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One of the biggest problems in the church today is trying to accomplish God’s will using human methods. We are fooled into thinking that the end justifies the means - so we have people like Jim Baker bilking people for millions, we have fake healers and spiritual "leaders" who claim to speak the truth of God only to totally contradict His Word.
I read a good book recently - called "Victory over the Darkness" by Neil Anderson. In it, Anderson states that
Every temptation is an attempt by the devil to get us to live our lives independently of God. Satan tempts us just as he did Jesus by appealing to our most basic and legitimate needs. The question is: are these needs going to be met by the world, the flesh and the devil, or are they going to be met by God who promises to meet all our needs (Phil 4:19)?
Today we are going to see Jesus put His finger on attempts by men to accomplish God’s will through worldly means - and we have to decide for ourselves - are we going to put our confidence in the ways of men - even though they seem logical - or on the things of God though they seem to fly in the face of logic?
We start out in a familiar setting - big groups following Jesus and getting hungry.
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?"
Notice here that the disciples don’t sound a sarcastic note to Jesus like at the feeding of the 5,000. But they still have their doubts - they still are looking to worldly solutions to solve problems in the kingdom. With Jesus the conventional answer is not always the best answer - Jesus wants reliance, not ingenuity.
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.
We don’t know where this place was located - but some suggest it could be Magdala, on the western shore of the Sea - Mary Magdalan’s home town.
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.
The Pharisees were not wanting just one more proof before they believed - they wanted to control Jesus - "pull a rabbit out of your hat" they demand. But Jesus will not be controlled - its not about signs but about the Savior. The Pharisees already disbelieved - and showing them a miracle wasn’t going to change that.
Some people say "I won’t believe unless God shows Himself to me," or "I’ll believe in you God if you give me a million dollars," or something like that. That’s not the point - we are dead, and separated from God by our own rebellion and need Jesus to get spiritual life - eternal life - not some short term fix. By the way - short term fixes never satisfy in the long run.
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?"
The BIG MIRACLE was on the minds of the disciples - Jesus was making a simple analogy. Yeast makes bread rise by a process of digestion - or putrification - the yeast eats the sugar and expels carbon dioxide that creates bubbles in the dough. Jesus is saying that the legalistic approach if left to itself would infect or spread through people’s lives and society in general. It’s the "show me the money" syndrome - we want everything nailed down and laid out in front of us in black and white.
But Jesus doesn’t work that way - He says "have faith in Me."
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. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don’t go into the village."
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
28 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Now we know from Matthew that Jesus said something to Peter at this point:
Matt 16:17-19 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
There are a lot of things we could say about these verses - and you can check out our study in Matthew 16 - but suffice it to say that Jesus is telling Peter that the Father has revealed to Him something very special about Jesus. Peter we will see in a moment does not fully "get it."
But this question - who is Christ? Is one every man woman and child must answer for Himself. Is He just a man? A crazy lunatic with a Messiah complex? A liar and manipulator of the truth? A political mover - or maybe, just maybe, The Christ - or Messiah, Son of the Living God.
The Jews had an idea who the Messiah was - and they were right - but they had the timing mixed up. They looked for the conquering King - but missed the Suffering Savior. That’s why Peter’s words to Jesus are great, but miss the entire picture - a picture Jesus paints for them next:
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
This apparently wasn’t in Peter’s game plan for Jesus. Like most Jews of his day, Peter probably focused on getting the Roman occupation off the back of Israel - being a weak-kneed sufferer was not the way to win friends and influence people in Rome.
So Jesus turns to Peter and levels some pretty harsh words - especially coming after such grand affirmation.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
What a slap in the face! Peter was always one to open his mouth - and it must have been pretty big ’cause here he seems to put both feet in it at once! Is Jesus calling Peter Satan (which mean "adversary")? No. But Lucifer tempted Jesus in the wilderness by offering Him all the world’s kingdoms without having to go to the cross. That’s what Peter is saying here - that being killed is not the way to power.
But what if Jesus had believed this word? Where would he be now - and all of us? It was a much greater good that Jesus was about to do.
Often times Lucifer will try to get us to short-circuit God’s plan for our lives by having us go around suffering - to succeed by any means possible. But God isn’t interested in whether we succeed or not - what He’s interested in is the process of change that happens in us - the dying to self and the living to the Spirit of God in us.
We say - "I know it would be better if I were honest with that person and admitted that I was wrong to get mad at them, but I know how humiliating it will be and I just don’t want to go through that." In reality the issue at hand is totally unimportant to God - what is important is that you humble yourself before God and this person - heal the relationship and both move closer to each other and God in that humbleness.
Suffering produces fruit (see James 1) but success without suffering produces a swelled head.
Next Jesus reveals the true walk of discipleship:
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels."
This is the gospel in a nutshell. If you want Jesus you must do three things: deny yourself (it isn’t all about me after all), pick up your cross (die to sin through the cross of Christ), then follow me (make Jesus your Lord).
We all want so bad to save our life - by making money and power and knowledge and pleasure - and we’ve got it all backwards. Life, real life, comes not from us or our accomplishments but from Him and what He does for us.
Conclusions
It’s all about Jesus - not about what you get from Him
The crowds followed Jesus cause He was a show - and a good meal without any work. But we should follow Jesus for who He is, not for what tricks or bounty He can provide for us. He isn’t Aladdin’s genie - He is the Lord Almighty. Whatever we get from Him is a side benefit of knowing Him.
Fear and Self-righteous Anger are two sides of the same coin: unbelief
Herod feared God - not in a good way, but in a way that made him incapable of accepting God’ rebuke and then repenting and falling on his knees. The Pharisees got all uptight and angry about this supposed "law breaker" who couldn’t "prove" Himself to their satisfaction. The end result is the same - a refusal to believe in who Jesus really is - God in the flesh who will save anyone who will repent and trust in Him.
What Jesus is really about is bringing the light of His love to one person at a time
Notice how Jesus took the blind man out of town, healed him and then told him not to go back? This was not a spectacle. Jesus deals with us one on one too - He’s not here to show you off - but to touch your eyes so you can see Him clearly. I think that’s a lesson for us as well as we share the gospel - it can be a very private thing, over a cup of coffee or a fishing lure.
The "things of men" are:
- Power & Authority (political, social, religious) allied with the world
- Visible Success
- Strength
- Self motivated
The "things of God" are:
- Power & Authority that comes from God
- Invisible success
- Weakness
- Other motivated
What is your decision about Jesus - shame or love?
You can go the world’s route - there are million books and tapes and seminars out there to teach it to you - a million men and women who clawed and scratched their way to the top - and they "have it all."
In reality they have nothing - the only valuable thing you can or ever will possess is your soul - that part of you that’s you. It’s the only carry on baggage allowed when you die - but you will lose it if you reject Jesus Christ.
By that I mean that after you die the only thing that will matter is whether you can be with God - and have all joy and peace - or be separated from Him in eternal darkness and loneliness.
Be very very very sure that before you feel ashamed at Jesus that you think about it carefully. Weigh His claims, read the gospels, ask God to reveal to you the truth about Jesus - then decide if He was liar, lunatic, or LORD.
