Unbelief Permeates
Mark 8:11-21
Some of my biggest food temptations are carb loaded foods, which include yeast filled breads, like hot yeast rolls.
There is a restaurant near Branson MO called Lambert’s Café.
Lambert’s Café is known for their yeast rolls, which they throw to their customers, which has caused many people to call the place the “Throwed Rolls” cafe.
Yeast, which is sometimes called leaven, is a powerful fungus which can cause a lump of dough to rise into bread and it can also ferment liquids into alcohol.
“Leaven” is mentioned in scripture over twenty times and it often refers to sin or unbelief; which could be why the Bible mentions “unleavened” over sixty times.
Maybe, this is why yeast rolls are so attractive, yet so bad for us.
Please open your Bibles to Mark 8 as we continue in a verse by verse study, of that Gospel.
Last time, in the Gospel of Mark, we saw how Jesus showed compassion for people, as He and the Disciples fed 4,000 people who were mainly Gentiles.
Jesus had compassion for those Gentiles because they had been with Him three days and had nothing to eat; but, they were hungry for the Word of God.
Jesus will never send someone away spiritually hungry if they will authentically seek and surrender to Him.
We also learned that the Lord often teaches us lessons geared towards us becoming Christ-like; because Jesus has a purpose for everything He does and His actions are always deliberate.
Once the meal was over, there were 7 large baskets of left-over’s from the Gentile feeding of the 4,000.
The Lord will supply what is needed as we follow His directives
Today, our narrative immediately follows the feeding of the 4,000 and once again, the religious leaders come to accuse, and trap Jesus; but, ultimately the Pharisees get corrected by Him.
I. The Pharisees ask for a sign.
Read Mark 8:11-12
This is the 4th time Jesus was asked for a sign or to perform a miracle, by the religious leaders.
The word, “Testing” can mean to tempt, try, examine or prove.
“Testing in a positive way can mean to test something to find its worth; but testing in a negative way, can mean crafting to bring judgment or find fault.
The Greek lexicon says the word “sign” means “Miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by Him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God's.
When the Lord was speaking to Moses about the sin of the Children of Israel, while they were in the wilderness…
He said in Numbers 14:22, all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice. NKJV
The kind of “testing” the Pharisees were doing to Jesus comes from doubt, demanding something of God, to prove Himself.
Even though Jesus used certain miracles to show Himself as God’s Messiah; these religious leaders would not accept Jesus regardless of the amount of miracles He performed.
Miracles as a general rule will not change a person’s heart or make a person have faith in God.
John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, John 2:25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. NKJV
Jesus didn’t trust in these people’s belief, because He knew their belief in miracles would not create an authentic trust in Him.
There are times when people have seen too many miracles and become desensitized which causes lethargy and can hinder faith.
After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He predicted His death on the cross…
We read in John 12:37 although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, NKJV
These Pharisees had already seen so much evidence that Jesus was Messiah; yet, they refused to believe.
The Pharisees’ agenda got in the way of their believing what was right there in front of their faces.
II. Beware of Leaven.
Read Mark 8:13-15
William Barclay said, “Sometimes the Jews used the word leaven much as we would use the term original sin, or the natural evil of human nature.”
Here, Jesus the King of heaven, the Messiah, who came from the Father, sailed away leaving the Pharisees standing on the shore!
Left in vs. 13 means leaving yes; but, it also means abandoning.
Leaving the Pharisees was an act of judgment from Jesus, as He left the religious leaders’ because of their unbelief.
Ultimately Jesus is a gentleman and will leave alone, those who continually refuse Him and His free gift of salvation.
There will come a time when Jesus will stop giving signs and understanding, to those He already knows, will refuse Him.
In Matthew’s Gospel during this account, Jesus called these religious leaders hypocrites.
A hypocrite is an actor, intentionally wearing different masks; deliberately pretending to be something they are not.
These religious leaders were deliberately pretending to have religion, without actually serving the Lord or His will.
The religious leaders were fanatics about keeping the rules; but they did it for personal gain, not having a relationship with God.
These religious leaders would have known all 305 prophecies about Jesus’ first coming, and yet they refused to believe in Him
The religious leaders missed His first coming; so Jesus calls them hypocrites, because of their unbelief.
According to Henry Ironside, “They came to Jesus, without any desire to know the truth, but simply as tempting or testing Him, asking that He show them a sign from heaven.
They meant a sign indicating that the messianic age was close at hand. Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief.”
Jesus was warning His followers against the infection of unbelief.
Like yeast in bread, a lack of faith can permeate someone’s life until it becomes open rebellion against God.
The Apostle Paul was correcting the Galatian Church, and said in Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. NKJV
The Bible gives repeated examples of those who saw remarkable signs, yet they still did not believe.
Again, Matthew’s Gospel adds a little more to this narrative…
Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. NKJV
In the Book of Jonah, we learn that Jonah was told by God to go and preach to the vicious, pagan country of Nineveh...
But Jonah ran to Joppa, which was in the opposite direction. Jonah eventually got onto a boat heading towards Tarshish as he encounters the first of many consequences for his disobedience.
Eventually, Jonah obeyed the Lord and went and preached repentance and salvation to Nineveh.
Jesus proclaimed the only promised sign that would have the power to bring people to faith would be His resurrection.
The people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways after hearing the call for repentance. Some similarities of Jonah and Jesus…
• Jonah sacrificed himself so others would be saved.
• Jonah disappeared from all human view for three days.
• Jonah was taken care of through God’s provision, during the three days when he could not be seen.
• Jonah came back after three days, as one back from the dead.
• Jonah preached repentance and salvation in God alone.
Nineveh repented, but the Pharisees continued in their unbelief, even after seeing the miracles of Jesus with their own eyes.
The Pharisees were guilty for their unbelief, especially since the people of Nineveh repented, once they heard the truth.
Here Jesus was clearly explaining the sign of Jonah was a prophecy about His upcoming resurrection.
Again, because the religious leaders refused to believe, so Jesus left and His departure was an act of Judgment.
Re-read Mark 8:15
Jesus said, what the religious leaders do, will rot your life.
There were 2 different issues these religious leaders did, and it had to do with which part of their religion they belonged to.
The Sanhedrin was the ruling party of the Jewish religion in Jesus’ day and it was made up of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
There are a few things the Pharisees did well that the Sadducees failed at:
• They believed God was Sovereign over all things, yet they also believed in the free will of man.
• They believed in the resurrection of the dead.
Acts 23:8 For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection — and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. NKJV
• They believed in the existence of angels and demons.
• They believed in an afterlife, with reward and punishment on an individual basis.
The Pharisees accepted the Old Testament as inspired by God; but, they also gave more authority to oral traditions of the Elders
I shared what John Lightfoot said before, “How great a value they set upon their traditions, even above the word of God.
The Talmud says "The words of the scribes are lovely above the words of the law:
Not only did these religious leaders place a higher value on their traditions than people’s needs; but, they also placed a higher value on their traditions than the Word of God.
The Pharisees were very strict on obeying the Laws of God; but then, they began to degrade the Word of God by adding to it.
People who follow legalism and traditions, are often guilty of adding to God’s Word, which will rot the Christian life.
Kyle Idleman said, “When following Him becomes about following the rules, people end up walking away from both.”
Ironically, by adding to the Word of God, the Pharisees were breaking the Law of Moses.
Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Jesus spoke to the Jewish leadership in John 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? NKJV
By adding to the Word of God, it hindered people from going to the Temple and from coming into a relationship with the Lord.
The Pharisees added to God’s Word; but, the Sadducees took away from the Word of God.
The Sadducees only believed the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch, were inspired by God.
The Sadducees didn’t believe the inerrancy of scripture; instead, they decided, based upon their beliefs and desires, what God said and what He did not say.
Also, the Sadducees did not believe in the Resurrection of the dead, which made them sad you see.
A little addition or subtraction from the Word of God causes rot within your life.
Revelation 22:18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;
Revelation 22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. NKJV
Finally, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee to the northeastern shore again and this ended His public ministry in Galilee.
III. The Disciples misunderstand Jesus.
Read Mark 8:15-21
The Lord was not pleased with the Disciples’ lack of perception.
The Disciples failed to understand the significance of the miracle twice: when Jesus fed the 5,000 and now a second time!
These Disciples once again are thinking about physical things when Jesus is trying to teach about Spiritual things.
The Disciples worried about food even after witnessing the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 and the feeding of the 4000.
They were thinking about bread, so Jesus changes the subject and begins to teach on sin in the lives of these religious leaders.
The word “beware” in vs. 15, means to constantly open your eyes to a situation and to guard against the threat.
We are to constantly be on guard against this sort of leaven, in our lives; and the Disciples misunderstand what Jesus said.
Jesus was often misunderstood: When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night; Nicodemus misunderstood what Jesus was teaching.
John 3:3 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
John 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" NKJV
The Samaritan woman at the well misunderstood Jesus. The Jews misunderstood when He taught about eating His flesh.
Here, Jesus warned the Disciples with a metaphor of leaven to beware of the sin of unbelief of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Leaven represents sin which permeates and contaminates
Leaven grows quietly, rotting and causing gases to build up within the dough as the dough is puffed up; in the same way, sin rots the body from the inside out, as the person is puffed up.
Jesus used leaven to speak against hypocrisy and compromise; Paul used leaven to speak against carnality and false doctrine
Paul asked a rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 5:6, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
1 Corinthians 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. NKJV
The Disciples began to quietly reason that Jesus knew they forgot the bread; and notice, Jesus heard their whispers.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. NKJV
So Jesus reminds them of the two different feedings and how He was the One who supplied what was needed for those miracles.
It is as if Jesus asks them, “Do you really think I will have trouble supplying for what we need physically again?”
“How come you still do not understand the issue with these religious leaders, I have taught you over and over again?”
IV. Practical Application.
The Word of Life Study Bible says, “None of us knows what dangers lie ahead for our faith.
We may be headed for trials and challenges that we never imagined.
Is our faith ready to meet whatever challenges come our way?
Or have we let the yeast of unbelief gain a foothold, breaking down our trust in God and spreading resistance to Him throughout our life”
The Disciples were anxious about a lack of bread; but, Jesus was concerned about their lack of faith in Him; so He told His disciples three things:
1. Beware and understand the dangerous teachings and practices of the Sadducees and Pharisees.
2. Jesus corrected the Disciples on their lack of faith, worrying about their lack of bread.
They had seen Jesus miraculously provide for their needs on several previous occasions. Today, Jesus has promised to supply for all of needs from His riches in Glory, as well.
3. Jesus told them to remember what He has done in the past, as they seemed to forget the miracles, He had already done.
Jesus warned about leaven; the Pharisees added to God’s law and put a yoke on people that actually pushed people from God.
We are to constantly be on guard against this sort of leaven and rotting in our lives.
In our post modern world there are false religions who seek to add works, duties and self effort to scripture.
Most false religions are usually born out of greed for money, power or pride; and so they add to the pure Word of God for selfish motives just like the Pharisees and Sadducees did.
Satan did the same things in the garden to Eve;
Warren Wiersbe said, “By questioning what God said, Satan raised doubts in Eve’s mind concerning the truthfulness of God’s word and the goodness of God’s heart.
“Do you really mean that you can’t eat from every tree?” was the import of the subtle question. “If God really loved you, He would be much more generous. He’s holding out on you!”
Satan wanted Eve to forget that God had told Adam (who had told her) that they could eat freely of the trees of the garden.
Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. Eve’s reply showed that she was following Satan’s example and altering the very Word of God.
Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
Genesis 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." NKJV
And then we read in Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Genesis 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" NKJV
Eve took away the word “freely,” and added the phrase “nor shall you touch it”. Eve also failed to say that God “commanded” them to obey.
Finally, Eve said “lest you die”.
Eve took from God’s Word, added to God’s Word, and changed God’s Word, as she doubted God’s goodness and truthfulness.
When training new bank tellers; bank tellers are never given a counterfeit bill to learn how to recognize false currency.
They are taught the real thing so when a fake comes along they can recognize it immediately.
As Christ followers, we must be careful not to change, or add to, God's Word. We are to love and respect it to the extent, that when fake doctrine comes along we recognize it immediately.
Because God is Sovereign, He has given the Words of Life, and because He is all knowing with perfect wisdom; there is no need to add or take away from the Word of God.
• It is God’s Word that leads us to salvation.
• If we will live by them, the Scriptures guide our steps.
• God’s Word gives us to wisdom.
• God’s Word lifts our burden.
• The Word of God brings joy.
• The Scriptures give peace.
God blesses His Children who respect and love His Word.
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.
The Word of God has a cleansing effect in our lives. We need to regularly be in the Word of God; reading, listening, studying, and meditating upon it.
The Word of God is the most valuable possession we own because it is His written message to us.
The Lord is on His throne doing what He’s promised to do in His Word. When we believe and obey the Word of God, our lives are transformed. Beware of the leaven; it will permeate!
