INTRODUCTION:
Get up…eat breakfast…head to work…work all day… return home…eat some supper…watch a little tv…go to bed… and then repeat those same steps tomorrow.
Some of us may have a few more steps; some of us may have a few fewer steps. No wonder people ask the question: “Is this all there is to life?” And it’s not just unbelievers who ask that question; there are many who know Christ as their Savior that ask that same question.
God tells us in John 10:10 (NKJV)
10 … I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
God says there is more; and if we don’t see it; or more so, if we are not living that way then we are missing something. We saw last week; we can miss that “more” by sticking to the routines of life and not listening to the calls of God on our life. God interrupts our routines of life and calls us to do certain things, and if you are open to Him then you may miss them.
Today, Jesus is going to show us the second way that we can miss the “more” of life by not seeing clearly. Turn with me in your Bibles to Mark 8:1-21 and let’s make some observations about that passage of Scripture.
SCRIPTURE:
Mark 8:1-21 (NIV)
1 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
2 "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."
4 His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"
5 "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.
7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.
8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
9 About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away,
10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.
12 He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."
13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.
15 "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."
16 They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied.
20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven."
21 He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
This is the second time that Jesus feeds a great multiple of people. The first time, Jesus feeds 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. And we told on that occasion that after everyone had fished eating, there were 12 baskets of broken pieces of bread and fish picked up. A little time has passed, and Jesus and His disciples find themselves in a similar situation. This time the people have not eaten, and they number about 4,000. There are seven loaves of bread and a few fish to feed them on this occasion. And verse eight (8) wants us to know that after they finished eating, there are seven full baskets left over probably once again pieces of bread and fish. The number of loaves of bread and the number of fish used and the number of baskets left over is important to the rest of the story. So make a mental note of that.
POINT #1
LIFE WANTS YOU TO WALK BLINDLY TO SPIRITUAL THINGS; GOD WANTS YOU TO SEE CLEARLY SPIRITUAL THINGS.
Mark 8:11 (NIV)
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.
Let me tell you something if some preacher came to town and healed a demon-possessed woman, caused a mute man to speak, and deaf man to hear and then feed 5,000 people on one occasion, and 4,000 people at another time with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish, word of that would spread like wildfire. People would be coming from Jackson, Natchez, Hattiesburg, Hammond, and all the points in between. People would know about this man and what he has done. Well, Jesus did all those things.
And here are the Pharisees coming up to Jesus in vs. 11 and saying can you give us some kind from heaven that you are from God. Are you kidding me? You have to ask yourself the question, “Are they blind to all that Jesus has already done?”
And the answer is yes. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The truth is that this world wants to keep people blind to spiritual things. And by keeping you blind, it keeps you from getting “more” out of life. You can not tell me the person who has all this world has to offer but doesn’t have Jesus is living life more abundantly than I am. They may have things I don’t have, but I have inner peace that they don’t have. And “more” is inner peace rather than things. The world will never satisfy, but Christ does. John D Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world at his time, was asked when is enough money, enough? And the answer is when I get one more dollar than I got now. In other words, the world will never satisfy.
If you want more out of life, you cannot be blinded to spiritual things. And that can only come about by asking Christ into your life and allowing Him to take the blinders off.
POINT #2
GOD WANTS YOU TO SEE CLEARLY SPIRITUAL THINGS, BUT YOU AND ME SETTLE FOR LIVING IN A SPIRITUAL FOG.
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat…16 They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread." 17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
18 Do you have eyes but fail to see…
About a week or so ago, I remembered it was a scorchingly hot week, so when I got into the car, I turn the air on full blast (Anne was not in the car, or I couldn’t have done it if she was), but then when I stopped the car and got out, my glasses fogged up. And I walked around in a fog until my glasses returned to normal.
The disciples had seen Jesus feed the 5,000; the disciples had seen Jesus feed the 4,000. And both times they saw with their own eyes that He had very few loaves and very few fish to work with and yet they collected baskets of leftovers.
And now they are worried sick because they forgot the bring bread and all they have is one loaf to feed them and Jesus. Thirteen people total! They have to be in some kind of spiritual fog because the One who multiplied the few loaves and few fishes and had baskets left over is on the boat with them and taking one loaf and distributing it among thirteen people would be nothing for Jesus.
But they could not put that together! And I am afraid that there are a lot of Christian brothers and sisters who can not put that together. They see God do something in someone else’s life, but cannot put it together that he can do the same thing in your life.
You can never have the “more” of the Christian life walking in a spiritual fog.
POINT #3
YOU SHOULD NOT BE SATISFIED WALKING IN A SPIRITUAL FOG; YOU SHOULD NOT SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN SPIRITUAL CLARITY.
Mark 8:22-25 (NIV)
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
And then Jesus does a miracle that is connected with feeding the 4,000 and the disciples on the boat with their one loaf of bread. The man, in this miracle, at the start of this miracle is just like the Pharisees- blind. Then Jesus put sit on his eyes and touched him, and the man could see people looking like trees. He was in a spiritual fog just like the disciples. And Jesus didn’t just leave him in that condition. Jesus desired that the man see clearly, and so Jesus puts His hands on the man’s eyes so that the man could see clearly.
Jesus desires that you see clearly, so that is why we are to rely on His Word; Jesus desires that we see clearly so He gave us the Holy Spirit. Jesus allows us to talk with Him so that we can see clearly.
So Jesus is calling you and me out of the spiritual fog into a relationship with Him where we see clearly what He is doing in our life and the world around you. And when you can see that, you are living “more.”
