The Meaning of Bread

Ernest Stone

The Life of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Introduction

Invite to open Bibles to Mark 8.

Most of the time, when we come to a text in Scripture, we find clear application for our own lives.

The life and ministry of Jesus, which are being studied on a weekly basis here in the Gospel of Mark, are often going to be examined and then immediately applied to our lives.

We will often easily find something easy to apply, something that must be changed in our behavior or even in our character.

There are times, however, in which the texts we study simply give truths about God revealed in the person of Jesus.

In these moments, we are meant to read, reflect and relish in such truths.

If anything, we find these revelations ought to drive us to a greater adoration and worship of Jesus Christ.

It is one of these texts that we deal with this morning, revealing the character of God through the person of Jesus in such a way that we are reminded of magnificent truths that drive us to greater adoration and worship of Jesus.

Read Mark 8:1-21- 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. 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. 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?”

Pray.

Hopefully, you’ve found that this morning’s text reads as strangely familiar.

It’s been a mere six weeks since we saw Jesus feeding 5000 Jews near the Sea of Galilee, and it’s been less than two full chapters in Mark’s gospel.

There are some scholars who believe that both the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000 are retellings of the same historical account, but the details given would suggest that these are in fact two separate events.

It is for this reason that we turn our attention to the details of the very similar text. Our particular narrative is broken into three sections- Jesus’ miracle, Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees, and Jesus’ warning to His disciples.

Each of these sections have important details to notice, which we will observe in the rest of our time together.

1. Jesus’ love and care for mankind is universal in nature.

Some similarities and some differences with our text and Mark 6:30-44.

First, the similarities:

Both accounts deal with Jesus teaching great crowds of people.

Both accounts show Jesus having compassion on the crowds.

Both take place in a desolate location where no food is readily available.

Both accounts show the crowds getting hungry after listening to Jesus teach for so long.

Both accounts show the disciples’ lack of ability to feed such large numbers.

Finally, both accounts clearly show Jesus doing the miraculous in order to feed the hungry crowds.

Clearly, there is much that is very similar between these two accounts, but we also see that there is much that is different.

Locations are different, meaning that the 5000 that were fed were Jews, while the 4000 were gentiles.

The situations were different- the Jews had been listening to Jesus teach for a bit, the gentiles had been following Him for three days.

The descriptions of the food were different, meaning there were different numbers of loaves and fish.

Finally, the leftovers are different. With the Jews, it was 12. With the gentiles, it was 7.

We ought to take a moment to ask why there are so many similarities given, and why there are so many differences listed as well.

We begin by noting that the differences especially reveal the fact that Jesus is dealing with two different audiences.

When Jesus saw the Jews, He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. While He has compassion on the gentiles, it’s not for the same reason.

There is a specific hunger that the gentiles are showing here. Yes, the Jews listened to Jesus teach, but the gentiles listened to Him for days, likely with no food.

Consider where we have been over the past few chapters, or perhaps how a first-time reader would encounter the text.

Jesus is crowded by a massive Passover-attending Jewish crowd and miraculously feeds them bread.

Disciples travel but get stuck, Jesus walks on water, and we find that the disciples didn’t understand the miracle of the loaves.

We further find that even the religious leaders do not understand what makes a person clean or unclean.

Syrophoenecian (gentile) woman begs for crumbs and her daughter is healed of an unclean spirit.

Jesus heals the gentile man who is deaf and cannot speak

Then Jesus is followed at length by gentiles and miraculously feeds them bread.

Thus, what we find in our text is a giving of the very same bread that the Jews had received to the gentiles as well.

The syrophoenician woman asks for crumbs, but we find the gentiles receiving the same bread as the Jews!

Jesus shows here His care and His love for those even outside of the children of God, understood as the Jewish people.

This is why we have two accounts of a feeding miracle. First it is for the Jews, but the gentiles are not left out in the dark. What Jesus is willing to do for the Jews, He is willing to do for the gentiles as well. In fact, this is why there are so many similarities between the two accounts, to reveal the same kindness to both Jew and gentile.

Jesus’ heart is revealed here. There is a universal nature to His love. Race, ethnicity, history, gender, are secondary to the issue of humanity, and the love and care of Christ is extended to all of humanity, regardless of distinction.

Here we find much to adore. Here we find a picture of Jesus that is so unlike us.

2. Asking for a sign reveals a sinister heart.

The religious leaders approach Jesus once again with a test, as they’ve been testing Him at every other encounter!

When the religious leaders approach Jesus, it almost seems like a fair request. If you are who you say you are, then prove yourself. Many of us have likely found ourselves in a similar situation at various times in our lives.

It is likely not uncommon for us desire and ask God for some sort of a sign as we seek clarity for direction in our lives.

Basketball in the driveway.

Little was revealed to how I ought to live my life, other than the great need to work on my jump shot.

However, with the religious leaders, we see a sinister heart as we consider the following:

A demand of God is never a good thing. We get in much trouble, not only with God, but in our own hearts when we believe that we can command God to behave a certain way.

Also, how much had to be ignored for the Pharisees to pretend that Jesus hadn’t proven Himself?

Jesus was doing miracles everywhere all the time, but it was not enough for the religious leaders.

Finally, and most sinister, the religious leaders were looking for a sign, not a miracle.

Throughout the OT, signs were asked for when God was about to act on behalf of the people of Israel, and were generally tied to military conquest- consider Gideon and the fleece.

Found in Judges 6, Gideon is given the task of freeing Israel from pagan oppression.

“If you will save Israel by my hand”

This is when signs were asked for, when the hope was that God would do something major in delivering Israel from her enemies.

This signifies that the religious leaders were not in fact looking for a miracle like a healing, but instead a sign from heaven that God would destroy the enemies of the Jews, namely the gentiles.

They had become so exclusivist to the love and favor of God that they believed that God would only bring destruction to those who were not Jewish.

While we may find the pharisees question to be an honest remark, Jesus sees through it and challenges their understanding of God’s heart towards the lost.

While they may want to see outsiders destroyed, Jesus’ desire is to supply the needs of the needy, even those outside of Israel. This is shown in Jesus’ rejection of their sign, because He will not destroy the outsiders.

Again, it’s important to read all of this in context. The religious leaders’ desire is meant to be juxtaposed against what we have just seen Jesus accomplish.

3. Who do we reflect- Jesus or the Pharisees?

We conclude with a difficult challenge given to the disciples by Jesus- Don’t be like the pharisees.

Jesus is in the boat with the disciples once again and warns them of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod, or specifically of the Herodians. He is warning against that which permeates the lives of the religious leaders, much as leaven permeates bread dough. And we have seen that what permeates their lives is an exclusive, judgmental, self-righteous view of the world.

Consider the implications of the statement- don’t be like those who are most esteemed, whom everyone wanted to become.

What Jesus is doing here is giving a clear choice- will you be like the Pharisees and other religious leaders? Seeking the destruction of your enemies, those who are not like you?

Or will you instead choose to follow the example of Jesus, the one who cares for gentiles just like he cares for the Jews?

We are meant to walk away from this entire encounter with a renewed faith in Christ (which the disciples clearly still lacked) and a renewed passion for those who are lost and in need, especially those who are completely unlike us.

Remember, the greatest point of today is to find ourselves in adoration of the character and person of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and this is exactly what Jesus challenges us with in His conversation with the disciples in the boat.

Notice how Jesus closes the conversation, by talking about the leftover baskets.

How many for the Jews? 12- symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel?

How many for the gentiles? 7- a number that symbolizes completion.

What is Jesus communicating here? That the one miracle directed at the Jews was incomplete, and it required the same miracle to be done on behalf of the gentiles. Only then is there a sort of completeness to Jesus’ ministry.

Who do we find ourselves identifying with? The love and ministry of Jesus or the close-mindedness and judgement of the religious leaders?

Closing thought- Perhaps this most needs to be heard in the context of what is going to happen this week.

As we approach an election, we tend to find it to be the easiest possible time to see the “otherness” of people. They don’t look like me, they don’t think like me, they don’t see the world as I do, and most crucially, they don’t vote like me.

And when we look at them as an other person who is so greatly distanced from myself, we tend to build walls between the two of us.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of this season, covid topped with social-distancing, topped with quarantine, topped with thoughts of injustice, topped with protesting and at times, rioting, topped with an election cycle, perhaps the greatest challenge of such a season is the ability to see the “other” person as still loved by God, as cared for by Jesus.

We clearly don’t know how the week will go, but we always will know how to adore our God and how to love our neighbors. May we never lose sight of such goals.