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The Heavy Sigh from Jesus, 20Jun

We tend to only look for what we already know, Jesus’s disciples only partially understood what Jesus was trying to teach them – and didn’t understand for the longest time.  They witnessed miracles (due to Jesus’s compassion on the human condition of hunger and sickness) but for the longest time they could NOT compute the BIGGER connection that Jesus was the Messiah, the people’s Savior. The disciples could relate to Him as teacher but they did not yet understand that He wrote the book, He was the book, He is the Word….

Partially understanding is where our faith lies too… and we have to discover our faith by ourselves… we who are blind cannot fully see… our Spirit is wanting to come out and connect…

The layered stories in the Mark 8 scriptures recount the disciples’ knowledge block – they also forgot so quickly about the clear miracles of sharing the bread and fish, which they themselves participated in – so how could they piece together that there is final victory over death? Jesus had victory and Jesus gives victory. It takes FOREVER for everyone to catch up – but one day everyone will…  Whether they currently desire to share in it or not – we pray that everyone who is blind will see, will understand… So when Jesus has compassion on a blind man’s gradual gain of sight – that’s our story too – we are partially blind, partially we see…. We only know what we know… the veil is torn but we need to physically push the curtain aside to see.

We are just like the disciples who remembered the mechanics of picking up the leftover bread – 12 baskets – 7 baskets – but they forgot the miracle.  The disciples fretted later, when sitting in the boat, that they had no bread. Jesus also was telling them about future trouble – but the disciples saw only the trouble at hand… It is as if they only grasped knowledge in bread loaf sized increments. Partial sight… Not ready to open their eyes fully to the fullness of Christ…

The next story in Mark 8 (scriptures below), we see Jesus heals a blind man – surely it could have been complete healing instantly, so why were their only increments of partial sight? Why are we only partially seeing? Jesus in many scriptures tells his flock that it’s their own faith that heals them (like the woman touching the fringe of His robe). So, was this blind man who received partial sight restoration at first (people looked like walking trees) only partially believing? Or was he only looking for familiar details of the world that he could remember? Partial belief, partially understanding… Not looking big picture (that’s us too)…. He was told to NOT go into the village. Was Jesus afraid of the sideshow attraction that he might get and throngs of people would make a mad rush (as biblical scholar Michael Card suggests) – likely this is the case because that happened a lot. I also personally think that the formerly blind man had to be told to NOT go because the crowds would simply focusing on the sight and not the bigger picture of SALVATION.  They and we look at mechanics of miracles and NOT that the Messiah who Himself is a present miracle.

BIG SIGH!

I get that Jesus, I do…

Get back in the boat Jesus, it is a tough crowd… Pharisees wanted a sign, they were not satisfied, never will be…  We won’t collectively either – we won’t collectively be together until we really are. Big Sigh Jesus, it takes time, we are as a body of Christ wandering in the desert – we need to get all parts of peoples to Your Promise land – Your promise fulfillment…

We have tasted your goodness – yet we also can’t imagine HOW AMAZING it will be to see ALL the glory we have yet to experience. We have partially tasted – we have partially seen. We like disciples in training are working on the greater wisdom.

If you truly believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will thirst for more information – but simply know that information is not as powerful as SIMPLE TOTAL FAITH.

Seeing is:

Not about gaining the world – but about gaining wisdom.

Not about the world – but the Way.

Not about loafs – but about being led.

Not about seeing signs – but about seeing Salvation.

Not about the sideshows – but about the Savior.

Not about mechanics – but about miracles.

Not even about miracles – but about the Messiah – about the Messenger of the Message…

 

It’s about the Message…

Jesus came to humanly connect, bringing Heaven down to us…

This is the Good News…

Jesus came to give us victory over death…

We thank God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Jesus, the boat will pick us up to travel with you – the world will eventually bow to your greatness. We will keep paddling – we will help spread the Good News of You!

AMEN

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Mark 8

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

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 distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

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? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.”

He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

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?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

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 even go into the village.”

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1st Corinthians 15

There is a physical body. So there is also a spiritual body. As the Scriptures say, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man that came first; then came the spiritual. The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. All people belong to the earth. They are like that first man of earth. But those who belong to heaven are like that man of heaven. We were made like that man of earth, so we will also be made like that man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Our bodies of flesh and blood cannot have a part in God’s kingdom. Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins. But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed. It will only take the time of a second. We will be changed as quickly as an eye blinks. This will happen when the last trumpet blows. The trumpet will blow and those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we will all be changed. This body that ruins must clothe itself with something that will never ruin. And this body that dies must clothe itself with something that will never die. So this body that ruins will clothe itself with that which never ruins. And this body that dies will clothe itself with that which never dies. When this happens, the Scriptures will be made true:

“Death is swallowed in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?    Where is your power to hurt?”

Death’s power to hurt is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But we thank God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!