Ben Brinkerhoff – Who Do You Say That I Am? – Class 3

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Good morning, my dear brothers
and sisters.

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OK, admit it, that’s a confusing
story.

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I mean, look at the things we
just read.

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There’s so many questions there.
And when there’s questions,

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there’s fun because we can
explore the scriptures and try

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to dig into what they might be
meaning, because they’re, you

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know, we look at the even
though, even though the story of

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the man who’s who had to, in a
sense, be healed twice.

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What, what’s that about?
And, and how about the, the

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baskets full of bread and the
fragments?

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And Jesus says, how do you don’t
understand?

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And, and we’re looking at going,
I’m not sure I understand.

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Aren’t we, if we’re being honest
with ourselves and, and, and

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the, the, the leaven of the
Pharisees and the, and the

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leaven of Herod, What, what’s
that about?

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And what does that have to do
with them forgetting bread?

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And why does he rebuke them so
much for forgetting bread?

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These are these are things that
are right there in the text.

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And you look at that and you go,
I’m not sure I know what that’s

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about.
And that is the start of a great

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Bible study.
That’s the start of a great

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Bible study, young people.
It’s not about seeing it and,

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and, and having the answers
right away.

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It’s it’s asking yourself the
questions and it’s it, it’s

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exploring and being interested
in the in the answers because

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every word of the Lord Jesus
Christ is important.

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You can take that for certain.
There’s not a single word this

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man says that is not worth
exploring.

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It’s not worth digging into if
it, if it’s written in the

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scripture, it’s there for a
purpose, it’s there for a

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reason.
And if you look into those

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reasons, you’re going to find
wonderful lessons that you can

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live by.
So the the title for this class

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is for this series of classes is
who do you say that I am?

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And of course that that title
speaks to the climax of Matthew

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chapter 16, but I chose it for
excitational reasons because I

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think you’re going to understand
and perceive as a go through the

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study is that understanding who
the Lord Jesus Christ is is what

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all this is about.
Now we know that the that the

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Herodians and the Pharisees,
they didn’t understand who the

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Lord Jesus Christ was.
We we can understand that.

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What’s maybe harder to
understand is had his disciples

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don’t understand who he is
either.

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And that’s where we’re going to
uncover in this chapter.

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We we can perceive that that his
enemies, they don’t understand

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who he is.
Of course they don’t.

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They’re threatened by him, but
his disciples not understanding

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who he is.
You see, if you if you look into

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a text, I don’t know if anyone
hears A psychologist, probably

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some of you are right.
Don’t don’t raise your hand and

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be embarrassed, right?
But but they’ll tell you that

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that being understood when you
don’t feel like you’re

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understood.
That’s maybe the one of the most

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frustrating things you can
experience.

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You can, you can go through many
different difficulties and hard

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shifts and difficult times,
right?

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But if you’re around people that
you feel genuinely understand

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you, then you can cope and get
through that time because you

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feel like at least the people
around me can support me because

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they’ve heard me.
But we don’t feel understood.

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It’s one of the most frustrating
things that leads to isolation.

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It leads to frustration.
It can lead to depression.

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I just want to ask the question,
who understood the Lord Jesus

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Christ?
Who understood this man?

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Obviously the Herodians didn’t,
obviously.

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Obviously the Pharisees and
scribes didn’t.

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We know that.
Did his disciples understand

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him?
Can you can see how this is all

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leading to the question?
Who did men say that I am?

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Can you see that we’re all
leading to that question?

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Why would we need to lead to
that question if in fact people

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did understand who He was?
No one understood this man and

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we’re going to see today that
his own disciples didn’t even

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understand Him.
You know what we’re told in John

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chapter one, verse 11, where
said that he came to his own and

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his own people did not receive
him.

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That is in the in the in the
prologue of John, he came to his

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own and his own people did not
receive him.

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We’re told in Isaiah 53 in
prophecy he was despised and he

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was rejected of men.
He was a man of sorrows and he

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was acquainted with grief.
Who understood this man?

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I think these words speak to a
profound loneliness that our

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Lord experienced.
So here’s what I’m aiming for in

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the studies I’m asking Do we the
children of God, through this

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man, do we see and hear him?
Do we understand who he is?

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Or are we, like his disciples,
blinded by our own assumptions

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and by our own concerns?
Are we so interested in who we

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want Jesus to be that we don’t
know who he is?

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So we’re going to see in this
study that Jesus issues a

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warning to his disciples about
the leaven of the Pharisees and

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the leaven of the Sadducees, and
it’s a warning that they

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completely misunderstand.
We’ll see that this exchange

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about the misunderstanding
reveals their own spiritual

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blindness.
And then we’re going to get a

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story about blindness, probably
not coincidentally.

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We’re going to see and
understand why Jesus reacts so

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strongly to their confusion,
where they failed to perceive,

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and why it is that their hearts
are hardened.

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And we’ll see how this blindness
and hardness of heart reflect a

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greater spiritual challenge that
they needed to overcome.

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And I dare say that I need to
overcome as well.

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So let’s pick up the story, then
the narrative in Mark chapter 8,

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Matthew 16.
Now we’ve already looked already

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that Jesus arrives into an area
called Downmanutha, but Matthew

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terms it Magdala here.
OK.

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In our previous study, we
discussed the only record.

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This is the only recorded visit.
He has the Magdala, and there He

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has an argument with the
Pharisees and the Sadducees who

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demand a sign.
Now why this is the only

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recorded visit to Magdala?
We know that one of His most

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devoted followers, Mary
Magdalene, was from Magdala.

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She was a Magdalene, right?
She was from this city, and Luke

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chapter 8, verse 2 says that
seven demons were cast out of

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her.
We don’t know if He goes to

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Magdala specifically for her or
defined her.

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We’re not told.
So the purpose of his visit is

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not stated, but Scripture
indicates that wherever whatever

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reason that he came to that city
for, he did not stay there long

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because Mark chapter 8, verse 13
says that he left them and got

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into a boat and he departed to
the other side.

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So he goes from here up to
there.

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That’s the journey his disciples
need to take.

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And I want you to get a sense
where it says, and he left them

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and he got into a boat.
Now, I, I don’t know what that

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conveys to you, but I, I get AI
get a sense of urgency.

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He leaves the he leaves the,
the, the scribes and Pharisees

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and Sadducees and he gathers his
disciples and he gets into a

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boat and he parts the other
side.

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And I’d suggest that there was
some urgency in this, in this

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exchange, because we’re told in
Mark chapter 8, verse 14, the

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next verse, that they forgot to
bring bread.

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So their lack of food is
suggesting to me that Jesus

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rushed them and he’s trying to
get distance between his

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disciples and the hostile Jews
in Magdala.

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So Sea of Galilee is about 21
kilometers long and about 13

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kilometers wide.
OK, so you think to yourself,

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how long does it take to go from
here to here?

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Of course you don’t.
You probably don’t go straight

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across.
So I mean, if you went straight

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across, that’s about 10
kilometers.

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And they say, well, that could
take an hour and a half to go 10

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kilometers.
Or if you kind of go a little

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bit more circuitously, maybe
that takes you up to three hours

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if the wind is going against
you.

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OK.
So at some point during this

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crossing, the disciples realized
that in their rush, they’d only

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taken one loaf of bread among
them.

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Matthew’s account places this
realization about one loaf of

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bread when they get to the other
side.

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But Mark actually places the
realization about one loaf of

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bread while they’re still in the
boat.

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And what that suggests is not a
contradiction between Matthew

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and Mark.
What it what it suggests is they

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were talking about the fact they
had one loaf a long time.

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They began the conversation in
the middle of the seat and they

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were still having the
conversation when they got to

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the other side.
They were talking about this a

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long time.
This is not a passing curiosity

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or an interest or oh ho hum, we
only have one loaf of bread.

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They’re concerned about having
one loaf of bread.

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They were talking about it and
talking about it and talking

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about it for an hour or more.
They’re concerned.

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They’re worried, OK, That’s what
I want to just impress upon you.

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They’re worried about it.
And in Mark chapter 8, verse 15,

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we read that Jesus says take
heed, beware of the leaven of

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the Pharisees and the leaven of
Herod or Matthew reads the

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leaven of the Sadducees.
And of course those are very

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much connected.
They confuse.

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Disciples assume that Jesus is
reprimanding them because they

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forgot to take bread.
Now Jesus perceives A

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misunderstanding and he reacts
strongly.

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Now let’s look at that strong
reaction which is found in

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verses 17 and 18.
It says there, why do you

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discuss the fact that you have
no bread?

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Do you not yet perceive or
understand?

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Are your hearts hardened?
Having eyes do you not see?

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Having ears, do you not hear?
And do you not remember?

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OK, so wow, this is quite the
reaction.

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Feels on the surface like an
overreaction, but it’s not.

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Of course it’s not, but reads
that way at first.

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So let’s ask some questions,
shall we?

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Here’s some questions I’d like
to ask.

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Why did Jesus react so
forcefully?

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What was it that the disciples
failed to perceive or

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understand?
And thirdly, why did he accuse

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them of not seeing, hearing and
remembering and thus evidencing

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a hardened heart?
OK, so trying to answer these

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questions are going to guide
this class.

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So I hope you’re curious about
this, because if not, then it’s

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going to be a long hour, right?
Raise your hand if you’re

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curious.
Raise your hand if you’re not.

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I see.
I see if you could use the

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powers of psychology so easily,
can’t you now?

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OK, so you’re curious.
You admit it.

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OK, so you’re going to be
interested in what we’re saying.

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OK, so to start to answer these
questions, let’s go to an

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earlier time, in fact, a very
relevant earlier time, which is

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no doubt linked to what Jesus is
frustrated about here in this

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chapter.
It’s a time when they were also

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on a boat, and it’s a time when
they also failed to appreciate

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the lesson of the loaves.
And it’s a time in which Jesus

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accused them of having a
hardened heart.

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Now, probably some of you in
your mind’s already going here,

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but it’s Mark chapter 6 and
verse 50.

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Now this has to be connected
because of all the different

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points of of overlap we have
between these two passages.

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So this is right after the
feeding of the 5000 young

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people.
So he just had fed the 5000,

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right?
And you know the story that that

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Jesus was walking on water to
them.

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And we read there, for they all
saw him and were terrified.

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But immediately he spoke to him
and said, take heart, it is odd,

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do not be afraid.
And he got into the boat with

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them and the wind ceased and
they were utterly astounded and

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want just maybe just pause
there.

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They were utterly astounded.
Now, by the way, that feels to

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00:14:24,200 –> 00:14:32,240
me like a reasonable reaction,
for they did not understand

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00:14:32,240 –> 00:14:37,040
about the loaves, but their
heart was hardened.

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00:14:37,760 –> 00:14:43,760
OK, so here’s Scripture directly
links the astonishment at Jesus

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00:14:43,760 –> 00:14:47,680
walking in the water to their
failure to understand something

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00:14:47,680 –> 00:14:49,280
about the loaves.
What was that?

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00:14:49,960 –> 00:14:52,240
What do they fail to understand
about the loaves?

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00:14:52,920 –> 00:14:56,520
The phrase utterly sounded or in
the King James, it’s sore,

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00:14:56,520 –> 00:15:03,320
amazed beyond measure, expresses
an overwhelming, maybe even like

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00:15:03,560 –> 00:15:07,200
an incomprehensible level of
shock.

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00:15:08,960 –> 00:15:11,000
And I can understand that.
You can understand that if you

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00:15:11,000 –> 00:15:14,280
saw Jesus walking on water
getting into the boat with you,

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00:15:15,240 –> 00:15:17,640
you would have that sort of
reaction, I think.

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00:15:18,680 –> 00:15:20,680
But why is that evidence of a
hard heart?

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00:15:24,960 –> 00:15:28,120
Here’s another question.
What’s a hard heart?

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00:15:30,960 –> 00:15:32,760
There’s no perfect definition of
a hard heart.

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00:15:33,240 –> 00:15:36,000
I’m going to give you a working
definition, but it’s flawed, and

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00:15:36,040 –> 00:15:39,680
you might seek to make it, help
me make it better.

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00:15:41,720 –> 00:15:47,840
But a hard heart is one that
simply can’t softened to absorb

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00:15:48,040 –> 00:15:52,320
a new truth about God despite
overwhelming evidence.

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00:15:53,000 –> 00:15:58,560
I cannot soften to accept a new
truth about God despite

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00:15:58,760 –> 00:16:02,440
overwhelming evidence.
The best example is probably

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00:16:02,440 –> 00:16:05,280
Pharaoh.
Pharaoh’s heart could not soften

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00:16:05,280 –> 00:16:09,760
to accept the fact that the God
of Israel was the God of gods

240
00:16:09,760 –> 00:16:17,280
and the Lord of Lords, and
therefore he could not turn over

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00:16:17,280 –> 00:16:20,280
and humble himself before that
God to let the people go worship

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00:16:20,400 –> 00:16:22,440
in the desert.
That was Pharaoh.

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00:16:24,400 –> 00:16:29,440
What’s the truth that the
disciples could not absorb

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00:16:29,760 –> 00:16:35,440
despite overwhelming evidence in
Mark 6, the feeding of the 5000?

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00:16:35,440 –> 00:16:37,840
What was it that they could not
understand?

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00:16:38,000 –> 00:16:43,840
Why was their heart hard?
They had just witnessed Jesus

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00:16:43,840 –> 00:16:46,560
multiplied 5 loaves and two fish
that feed thousands.

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00:16:46,800 –> 00:16:51,400
Surely this was a sign.
And yet, although they were

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00:16:51,440 –> 00:16:55,240
obviously eyewitnesses to the
sign, there’s something about

250
00:16:55,240 –> 00:16:57,440
that sign that they didn’t
understand.

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00:16:59,040 –> 00:17:00,440
They didn’t understand its
meaning.

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00:17:03,040 –> 00:17:05,000
They saw it, but they didn’t
know what it meant.

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00:17:09,839 –> 00:17:13,720
In our previous study, we saw
how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees

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00:17:13,720 –> 00:17:16,760
and the Sadducees for demanding
a sign, and He pointed out their

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00:17:16,760 –> 00:17:20,000
ability to interpret the weather
based on the color of the sky.

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00:17:20,000 –> 00:17:24,240
But he criticized them because
they could not discern the signs

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00:17:24,240 –> 00:17:28,920
of His identity.
They could recognize natural

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00:17:28,920 –> 00:17:34,760
patterns, but they were blind to
understand the implications and

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00:17:34,760 –> 00:17:38,120
truths revealed by Jesus.
Miracles.

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00:17:38,480 –> 00:17:41,200
OK, but that’s the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, and we can put

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00:17:41,200 –> 00:17:42,800
them in a box and they’re over
here.

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00:17:42,800 –> 00:17:50,120
They’re the bad box.
OK, what about disciples?

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00:17:52,280 –> 00:17:53,320
We can understand.
Oh, yeah.

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00:17:53,320 –> 00:17:54,960
Heart of heart.
Heart of heart.

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00:17:54,960 –> 00:17:59,960
Proud heart of heart.
What about the disciples in the

266
00:17:59,960 –> 00:18:04,080
boat?
Do you think you’re in the boat?

267
00:18:06,800 –> 00:18:08,880
This one hits more close to
home, don’t you think?

268
00:18:11,040 –> 00:18:12,760
I mean, of course they didn’t
understand.

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00:18:15,400 –> 00:18:17,600
This isn’t blindness outside of
the house.

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00:18:17,600 –> 00:18:24,160
This is blindness in the boat.
Disciples.

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00:18:24,160 –> 00:18:26,240
They saw the feeding of the
5000.

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00:18:27,040 –> 00:18:30,800
But when we’re told they’re
utterly astounded, there’s an

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00:18:30,800 –> 00:18:35,720
implication to being utterly
astounded is that the disciples

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00:18:35,720 –> 00:18:41,720
did not fully comprehend what
the feeding of the 5000 revealed

275
00:18:42,200 –> 00:18:46,720
about Jesus.
They had not yet understood the

276
00:18:46,720 –> 00:18:51,920
full implication of who he was.
Now, of course, that’s what

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00:18:51,920 –> 00:18:54,360
Matthew 16 is all about.
Who am I?

278
00:18:57,280 –> 00:19:01,800
They didn’t understand it yet
and I put forward to you

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00:19:01,800 –> 00:19:07,520
disciples heart was hard because
they didn’t fully understand or

280
00:19:07,520 –> 00:19:11,280
were ready to accept who Jesus
was.

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00:19:12,000 –> 00:19:17,680
See, if they understood the
significance of the loaves, they

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00:19:17,680 –> 00:19:19,920
would quickly come to a resolute
conclusion.

283
00:19:20,080 –> 00:19:25,120
Conclusion.
And one of the things that they

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00:19:25,120 –> 00:19:40,040
would understand is that they
would have no concern whatsoever

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00:19:42,760 –> 00:19:47,440
about bread.
If they understood who Jesus

286
00:19:47,440 –> 00:19:51,760
was, they would no longer be
utterly astounded at His power,

287
00:19:53,480 –> 00:20:00,200
and they would have no concern
whatever about having one loaf

288
00:20:00,520 –> 00:20:04,440
in the boat.
I, I, I, I need a pause for a

289
00:20:04,440 –> 00:20:09,760
moment because maybe that’s not
the power of that is not clear

290
00:20:09,760 –> 00:20:14,240
enough.
The man had just fed 5000 people

291
00:20:18,000 –> 00:20:19,640
and they’re worried about having
one loaf.

292
00:20:22,440 –> 00:20:27,920
Pause and consider that he had
fed 5000 people.

293
00:20:29,800 –> 00:20:31,360
And they’re worried about having
a loaf.

294
00:20:32,480 –> 00:20:38,520
Does that reveal something to
you about how their heart was

295
00:20:38,520 –> 00:20:44,440
still closed?
Jesus says this in Matthew,

296
00:20:44,440 –> 00:20:47,000
excuse me, Mark chapter 8 and
verse 18.

297
00:20:47,000 –> 00:20:52,240
He says having eyes see ye not
having ears hear ye not.

298
00:20:52,440 –> 00:20:59,160
And do ye not remember?
So Jesus had this overwhelming

299
00:20:59,160 –> 00:21:03,120
experience with his miracles.
And it’s that it’s that those

300
00:21:03,120 –> 00:21:07,600
who experience His miracles
don’t understand what the

301
00:21:07,600 –> 00:21:11,560
miracles mean.
With very few exceptions, you

302
00:21:11,560 –> 00:21:16,440
know, I can only think of very,
very few exceptions where

303
00:21:16,440 –> 00:21:19,600
someone witnessed the miracle
and understood what it meant.

304
00:21:21,120 –> 00:21:25,600
One of those exceptions is
probably Mary of Magdalene, she

305
00:21:26,160 –> 00:21:28,800
out of which seven demons were
cast out.

306
00:21:30,160 –> 00:21:32,240
She knew immediately what that
meant.

307
00:21:33,120 –> 00:21:39,320
This man is the Lord, and I will
follow him wherever he goes and

308
00:21:39,320 –> 00:21:43,000
wherever he is.
I need to be, and there’s

309
00:21:43,000 –> 00:21:45,040
nothing more important to me
than this.

310
00:21:47,200 –> 00:21:49,120
And I have no pride with this
man.

311
00:21:49,640 –> 00:21:52,800
I need to be at his feet and
listen to every word he says.

312
00:21:54,400 –> 00:21:58,880
There’s very few examples in the
scripture where Jesus did a

313
00:21:58,880 –> 00:22:01,600
miracle and someone understood
what it meant.

314
00:22:06,800 –> 00:22:10,640
This is his literal experience.
You know, Jesus says here, he

315
00:22:10,640 –> 00:22:14,040
says having eyes, you see not.
He says having ears.

316
00:22:14,040 –> 00:22:18,600
You hear not and do what Mark
does because you know, this is

317
00:22:18,600 –> 00:22:19,800
just amazing what scripture
does.

318
00:22:20,240 –> 00:22:26,160
Mark gives us an example just
before Jesus says that about a

319
00:22:26,160 –> 00:22:30,320
man that was given the gift of
hearing but couldn’t listen.

320
00:22:31,760 –> 00:22:35,240
And then he gives us a miracle
about a man that was given the

321
00:22:35,240 –> 00:22:39,320
gift of sight but couldn’t see.
You think that’s a coincidence?

322
00:22:40,360 –> 00:22:42,840
For example, let’s let’s look at
this example.

323
00:22:42,840 –> 00:22:45,640
This happens in Mark Chapter 7.
We read it yesterday as

324
00:22:45,640 –> 00:22:47,160
introduction to our first
reading.

325
00:22:47,840 –> 00:22:50,880
It’s got that wonderful world,
Afafafa right where you look at

326
00:22:50,880 –> 00:22:52,960
that and you have to practice it
before you get up there because

327
00:22:52,960 –> 00:22:55,520
it’s such an impossible word to
say, right, Right.

328
00:22:55,640 –> 00:22:58,680
So we all know that story based
on that word alone.

329
00:22:58,680 –> 00:23:02,720
We know that story and and
listen, let’s look at this,

330
00:23:02,920 –> 00:23:05,200
right?
And they bring it unto him, one

331
00:23:05,200 –> 00:23:08,400
that was death.
OK, can’t hear you get this.

332
00:23:08,400 –> 00:23:10,960
This is not this is not a play
on words.

333
00:23:10,960 –> 00:23:13,080
This is this is an intentionally
put here.

334
00:23:13,200 –> 00:23:15,520
You’re like, listen, he healed
many people, didn’t he?

335
00:23:15,840 –> 00:23:18,600
It says they broaden him the
lame and the blind and the and

336
00:23:18,600 –> 00:23:21,160
the and the maimed.
But we’re told about the story.

337
00:23:21,160 –> 00:23:23,600
Why?
Well, it says they brought him

338
00:23:23,600 –> 00:23:25,720
one that was deaf and had an
impediment in his speech.

339
00:23:26,000 –> 00:23:29,040
And they beseech him to put his
hand upon him.

340
00:23:29,160 –> 00:23:31,520
And they took him aside from the
multitude, and put his fingers

341
00:23:31,520 –> 00:23:33,840
into his ears, and spit and
touched his tongue.

342
00:23:34,040 –> 00:23:36,400
And looking up to heaven, he
sighed, and Seth unto him,

343
00:23:36,640 –> 00:23:41,040
Effafatha, that is be opened.
And straightway his ears were

344
00:23:41,040 –> 00:23:43,760
opened, and the string of his
tongue was loose, and he spake

345
00:23:43,760 –> 00:23:49,040
plain.
I mean, obviously that in itself

346
00:23:49,040 –> 00:23:52,080
is a stunning miracle, but this
is what I want you to point

347
00:23:52,080 –> 00:23:56,160
listen to.
And he oops this way.

348
00:23:57,200 –> 00:24:05,640
And he charged them that they
should tell no man, but might be

349
00:24:05,640 –> 00:24:07,120
worth underlying the word but
there.

350
00:24:09,080 –> 00:24:17,320
But the more he charged them so
much the more a great deal they

351
00:24:17,320 –> 00:24:22,440
published it.
I don’t know who the they is.

352
00:24:22,440 –> 00:24:26,880
Here is the they the man that
was deaf and his friends, was

353
00:24:26,880 –> 00:24:28,680
they the disciples?
It doesn’t really matter.

354
00:24:30,800 –> 00:24:34,520
The point is, we have a miracle
about a person who couldn’t

355
00:24:34,520 –> 00:24:41,240
listen, and miraculously Jesus
helped that this man to listen,

356
00:24:41,560 –> 00:24:45,120
and the result of the miracle is
that he doesn’t listen.

357
00:24:48,760 –> 00:24:50,800
This is irony.
Do you see this?

358
00:24:51,200 –> 00:24:55,680
It’s irony.
So just before Jesus accuses

359
00:24:55,680 –> 00:25:00,600
them of hearing, you don’t hear,
you don’t understand the

360
00:25:00,600 –> 00:25:05,000
miracles I fed 5000 people.
You don’t understand this.

361
00:25:05,000 –> 00:25:10,000
You’re complaining about a wolf.
But that’s not unusual because

362
00:25:10,000 –> 00:25:12,920
Jesus had just given a man the
gift of listening who couldn’t

363
00:25:12,920 –> 00:25:22,480
listen, OK, and, and, and, and
look at their response, right?

364
00:25:22,480 –> 00:25:27,760
So this man, he cannot hear.
He’s able to hear.

365
00:25:28,120 –> 00:25:32,920
And, and, and, and they respond
this miracle, just the way they

366
00:25:32,920 –> 00:25:35,840
responded to Jesus when he got
into the boat.

367
00:25:35,840 –> 00:25:39,880
Now when it got into the boat
after the feeding of the 5000,

368
00:25:39,880 –> 00:25:41,040
he walked on water, he got on
the boat.

369
00:25:41,160 –> 00:25:44,200
It says they’re utterly
astonished beyond measure.

370
00:25:45,600 –> 00:25:49,480
And look what it says here in
Mark Chapter 7 verse 37.

371
00:25:49,480 –> 00:25:51,440
And they were beyond measure
astonished.

372
00:25:51,480 –> 00:25:53,760
And they’re like, that is not a
compliment.

373
00:25:56,120 –> 00:26:01,040
It means they don’t get it.
Just like in the boat, when he

374
00:26:01,040 –> 00:26:03,480
says your hearts are hardened,
you don’t get it.

375
00:26:04,200 –> 00:26:07,120
You don’t understand that the
Lord Jesus Christ says don’t

376
00:26:07,120 –> 00:26:09,840
tell anyone.
You don’t tell anyone why?

377
00:26:09,920 –> 00:26:12,000
Because he’s the Lord Jesus
Christ.

378
00:26:12,280 –> 00:26:14,360
That’s why you listen to this
man.

379
00:26:14,520 –> 00:26:18,280
If you know who he is, you get
it.

380
00:26:18,280 –> 00:26:21,600
People don’t listen to him.
This was his experience

381
00:26:21,760 –> 00:26:26,560
everywhere he went.
People don’t listen to him, no

382
00:26:26,560 –> 00:26:31,840
matter what miracle he does, no
matter what sign he shows, they

383
00:26:31,840 –> 00:26:34,520
don’t know who He is, they don’t
recognize who He is.

384
00:26:34,640 –> 00:26:36,400
They don’t give him the
authority he has.

385
00:26:36,520 –> 00:26:39,320
Not only the Pharisees and the
Sadducees, even the people that

386
00:26:39,320 –> 00:26:43,720
received the miracles, this was
his experience of life.

387
00:26:47,400 –> 00:26:50,160
This is what the Lord Jesus
Christ experienced day in day

388
00:26:50,160 –> 00:26:52,480
out.
People not understanding who He

389
00:26:52,480 –> 00:26:59,280
is over and over again because
so this is a story about a man

390
00:26:59,400 –> 00:27:01,360
that was given the ability to
hear that couldn’t listen.

391
00:27:01,720 –> 00:27:03,640
How about a man given the
ability to see that couldn’t

392
00:27:03,640 –> 00:27:06,800
perceive?
Well, that’s our next story,

393
00:27:08,040 –> 00:27:12,160
Mark chapter 8, verses 22 to 25.
Now these two stories sandwich

394
00:27:12,200 –> 00:27:16,600
this whole experience that Jesus
has in Magdala.

395
00:27:17,680 –> 00:27:22,360
We read there that it comes to a
Bethsaida, and they bring a

396
00:27:22,360 –> 00:27:27,680
blind man unto him and besought
him to touch him, and he could.

397
00:27:27,720 –> 00:27:31,240
And he took the blind man by the
hand and let him out of the

398
00:27:31,240 –> 00:27:34,160
town.
And when he had spit on his eyes

399
00:27:34,160 –> 00:27:38,040
and put his hands upon him, he
asked him if he saw aught.

400
00:27:39,080 –> 00:27:42,160
And he looked up and said, I’m
see men as trees walking.

401
00:27:43,680 –> 00:27:46,480
And after that he put his hands
again upon his eyes and made him

402
00:27:46,480 –> 00:27:49,720
look up, and he was restored and
saw every man clearly.

403
00:27:51,760 –> 00:27:54,680
So having the deaf man who’s
hearing was restored but unable

404
00:27:54,680 –> 00:27:57,920
to listen, we now have the blind
man whose side is restored, but

405
00:27:57,920 –> 00:28:02,560
he’s unable to perceive.
I probably not a coincidence.

406
00:28:05,200 –> 00:28:07,000
Now there in our community,
there’s a lot of discussion

407
00:28:07,000 –> 00:28:10,840
about this, this miracle and
what it means.

408
00:28:11,920 –> 00:28:16,960
But the fact that this miracle
falls hard on the heels of Jesus

409
00:28:16,960 –> 00:28:20,040
saying his disciples seeing you
cannot see.

410
00:28:21,160 –> 00:28:24,040
Given that that’s what Jesus had
just said a few verses earlier.

411
00:28:25,680 –> 00:28:28,560
I think this miracle is about
someone seeing but cannot see.

412
00:28:36,080 –> 00:28:40,200
The thing is, people can have
miraculous things happen to

413
00:28:40,200 –> 00:28:46,000
them, even acknowledge that the
source of the miracle must be

414
00:28:46,000 –> 00:28:50,240
God, and still not understand,
still not perceive.

415
00:28:51,280 –> 00:28:55,000
You know, there’s a man in the
Old Testament who had witnessed

416
00:28:55,000 –> 00:29:00,480
several miracles, and it even
acknowledged that the God of

417
00:29:00,480 –> 00:29:02,960
heaven must be the source of
those miracles.

418
00:29:03,160 –> 00:29:06,360
And yet that man could not
perceive who God was.

419
00:29:08,920 –> 00:29:15,560
And interestingly, that man is
described as a tree.

420
00:29:18,320 –> 00:29:19,600
You know what I’m thinking
about, don’t you?

421
00:29:24,120 –> 00:29:30,240
Daniel chapter 4, verses 20 to
22, it says this is in the

422
00:29:30,240 –> 00:29:36,040
context of a dream that
Nebuchadnezzar had had, and he

423
00:29:36,040 –> 00:29:38,240
asked Daniel for interpretation.
And Daniel comes to him and

424
00:29:38,240 –> 00:29:41,680
says, The tree that thou solace,
which grew and was strong, whose

425
00:29:41,680 –> 00:29:45,960
height reached up into heaven,
the sight thereof to all the

426
00:29:45,960 –> 00:29:49,080
earth, whose leaves were fair,
and the fruit thereof much, and

427
00:29:49,080 –> 00:29:54,160
it was meat for all, under which
the beasts of the field dwelt,

428
00:29:54,160 –> 00:29:57,680
and upon which branches the
fowls of the heaven had their

429
00:29:57,680 –> 00:30:00,240
habitation.
It is thou, O king, that are

430
00:30:00,240 –> 00:30:04,760
grown and become strong, and thy
greatness is grown and reacheth

431
00:30:04,920 –> 00:30:08,080
unto heaven, and thy dominion to
the ends of the earth.

432
00:30:08,080 –> 00:30:11,400
So here we have Nebuchadnezzar,
described interestingly as a

433
00:30:11,400 –> 00:30:14,720
tree.
Now you’d have to admit that

434
00:30:14,720 –> 00:30:19,000
Nebuchadnezzar was a man who had
seen great miracles, no doubt.

435
00:30:19,400 –> 00:30:21,080
How about the burning fiery
furnace?

436
00:30:21,080 –> 00:30:32,040
For one, he had received amazing
visions, such as, you know, we

437
00:30:32,040 –> 00:30:36,320
saw the image of the gold,
silver, brass, iron and iron

438
00:30:36,320 –> 00:30:41,440
mixed with clay.
He had seen that vision

439
00:30:41,440 –> 00:30:45,760
interpreted, although he had not
told anyone what the dream was.

440
00:30:46,640 –> 00:30:51,560
So he’d seen many miracles.
But my question to you is this,

441
00:30:54,520 –> 00:30:56,120
did they, Mechanizer understood
what they meant?

442
00:31:00,800 –> 00:31:09,350
Did he?
He was like a majestic tree.

443
00:31:10,070 –> 00:31:14,350
He was tall and he was proud,
but he didn’t understand that

444
00:31:14,350 –> 00:31:25,120
God had planted and watered him
for his purpose until we’re told

445
00:31:25,120 –> 00:31:33,320
in Daniel chapter 5 verse 25,
till thou know that the most

446
00:31:33,320 –> 00:31:38,160
high ruleth in the Kingdom of
men and giveth it to whomsoever

447
00:31:38,720 –> 00:31:43,000
he will.
It was after this vision of the

448
00:31:43,000 –> 00:31:45,960
tree was fulfilled that
Nebuchadnezzar saw clearly.

449
00:31:49,440 –> 00:31:51,720
OK, but here’s my here’s my
question to you.

450
00:31:52,880 –> 00:31:55,400
Were the disciples so very
different than Nebuchadnezzar?

451
00:31:57,720 –> 00:32:02,560
They’d seen miracles.
Nebuchadnezzar saw miracles, but

452
00:32:02,560 –> 00:32:04,680
they they really understand what
they meant.

453
00:32:09,040 –> 00:32:13,120
Did they know what the miracles
implied?

454
00:32:15,600 –> 00:32:19,560
See, Nebuchadnezzar believed
that no other God could deliver

455
00:32:20,080 –> 00:32:22,080
like the God of Israel could
deliver.

456
00:32:23,760 –> 00:32:26,760
But did he know that same God of
Israel ruled over the kingdoms

457
00:32:26,760 –> 00:32:32,720
of men and gave those kingdoms
to whomsoever he will?

458
00:32:34,800 –> 00:32:38,080
He believed that God had power.
No doubt he had said already,

459
00:32:39,920 –> 00:32:41,760
but did he understand what the
power meant?

460
00:32:44,200 –> 00:32:47,720
I suggest to you that this
describes the disciples as we

461
00:32:47,720 –> 00:32:50,400
encounter them in marks 6-7 and
eight.

462
00:32:52,600 –> 00:32:56,240
I’d say so because Jesus says
hearing, they could not hear,

463
00:32:57,240 –> 00:32:59,520
and he says seeing they cannot
perceive.

464
00:33:01,080 –> 00:33:04,720
In mark 6, they’re utterly
astounded at the miracle of the

465
00:33:04,720 –> 00:33:06,040
loaves.
They’re hard.

466
00:33:06,040 –> 00:33:10,720
Is hard hard.
We shouldn’t be surprised then

467
00:33:11,920 –> 00:33:16,560
that in the context of the
hardness of their heart, the

468
00:33:16,560 –> 00:33:20,200
thing that Jesus decides to
bring up to them, the thing he

469
00:33:20,200 –> 00:33:24,480
asked them to recall to mind was
the feeding of the 5000, the

470
00:33:24,480 –> 00:33:29,120
feeding of the 4000.
So we read then in Mark Jesus

471
00:33:29,120 –> 00:33:35,160
rebuke it says there I break the
five loaves among 5000.

472
00:33:35,160 –> 00:33:37,400
How many baskets full of
fragments take you up?

473
00:33:38,400 –> 00:33:43,200
They send to him 12.
And when the seven among the

474
00:33:43,200 –> 00:33:47,480
4000, how many baskets full of
fragments took you up and they

475
00:33:47,480 –> 00:33:53,480
said 7.
He said to them, how is it that

476
00:33:53,480 –> 00:33:59,600
you do not understand?
So what is Jesus getting to by

477
00:33:59,600 –> 00:34:04,440
citing baskets and fragments?
Now this is a situation where

478
00:34:04,440 –> 00:34:05,960
there has to be layers of
meaning.

479
00:34:06,280 –> 00:34:09,320
Every word young people of in
the Bible is important.

480
00:34:09,520 –> 00:34:12,280
Every word of the Lord Jesus
Christ is important.

481
00:34:12,520 –> 00:34:15,199
So numbers like 12 and seven are
important.

482
00:34:15,760 –> 00:34:18,920
The feeding of the 5000 among
the Jews, the feeding of the

483
00:34:18,920 –> 00:34:21,920
4000 when the Gentiles in
Decapolis is important.

484
00:34:22,400 –> 00:34:24,600
Bread itself is a rich Bible
symbol.

485
00:34:25,560 –> 00:34:29,040
The words for baskets in this
verse are different from one

486
00:34:29,040 –> 00:34:30,639
another.
That must be important.

487
00:34:31,040 –> 00:34:35,520
There’s just no word in the
Bible that isn’t important.

488
00:34:35,520 –> 00:34:38,199
There’s no word the Lord Jesus
Christ says isn’t important.

489
00:34:38,199 –> 00:34:40,920
And God willing, we’re going to
look at some of those details

490
00:34:41,040 –> 00:34:43,440
and we’re going to find some
symbolic meaning.

491
00:34:43,560 –> 00:34:46,320
But here’s the thing I want you
to see before we look at any of

492
00:34:46,320 –> 00:34:52,840
those things is that the clear
and obvious and undeniable

493
00:34:52,840 –> 00:34:59,360
implication of what Jesus is
saying is I fed 5000 men and

494
00:35:01,080 –> 00:35:10,200
there was leftover.
I fed 4000 men and there was

495
00:35:10,200 –> 00:35:16,880
more than enough.
Don’t you understand?

496
00:35:18,440 –> 00:35:22,040
Can you see?
He say, you see the miracles,

497
00:35:22,080 –> 00:35:23,200
but you don’t know what they
mean.

498
00:35:23,200 –> 00:35:25,120
You hear the teaching.
You don’t perceive the authority

499
00:35:25,120 –> 00:35:28,040
of the one who’s teaching you
seeing.

500
00:35:28,040 –> 00:35:30,840
You don’t see hearing, you don’t
hear.

501
00:35:31,680 –> 00:35:34,800
You’re worried about bread.
You don’t understand the manner

502
00:35:34,800 –> 00:35:36,440
of the man who’s with you in the
boat.

503
00:35:39,400 –> 00:35:45,720
So Matthew adds this in Matthew
chapter 16 verses 11 and 12.

504
00:35:45,720 –> 00:35:49,000
He adds, How is it that you do
not understand that I spoke to

505
00:35:49,000 –> 00:35:54,520
you not concerning bread, but
that ye should be beware the

506
00:35:54,520 –> 00:35:57,520
leaven of the Pharisees and of
the Sadducees.

507
00:36:00,280 –> 00:36:05,400
Then they understood then
understood they how he bade them

508
00:36:05,400 –> 00:36:10,400
not beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the doctrine of

509
00:36:10,680 –> 00:36:18,120
the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Tell me, why would Jesus be so

510
00:36:18,120 –> 00:36:20,320
concerned that his disciples
thought he was talking about

511
00:36:20,320 –> 00:36:24,320
actual bread rather than
doctrine?

512
00:36:25,120 –> 00:36:29,640
He’s Jesus is really concerned
that they are confusing this.

513
00:36:31,360 –> 00:36:35,400
Jesus is concerned that that
that disciples think he’s

514
00:36:35,480 –> 00:36:37,320
actually talking to them about
bread.

515
00:36:39,720 –> 00:36:43,280
Now think this through.
If Jesus was talking about

516
00:36:43,280 –> 00:36:46,920
bread, in that case he’d be some
saying something along these

517
00:36:46,920 –> 00:36:48,080
lines.
And I want you to pay attention

518
00:36:48,080 –> 00:36:50,520
to this because you don’t.
If you miss this, you might miss

519
00:36:50,520 –> 00:36:53,920
a little bit of what I want to
say if, if, if they actually if,

520
00:36:54,200 –> 00:36:56,920
if they are, if they actually
thought Jesus was talking about

521
00:36:56,920 –> 00:37:01,040
literal bread, then they would
be assuming that Jesus was

522
00:37:01,040 –> 00:37:05,280
saying something along the lines
of beware the leavened bread

523
00:37:06,680 –> 00:37:09,200
that derives from the Pharisees
and the Sadducees.

524
00:37:09,200 –> 00:37:13,960
That bread is tainted.
Avoid buying their bread.

525
00:37:15,560 –> 00:37:17,680
So if he’s talking about bread,
that’s what he’s saying.

526
00:37:18,160 –> 00:37:22,520
He’s saying beware buying the
bread, the leavened bread that

527
00:37:22,520 –> 00:37:24,440
comes from the Pharisees and the
Sadducees.

528
00:37:24,640 –> 00:37:28,800
Their bread is tainted.
Avoid buying their bread.

529
00:37:28,960 –> 00:37:31,120
If he was literally speaking
about bread, that’s what he was

530
00:37:31,120 –> 00:37:34,400
saying.
Now, what would be problematic

531
00:37:35,920 –> 00:37:41,600
if Jesus was actually saying
that precisely this to

532
00:37:41,600 –> 00:37:47,040
discriminate who you buy bread
from because the source of the

533
00:37:47,040 –> 00:37:54,200
bread taints the bread, is the
doctrine of the Pharisees and

534
00:37:54,200 –> 00:37:58,680
Sadducees.
It was the exact opposite.

535
00:37:59,080 –> 00:38:03,760
That was their doctrine.
And if if he was talking about

536
00:38:03,760 –> 00:38:07,000
literal bread, then they would
be assuming that he was teaching

537
00:38:07,000 –> 00:38:09,360
the same doctrine that they’re
teaching and he’s actually

538
00:38:09,360 –> 00:38:13,800
telling them to avoid doctrine.
You can see why he’s he’s not

539
00:38:13,800 –> 00:38:15,800
very happy with his
misinterpretation.

540
00:38:16,600 –> 00:38:19,320
Now, I mean, to understand this
a little bit better, we have to

541
00:38:19,320 –> 00:38:21,880
kind of see what the New
Testament gospels teach to us

542
00:38:21,880 –> 00:38:25,400
about the teaching at that time
about bread and about how is

543
00:38:25,400 –> 00:38:28,040
used to discriminate.
For example, in Matthew chapter

544
00:38:28,040 –> 00:38:35,080
15, so 1 chapter earlier verses
2 and 11 we read there, why do

545
00:38:35,080 –> 00:38:39,640
thy disciples transgress through
tradition of the elders, for

546
00:38:39,640 –> 00:38:42,360
they wash not their hands when
they eat bread.

547
00:38:43,080 –> 00:38:46,600
Verse 11 says it’s not that
which goeth into the mouth that

548
00:38:46,600 –> 00:38:51,080
defileth a man, but that which
cometh out of the mouth this

549
00:38:51,080 –> 00:38:57,120
defileth a man.
So so doctrine about defiled

550
00:38:57,120 –> 00:39:05,160
foods.
What defiles was used by the

551
00:39:05,160 –> 00:39:08,560
religious leaders of Jesus day
to discriminate against 2

552
00:39:11,320 –> 00:39:13,040
discriminate against the
Gentiles.

553
00:39:14,200 –> 00:39:19,440
I I want you just to note how
the Samaritan woman is in shock

554
00:39:19,440 –> 00:39:21,120
when Jesus asked her for a
drink.

555
00:39:21,840 –> 00:39:23,680
Jesus said that.
Then saith the Samaritan woman

556
00:39:23,680 –> 00:39:26,760
unto him.
How is it that thou being a Jew

557
00:39:26,880 –> 00:39:30,200
asketh drink of me?
She’s shocked.

558
00:39:32,760 –> 00:39:35,760
A Jew would never even ask the
Samaritan to draw water from a

559
00:39:35,760 –> 00:39:40,200
well.
And the Samaritan woman says the

560
00:39:40,200 –> 00:39:42,600
Jews have no dealings with the
Samaritans.

561
00:39:42,600 –> 00:39:45,360
And what she means by no
dealings is you will not drink

562
00:39:45,360 –> 00:39:48,320
anything we draw, you will not
eat anything we bake.

563
00:39:50,360 –> 00:39:52,720
You will not have any meal or
fellowship with us.

564
00:39:52,840 –> 00:39:58,640
You have no dealings with us.
Now think about that for a

565
00:39:58,640 –> 00:40:01,440
moment.
The disciples are concerned that

566
00:40:01,440 –> 00:40:05,320
they don’t have enough bread.
They think that Jesus is

567
00:40:05,320 –> 00:40:09,040
rebuking them for this and
telling them not to buy bread

568
00:40:09,040 –> 00:40:12,320
from groups associated with the
Pharisees and Sadducees.

569
00:40:13,720 –> 00:40:16,400
If they don’t buy bread from any
groups associated with the

570
00:40:16,400 –> 00:40:18,720
Pharisees and Sadducees, who are
they going to have to buy bread

571
00:40:18,720 –> 00:40:21,320
from?
From the Gentiles?

572
00:40:21,520 –> 00:40:23,080
And they’re thinking this is a
problem.

573
00:40:27,120 –> 00:40:29,640
That’s Jewish discrimination
doctrine.

574
00:40:32,440 –> 00:40:35,920
It’s not rooted in the word of
God, but it’s rooted in

575
00:40:35,920 –> 00:40:40,760
nationalistic pride.
It’s rooted in the ideas of men.

576
00:40:41,040 –> 00:40:46,240
Now the Mishnah, written around
200 AD, codified a lot of the

577
00:40:46,240 –> 00:40:50,560
Jewish thinking at that time
about food laws and how to deal

578
00:40:50,560 –> 00:40:54,120
with Gentiles and about purity
and interaction.

579
00:40:54,960 –> 00:40:58,840
Now there’s a section of the
mission called Avodah Zarah,

580
00:40:59,000 –> 00:41:02,520
which literally means foreign
worship or idolatry, Avodah

581
00:41:02,520 –> 00:41:05,640
zarah.
And if you look at Avodah Zarah

582
00:41:08,280 –> 00:41:16,040
26, it says their bread and
their oil are prohibited.

583
00:41:17,080 –> 00:41:18,640
Avodah Zarah.
You might want to write that in

584
00:41:18,640 –> 00:41:21,120
your margin just so you have a
reference to define where this

585
00:41:21,120 –> 00:41:23,520
is prohibited.
The mission not prohibited.

586
00:41:23,520 –> 00:41:26,040
You buy their bread, but their
oil was permitted.

587
00:41:26,040 –> 00:41:28,480
See, Caleb, I have to quote from
something that’s not the Bible

588
00:41:28,480 –> 00:41:31,160
every talk, right?
I was talking to Caleb Warren

589
00:41:31,160 –> 00:41:32,760
about this.
I can’t help myself, Right.

590
00:41:33,760 –> 00:41:34,720
History major.
You see.

591
00:41:35,840 –> 00:41:40,280
So their oil was prohibited when
there is no alternative.

592
00:41:40,480 –> 00:41:43,640
So only only when there’s a
permitted, I should say the only

593
00:41:43,640 –> 00:41:46,280
when there’s no alternative can
you buy even their oil.

594
00:41:50,080 –> 00:41:53,760
So think about it.
This is the teaching of the

595
00:41:53,760 –> 00:41:56,520
time.
But what had Jesus just just

596
00:41:56,520 –> 00:42:01,800
done?
What he just done?

597
00:42:03,960 –> 00:42:06,960
He shared bread with 4000
Gentiles.

598
00:42:10,520 –> 00:42:11,960
What do you think he thought of
their teaching?

599
00:42:17,140 –> 00:42:20,140
You see what a profound thing it
was for Jesus to break bread

600
00:42:20,140 –> 00:42:24,340
with 4000 Gentiles.
Did you see that’s a profound

601
00:42:24,340 –> 00:42:30,360
thing?
Do you see how hugely anti

602
00:42:30,360 –> 00:42:36,680
cultural that was of the Lord?
So Jesus is not asking his

603
00:42:36,680 –> 00:42:40,000
disciples to mirror Jewish
discrimination doctrine.

604
00:42:40,160 –> 00:42:45,880
That was not his doctrine.
That was their doctrine.

605
00:42:47,880 –> 00:42:52,200
He wanted His disciples to avoid
the teaching of the Pharisees

606
00:42:52,200 –> 00:42:56,640
and the Sadducees and it was
their self important doctrine

607
00:42:57,160 –> 00:42:59,840
that it was the reason they
couldn’t perceive that the signs

608
00:42:59,840 –> 00:43:03,040
they were seeing pointed to the
fact that He was the Messiah.

609
00:43:03,280 –> 00:43:07,480
It was because the Gentiles were
unburdened by Jewish doctrine

610
00:43:07,600 –> 00:43:10,000
that their eyes were open that
they could actually see what

611
00:43:10,000 –> 00:43:12,280
they were seeing and behold and
know who He was.

612
00:43:16,560 –> 00:43:21,720
Jewish doctrine is worth looking
into because on the surface the

613
00:43:21,720 –> 00:43:24,760
Pharisees and the Sadducees had
very different doctrine.

614
00:43:25,680 –> 00:43:28,760
Yet it’s interesting that Jesus
says avoid the doctrine of the

615
00:43:28,760 –> 00:43:31,680
Pharisees and the Sadducees now,
but they had very different

616
00:43:31,680 –> 00:43:34,560
doctrine.
So let’s look into their

617
00:43:34,560 –> 00:43:37,360
doctrine, see how they’re
different and then see where the

618
00:43:37,360 –> 00:43:39,840
commonality is that Jesus must
be referring to.

619
00:43:39,920 –> 00:43:42,560
He says avoid the doctrine of
the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

620
00:43:42,920 –> 00:43:45,200
So first the doctrine of the
Pharisees.

621
00:43:45,320 –> 00:43:48,080
Well, we’re told that the
Pharisees weapon was hypocrisy

622
00:43:49,320 –> 00:43:53,600
in Luke chapter 12 verse one.
This means they would

623
00:43:53,600 –> 00:43:56,640
hypocritically teach one thing,
but secretly they would do

624
00:43:56,640 –> 00:43:59,080
another.
Why?

625
00:43:59,360 –> 00:44:01,360
Because they want to be held in
high esteem.

626
00:44:01,640 –> 00:44:06,120
So they built up man made rules
that they could keep publicly so

627
00:44:06,120 –> 00:44:08,320
other people would know how
religious they were.

628
00:44:09,320 –> 00:44:13,720
The Pharisees judge Jesus then
based on their own man made laws

629
00:44:13,720 –> 00:44:17,440
that they called traditions, and
they would condemn Jesus when he

630
00:44:17,440 –> 00:44:21,400
forsook those traditions because
he was keeping God’s righteous

631
00:44:21,400 –> 00:44:24,120
character and mercy.
So that was the doctrine of the

632
00:44:24,120 –> 00:44:29,800
Pharisees, to interpret the law,
to call it traditions, to impose

633
00:44:29,800 –> 00:44:33,640
it upon others, to not keep it
themselves, and to do so, so

634
00:44:33,640 –> 00:44:35,720
that they look religious and
important in front of the

635
00:44:35,720 –> 00:44:37,760
people, which the Scripture
calls hypocrisy.

636
00:44:37,840 –> 00:44:41,320
That’s their doctrine.
What about the doctrine of the

637
00:44:41,320 –> 00:44:43,680
Sadducees?
Well, the Sadducees doctrine

638
00:44:43,680 –> 00:44:47,920
taught them that there was no
hope because they didn’t believe

639
00:44:47,920 –> 00:44:52,520
in a resurrection.
So doctrines like resurrection

640
00:44:52,800 –> 00:44:55,800
are clearly elucidated in the
later prophets.

641
00:44:56,000 –> 00:44:58,800
But they didn’t accept that the
later prophets were inspired.

642
00:45:00,120 –> 00:45:02,760
Of course it was very convenient
that they didn’t believe the

643
00:45:02,760 –> 00:45:06,200
later prophets were inspired
because the later prophets were

644
00:45:06,200 –> 00:45:09,840
mainly non priests.
They wouldn’t want to accept the

645
00:45:09,840 –> 00:45:12,000
fact there was a bunch of non
priests out there in teaching

646
00:45:12,000 –> 00:45:13,560
roles.
That would definitely erode

647
00:45:13,560 –> 00:45:15,120
their authority.
Not interested in that

648
00:45:15,120 –> 00:45:21,200
whatsoever.
So, and they also would have to

649
00:45:21,200 –> 00:45:25,440
acknowledge that those later
prophets repeatedly condemned

650
00:45:25,840 –> 00:45:29,040
political association with
Gentiles, and the Pharisees

651
00:45:29,040 –> 00:45:31,400
loved their political
associations with Gentiles.

652
00:45:32,000 –> 00:45:33,520
So Sadducees couldn’t accept
that.

653
00:45:34,720 –> 00:45:40,320
So absent revelation from the
prophets, the law itself offered

654
00:45:40,320 –> 00:45:45,240
no hope of salvation afterlife.
So the Sadducees thought, well,

655
00:45:45,240 –> 00:45:47,760
there’s no hope for anything
after this life might as well

656
00:45:47,760 –> 00:45:53,040
maximize today.
And they pursued politics, they

657
00:45:53,040 –> 00:45:56,760
must sued, pursued materialism,
they pursued status.

658
00:45:57,080 –> 00:46:01,320
They accommodated themselves
with Herod and were self

659
00:46:01,320 –> 00:46:04,880
important, holding official
duties and offices.

660
00:46:06,120 –> 00:46:08,640
They rejected Jesus for
threatening their power sharing

661
00:46:08,640 –> 00:46:12,560
system with the Romans and for
calling on them to repent.

662
00:46:13,760 –> 00:46:16,040
So that was the doctrine of the
Sadducees.

663
00:46:18,240 –> 00:46:20,640
So what doctrine is in common
brothers and sisters?

664
00:46:23,480 –> 00:46:28,720
Well both Pharisee and Sadducee
interpreted scripture and I will

665
00:46:29,240 –> 00:46:34,480
venture to say a self-centered
way in order to build up and

666
00:46:34,480 –> 00:46:38,720
project their own status in
Jewish society.

667
00:46:39,480 –> 00:46:43,240
They use God’s word and the
power they gain from it in a

668
00:46:43,240 –> 00:46:49,520
self selfish way.
And because this self-centered

669
00:46:49,520 –> 00:46:54,040
point of view was threatened by
Jesus, they were dollop hearing

670
00:46:54,520 –> 00:46:58,160
and they were dollop seeing.
And they’re unwilling and unable

671
00:46:58,160 –> 00:47:00,680
to see the signs right in front
of them because it threatened

672
00:47:00,680 –> 00:47:02,600
them.
It threatened their place and

673
00:47:02,600 –> 00:47:06,840
status in society.
That’s their combined doctrine.

674
00:47:10,520 –> 00:47:14,760
But here’s a question.
Why would Jesus link doctrine to

675
00:47:14,760 –> 00:47:16,120
bread anyways?
To leaven.

676
00:47:17,680 –> 00:47:19,240
Kind of an interesting
association.

677
00:47:19,400 –> 00:47:22,920
I mean, we know that it spreads.
Doctrine spreads, leaven

678
00:47:22,920 –> 00:47:27,720
spreads.
Why would he link doctrine to

679
00:47:27,720 –> 00:47:37,140
bread?
Think about the first

680
00:47:37,140 –> 00:47:41,740
temptation.
We’re told in the first

681
00:47:41,740 –> 00:47:49,520
temptation that Jesus was 100
and the temptation was this use

682
00:47:49,720 –> 00:47:53,040
your miraculous power in a
selfish way.

683
00:47:55,000 –> 00:47:57,200
And what was the basis of that
temptation?

684
00:47:58,760 –> 00:48:04,080
Turn the stone into bread.
Using God’s power in a selfish

685
00:48:04,080 –> 00:48:08,200
way, turn the stone into bread.
But what was Jesus response?

686
00:48:12,840 –> 00:48:23,000
Jesus response was, man shall
not live by bread alone, but by

687
00:48:23,000 –> 00:48:26,600
every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of God.

688
00:48:28,640 –> 00:48:30,880
The Pharisees and Sadducees
didn’t live by the words that

689
00:48:30,880 –> 00:48:33,040
proceed out of the mouth of God.
They live by the words that

690
00:48:33,040 –> 00:48:36,960
proceed from their own mouth,
their own traditions, their own

691
00:48:36,960 –> 00:48:44,360
interpretations.
You see, that’s the source of

692
00:48:44,360 –> 00:48:52,200
doctrine, the mouth of God.
They wanted to use their own

693
00:48:52,200 –> 00:48:57,000
power to make their own bread,
to fill their own stomachs.

694
00:48:57,200 –> 00:48:59,880
They want to use their place in
society.

695
00:49:00,000 –> 00:49:03,800
They want to use their power for
self-centered reasons.

696
00:49:04,120 –> 00:49:07,320
Jesus had stared down that
temptation.

697
00:49:07,440 –> 00:49:10,640
He called it bread, and He will
not be filled with it.

698
00:49:12,400 –> 00:49:16,520
Beware the leaven of the scribes
and Pharisees.

699
00:49:16,600 –> 00:49:20,160
They’ve made their own bread.
It’s full of leaven, and their

700
00:49:20,160 –> 00:49:24,440
berries are full of it, and they
cannot hear, they cannot see

701
00:49:24,440 –> 00:49:33,000
because of it.
And amongst the many doctrines

702
00:49:33,400 –> 00:49:37,120
that both these groups adhered
to was to never eat with

703
00:49:37,120 –> 00:49:41,960
Gentiles.
But Jesus had just fed 4000

704
00:49:41,960 –> 00:49:45,720
Gentiles so they wouldn’t go
away and be faint on the way,

705
00:49:46,040 –> 00:49:48,600
and that he had done that with
God’s blessing because he prayed

706
00:49:48,600 –> 00:49:53,640
before he offered.
I think Jesus is driving in this

707
00:49:53,640 –> 00:49:58,800
section giving them a warning
about Pharisee and Sadducee self

708
00:49:58,800 –> 00:50:02,280
important doctrine which
included the rejection of

709
00:50:02,280 –> 00:50:05,760
Gentiles.
And he directs their thinking to

710
00:50:05,760 –> 00:50:09,160
the feeding of the Jewish 4000
and the feeding of the Gentile,

711
00:50:09,480 –> 00:50:13,160
excuse me, Jewish 5000 and the
Gentile 4000.

712
00:50:14,040 –> 00:50:17,440
And he points them to
specifically, not to the bread.

713
00:50:19,400 –> 00:50:21,520
What does he point them to
instead of bread?

714
00:50:26,040 –> 00:50:32,880
He points them to the fragments.
You notice that look at Mark

715
00:50:32,880 –> 00:50:38,360
chapter 8 verses 19 to 20.
When I break the five loaves

716
00:50:38,360 –> 00:50:43,600
among 5000, how many baskets
full of fragments took ye up?

717
00:50:44,600 –> 00:50:49,720
They say in Him 12 and when the
seven among 4000, how many

718
00:50:49,720 –> 00:50:54,960
baskets of fragments took ye up?
And they said seven.

719
00:50:56,400 –> 00:50:59,120
Why is Jesus focusing on
fragments?

720
00:51:03,920 –> 00:51:07,760
Well our first clue comes from
John chapter 6 after the feeding

721
00:51:07,760 –> 00:51:10,640
of the 5000.
Jesus says this in John 6 verses

722
00:51:10,640 –> 00:51:13,240
12 and 13.
When they were filled, he said

723
00:51:13,240 –> 00:51:18,240
to his disciples, Gather up the
fragments that remain, that

724
00:51:18,240 –> 00:51:22,120
nothing be lost.
Therefore they gathered them

725
00:51:22,120 –> 00:51:24,960
together and filled 12 baskets
with the fragments of the five

726
00:51:24,960 –> 00:51:28,800
barley loaves, which remained
over and above unto them that

727
00:51:28,800 –> 00:51:32,280
had eaten.
So the key with fragments is

728
00:51:32,280 –> 00:51:35,120
that nothing was lost.
You see that very clearly.

729
00:51:35,320 –> 00:51:37,800
The key with fragments is that
nothing was lost.

730
00:51:38,000 –> 00:51:41,280
The fragments are not for the
ones that originally ate the

731
00:51:41,280 –> 00:51:43,720
meal, because those ones are
already full.

732
00:51:45,840 –> 00:51:49,600
The fragments are gathered in
the baskets, presumably to give

733
00:51:49,600 –> 00:51:50,960
to the ones that are still
hungry.

734
00:51:54,080 –> 00:51:57,320
Now, there’s one particular
story in the Bible, in the

735
00:51:57,320 –> 00:52:00,040
Gospels, I should say.
There’s one particular story in

736
00:52:00,040 –> 00:52:03,240
the Gospels about someone who is
desperate for fragments.

737
00:52:03,560 –> 00:52:05,880
Can you think of it?
Who?

738
00:52:05,880 –> 00:52:10,840
What’s the story in the Gospels
about someone who was desperate

739
00:52:10,960 –> 00:52:15,320
for fragments?
I love.

740
00:52:15,440 –> 00:52:17,560
I love how you guys are thinking
like one step out of me.

741
00:52:17,560 –> 00:52:20,280
I love it.
Keep doing it right, 100%.

742
00:52:20,680 –> 00:52:24,400
There’s a story about a woman
who is desperate for fragments,

743
00:52:24,480 –> 00:52:28,760
and this story comes just before
the feeding of the 4000.

744
00:52:28,920 –> 00:52:33,040
I think this story inspires
Jesus to feed the 4000.

745
00:52:33,920 –> 00:52:36,560
So turn with me that story
because we read it yesterday.

746
00:52:37,720 –> 00:52:40,880
It was Matthew chapter 15.
We’re going to start with verses

747
00:52:40,880 –> 00:52:49,460
21 to 24.
Then Jesus went fence, and

748
00:52:49,460 –> 00:52:52,180
departed into the coast of Tyre
and Zidan.

749
00:52:52,680 –> 00:52:56,800
And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coasts, and

750
00:52:56,800 –> 00:53:00,440
cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of

751
00:53:00,440 –> 00:53:03,840
David, my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil.

752
00:53:04,320 –> 00:53:08,000
And he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came, and

753
00:53:08,000 –> 00:53:10,880
beside him, saying, Send her
away, for she cried after us.

754
00:53:11,280 –> 00:53:14,440
But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost

755
00:53:15,080 –> 00:53:20,160
sheep of the House of Israel.
So why is this story interesting

756
00:53:21,280 –> 00:53:24,360
and important to our story?
Well, here Korea, we see a

757
00:53:24,360 –> 00:53:28,000
Gentile woman.
She’s not just a Gentile woman,

758
00:53:28,000 –> 00:53:30,560
she’s a Gentile woman that seems
to understand several things.

759
00:53:31,120 –> 00:53:37,280
Firstly, we can see that she can
see that Jesus is the son of

760
00:53:37,280 –> 00:53:39,640
David.
So by implication she knows that

761
00:53:39,680 –> 00:53:44,440
Jesus is the Messiah.
Secondly, she understands that

762
00:53:44,440 –> 00:53:49,320
the hallmark of the Son of David
would be that mercy would not

763
00:53:49,320 –> 00:53:54,480
depart from his house.
So she understood the character

764
00:53:55,000 –> 00:54:00,320
of the Messiah.
Thirdly, she expressed a need

765
00:54:00,880 –> 00:54:03,320
for which Jesus did not answer a
word.

766
00:54:04,440 –> 00:54:08,320
So what do the disciples do?
Well, they asked to send her

767
00:54:08,320 –> 00:54:09,280
away.
Why?

768
00:54:09,520 –> 00:54:13,240
Well, why wouldn’t they?
Wasn’t this the doctrine of the

769
00:54:13,240 –> 00:54:15,080
Pharisees and the Sadducees at
the time?

770
00:54:15,080 –> 00:54:18,800
The Jews had no dealings with
the Samaritans, remember.

771
00:54:18,960 –> 00:54:22,320
No dealings.
They wouldn’t even accept water

772
00:54:22,400 –> 00:54:24,440
drawn from a well from a
Samaritan.

773
00:54:28,360 –> 00:54:35,680
Perhaps worse, a Syrophoenician
hadn’t remember when Jesus went

774
00:54:35,680 –> 00:54:41,120
into the synagogue in Nazareth
in Luke chapter 4, and he he

775
00:54:41,120 –> 00:54:45,200
talks about the woman from Syria
that Elijah was sent to.

776
00:54:45,400 –> 00:54:48,120
Remember that it says, I tell
you there were many widows in

777
00:54:48,120 –> 00:54:50,760
the days of Elias when the
heaven was shut up, three years

778
00:54:50,760 –> 00:54:53,240
and six months when the great
families were at the land, but

779
00:54:53,600 –> 00:54:57,400
unto none of them was Elias
sent, saved to Serepta, a city

780
00:54:57,400 –> 00:54:59,880
of Zidan, unto a woman that was
a widow.

781
00:55:00,160 –> 00:55:02,240
And they in the synagogue when
they heard these things were

782
00:55:02,240 –> 00:55:07,520
filled with wrath.
That’s the view, that’s the anti

783
00:55:07,520 –> 00:55:09,880
Gentile view.
But what had Jesus been doing

784
00:55:09,880 –> 00:55:15,440
the last six months where he
found faith not among the Jews,

785
00:55:15,800 –> 00:55:21,880
but among the Gentiles?
So now back in Matthew 15, she

786
00:55:21,880 –> 00:55:23,720
came and worship him, saying,
Lord, help me.

787
00:55:25,600 –> 00:55:29,240
But he answered and said, it’s
not me to take the children’s

788
00:55:29,240 –> 00:55:34,200
bread and cast it to dogs.
And she said, truth, Lord, yet

789
00:55:34,200 –> 00:55:36,880
the dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from the Master’s table.

790
00:55:38,280 –> 00:55:42,680
Then Jesus answered, And send to
her, woman, greatest thy faith,

791
00:55:43,680 –> 00:55:45,480
be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt.

792
00:55:45,880 –> 00:55:48,320
And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour.

793
00:55:49,480 –> 00:55:52,800
So Jesus says, he’s sent to the
lost sheep of the House of

794
00:55:52,800 –> 00:55:56,280
Israel, but this woman’s lost,
and she’s not in Israel.

795
00:55:57,560 –> 00:55:59,480
So Jesus responds and says,
Well, it’s not right to take the

796
00:55:59,480 –> 00:56:02,360
bread away from children and
give it to the dogs.

797
00:56:03,160 –> 00:56:04,840
And that was the Jewish attitude
of the time.

798
00:56:05,200 –> 00:56:08,000
Now, Jesus knew what he was
saying and he knew it was

799
00:56:08,000 –> 00:56:10,920
affronting.
And, and why does he use the

800
00:56:10,920 –> 00:56:13,800
analogy of a dog Who is the most
faithful Gentile in the Old

801
00:56:13,800 –> 00:56:17,280
Testament?
What’s his name mean?

802
00:56:18,040 –> 00:56:20,160
You think Jesus was just using
that by chance?

803
00:56:25,830 –> 00:56:28,630
So what Jesus is doing, he’s
raising the drama of the moment

804
00:56:30,990 –> 00:56:34,880
so the disciples can hear what
true faith sounds like, because

805
00:56:34,880 –> 00:56:39,240
they would have thought of her
as a dog, a unclean, dirty, vile

806
00:56:39,240 –> 00:56:41,360
dog.
And seeing the on the surface

807
00:56:41,360 –> 00:56:45,160
alone, they’re probably right.
And they probably agreed with

808
00:56:45,240 –> 00:56:47,160
Jesus words.
You wouldn’t feed a dog with the

809
00:56:47,160 –> 00:56:50,400
children’s bread, now would you?
Yet she responds, and here’s the

810
00:56:50,400 –> 00:56:54,000
point.
The dogs eat fragments of bread.

811
00:56:56,560 –> 00:57:00,760
They eat what’s leftover.
They eat the crumbs.

812
00:57:01,480 –> 00:57:03,880
The dogs ensure.
Does anyone have a dog?

813
00:57:04,600 –> 00:57:07,040
The dog’s assured.
Nothing’s lost, don’t they?

814
00:57:10,560 –> 00:57:14,600
Now that’s humble faith.
And there’s perhaps no greater

815
00:57:14,600 –> 00:57:18,480
contrast to the proud leaven
like doctrine of the Jews to the

816
00:57:18,480 –> 00:57:22,480
humble faith of this Gentile.
And Jesus calls her faith great.

817
00:57:22,880 –> 00:57:25,520
A commendation reserved to the
Gospels exclusively for this

818
00:57:25,520 –> 00:57:28,360
woman and the centurion of
Matthew, chapter 8.

819
00:57:29,400 –> 00:57:32,480
This is why Jesus mentions the
fragments or crumbs.

820
00:57:32,680 –> 00:57:36,480
The fragments are fed to the
ones that were rejected by

821
00:57:36,480 –> 00:57:41,720
Jewish doctrine, and those would
be the ones that he would feed

822
00:57:41,800 –> 00:57:43,120
at the marriage supper of the
Lamb.

823
00:57:47,520 –> 00:57:50,960
So back in Mark 8, Jesus asked
how many baskets of fragments

824
00:57:50,960 –> 00:57:56,800
took he up among the Gentiles 7.
They said seven large baskets, 7

825
00:57:57,120 –> 00:58:00,680
baskets full of fragments for
the Gentiles, and seven of

826
00:58:00,680 –> 00:58:04,560
course, is a symbolic number.
You might be thinking of the

827
00:58:04,560 –> 00:58:10,240
seven ecclesias, you know,
Gentile ecclesias mainly, but

828
00:58:10,240 –> 00:58:13,120
there’s maybe even a verse that
illustrates better how sevens

829
00:58:13,120 –> 00:58:15,320
connected.
You can’t forget it because of

830
00:58:15,320 –> 00:58:19,920
Deuteronomy Chapter 7, right?
And Deuteronomy Chapter 7 says,

831
00:58:19,920 –> 00:58:21,800
when the Lord thy God shall
bring thee in the land where

832
00:58:21,800 –> 00:58:24,960
thou goest to possess it, and as
cast out many nations before

833
00:58:24,960 –> 00:58:27,040
thee.
The Hittites 1, the Girgashites

834
00:58:27,040 –> 00:58:30,800
2, the Amorites 3, the
Canaanites 4, the Parasites 5,

835
00:58:30,800 –> 00:58:33,000
the Hivites 6, and the Jebusites
7.

836
00:58:34,120 –> 00:58:37,200
Seven nations mightier than
thou.

837
00:58:38,840 –> 00:58:43,520
So 7 baskets for Gentiles.
And the word for basket here is

838
00:58:43,520 –> 00:58:48,440
spiras, and the word describes a
large basket, the kind of basket

839
00:58:48,440 –> 00:58:52,680
they use to drop Paul from the
Damascus wall.

840
00:58:55,880 –> 00:59:01,000
That’s a spirus, right?
And that is a kofnos, which is

841
00:59:01,000 –> 00:59:06,280
the basket used amongst to to
gather food, the fragments

842
00:59:06,280 –> 00:59:13,800
leftover amongst the Jews.
So the doctrine of the Pharisees

843
00:59:13,800 –> 00:59:17,040
and Sadducees would never allow
the disciples to save the

844
00:59:17,040 –> 00:59:22,120
fragments for the lost.
But as his gospel spread, it

845
00:59:22,120 –> 00:59:24,920
wasn’t the children that
accepted the truth.

846
00:59:25,840 –> 00:59:28,960
Anyone here have a bring a baby
to the camp?

847
00:59:28,960 –> 00:59:32,320
Maybe 2-3 years old?
Anyone here have a 2-3 year old

848
00:59:32,320 –> 00:59:35,160
baby?
Ever tried to feed a baby who

849
00:59:35,160 –> 00:59:37,840
thought it wasn’t hungry and
didn’t like the food?

850
00:59:38,280 –> 00:59:41,320
Right?
What does the baby do to the to

851
00:59:41,320 –> 00:59:44,320
the to the food you put in front
of it or try to feed it right?

852
00:59:44,840 –> 00:59:47,560
It’s all over the place now.
This is when you want a dog,

853
00:59:49,240 –> 00:59:51,200
right?
You try to feed a two or

854
00:59:51,200 –> 00:59:53,720
three-year old when it doesn’t
want to be fed, it doesn’t like

855
00:59:53,720 –> 00:59:56,400
what it’s been eating.
The baby eats very little, but

856
00:59:56,400 –> 01:00:00,960
the dog eats a lot, right?
And and that’s, that’s a little

857
01:00:00,960 –> 01:00:03,040
bit what we’re, we’re like here,
right?

858
01:00:03,640 –> 01:00:06,640
It’s like the Jews in the 1st
century took the food that was

859
01:00:06,640 –> 01:00:09,160
being given to them and they
spat it out and they, they

860
01:00:09,160 –> 01:00:13,720
spread it everywhere, those
children, but the dogs came and

861
01:00:13,720 –> 01:00:17,720
lapped it up.
They ate most of the bread.

862
01:00:18,600 –> 01:00:21,920
And accepted that Jesus was the
son of David, the son who

863
01:00:21,920 –> 01:00:25,800
brought mercy.
All right, so let’s summarize.

864
01:00:27,080 –> 01:00:30,200
I get accused of, of dumping a
lot of information and never

865
01:00:30,200 –> 01:00:33,160
summarizing.
So, so I sat down.

866
01:00:33,160 –> 01:00:34,920
I’m like, I’m going to write a
summary of this talk.

867
01:00:36,280 –> 01:00:38,880
And then I thought, I’m just
going to put on the board,

868
01:00:39,080 –> 01:00:40,760
right?
And that way, if you guys want

869
01:00:40,760 –> 01:00:45,600
to write down, you can see
Alyssa, I did a summary, right?

870
01:00:46,120 –> 01:00:49,800
So this is the summary of what
I’m trying to get at in this

871
01:00:49,800 –> 01:00:51,760
chapter because there’s a lot of
information that we brought to

872
01:00:51,760 –> 01:00:54,800
the surface.
And this is the summary, OK?

873
01:00:55,280 –> 01:00:57,960
Jesus wasn’t warning his
disciples about physical bread

874
01:00:58,440 –> 01:00:59,880
or they where they should buy
it.

875
01:01:00,440 –> 01:01:05,160
He was warning them to beware
the corrupt teachings of the

876
01:01:05,160 –> 01:01:08,680
Pharisees and Sadducees.
Their leaven wasn’t about bread

877
01:01:08,680 –> 01:01:13,440
at all, it was the prideful
self-serving doctrine that

878
01:01:13,480 –> 01:01:15,800
blinded them to the truth of who
Jesus was.

879
01:01:15,800 –> 01:01:18,640
The Pharisees are hypocrites.
They are obsessed with outward

880
01:01:18,640 –> 01:01:21,840
appearances, with man made
traditions that excluded others,

881
01:01:21,840 –> 01:01:24,160
including Gentiles, from God’s
mercy.

882
01:01:24,160 –> 01:01:26,880
The Sadducees on the other hand,
they rejected the hope of the

883
01:01:26,880 –> 01:01:31,520
resurrection, clung to political
power, clung to material gain,

884
01:01:32,320 –> 01:01:34,560
and both groups had this in
common.

885
01:01:35,120 –> 01:01:40,240
They used religion to promote
their own self-interest, and

886
01:01:40,240 –> 01:01:47,720
their spiritual blindness kept
them in combination from seeing,

887
01:01:50,880 –> 01:01:56,000
from seeing the signs of God’s
Kingdom that Jesus was offering

888
01:01:56,000 –> 01:02:01,840
right in front of them.
But by contrast, Jesus fed

889
01:02:02,000 –> 01:02:05,840
thousands.
He fed Jews and Gentiles alike.

890
01:02:06,000 –> 01:02:09,120
He fed them with bread that
symbolize God’s abundance.

891
01:02:09,120 –> 01:02:13,840
There was more than enough.
He gathered the fragments that

892
01:02:13,840 –> 01:02:15,840
nothing be lost.
He’s illustrating God’s desire

893
01:02:15,840 –> 01:02:19,280
to save everyone, even those the
Pharisees and Sadducees would

894
01:02:19,280 –> 01:02:20,800
have rejected due to their
doctrine.

895
01:02:21,120 –> 01:02:23,880
Jesus want his disciples to
understand the true bread of

896
01:02:23,880 –> 01:02:28,120
life is not physical bread or
human doctrine.

897
01:02:28,160 –> 01:02:30,960
It’s every word that comes from
the mouth of God and that alone

898
01:02:31,840 –> 01:02:37,000
that’s what brings life, unity
and salvation to all who humbly

899
01:02:37,000 –> 01:02:42,560
believe.
Jesus desperately wants his

900
01:02:42,560 –> 01:02:44,640
disciples to understand who he
is.

901
01:02:48,400 –> 01:02:50,480
And I guess that’s the question
for us, brothers and sisters.

902
01:02:52,640 –> 01:02:59,000
Can we perceive who this man is?
Can we see how his doctrine is

903
01:02:59,000 –> 01:03:02,360
so different than the prideful
doctrine of men?

904
01:03:04,880 –> 01:03:11,520
Are our hearts still hardened,
or can we perceive the power of

905
01:03:11,520 –> 01:03:13,880
this man to save the heart of
this man?

906
01:03:19,040 –> 01:03:22,400
So having rebuked his beloved
disciples and warned them

907
01:03:22,400 –> 01:03:25,120
against the doctrine of
Pharisees and Sadducees, he’s

908
01:03:25,120 –> 01:03:28,560
now going to begin a trip up to
Caesarea Philippi with one thing

909
01:03:28,560 –> 01:03:32,960
squarely on his mind.
It was the very thing the

910
01:03:32,960 –> 01:03:35,520
doctrine of the Pharisees and
Sadducees was preventing them

911
01:03:35,520 –> 01:03:38,840
from seeing.
And it could be summarized in a

912
01:03:38,840 –> 01:03:42,280
single question.
Do you know who I am?

913
01:03:44,080 –> 01:03:47,440
And we’ll take up that question
in our study after the break.

914
01:04:01,320 –> 01:04:04,560
Thank you our brother Ben for a
very deep study this morning

915
01:04:04,800 –> 01:04:07,920
making it very palatable for all
of us to ingest.

916
01:04:07,920 –> 01:04:10,800
It was very deep.
I thank him for the summary,

917
01:04:11,000 –> 01:04:14,480
saved me having to think of it
so thank you for that.

918
01:04:15,680 –> 01:04:20,360
We will be having a a break
after I give thanks for the

919
01:04:20,360 –> 01:04:23,560
morning tea.
The announcements will be given

920
01:04:23,560 –> 01:04:26,760
after the next study and the
next study will start promptly

921
01:04:27,440 –> 01:04:31,000
at 11:15.
Please stay seated while I just

922
01:04:31,040 –> 01:04:33,040
give a thanks for the morning
tea.

923
01:04:34,680 –> 01:04:37,120
Oh our great God, we do thank
Thee.

924
01:04:37,320 –> 01:04:41,240
We thank Thee indeed that our
brother has prepared words for

925
01:04:41,240 –> 01:04:47,040
us to break down an important
understanding how that the pride

926
01:04:47,040 –> 01:04:51,720
of men and women can be a
blocker to what our Lord is

927
01:04:51,720 –> 01:04:55,440
teaching and His purpose.
And if we truly understand Thy

928
01:04:55,440 –> 01:04:59,920
word of truth, if we truly let
it work in our hearts, it will

929
01:04:59,920 –> 01:05:04,880
help us to preach Thy word to
others in the world around about

930
01:05:04,880 –> 01:05:07,680
us and draw people to the true
Lord.

931
01:05:07,680 –> 01:05:13,040
And we also thank Thee that us
provide us with the daily bread

932
01:05:13,280 –> 01:05:17,920
that we enjoy the natural which
plays a part that may we truly

933
01:05:17,920 –> 01:05:22,200
appreciate that the spiritual is
the greatest and the life

934
01:05:22,200 –> 01:05:26,160
sustaining for eternity.
Please accept our thanks through

935
01:05:26,160 –> 01:05:28,240
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.