Do You See Who He Is?

We're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise.

We're going to sing in Psalm 93 on the Scottish Psalter.

Psalm 93, the whole of Psalm, page 354.

The tune is Irish.

The Lord doth reign and clothed is he with majesty most bright,

his works to show him clothed to be and girt about with might.

So we'll sing the whole of this Psalm to God's praise.

The Lord doth reign and clothed is he with majesty most bright,

his works to show him clothed to be

and girt about with might.

The world is all so established that it cannot depart.

Thy throne is fixed of hope and love from everlasting heart.

The floods, O Lord, have lifted up, they lifted up their voice.

And made a mighty noise.

But yet the Lord doth is on high,

is more of might by far,

than the noise of many waters is,

our great sea bellows are.

Thy testimonies, everyone,

in faithfulness excel,

and holiness forevermore,

thy heart becouled as well.

Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven,

as we gather in your name this day,

we do thank you for your word.

We thank you that we can read from it,

that we can sing praise to you,

that we can lift our voices up to you.

And we have been reminded in the psalm that we have sung,

that your voice is a mighty voice,

greater than all the noise of the waters,

the waves, the storms around us.

We thank you that though we hear these things,

that you are one who is more powerful

and mightier than all of these things.

And we pray today, Lord,

that we will know your voice.

As we read your word,

we will see it as your word.

As we hear it, Lord,

that you would bless it to us all.

We thank you that you speak to each and every one of us,

the youngest to the oldest,

that there are none of us who are left out of worship.

There is none of us who are left out of this service.

But we gather together as one

to praise you as our Lord and as our God.

And we ask, oh Lord,

for your protection over us today.

We especially think of the winds outside

at this time and pray that as we come and go,

that you will protect us and keep us.

We thank you for all who are there to help us

in these times as well.

We pray for many who will be out and about

in difficult conditions,

even maybe at this time.

Coast Guard Services,

helping people in need,

both on land and at sea,

helping to protect us during these times.

And we pray, Lord,

your protection over them.

We thank you, Lord,

to be able to worship you this day,

to be worshiping you in this place

and with a peace to enjoy it.

And we ask, oh Lord,

that you would bless all that is done,

both here and in the Sunday school

and the tweenies and creche as well, Lord.

Protect our young ones, Lord.

Be with them each one.

Be with us as families and friends

and as a congregation together.

May you hear all our prayers

and watch over us in Jesus' name

as we ask all of these things in his name

for the pardon of our sins.

Amen.

It's good that there's a number of young people present,

and I'm sure many others may be tuning in online as well.

So I want to ask you a question.

Any of the young people here,

do you enjoy riddles?

Trying to work out what a riddle is trying to say.

A riddle is a number of words put together

and they maybe don't make sense at first

and you're just trying to work out

what does it actually mean.

So I want to share a riddle with you

and see if you can work this one out.

See what it's talking about.

And the riddle goes like this.

It says,

you can't own it,

but you can use it.

You can't keep it,

but you can spend it.

Once you have lost it,

you can never get it back.

So that's the riddle.

I wonder if anybody knows what it means.

You can't own it,

but you can use it.

You can't keep it,

but you can spend it.

Once you have lost it,

you can never get it back.

Hands up if you know what the answer is.

Don't want you to shout out the answer,

but there's a few hands going up.

Mostly adults though.

Any of the young folks,

do you know the answer?

It's time.

There's one upstairs there

that's got the hand up,

right up in the air.

It's time.

You can't own time,

but you can use it.

You can't keep it,

but you can spend it.

You can spend time

on lots of different things.

Once you've lost it,

you can never get it back.

So once the time has gone,

you can never get it back.

Time is free,

but time is priceless.

So important that we use

our time wisely.

What do you use most of your time on?

Hands up if it's sleeping.

I'm sure there's quite a few people

who spend a lot of time sleeping.

What about eating?

Maybe not so much.

What about sitting on your phone

or tablet or watching television?

Lots of time, I'm sure,

spent there, is it?

We all spend time

doing lots of different things.

But the Bible reminds us

that just like the riddle there,

trying to understand what it means,

sometimes that's what the Bible

can seem like to ourselves as well.

It just seems like words

that are brought together,

sometimes they don't really make sense.

But the Bible says in Psalm 90, verse 12,

Psalms 90:12

teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Now maybe that sounds like a riddle

at first as well.

Teach us to number our days

so that we may get a heart of wisdom.

What does that mean?

Well, it means to use our time wisely,

to number our days,

to see that our days

are soon going to go past,

past in a blink.

And once that time has passed,

we can't get that time back.

So time is precious.

Time is important.

And we need to number our days,

which means we take account

of all of our days.

We can think of how many days

have gone past.

We can count them.

How many days ahead?

We don't know.

We don't have the answer.

So the Psalm says,

get a heart of wisdom.

Time teaches us that it's going to come

to an end at some point.

So it's important that we make

the best use of our time,

not wasting our time.

There are things that we have to do,

but we should always make time for God.

Make time for his word.

Make time for finding understanding

of what he's saying to us in his word.

Lord, teach us, Lord,

to have a heart of wisdom,

because that's what we need

for every day,

a heart to be wise with the Lord,

to make the best use of our time

before our time is past.

So may God help us

in all the time that we have

to listen to him

and to seek a heart of wisdom.

We're going to say the Lord's prayer

together now.

Our Father, we chart in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our debts

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we're going to sing again

to God's praise,

this time in Psalm 32.

Again, the Scottish Psalter version,

Psalm 32,

page 244 of the psalm books.

Psalm 32,

page 244.

We're going to sing from verse 7

down to verse 11.

We're going to sing from verse 7 to 11

on the tune of Spore.

We stand to sing to God's praise.

The Lord,

O heart,

my hiding place,

thou shalt

from trouble

keep me free.

thou wisdoms of deliverance,

thou shalt comfort

shall compass me.

I will instruct thee

and thee teach

the way that thou shalt go.

And when my eye upon thee set,

I will direction show.

Then be not like the hearts or mules

which do not understand,

whose powers as they come near to thee,

a bridal must command.

Come to the man that wicked is,

his sorrows shall abound,

but him that trusteth in the Lord,

mercy shall come as crown.

yea,

yea,

righteous in the Lord be glad,

in him do ye rejoice,

O ye that upright are in heart,

for joy lift up your voice.

Let us again come to God in prayer.

Let us pray.

Lord, our gracious God,

as we approach your word,

we thank you that as we open it up,

that we come seeking your help

to understand words

that can sometimes seem like a riddle

to ourselves.

We thank you that you are able

by your spirit to reveal to us

the many promises and precious,

precious promises that there are

in your word.

We thank you that you do not leave us

to stumble around your word

unable to understand,

but that you provide so many things

and methods to help us to understand.

We thank you that we have the liberty

and freedom to be under the preaching

of the gospel.

We thank you that we have your word

in a language that we can understand.

We thank you that in a day of technology,

we have so many means to hear your word

broken down for us,

to hear it read to us,

to hear it explained to us

even what the very smallest of words

might mean in it.

We are a multitude of great hosts of things

to help us to understand your word.

But we know that the time that we have

is precious and that we are to make

the most of it.

And we are so easily distracted from your word.

We spend so much time maybe on other things.

We can waste so much time as it is.

But yet, Lord, we thank you that you are able

to give us a spirit to hunger and thirst for your word,

to hunger and thirst for righteousness,

and to help us to see and understand

all that you are teaching us through your word

and how to apply it to our lives

and to the world in which we live.

For we can look around us and see so many troubles,

even as in the Psalms that we have sung.

There is trouble around the psalmist

in so many different ways,

and yet he is able to say that you are a hiding place for him,

that you are a place of deliverance for him.

And we thank you, Lord, that we know that for ourselves

and so many of us.

And we pray that together we would all come to know

and experience that wonderful deliverance

that you offer through your Son, Christ Jesus.

that when we are blind and ignorant to you,

that you are the one who is able to open our eyes

and to help us to understand

and to go on gaining understanding

and sharing our understanding with others.

And so we pray you'll bless our time together this day.

We pray you'll watch over us in it,

that you will guide us by your Spirit in all that we do

and all that we say.

That even as we offer up our prayers at this time together,

the spoken prayer and the ones uttered from all our hearts,

you know every prayer that we offer up at this time.

It's not just one, but many.

For many different people and situations,

from many different hearts,

we offer up our prayer to you.

Hearts that are broken,

hearts that may be full of joy,

and yet hearts that can know the wonderful peace

that you are able to give.

And we ask, O Lord, that together as we pray,

that you will remind us that when we come in faith,

believing in you,

reminding ourselves that you hear our every prayer

through the name of Jesus Christ as we come,

and that your answer, O Lord,

though it may be different to what we ask for,

we commit ourselves, Lord, to you who knows best,

even the things that we do not understand

or cannot comprehend, O Lord,

help us to know your presence with us in these things as well,

to know your grace in every aspect of our lives.

And so we pray for your cause, Lord, near and far.

We pray for your church,

that you will build us up as a people here and far and wide,

that you will look down upon us in your great mercy,

that you will look down upon our world, O Lord, in mercy,

that as we see so much turmoil around us,

as we see so many things that we have no influence or control over,

as we feel powerless in so many situations,

yet, O Lord, remind us of the power that you have.

Mightier than the voice of the waves is our Lord.

And we thank you for that,

that where there are storms of so many kinds,

be they the natural storms we see around us,

or the physical storms of life,

the storms of war, famine, drought,

earthquakes, volcanoes,

all of these powerful elements that we see around us.

We thank you that you are mightier than all,

and that your voice is able to bring a stop to all of these things,

to change all of these things.

And yet, O Lord, in a world in which we live,

we look to our own wisdom or wisdom of leaders,

leaders who so often have no thought of you.

And so we pray for them, Lord,

that you will come,

a mercy upon them and draw them to yourself,

to see that any power they feel they have

is nothing compared to yours,

and that they would come to put their trust in you,

whether that's leaders of our political,

in political spheres,

whether it's royalty,

whether it's leaders in councils,

or whether it's leaders in the church.

We pray, Lord, for you to give us all wisdom,

to give us help,

to give us direction,

to guide our people,

to seek the good of our people,

to seek your blessing upon us.

And so we pray, Lord,

that you will hear all of these prayers in your name.

We pray for every home and family here

and tuning in online as well.

We thank you, Lord,

that we are able to pray for one another

in very different circumstances.

We pray for those who mourn.

We pray your comfort towards them.

We pray for those who are unwell,

whether it's at home or in hospital

or in the care homes we see around us in the town here

or further afield.

We pray, Lord, your blessing on each one

and families who are concerned for loved ones.

We are able to bring our cares to you

and we thank you for that.

We pray, Lord, for your spirit to work around us, Lord,

for those who are maybe well in health

and yet spiritually dead,

dead in their trespasses and sins,

as your word describes.

We pray, Lord, to bring life,

to bring new life into their hearts

and into their souls.

We pray, Lord, that you will awaken us

to our need of the Lord Jesus,

that when we are stumbling and asleep in this world,

we pray for you to awaken us,

awaken us to our greatest need,

the need of deliverance,

the need of a savior,

and to see of every provision that you have made,

that you have provided for us through your son,

who gave his life for his people,

who rose again for our salvation,

who ascended on high to the right hand of God

and who will come again.

We thank you for the hope of the gospel

and we pray, Lord, that you will revive

and stir up that hope in our hearts,

that we will hold it as the dearest,

most precious thing to us.

Lord, look down upon us,

continue with us this day,

be with the preaching of your word

into the evening as well, Lord,

throughout your church today.

May your name be glorified.

May your people praise you

and may sinners be brought to repentance.

We ask all these things,

looking to you as the one who is able to do

so much more than we ask or imagine.

And hear us in all our prayers,

pardon us for all our sins

as we confess them on you.

And all we ask,

we ask in the name of Jesus

and for his glory.

Amen.

We're going to read God's word together now

in the gospel of Mark.

Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

We'll take up our reading at verse 11.

And we're reading down to verse 30.

Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 8 at verse 11.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

You notice at the beginning of the chapter,

there's the account of Jesus feeding the 4,000.

A second time when Jesus had miraculously fed a large crowd of people.

And then following that, we take up our reading at verse 11.

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him,

seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said,

why does this generation seek a sign?

Truly I say to you,

no sign will be given to this generation.

And he left them, got into his boat again,

and went to the other side.

Now they had forgotten to bring bread.

And they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

And he cautioned them saying,

watch out,

beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

And they began to discuss with one another

the fact that they had no bread.

And Jesus, aware of this, said to them,

why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet perceive or understand?

Are your hearts hardened?

Having eyes, do you not see?

And having ears, do you not hear?

And do you not remember?

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,

how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?

They said to him, twelve.

And he said to them,

do you not yet understand?

And they came to Bethsaida,

and some people brought to him a blind man,

and begged him to touch him.

And he took the blind man by the hand,

and led him out of the village.

And when he had spat on his eyes,

and laid his hands on him,

he asked him,

do you see anything?

And he looked up and said,

I see men, but they look like trees walking.

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again,

and he opened his eyes.

His sight was restored,

and he saw everything clearly.

And he sent him to his home,

saying, do not even enter the village.

And Jesus went on with his disciples

to the village of Caesarea Philippi.

And on the way,

he asked his disciples,

who do people say that I am?

And they told him,

John the Baptist,

and others say Elijah,

and others one of the prophets.

And he asked them,

but who do you say that I am?

Peter answered him,

you are the Christ.

And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

And so on.

And may God bless that reading from his word.

Before we turn back to look at this passage,

we'll again sing to God's praise in Psalm 146.

In the Sing Psalms version.

Psalm 146.

We'll sing from verse 5 down to verse 10.

Page 191 of the psalm book.

Psalm 146, verse 5,

Psalms 146:5

the tune of Sussex.

Blessed is the one who truly looks for help to Jacob's God.

Blessed is the one who places all his hope upon the Lord.

And we see in verse 8 there,

he says,

to the blind the Lord gives sight.

We'll sing these verses 5 to 10 to God's praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Blessed is the one who truly looks for help to Jacob's God.

Blessed is the one who places all his hope upon the Lord.

the Lord.

He who made

the earth and

heaven and the seas

with all their

store,

he who keeps

his every

promise,

who is

faithful

evermore.

He delivers

from

oppression

and

releases the

hungry's

plight. He

releases

those

who prison

to the

blind the Lord

his sight.

Those

who up

the

down he

raises,

our

delights

in

righteousness.

He

protects

and cares

for

strangers,

waitrose

and the

fatherless.

he frustrates

the

wicked

purpose,

so the

Lord

who

endless

days

brings

to

heavenly

generation.

Praise

your

God,

those

high

on

praise.

We can

turn back to

our reading

in Mark's

Gospel,

chapter 8.

And we're

focusing on

most of what we

read, really,

but we're seeing

the account of

the man who was

blind, having

his sight

restored.

And the

question then

that comes

after that

as he's

speaking with

his disciples,

as he's

asking them,

you know,

who do people

say that I

am?

And then he

asks a great

question,

but what

about you?

Who do

you say

that I

am?

Who do

you say

that I

am?

We face

questions,

I'm sure,

every day.

We're asked

different

questions.

Some are

simple

questions that

are maybe

easier to

answer that

don't really

challenge us

deeply.

We are asked

questions maybe

very often during

the day,

what time is

it?

What do you

want for your

dinner?

These kinds of

everyday questions

that we hear

all the time.

But there may

be days when

we're caught

out by a

question,

when we're

asked a

question that

we hadn't

really expected

or anticipated,

we'd perhaps

never really

thought about it

before, but

we're challenged

by it and

we wonder

what kind

of answer

should we

give?

Somebody might

come and ask

you, you

know, what

gives you

real joy

in life?

You think,

well, it's

not really a

question.

I've thought

about a lot,

but I could

probably think

of a number

of different

answers to

give.

Or you might

be asked

another question

from someone,

what keeps

you awake

at night?

And you

think to

yourself,

well, that's

not really

any of your

business.

that's kind

of probing

a little

bit too

deep.

What keeps

me awake

at night

is none

of your

concern.

It's

something that's

very private

to myself.

Our life

is full of

different

questions,

some simple

ones, some

maybe more

deeply probing,

and some

probing right

into our

hearts.

And as you

read through

this chapter,

chapter 8

of Mark's

gospel, you

find that

at different

points,

Jesus is

asking

questions,

asking

questions of

different people

in different

circumstances,

but questions

that are

probing them

into their

hearts, asking

them, you

know, where

are you?

What do you

see as your

greatest need

in life?

If you

glance with

me to

verse 12

there, the

Pharisees were

demanding a

sign from

him, what's

the question

that Jesus

asks of

them?

He sighed

deeply in

his spirit

and said,

why does

this generation

seek a

sign?

Why does

this generation

seek a

sign?

It's almost

like he's

saying, you

have just

seen and

heard of

the feeding

of the

4,000 in

a miraculous

way, and

this is on

top of other

things that

the Lord has

already done,

and he's

saying, you're

still asking

to see

more.

Have you

not seen

enough and

heard enough

of me?

Why does

this generation

seek a

sign?

Is that a

question that

you've asked

of God?

Show me a

sign, then

I'll believe.

Give me

something that

I can see

for myself, and

then I'll

believe.

When Jesus

is saying to

ourselves, why

as a

generation are

we asking

for more?

When he's

already revealed

and shown

to us so

much of

who he

is,

remembering

this is

before the

greatest sign

of all that

Jesus would

give, as

he gave

his life on

the cross,

and as

he rose

from the

grave, as

he ascended

to heaven,

do we need

any more?

And after

the response

to the

Pharisees

there,

why do

you, this

generation,

seek for

a sign,

he's then

talking to

his disciples,

and the

question, a

very probing

question, he

asks them

there in

verse 21,

do you

not yet

understand?

Do you

not yet

understand?

And then

as you

continue down

into verse

27 onwards,

he's asking

these two

questions,

who do

people say

that I

am?

In verse

27, and

then a

more probing

and challenging

question for

them in

verse 29,

but who

do you

say that

I am?

Who do

you say

that I

am?

And in

order to

see the

account of

the man

who was

blind, and

to understand

the healing

of the man

who was

blind, we

have to

see both

what comes

before it

and what

comes after

it, because

that helps

us to

see what

Jesus was

doing as

he healed

this man

who was

blind.

They have

become maybe

complacent in

some ways,

the disciples,

they've been

seeing many

miracles, and

they're just

going on as

if this is

the way it's

always going

to be.

We see

there's a

little conflict

with the

Pharisees as

they're asking

for a sign

there's

confusion

then among

the disciples

as he's

talking to

them about

being aware

of the

leaven of

the Pharisees

and the

leaven of

Herod in

verse 15.

There's all

of these

things going

on, and

then you

come into

this account

of the

blind man

being healed,

and it's

showing us

that understanding

takes time.

So as we

think of the

question that

comes, who

do you say

that I am?

It's a

question we'll

all have an

answer to, but

it'll be in

different degrees

of understanding.

None of us

here will ever

fully understand

who he is.

Not this

side of

eternity, but

we should

always be

longing to

understand more

of who he

is.

And that

should give

us a certain

sense of

help in our

situation as

well if we

think, well

I'm not a

believer, I

don't know

enough.

He's

challenging us

to say, well

who is he?

Do you

see him as

the Christ?

Because that

is the

starting point

of any

understanding

of him.

And it's

not that

you'll have

all the

answers to

be able to

profess his

name, but

to understand

just who

he is and

understanding

comes over

a period of

time.

What's your

answer to

the question

then?

Who do

you say

that he

is?

Who do

you say

that Jesus

is today?

We'll all

have an

answer.

Some will

confess Jesus

is Lord.

Others will

confess Jesus

is my

Lord.

Others will

say, well

Jesus was

just a good

man.

Others will

say Jesus

is nothing.

He's just

a made

up story.

How do

you answer

that question

then?

Who do

you say

that I

am?

Well, three

things we

want to

take from

this passage

today.

First of

all, we

see

understanding

takes time.

So when

you're looking

at the

account of

the blind

man being

given his

sight, it

might seem

just like a

little aside

in between

the teaching

that he's

been given

to the

disciples

beforehand

and then

these great

questions that

he's asking

them as they

went on

their way to

the village

of Caesarea

Philippi.

Another

healing is

just maybe

a little

aside.

As you're

going through

Mark's

gospel, you

see there's

a number of

different

miracles that

happen, and

especially

healings.

You see it

again and

again throughout

the gospel of

Mark.

So is this

just another

healing?

Do we just

become complacent

and think

very little

of it?

Or do we

see that here

he is really

teaching his

disciples and

teaching us

how we come

to understand

the Lord

more and

more?

If you look

at verse

17 and

18, they're

Jesus aware

of what they're

speaking about.

He says to

them in

verse 17,

why are you

discussing the

fact that

you have

no bread?

Do you

not yet

perceive or

understand?

Are your

hearts

hardened?

Three questions

he asks them

in a row

there.

Three questions.

Why are you

discussing the

fact that you

have no bread?

Is this really

a big issue

considering just

what you've

just seen,

the feeding

of the

4,000?

Do you

not yet

perceive or

understand?

Do you

not understand

who I

am?

Are your

hearts

still

hardened?

That's a

searching

question.

And that's

the basis

of Jesus'

healing,

this man

at Bethsaida.

This question,

do you

not yet

understand?

We might

feel as if

we can

see things

clearly in

this world,

but more

and more

as we look

to the

scripture,

we see

there are

so many

things that

we don't

understand.

And when

you look at

this miracle,

the man's

sight wasn't

restored

immediately.

He goes

from complete

blindness

to seeing

people as

trees walking

to then

seeing

clearly.

And you

think to

yourself,

why that?

why didn't

Jesus just

heal him

instantly?

He's done

it before.

He could

do it here.

It's not

the fact

that he

couldn't

do it,

but he's

making a

point.

And the

point is

around this

question,

do you

not yet

understand?

He laid

his hands

on him

and asked

him,

do you

see anything

in verse

23?

And he

looked up

and said,

I see

men,

but they

look like

trees

walking.

His vision

is still

blurred.

And it's

only at the

second time

of Jesus

touching his

eyes that

he's able

to see

clearly.

I'm sure

like myself,

many of you

have been

to the

opticians.

I remember

when I first

got glasses

when I was

young,

I couldn't

believe the

difference when

I put on the

glasses.

I mean,

I thought my

eyes were just

like everybody

else's,

but I was

half blind.

And putting

on my

glasses as I

went out

from the

optician was

just eye

opening,

literally,

because I

could see

so many

things I

had never

been able

to see

clearly

before.

And now

every time

you go

back to

the optician,

they always

start by

putting in

different lenses

and they're

asking which

one's clear,

number one

or number

two,

and they're

working their

way through

a process,

helping you

to have a

clear vision.

And in so

doing,

they're showing

that your

eyes are

not good,

the vision

is not good

until it's

aided.

And that's

what Jesus

is reminding

us of here

as well.

Understanding

takes time.

The man

wasn't healed

immediately.

He was

seeing just

bloody,

as it were,

at first,

and then

seeing clearly.

And for

ourselves,

as we are

called to

come to

an understanding

of God,

there are

things that

may seem

like riddles

at first,

things that

we don't

understand,

that aren't

clear to

us.

Which is

why we

need to

spend our

time studying

God's

word,

and in a

relationship

with God,

using our

time wisely,

praying to

God to

help us

to understand,

and to

share together

in that

search for

knowledge and

understanding,

in our

fellowship,

in our

Bible studies,

in all that

we're doing,

helping one

another along

the way.

Because

understanding

takes time,

and different

people are at

different stages

of understanding,

sharing knowledge

with one another

to help one

another along

the way.

So it

takes time.

The second

thing we see

here is that

understanding

takes faith.

Understanding

takes faith.

Theologian

Augustine

once said,

Understanding

is the

reward of

faith.

Therefore,

seek not

to understand

that you

may believe,

but believe

that you

may understand.

Again,

that sounds

maybe like

a little

riddle.

Therefore,

seek not

to understand

that you

may believe,

but believe

that you

may understand.

understand.

It's not a

case of

coming to

a point

where you

understand

everything,

therefore,

you can

believe.

But you

can believe

in God

without fully

understanding.

And the

more that

you believe

in God,

the more

you understand

the different

things.

Our

relationship

with the

Lord

is about

faith

and

trusting

him.

And those

who do

not believe

in God,

they lack

that.

There's no

faith.

And that's

why they

will mock

and belittle

Jesus,

because they

will base

their understanding

on what can

be seen

and what can

be proved.

And yet,

so much

of what the

Bible teaches

us are

things that

are as

yet unseen.

And that

can only

be seen

through

faith.

When you

look at the

man who

was blind,

he couldn't

see,

yet as

Jesus comes

to him,

in verse

23,

he took

the blind

man by

the hand

and led

him out

of the

village.

You don't

read there

that he

took the

man by

the hand

and led

him away,

kicking and

screaming,

because he

didn't know

who he

was with,

didn't know

where he

was going

to be

taken,

didn't

know

what he

was going

to do

with

him.

There is

an element

of faith

in this

blind

man.

Jesus

has taken

him by

the hand

and he's

not

resisting.

He's

allowing

him to

lead him

along

the way.

And again,

there's an

element of

that for

ourselves

too,

where when

Jesus is

calling us,

we are to

put our

hand in

his and

allow him

to lead

us along

the way,

trusting

him that

he will

show us

the way

and help

us to

understand.

And that

is what

faith is

about.

Trusting

the Lord

in all

the ways

ahead for

us.

The

disciples

too have

been blind

themselves.

They've been

blind at

different points

in their

lives.

They haven't

understood

everything and

it has

taken faith

to go on.

You think

of the

disciples when

they were

first called,

when they

were called

to leave

everything

behind,

the fishermen

were told

to leave

your nets

and come

and follow

me,

Jesus said.

What did

they do?

They didn't

say,

well,

I've got so

many questions

to ask

before I

go.

They left

and they

went

immediately.

They were

faithful to

the call

of God

and trusted

him that

he would be

with them

on the

way.

There were

various

challenges

along the

way.

In

John's

Gospel,

chapter 6,

towards the

end of that

chapter,

you read

of a time

when Jesus

had a large

crowd gathered

around him

and were

hearing his

teaching.

It says

that many

found it

difficult to

understand

and they

turned away.

They had

no faith

to go

forward.

Jesus

asked the

disciples a

question there.

Will you

also go

away?

And the

response was

to whom

else can

we go?

For you

have the

words of

eternal

life.

There's

faith there.

And that's

what we see

here as

well when

they're asked

these probing

questions.

Who do

others say

that I am?

They start

to say,

well, some

say that

you're John

the Baptist.

Others say

you're Elijah

and others

the prophets.

there needs

to be

faith to

give the

answer that

they give.

And when

you think

about it,

they're

standing out

from the

crowd.

And both

these

occasions in

the Gospel

of John

and here

in the

Gospel of

Mark,

the disciples

are in a

small number

by themselves.

And the

easy way

out would be

just to

turn away.

We don't

understand these

things.

They make

no sense

to us.

We'll just

go away

like everybody

else.

But faith,

even though

they don't

fully understand

at this

point,

faith keeps

them looking

to Jesus.

Faith is

what leads

them,

Peter,

to reply,

you are

the Christ.

You are

the Christ.

You are

the Messiah.

You are

the one

we have

been hearing

is to

come.

You are

the one

we are

supposed to

be looking

for.

You are

the Christ.

And when

you think

of that

question for

yourself

today,

who do

you say

that he

is?

Do you

have faith

to answer,

you are

the Christ?

Do you

have faith

to answer,

to whom

else can

I go?

Because you

alone have

the words

of eternal

life.

There is

nowhere else

we can

go,

but we

need

faith.

The

missionary

Adoniram

Judson,

he was

in Burma

in the

early 1800s,

what is

now Myanmar,

and he

went there

to preach

the gospel

to those

who were

blind and

ignorant to

God in

that place.

men

and he

did not

go well

at first.

And he

ended up

in prison,

chained up

in prison.

And he

was in

prison with

a number

of other

fellow

prisoners.

And he

was sharing