Got Fruit ?

Discernment is the next topic of study and discussion for the young adults group that I’m leading on Wednesday evenings, so I’ve been spending the past day or so preparing an introduction and overview.  During my research and study time I ran across some Bible passages from Mark8 that have me a little stumped (I can hear Jesus asking me "Chris!?.. are you so dull?").

Maybe you’ve experienced this as well?  You’re looking into a specific passage or topic, when something else catches your attention.  Sometimes it’s perhaps a different passage and context altogether that your sidetracked by.  In this case, it’s within the context of discernment and I think I have a grasp of Jesus’ warning.  What’s been busting my noodle though; is what Jesus says at the conclusion of His teaching to the disciples regarding the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod.

Mark 8:21
21 He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Feeling about as dense as Pound Cake, your’s truly confesses: "Uh.. yes Lord, I’m feeling as though I’m missing something?"  (there we go with those "feelings" again).

Now Jesus had asked His disciples, "Do you still not understand?"; after the Pharisees had come to the region of Dalmanutha questioning and demanding a miracle to test Jesus following His feeding of four thousand (men) off of seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Apparently exasperated by the Pharisees’ unbelief and scheming ways, Jesus responds:

Mark 8:11-13
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.

So Jesus gives the old religious farts a verbal smack down in a "killin’ ‘em softly" manner and leaves with His disciples.  I imagine the Pharisees were standing there in their fancy threads with a totally dumbfounded look on their face after this Jewish son of a carpenter slighted them.  But Jesus isn’t finished, He uses the moment as an opportunity to pass on a lesson and wisdom to His disciples, by warning them to be careful; and to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod.  The disciples apparently also of the Pound Cake clan, are confused by Jesus’ warnings of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod:

Mark 8:14-21
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?"

Hmmm…  So after realizing that I was probably too focused on both the number of loaves of bread and fish used to feed the thousands (men), and the amount of bread left over (Jesus uses guided questioning to get the disciples to "see"), some clarity comes (or so I think).

Two distinct groups witnessed the miracle: the disciples, and the 4000 that were fed.  The Pharisees who’s hearts were hardened questioned Jesus not for truth but in attempt to trap or discredit Him.  This is speculation on my part but, the Pharisees could have simply inquired of any of the men fed, since from a cultural perspective their testimony seems to play well in being "credible" witnesses versus the testimony of women. 

In verses 17 and 18 Jesus says a few things to the disciples that compares their lack of understanding to the willfully "religious" ignorance practiced by the Pharisees, and in doing so serves to reiterate His warnings in verse 15:

• Do you still not see or understand? (Different "sign" from what the Pharisees demanded yet the same in purpose, evidence of Jesus being whom He claimed to be)
• Are your hearts hardened? (Like that of the Pharisees)
• Do you have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear? (Where the Pharisees wouldn’t believe the evidence, the disciples may have become spiritually lazy and unappreciative, having witnessed  Christ feed 5000 as well)
• And don’t you remember? (The disciples were there, they distributed the food & collected the abundance!)

Where the Pharisees could not "see" Jesus for who he was because of their hypocrisy, Jesus was warning the disciples to not become like them.  Jesus was pointing out to the disciples that they had in fact received miracles as proof of whom He claimed to be, just not a "sign from heaven" in the same manner that the Pharisees were demanding.  A thought here also is that, as far as Jesus was concerned feeding four or five thousand from a few loaves of bread was as sufficient a miracle as a grand celestial presentation.

Grace and peace be with you.

“Both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.”
John 2:2 (NKJV)

Maybe it was Andrew who asked it. Perhaps Peter. Could be that all approached Jesus. But I wager that at some point in Jesus’ first journey, the disciples expressed their assumptions.

  “So Rabbi, where are you taking us? To the desert?”

  “No,” opines another, “he’s taking us to the temple.”

  Then a chorus of confusion breaks out and ends only when Jesus lifts his hand and says softly, “We’re on our way to a wedding.”

  Silence.  John and Andrew look at each other. “A wedding?” they say.

Why did Jesus go to the wedding?

The answer?  It’s found in the second verse of John 2. “Jesus and His followers were also invited to the wedding”(NCV).

  When the bride and groom were putting the guest list together, Jesus’s name was included. Jesus wasn’t invited because He was a celebrity.  He wasn’t one yet.  The invitation wasn’t motivated by His miracles.  He’d yet to perform any.  Why did they invite Him?

I suppose they liked Him.

Big deal?  I think so. I think it’s significant that common folk in a little town enjoyed being with Jesus. I think it’s noteworthy that the Almighty didn’t act high and mighty.

  He went to great pains to be as human as the guy down the street. He didn’t need to study, but still went to the synagogue.  He had no need for income, but still worked in the workshop.  Upon His shoulders rested the challenge of redeeming creation, but He still took time to walk ninety miles from Jericho to Cana to go to a wedding.

  As a result, people liked Him.

3:16 The Numbers of Hope by Max Lucado

Remembering back to my teenage days of attending church, I recall not the exact date of deciding to be baptized, but rather the events leading up to it.  I was about 14 or 15, and there had been some activities and speakers coordinated for the youth group during the summer.

Among the activities that stands out was a session on secular music.  A group had been invited in to give a lecture to the teens on secular music and backmasking.  Talk about being freaked out!!  In addition there had been several studies and discussions on the Book of Revelation as well during that week of summer youth activities, accompanied by a short “Left Behind-esque” movie that was presented to the youth group.  Needless to say, I had the “hell” scared out of me that summer, and made a decision to accept Jesus’ offer to be my personal Lord & Savior.

Now, to be honest I hadn’t a clue at the time as to what being a Christian truly meant or demanded, I mean I knew that I had to be “good”, but the relational aspect was beyond me.  I wasn’t interested in finding out what the Bible prescribes for being “good”, the main thing was that I wanted to save my neck.

To quote the late comic Richard Pryor on his drug related brush with death during a freebasing episode: “Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3.”  And in the same thought fear can debilitate or “inspire” one to spring into action.

Leading up to His crucifixion (murder), Jesus shared some powerful words with His disciples (Peter, James, John & Andrew) on the Mount of Olives concerning the End of the Age in Mark 13.  As I read the chapter, I couldn’t help wonder if the disciples felt fearful of the things Jesus spoke of.  After being asked what signs will precede the End of the Age, Jesus describes to the disciples that magnificent buildings will be toppled, wars and rumors of wars will prevail, arrests &  floggings of believers will occur.  Jesus goes on to tell of desolation, dreadful days,distress; the sun being darkened, the moon ceasing to give it’s light, the stars falling from the sky and the heavenly bodies being shaken following the days of distress.  Seems like some significantly eventful happenings that are bound to stir up the adrenaline in my opinion!  But wait… let’s not forget about those false Christs & false prophets that Jesus mentions.

Mark 13:21-23
21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

From the reading of Mark 13, the persistence of Jesus’ warnings to His followers stood out from the mental pictures painted of the chaos and destruction.  Jesus peppers His speech to the disciples throughout Mark 13 with these instructions:

• 5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name…
• 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed….
• 9 “You must be on your guard…
• 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand…
• 13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
• 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.
• 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
• 28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree…
• 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
• 34… and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
• 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!‘ “

Fear may have been what prompted this knucklehead to follow Jesus, there is however the flip-side of the coin; those claiming to be Christian that use fear coupled with warped doctrines to lead folks astray.  As I read of Jesus warning His disciples, I couldn’t help but wonder if He had an image in His mind of people that failed to take His words to heart, running around like Chicken Little yelling: “The Sky is falling, the sky is falling!”

Grace and peace be with you.

“No longer do I call you servants,for a servant does not know what his master is doing;but I have called you friends,for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
Mark 14:9

You do not choose to be a friend of God. That is by invitation only. Only two people in the Old Testament were specifically described as “friends of God.” Abraham walked with the Lord so closely that God referred to him as His friend (Isa. 41:8). Moses spoke to God face to face as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11).

By His very nature God is a friend to us. He loves us with a perfect love and reaches out to us with salvation when we can offer Him nothing in return. It is quite another thing when someone has a heart so devoted to Him that God initiates a special friendship. David’s heart was totally devoted to God (1 Kings 11:4). Although David was not sinless, he loved God. David hated sin (Ps. 103:3); he loved to worship God (Ps. 122:1); he took genuine delight in God’s presence (2 Sam. 6:14); he loved to speak about God (Ps. 34:1); he was keenly aware of his transgressions (Ps. 51:3-4); and he delighted in offering gifts of song, thanksgiving, and praise, asking for nothing in return (Ps. 100). So closely did David walk with God that his words were on Jesus’ mind as He hung upon the cross (Matt. 27:46).

Jesus called His disciples friends. He said He would disclose to them things that the Father had shared with Him, because they were His friends. There developed such an intimate friendship between them that He would share what was on His heart with His friends.

If you cannot describe yourself as a friend of God, commit yourself to seek after God with all your heart.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day