads to everlasting life.

Today we will learn two things that reveal Jesus’ true identity.

I. A gradual healing.

Read Mark 8:22-26

The miracle of healing this blind man, like the healing of the deaf man in Mark 7, is not mentioned in the other Gospels.

It is ironic that Jesus healed a deaf man in Mark 7 and a blind man here, considering what Jesus had just said to the Disciples.

Mark 8:17 "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?

Mark 8:18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? NKJV

These two miracles were also fulfillments of Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah that were written over 700 years before Jesus showed up in Bethlehem.

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you."

Isaiah 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. NKJV

There are some similarities between the deaf man in Mark 7 and the blind man in Mark 8; but, there are also some differences with these healings, as well.

With both healings, acquaintances brought these men to Jesus.

This demonstrates our call to bring people to Jesus for healing.

With both healings, Jesus took the men away from the crowds.

Sometimes the Lord isolates us away from the crowd so that He can open our eyes and ears to Him.

But in the miracle of healing this blind man, Jesus actually took the man outside of the city, why?

Remember, Jesus encountered the man at the pool of Bethsaida; Bethsaida was the birthplace of Philip, Peter and Andrew and the town’s name in Hebrew means “house of the fisherman”.

Many miracles were done in Bethsaida; Jesus walked on the water near Bethsaida, Jesus healed this blind man in our passage this morning, and there was the feeding the 5,000.

But, Bethsaida was wiped off of the map shortly after Jesus ascended into Heaven, even though it existed 1,000 years before.

According to Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus began His public ministry near Bethsaida, and therefore the town had “seen a great light” as Isaiah predicted.

However, by the time Jesus left the area to make His final journey to Jerusalem, they did not believe in Him.

Luke 10:13, "Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

We are told in Matthew 13:58, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” NKJV

The Lord is all powerful and nothing we, or anyone else, or anything else, in all creation can do, can hinder the Lord.

The Lord is working all around us, all the time; but, there are those who do not have eyes to see His miracles because of their unbelief, and fail to recognize all that God does.