For Those Who Missed it....
by Cody Anglea on Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 1:02pm
So last Wednesday night I preached my first message, and I've had a few people who weren't able to make it ask me what it was, so here it is:
Who’s Bread are YOU Eating?
How about that bread? Bread is everywhere we look. We use it to make sandwiches, hamburgers, a different kind of bread is used to make crusts and pasta. Bread is one of the most common food items in the world. Bread was also a major teaching illustration used by Jesus. He frequently referenced the “bread of life.” So who’s bread are YOU eating?
“14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up? They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?” – Mark 8:14-21 NAS
Bread:
“And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’”
While the disciples are talking about having only one loaf of bread with them, Jesus warns them against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod. They assume that He’s talking about their lack of bread, but He purposely uses the word “leaven” while they’ve been talking about “bread.” Leaven is like yeast – it is put into bread to make it rise while it bakes. In His metaphor, Jesus is talking about leaven as a teaching or ideal that can grow in someone. He tells them to be careful about letting the example of the Pharisees and Herod grow in them. The Pharisees were very religious, but they completely missed the point; they focused on the traditions and rules of Judaism instead of the glory of God. They were so wrapped up in following their religious law, that they forgot the commandments of God and what their religion was supposed to be all about. They focused on disproving Jesus to be who He is. Mark 8:11-12 reads, “The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, asking Him for a sign from Heaven to test Him. And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” The Pharisees weren’t satisfied with the miracles that Jesus had performed, and demanded that He give them a supernatural sign of who He was, but they contradicted their own teachings by doing so. He had performed the miracles that had been outlined by the prophets perfectly, but they refused to accept them.
Jesus also warns them of the leaven of Herod. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and represented the laws of a government that was against Jesus. His family claimed to be Jewish, but rode the fence between Judaism and the Roman society. Much in the same manner as modern society, the governments of the day rejected Jesus and His teachings.
Blindness/Deafness:
“They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this said to them, ‘Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? 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 you picked up?’ They said to Him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?’ And they said to Him, ‘Seven.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’”
The disciples hear Jesus mention leaven, and mistakenly think that He is talking about their lack of bread, but He is not. They seem to forget the two very recent miracles they just watched Him perform in which he fed two separate multitudes. In the first instance, He takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds five thousand men. This crowd was mostly Jewish and He takes compassion on them saying “They were like sheep without a shepherd.” From the five loaves, He feeds the five thousand men AND their families and still has enough left over to fill 12 baskets. The second time He takes seven loaves of bread and a few small fish and feeds four thousand men and their families. This time the crowd is made up of mostly Gentiles, and the disciples are reluctant to help them at first – Jesus refers to this when He asks if they have a hardened heart. In their reluctance to help people purely because they’re not Jewish, the disciples have taken on the example of the Pharisees. Jesus takes compassion on the second crowd because they have come from a great distance and have stayed with Him for three days because they value the teachings and healings He gives more than even food. Jesus is also careful to mention that after this event they fill seven LARGE baskets with left-overs. These baskets were likely carried by the disciples and are much larger than the baskets in the first miracle. They could be compared as large sacks to picnic baskets.
The disciples are worried about having only one loaf of bread with them, but they’ve become blind to who they’re with. They don’t realize that with Jesus one loaf is MORE than enough. He points this out to them, but we can also take this as Him asking us how we can still doubt Him after He has given us so much proof that He is who He says He is. We are like the Pharisees, looking for a special sign so we can know that He speaks the truth, but He’s already proven Himself to us. We’ve become blind to the fact of who He REALLY is. So who is He?
Who He Really Is:
“And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi: and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they told Him, saying, ‘John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.’ And He continued by questioning them, ’But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Thou art the Christ.’” – Mark 8:27-29 NAS
Jesus came to Earth as the “Messiah,” or a “SAVIOR or LIBERATOR.” By His death, He DEFEATED Death and FREED us from sin. These are words of power that describe a God with power far beyond anything we can comprehend. This is a God who SPOKE the universe into existence and breathed life into man. He turned water into wine, healed the blind, fed thousands with one boy’s lunch, and raised the dead from life. So why do we doubt Him? We are like His disciples – we are worried that we aren’t enough and that we won’t last, but we forget what Jesus can do with one loaf of bread. Five loaves fed five thousand men and their families; seven fed four thousand and their families. Each time there was a huge amount left over. Jesus can turn one disciple into many. He started out with just 12 disciples (one of whom betrayed Him and later hung himself) that turned into millions of professing Christians today, but we still doubt that He can use us. He can. So my question to you is: Are Our Eyes Open to Who God Is?
Who’s Bread are YOU Eating?
How about that bread? Bread is everywhere we look. We use it to make sandwiches, hamburgers, a different kind of bread is used to make crusts and pasta. Bread is one of the most common food items in the world. Bread was also a major teaching illustration used by Jesus. He frequently referenced the “bread of life.” So who’s bread are YOU eating?
“14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up? They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?” – Mark 8:14-21 NAS
Bread:
“And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’”
While the disciples are talking about having only one loaf of bread with them, Jesus warns them against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod. They assume that He’s talking about their lack of bread, but He purposely uses the word “leaven” while they’ve been talking about “bread.” Leaven is like yeast – it is put into bread to make it rise while it bakes. In His metaphor, Jesus is talking about leaven as a teaching or ideal that can grow in someone. He tells them to be careful about letting the example of the Pharisees and Herod grow in them. The Pharisees were very religious, but they completely missed the point; they focused on the traditions and rules of Judaism instead of the glory of God. They were so wrapped up in following their religious law, that they forgot the commandments of God and what their religion was supposed to be all about. They focused on disproving Jesus to be who He is. Mark 8:11-12 reads, “The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, asking Him for a sign from Heaven to test Him. And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” The Pharisees weren’t satisfied with the miracles that Jesus had performed, and demanded that He give them a supernatural sign of who He was, but they contradicted their own teachings by doing so. He had performed the miracles that had been outlined by the prophets perfectly, but they refused to accept them.
Jesus also warns them of the leaven of Herod. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and represented the laws of a government that was against Jesus. His family claimed to be Jewish, but rode the fence between Judaism and the Roman society. Much in the same manner as modern society, the governments of the day rejected Jesus and His teachings.
Blindness/Deafness:
“They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this said to them, ‘Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? 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 you picked up?’ They said to Him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?’ And they said to Him, ‘Seven.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’”
The disciples hear Jesus mention leaven, and mistakenly think that He is talking about their lack of bread, but He is not. They seem to forget the two very recent miracles they just watched Him perform in which he fed two separate multitudes. In the first instance, He takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds five thousand men. This crowd was mostly Jewish and He takes compassion on them saying “They were like sheep without a shepherd.” From the five loaves, He feeds the five thousand men AND their families and still has enough left over to fill 12 baskets. The second time He takes seven loaves of bread and a few small fish and feeds four thousand men and their families. This time the crowd is made up of mostly Gentiles, and the disciples are reluctant to help them at first – Jesus refers to this when He asks if they have a hardened heart. In their reluctance to help people purely because they’re not Jewish, the disciples have taken on the example of the Pharisees. Jesus takes compassion on the second crowd because they have come from a great distance and have stayed with Him for three days because they value the teachings and healings He gives more than even food. Jesus is also careful to mention that after this event they fill seven LARGE baskets with left-overs. These baskets were likely carried by the disciples and are much larger than the baskets in the first miracle. They could be compared as large sacks to picnic baskets.
The disciples are worried about having only one loaf of bread with them, but they’ve become blind to who they’re with. They don’t realize that with Jesus one loaf is MORE than enough. He points this out to them, but we can also take this as Him asking us how we can still doubt Him after He has given us so much proof that He is who He says He is. We are like the Pharisees, looking for a special sign so we can know that He speaks the truth, but He’s already proven Himself to us. We’ve become blind to the fact of who He REALLY is. So who is He?
Who He Really Is:
“And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi: and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they told Him, saying, ‘John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.’ And He continued by questioning them, ’But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Thou art the Christ.’” – Mark 8:27-29 NAS
Jesus came to Earth as the “Messiah,” or a “SAVIOR or LIBERATOR.” By His death, He DEFEATED Death and FREED us from sin. These are words of power that describe a God with power far beyond anything we can comprehend. This is a God who SPOKE the universe into existence and breathed life into man. He turned water into wine, healed the blind, fed thousands with one boy’s lunch, and raised the dead from life. So why do we doubt Him? We are like His disciples – we are worried that we aren’t enough and that we won’t last, but we forget what Jesus can do with one loaf of bread. Five loaves fed five thousand men and their families; seven fed four thousand and their families. Each time there was a huge amount left over. Jesus can turn one disciple into many. He started out with just 12 disciples (one of whom betrayed Him and later hung himself) that turned into millions of professing Christians today, but we still doubt that He can use us. He can. So my question to you is: Are Our Eyes Open to Who God Is?
3 comments:
It seems your son has his eyes looking in the right direction. The veil has been lifted and we should be able to see into the heavenlies and see Christ as He is. I'm sure you are very happy with your son.
Thanks, Lou. Yes, indeed, I am very happy with the young man.
Wow, Cody's a preacher? I did not know that. Very cool! Are you going to send him to HSU?
One grammar correction though: "who's" = who is; whose is a possessive pronoun
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