Mark 8:10–21 — Seeing and Believing

This sermon is from Mark chapter 8 verses 10 through 21 and is entitled "Seeing and Believing."

Mark 8:10–21

It was delivered to Ecclesia churches on Sunday, September 14, 2025.

We are very quickly coming up on what is the pivot point for the Gospel of Mark.

We have been on this journey together through the book of Mark since May.

And I just want to zoom out for a moment and look back as we get close to this halfway

mark in this chapter.

If you think all the way back to our conversation, kind of introducing this book, you might remember

the purpose statement that we talked about.

Mark is writing this pretty brief account to establish two overarching themes or identities

of Jesus.

The first is that Jesus is the Son of God with all authority.

And the second is that Jesus is also the suffering servant foretold by Isaiah.

In chapter eight, we're arriving at this place where these two themes really shift and it

all hinges on whether the disciples will choose to believe, which is really next week's passage.

Jesus as the suffering servant is really the focus of the second half of Mark.

And so far in this first half, we've seen a lot of evidence for the Son of God part

of his identity.

Some of you have actually been highlighting these places

throughout the gospel where Mark gives us these little

proof statements of Jesus being God.

We've seen things as obvious as God declaring from heaven

during the baptism, this is my son.

To demons shouting, we know who you are.

And there's been some less obvious things too,

like Jesus walking on water and saying it is I.

So that's kind of where we're at in this gospel.

And more recently, we've seen gentiles come remarkably close to figuring this out.

But with some irony, the religious leaders refuse to believe.

And even more important, Jesus' disciples don't really believe yet either.

Jesus has expressed some concern over there being hard-hearted,

which up until recently was a judgment reserved for people like the Pharisees.

So as we walk through today's rather brief passage

in Mark 8, 10 through 21,

you'll see Jesus respond to the faithless demands

of the Pharisees asking for a sign,

but then you'll also see Jesus dealing with

the lack of faith and understanding in his disciples.

The ultimate question that shines through this passage

is the ultimate question worth answering.

Will you see Jesus for who he is?

and will you respond by putting your faith in him?

If you want to have true spiritual understanding,

Jesus is the only way to that, so will you see and believe?

Let's read this passage in its entirety,

and then we'll kind of walk back through it a bit.

This is beginning with verse 10.

"And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples

and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

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 the boat again,

and went to the other side.

Now they had forgotten to bring bread,

and they only had 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 discussing 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 5,000,

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

And they said to him, "12."

And the seven for the 4,000,

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

And they said to him, "7."

And he said to them, "Do you not understand?"

So let's begin by doing some word work

on these first few verses.

That's a term that one of my college professors used when he wanted to get into just a little

bit of the original language, the Greek.

Because sometimes it definitely adds some color to the conversation.

It gives us an idea of really what's happening here that sometimes gets a little lost when

we read through it quickly in English.

The word that he uses for "came," when it says the Pharisees came and begin to argue

with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

side deeply. Let's look at a few of these. The word came is a word typically used for

describing a military formation, like marching out in ranks for battle. So these are men

who came with a purpose and they are coming against Jesus. He used the word argue. They

are not here to learn or to have a discussion. They are here to argue with Jesus. The word

for seeking is a term used for interrogation, for example, a parent questioning a clearly

guilty child, indicating that the Pharisees have already made up their mind about Jesus,

and they are seeking His downfall.

They're seeking to prove Him wrong.

And then finally, this word for test is actually the very same one used back in chapter 1 to

describe Satan's temptation of Jesus. And so you can see through the language

that's used, the antagonism, the disdain for Jesus that these men have, and it's

bleeding through everything that they are doing and asking. And you and I have

probably met people like this and probably have even been people like

this at one point or another. Having made up their own mind already, they came to

confirm what they already believe instead of with an interest in the truth.

And there's really not much that can be done to help someone in a condition like that.

Jesus denies them a sign of any kind, and He simply leaves.

So circling back to this sign that they're asking for, what they call a sign from heaven,

they are not asking for just one more miracle.

Because the truth is they've witnessed plenty of these, and they've heard about plenty more

from anyone who they will listen to, right?

The evidence for Jesus' authority is sufficient and consistent, but for these guys, it's not

enough.

What they are asking for is a kind of divine pronouncement, a kind of God coming through

the clouds and announcing Jesus to them moment.

But Jesus knows, and I think we know too, that even that wouldn't have done the trick.

These Pharisees are so set in the opposition to Jesus and his teaching that even a sign

from heaven would not have been enough.

And of course we know that a sign from heaven was actually the first thing to happen in

the ministry of Jesus at his baptism.

So this isn't a problem of needing to see to believe.

They've clearly seen with their eyes, but their hardened hearts have stopped them from

seeing Jesus for who he really is.

It actually reminds me of a recording that I saw of a man who is teaching some outright,

untrue, heretical things about God and specifically about his design for sexuality.

And he's doing this from a pulpit of all places.

And as he speaks with confidence falsely about how the church should actually be learning

from those who have embraced sexual immorality and that God is inclusive, in this incredible

moment lightning strikes outside and the power goes out, cutting his lights and his microphone

and his platform for a moment.

And everyone in the room has this kind of nervous chuckle.

And then when the power comes back on, he smiles and says, "That's not a sign of God's

Okay? It didn't matter if people were to oppose him. It wouldn't matter if scripture opposed him.

It didn't even matter if there was a seeming sign from God to oppose him.

He was going to continue in the belief that he had.

And that's the kind of attitude that these Pharisees have toward Jesus.

So before we move on to these disciples, let me say this.

Signs and wonders will never be sufficient for those who oppose God.

While on its surface, their demand for additional signs seems like a sight problem.

It's actually a heart problem for these folks.

Instead of seeing what Jesus has done and hearing what he had to say and considering what is true,

they became indignant and angry and they rejected him.

Their hardened hearts made it impossible for them to see Jesus clearly.

And so for those people in your life that are opposed to God, the best thing that we can do is pray for their hearts to be softened.

And beyond that, we continue to speak the truth and we love them with the heart of Jesus for them.

And we continue to pray for them to have a change of heart that only God can bring about.

So just like the heart is the key to really seeing Jesus for who he is, it is also the key to hearing and understanding Jesus.

We've heard Jesus say this, "He who has ears, let him hear before."

And we know that he's not really talking about physical hearing.

He's talking about understanding.

And that's going to be the key word in this passage that comes out.

So let's talk about what happens here, where the disciples again

have not brought enough food for the journey.

And Jesus, of course, isn't concerned in the least with bread.

He has always provided bread when necessary, no matter the time, place, provisions, the number of people who need it.

Jesus is concerned with the hearts of his disciples and for all the time that he's spent with them, teaching them, showing them,

revealing himself to them, they still hear but don't hear.

And he's concerned just how much like the Pharisees they really are,

consumed with their own plans and agenda

and incomplete understanding of who Jesus really is.

And so he makes this comment about the leaven

of the Pharisees and Herod.

Leaven is the rising agent in bread.

Usually it's yeast is what we use

and it's usually a negative reference

when used as an example in scripture.

So if we go back a little bit in Exodus,

Israel's commanded to leave the leaven out of the bread

before they travel out of Egypt.

And then when celebrating Passover,

they are to actually remove all the leaven

or the yeast from their homes.

And it's this representation of purity.

Purify yourself by removing the leaven.

So Jesus referring to leaven here

is talking about the corrupted heart and teachings

of people like the Pharisees and Herod.

They're demands for more signs.

their denial of Jesus teaching about the kingdom,

their insistence on their own tradition

and authority and kingdom.

Really, he's warning them against

the kind of hard-hearted unbelief

that is leading to a lack of understanding of Jesus.

And again, Jesus tries to teach the disciples

using a little one-verse parable,

and they hear but they don't hear.

They literally start to argue over who is to blame

for not bringing enough bread.

It's not a good look for disciples of Jesus

and he calls them out on it.

They're missing the point entirely.

He asks in verse 17,

"Do you not perceive or understand?"

The word perceive here means to comprehend

and understand is more like putting things together.

So the way that I would say this in modern English would be,

are you not wrapping your head around this?

Are you not connecting the dots here?

After everything that Jesus has shown them and done,

they still have not really put their faith in Him.

And Jesus says that this isn't a hearing and seeing problem.

It's a heart problem.

Verse 17, are your hearts hardened?

Jesus is asking, are you any better off than the Pharisees?

And again, hearing the words of Jesus

and seeing the work of Jesus

Without putting your faith in Jesus,

we'll not change your heart.

Faith in Jesus is the key to everything.

It is the key to salvation, it is the key to joy,

but it's also the key to understanding.

So lastly, in this passage,

I just want you to see how masterfully

Jesus deals with their unbelief.

Because I think it not only helps us to witness well,

but it also serves as an invitation to us.

Jesus reminds them of how he provided the bread twice.

He reminds them of the sufficiency

in the baskets of leftovers,

and he asks, "Do you not remember?"

He doesn't perform a new sign or wonder.

He doesn't try to win them with a new argument.

Instead, he directs their gaze back

to what he has already done.

I don't think the instruction is all that different

for us today as people considering Jesus

and as people declaring Jesus.

You know, I always try to address people

in both of those groups,

because scripture is always addressing those far off

to come and those who have come to come closer.

And I know that between the recording of this

and even the people that are in the room with us every week,

we have those who have declared their faith

through baptism in Jesus,

and we have those who are still considering it.

And so the invitation to people in both places

is in one sense the same,

because we are all invited to respond to Jesus

with a soft heart, a heart that yields

and submits to Jesus in all things.

Whether you are doing that for the very first time,

or you're doing that for the 10,000th time,

We are all called to do that.

But for those who are considering Jesus,

I really wanna address this to you first.

I want you to see Jesus for who he is.

I want you to hear his words,

and I want you to open your heart to him.

And to do that, I will direct you the same way

that Jesus did his disciples,

to look back at everything he has done.

To see what he's done, we have in our hands

the inspired word of God.

It's what I'm reading from right now,

which contains the eyewitness accounts

of people who saw Jesus act and die and rise

with their own eyes.

Add to that that all of history and archeology prove this out

and I will stake my life on it.

And I'm not the only one.

Add to that that people throughout the last 2000 years

have willingly walked into persecution and death

without taking back a word.

The second thing I want you to do is to hear what he has to say, and to do that you actually

go to the same place, to the Word of God.

All of Scripture is of one accord, meaning it all agrees with itself without fail, because

it is all authored by God.

This is the teaching of Jesus, and not only will it change your life, it will lead you

to life everlasting.

Jesus is the Son of God.

So listen to him.

And finally, put your faith in him.

We declare him in baptism,

and then we continue declaring him

as a witness to the world.

Past that point, you are a disciple of Jesus.

So disciples of Jesus, those of you who have already seen

and heard and believed and declared Jesus,

listen, because this is important.

Repeat steps one through three.

All the things that I just said, yeah,

we as followers of Jesus need to go back

and do those exact same things over and over again.

Look at what he's done.

Read the inspired word of God.

Listen to what he has to say.

Look at the teachings of Jesus, which is the word of God,

and continue to declare him and put your faith in him.

Keep beholding what he's done.

See through eyes of faith.

Keep listening to what he says.

listen to his teaching, keep your heart soft, so that we can not only behold and understand

him, but we can also obey him and be changed by him.

And we do this by reorganizing our lives around the glory of God and the instructions of Jesus.

Things start to change.

Suddenly no priority or practice or tradition gets to be on the throne anymore because Jesus

is now on the throne.

There's no personal preference that gets to have precedence over the Word of God, which

is truth anymore.

There's no affiliation, no political party, no ethnic group, no other division that is

among men that takes priority over the unity that we are called to in Christ Jesus.

And it all comes back, as always, to putting our faith in Jesus.

I want to close with a story that I hope illustrates this faith that we're called to.

From when each of my kids were very little, they were always taught to take our hands

when we came to a parking lot or any open or unfamiliar place.

We trained them, take our hands, and some of them would do that better than others.

But it's so like what Jesus is inviting us to do.

picture of faith because as a two-year-old they don't know where we're going and they don't know

what's for lunch and they don't know half as much about me as some other people do but they have

learned by watching me and by listening to me that they can trust me and they can take my hand in

faith and I will lead them home safely and that's a picture of what faith looks like. It looks like

to Jesus, I don't know everything that I possibly could about you because you are infinite.

And I don't understand everything that you have taught because I'm still learning.

But this much I know. I know that you are good and you are trustworthy. And I can put all of my faith

in you and you alone. Ecclesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bloss

Iowa and in homes throughout the week. We are a Bible-centered church focused on preaching

from Scripture and making disciples of Jesus. You can learn more about our statement of faith

and contact a pastor by visiting ecclesia-churches.org.