referenced twice: Monday night study text, and paraphrased in baptism prayer about God giving power and desire to do what pleases him
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
main sermon text: Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign, leaven warning, disciples forgetting bread
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’
3 In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times!
4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” He left them, and departed.
5 The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread.
6 Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
8 Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, ‘because you have brought no bread?’
9 Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
10 Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
11 How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12 Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
parallel passage to Matthew read alongside for comparison on the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
14 They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them.
15 He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 They reasoned with one another, saying, “It’s because we have no bread.”
17 Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet, neither understand? Is your heart still hardened?
18 Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Twelve.”
20 “When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Seven.”
healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, two-stage healing
22 He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him.
23 He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.
24 He looked up, and said, “I see men; for I see them like trees walking.”
25 Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.
26 He sent him away to his house, saying, “Don’t enter into the village, nor tell anyone in the village.”
referenced to warn against factions: some saying 'I am of Apollos, I am of Paul'
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;
5 that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge;
6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7 so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
8 who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
10 Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.
16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;
27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;
28 and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:
29 that no flesh should boast before God.
30 Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
31 that, according as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message worked through Matthew 16 and Mark 8, where the Pharisees and Sadducees together demand a sign from Jesus, and the disciples forget to bring bread. Pastor Brian used those two scenes to talk about how factions harden people against truth, and what it looks like to trust Jesus with a simple, honest faith. The service also included the baptism of Brooke Combs.
What was said
The Pharisees and Sadducees were theological opponents who agreed on almost nothing, yet they showed up together to test Jesus. Pastor Brian pointed out that this unity against Jesus was not accidental. Competing factions will set aside their differences if they can find a common enemy, and neither side could see what was plainly in front of them despite all the evidence they had been given.
Jesus responds to their demand with the red sky illustration. These men could read the weather well enough. They had centuries of scripture and tradition behind them. But they could not discern that the messianic fulfillment was standing right in front of them. Pastor Brian said that was not a failure of information. It was a failure of the heart.
When Jesus warns the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and in Mark's account, the leaven of Herod, the disciples assume he is talking about bread. They had just watched him feed thousands of people twice, and they were anxious about lunch. Pastor Brian described this as a steady human habit, always returning to worry about earthly things while missing the larger point being made.
Jesus walks them back through both feeding miracles, not to scold them exactly, but to ask whether they understood yet. Pastor Brian noted that the word "yet" matters. Revelation comes a little at a time. The disciples were not hopeless, they were slow, and Jesus was patient with that slowness even while being direct about it.
The healing of the blind man at Bethsaida illustrated the same idea in physical form. The healing happened in two stages, partial sight first, then clarity. Pastor Brian said he believed Jesus was deliberately showing his disciples that understanding and wholeness do not always arrive all at once. Sometimes it is progressive, and that is not a lesser healing.
Pulling it together, Pastor Brian said the Pharisees and Sadducees no longer exist as such, but factions do. They are everywhere, they are opposed to each other, and they will never fully reconcile. The warning to beware of their leaven is still live. There may be a measure of truth on various sides, but Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and following him is not the same thing as attaching to a party.
Brooke's baptism gave the sermon its closing shape. Pastor Brian said that anyone who recognizes their helpless condition and turns to Jesus is met with a response, every time, regardless of which side they are coming from. He contrasted that with the religious leaders who had decided in advance that no sign would satisfy them. Simple, honest trust in Jesus is what the whole passage is pointing toward.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Jesus said the Pharisees and Sadducees could read the sky but could not discern the signs of the times. Where in your own life have you found it easier to pay attention to practical, everyday things than to what God might be doing around you?
Pastor Brian pointed out that the disciples had just watched Jesus feed thousands of people, and yet they were worried about forgetting bread. When have you caught yourself anxious about a practical need even after seeing God provide in a significant way?
Alright. Good morning, church. How are you this morning? You look well. Would you stand with me?
I would love to sing together. And, here's a verse to lead us into worship. And it says this, for in him, that's Christ, we live and we move and we have our being. So let's start by singing. Great are you, Lord.
Let's sing that verse again. These bones will sing. Sing that
Good morning, everybody. How are y'all? Good. Obviously, I guess. I'm dressed for a baptism.
We do have our participant that has shown up this morning. Imma do the announcements first but I'm thankful to be here this morning. Very very thankful that y'all are here too. Excuse me a second. And if you would look around, I've got a few announcements here first.
If you look around in front of you, there are little cards in the seat back in front of you. If you'd like to put down a prayer request or if you want to connect with a pastor or with somebody else here and you'd let us know, that's good. You can do that on those cards. Connect hour happens between services. It's down the hall.
We have coffee down there and snacks usually. That's gonna be down there. You can connect. We call it the connect hour because we have a second service too, and you can connect with the second service there. Monday nights at first beat.
Carl, what's happening? Shine brightly for Christ. Meal music and message. Philippians two starting in verse 12, I think. Good job.
Meal, music, and a message, Monday night, tomorrow, 06:00. This one, I just learned about. We haven't been announcing this the whole time I sat next to Grant and Jane Galaher last night up at a wedding in Buffalo Valley and he said, why don't you invite the whole church to come out to the Diamond Cross Ranch tomorrow, 04:00 this afternoon. So, it's not tomorrow. It's today.
That was last night he said tomorrow. Today, 04:00PM, there's a horse whispering demonstration. After that is a five at 05:30 is a potluck, so bring something, bring a dish of some sort, and then music to follow. But he'll do a horse whispering demonstration, then potluck after at the Diamond Cross Ranch. Do you all know where that is?
Diamond Cross is Buffalo Valley on the left side just past Fates Ranch. So, if you would like to go to that, he said, invite everybody. Tell them to come on, bring something. We'll have fun. So that's that.
Rummage sale is happening, Saturday, October 1. The donations will all go to Missions Fund. Y'all can see the thing. Nice, clean items only. Nancy Terraziano is heading this up, and she will administrate it but if you wanna call her for details, there's her number, 69999789 and you can learn more about that.
That's happening eight to two, Saturday, October 1. Sisters Saved by Grace is a Thursday night study, lady study that is happening and they are loving it. Elders meetings are on Thursday nights. Board of trustees meetings are Thursday night. So, I'm here a lot and they have a ball in there and that little group loves one another well.
So I love that little group.
Ray, I'm gonna hijack the announcements from you. Alright. Sorry. Change in plans last minute. But I wanted to hop up and tell you about the women's fall study that's been happening.
This week, we're going into our third week. There's been over a 100 women from the community. Deborah Buckingham has been teaching studies in this valley for over ten years, and she's an incredibly talented teacher. She wrote the study. This year's theme is called Thrive.
We would love if you have not joined us yet, ladies, that are available during Wednesdays in the morning, please come. Books are available there, so you can just hop in with us. It will go for eight weeks total. Do you mind flipping for me?
Well, sure.
Vincent, I'm not in the back.
That's good.
Okay. This is also a very important announcement. The sound booth is currently unoccupied. I'm running both today. So, Blake is out.
So I'm filling in, which has been amazing. I've been training for only a month. And, yes, I am the one who does not know how to use my own Kindle. So anybody can learn the tech booth. I promise you, it does feel overwhelming at first, but it's actually really fun.
And it's a great way to serve because if you're already accustomed to being at the nine AM or 11AM service, you can just hop back there and to start, all you do is flip the slide. So it's really very that simple. And then last announcement. Oh, I don't know where wait. Flip one more.
Okay. And then we'll flip back to Mike. Sorry. This is all you can tell this is my first day, like, running it all on my own. Okay.
So super excited for this. I've been involved with Young Life for the last three years, and I have a group of high school girls that are seniors now. And we've been doing a small group at my house for two and a half years together, and it's been on my heart to expand that. In the meantime, Mike d and JJ had been having high schoolers in their home the same night. And as it turned out, we were kind of poaching kids from each other's groups unintentionally.
And we were both like, man, it would make so much sense if we just did this together. Well, we reached out to the other churches in the community, and it turns out everyone is struggling with high school ministry. It's really not fun to show up for high school ministry when you're the only high schooler there and you just get to hang out with, like, me or Mike. It's not very cool. So we surveyed the entire church community, and I think since COVID, everyone has had a really hard time restarting.
But I'm so grateful to say that as of last week, Ray and pastor Brian from Tribe and Mike all met and prayed over lunch and decided that they wanna move forward with hosting a community wide Bible study. So this is open to all churches and all high schoolers. We're gonna be meeting on Thursday nights at the tribe ministry center. Mike, d, and I are gonna be co leading, but we need your help, especially if you're a young adult. Mike and I are in our thirties, and we might not be as cool anymore to these teens.
So what we really need is some some young adults in their twenties who are willing to lead a small group. So Mike and I will cover teaching and content, and all you guys do is meet with them after to talk about the content, to pray together, and to just love on these kids. So please come find Mike or I, if you're interested afterwards. And then parent, we really need you to help spread the word and invite. If you know high school students, we have a solid core to start, so it's not gonna be like one kid the first night.
I promise. I think there will be a big crowd and also help spread the word to your friends at churches around the community. Then if we can flip back oh, sorry.
Go ahead. Called Thursdays,
so it means it's gone.
We we don't have a name yet. We'll just it's just happening Thursdays. Just like Mondays, Monday nights at First Bee, Thursdays are for the high schoolers. I'm gonna hand it off to Mike now.
Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. Can you go back one for me? Can we give it up for Natalie?
Yes. Yeah. Give it up. She does the sound. She does the announcements.
It's awesome. So Awana, thank you guys again. Awana is gonna launch this year. We're excited. We asked for help, and you guys said yes.
Awana will be going on. We're actually gonna start tomorrow with just a leader meeting. So if you're interested in that, please just come tomorrow at 6PM. We'll have a little bit of food, give out some shirts, meet the rest of the team. That's gonna happen.
One thing that we could use. I know that some of you out there, you're like, man, I'd love to do a wanna, but I can't commit to it every week. Don't worry. We've got a solution for that. If you'd be willing to be a backup, would you let me know?
Because sometimes people get sick or people travel and they can't make it. And we could really use three or four volunteers that could say, I can't do it every week. But if you call me, I could do it. As a matter of fact, maybe I could even do it day day of. You know, if you called me and said, hey.
Could you come tonight? I could probably do it. I'm free most Mondays, but I can't commit to all of them for the whole school year. Please see me, see Diane. I would love that.
Just to know that our bases are covered and we're able to pour into this next generation, in a way that we believe in. So, yeah. Pray for us with our youth ministries because they're all launching right now.
So, Thursdays, that that deal that Natalie talked about, when is that starting?
That's gonna start not this Thursday but next Thursday.
Thursday Thursday week if you're from the South.
Yeah. Thursday week if that makes sense. Next Thursday, if you're from the rest. And this is something we're really excited about. So please, while I've got your ear, I wanna beg for your prayers for this.
This is something we've not been able to grab much traction in this town with high school ministry. This is a pretty big push from a lot of different people. Please join us in prayer for the young people of this town, please.
Amen. Thank you. Yes.
So the tribe ministry center is right across the street from Whole Foods. It's a little building right there and if you see me, I can get you the exact address. I think it's 1200 South Highway 89. 1200 South Highway 89. It's just one of those big white block buildings right there.
So.
Thank you. Perfect. Alright. Now, I'm going to invite up, I think, Brooke Combs and her name is misspelled. Sorry about that.
I think. Brooke is here. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. You can come on back here. How about this?
Brooke, have you trusted in Christ as savior and lord of your life?
Yes.
Do you know every point of theology that I have ever taught you?
No.
Do you know all about some soteriology and harmartiology?
No.
Okay. Do you trust that Jesus will show you the way? Yeah. Amen.
Amen.
Alright, let's sing together. An invitation. God, what a profound song we have just sung. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the invitation.
You are the well that doesn't run dry. And thank you, Lord. Would you give us a simple faith, the faith of a child? Yes. You are working on us throughout our entire lives.
We don't have to know everything right from the beginning. You are teaching us along the way, giving us the power and the desire to do what pleases you, as Philippians says. God, thank you for this profound message. You love the world so much. You gave your only son, Jesus, that whoever believes in him, comes to faith in him, puts their trust in him, will not perish, but will have everlasting, eternal life with you and abundant life now.
In Jesus' name. Amen. All the more reason to pray and sing his praises. From Ephesians, it says that God has saved you by his grace, his favor leaning toward you when you believed. And you can't take credit for us.
None of us can take credit for any of this. This is a work of God through Christ. It's a gift from God. Amen. Amen.
Can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service. I'll invite the ushers to come on forward from Psalm twenty nine eighteen. This verse caught me this week. It says, the Lord gives strength to his people.
The Lord blesses his people with peace. And biblical peace is God's gift of wholeness, completeness. I would like to to sing of it, but Ray, first, would you pray?
This morning, Lord, to gather in your name, I thank you for the way that people are responding to the gospel, Lord. I pray that we would respond favorably towards the gospel truth, Lord, that you died for our sins. I pray that we would continually, Lord, live in that truth and know that it is a gift of grace. That is we're not getting what we do deserve, justice. And we're not just getting mercy, Lord, but we're getting grace.
We're getting a whole abundant life that we did not deserve. But by your walking it out, Lord, you've made that available to us. In Jesus name. Oh, God, thank you. I pray, Lord, that everything that goes into these plates would advance your good gospel, that it would give the peace that passes understanding to people who long for it.
In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Amen. It's time for children's church downstairs. That includes middle school and high school, guys and gals.
How are you all doing? Is everybody okay? Good. Is that the right one? Yes, it is.
This is where we're going to start today. It's actually where we ended last week. And I am going to step back for just a second and say, I try my best just to stick with what it says. And I've got a bit today where I'll go beyond, not beyond what it says I hope, but I'll go through the sermon part and then kinda back away for a second and do a little bit. I mean, the exposition part and go put together a little bit of a sermon.
That's not my favorite place to be is sermonizing because I like to I mean, it sounds crazy for a pastor to say that, but I like to stick with what it says because I feel like we get off base when we start going on whims and opinions. So here we go through it to begin with, and then I'll back up, talk a little about baptism. Is everything alright up there, Natalie? Okay. And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and he came to the region of Magadan or Magadan, Magadan.
That's supposed to be right there. We're not absolutely positive. Magadan actually there's more evidence for exactly where it is than what Mark calls the region of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees and the Sadducees came up. So it's not just the Pharisees.
I didn't cover this last week. Mark when I got to it in Mark, it says the Pharisees met them there and started arguing because that's what Pharisees do. Every time we see them, that's what they're doing. Right? Matthew says it's not just the Pharisees, it's also the Sadducees.
So the Pharisees and Sadducees came up and putting Jesus to the test because that's what competing sides will do. Pharisees and Sadducees were opposed to one another theologically. And so they both come and they're putting him to the test. Whose side is he on? So we can put him on y'all if he's an opponent.
They ask him to show them a sign from heaven. So it's saying both. It's funny that the Pharisees and Sadducees were both doing that because Sadducees typically did not believe in signs from heaven. They didn't believe in revelation from God in the current day, and they didn't believe in even the resurrection. There were some things that we think of as just normal.
How could you read the Bible and not get that? They didn't believe in that. So the two groups came up to Jesus, putting him to the test. They asked him to show them a sign from heaven, but he replied to him, when it's evening you say, oh, it's gonna be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning there'll be a storm a day for the sky is red and threatening.
How many of you all heard that? Red Sky at night, sailors delight. Red Sky at the morning, sailors take warning. Right? That actually is a pretty good one.
It actually works. So it's not just your grandmother saying something, it's something that means something. And if you want to know that I've got a printout of all how that works. I don't know. You can look it up on the Internet if you want to, but it actually does work.
And Jesus is saying, y'all understand some earthly things. You've seen enough to know some earthly stuff. You know how to discern the appearance of the sky. You can look at that. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, but you're unable to discern the signs of the times.
Nowadays, if you hear a sermon on the signs of the times, it's almost always going to be eschatology. Right? Signs of the times, we'll go to Daniel and we'll go to Revelation and we'll go and start piecing things together and come up with the signs of the times. One of the earliest youth sermons I heard was from a buddy of mine who's about two years younger than me. He was about 12 at the time.
It was youth Sunday, so they asked one of us to preach and all of us were like this. He said, I'll do it. And he had one memorized that he'd been listening to on a record about the signs of the times and he did everything that that record did. Wow. That's pretty good.
You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, you're unable to discern the signs of the times. That's interesting because this is the messianic fulfillment in time. And they should have known if they paid attention to the first five books of the Bible, which is what the sadducees did, or if they paid attention to not just the first five, but all of the prophets and they had a lot of oral tradition that went along with it like the pharisees did. Both sides should have had enough to know that this was their guy. And they were putting him to the test.
It is an evil and adulterous generation that wants a sign. And so a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah. We've gone into that the last time we hit that. I'm not going go into it again today, the sign of Jonah. And he left them and he went away.
So that's in Magadan. Mark says about 4,000 men were there. That's with families, so women and children too. Over in Decapolis, primarily Gentile area, primarily Gentiles. And he had ministered, like I said last week, in exactly the same manner that he fed the 5,000 in a Jewish area, mostly Jewish folks.
He did the same thing to those who would traditionally have been thought of as outside of the chosen ones of God. 4,000 were there. He dismissed those and immediately got into the boat with his disciples and he came to the region of Dalmanutha. Dalmanutha is less certain exactly where it is, but it appears to be a region bigger than just Magadan. It means the way of the shepherd, the place of the shepherd.
So that would make sense for where that is. And the pharisees came out and they began to argue with him demanding from him a sign from heaven to test him and sighing deeply in his spirit. Why? Why does this generation demand a sign? The signs of the times are everywhere, all around.
In the last two chapters he sped 9,000 men and all the folks that accompany them. Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. Actually, there are a lot of signs that were given, but there was no acceptable sign. Right?
If you're arguing with somebody and you've already decided on your point and they give you any good argument, you will explain it away. Will you not? Confirmation bias is very strong now and it was very strong then. Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given.
And leaving them, he embarked again and he went to the other side. And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, probably about right there. I can tell that from Mark eight twenty two. They're gonna go up to Bethsaida again near Julius. So they come to the other side of the sea, they had forgotten to bring bread.
That's hilarious. Do you all get that? That's crazy. He's just fed 9,000 people in past two chapters. They get on the boat, and the disciples are going, oh, I forgot the picnic basket.
They forgot to bring any bread. And Jesus said to him, watch out now, and beware of the leaven yeast. Right? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now we all know and have heard a thousand sermons about what leaven does.
You put just a little bit into the dough and it swells up, and then all of that becomes leaven eventually. Right? It all gets to be that way. And we've heard that sermon a lot. I'm not gonna go on.
I think that Jesus just hid it in passing with watch out and be aware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And they began to discuss among themselves saying, said that because we didn't bring any bread. How obtuse can we be? He said that because we didn't bring your bread. I know it was my fault.
Golly. But Jesus aware of this said, you you men of little faith. Why is it that you're discussing amongst yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Really? Do you not yet understand nor do you remember the loaves of the five the five loaves of of the 5,000 from a loaf that feeds a thousand people or how many baskets you picked up nor the seven loaves and the 4,000 people how many large baskets you picked up.
How is it? How is it really that you do not understand that I didn't speak to you about bread? I mean I'm using metaphors here people. Not everything is literal, but it does matter. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
So it's not just the Pharisees. It's Pharisees and Sadducees. And then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread. He wasn't trying to give them a gluten free diet. He was saying, beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Now, in the times at that time, there were folks that were kinda in charge. And under Roman rule, there was Jewish puppet government. You might call it the Heronian dynasty had been in the position of being a vassal king almost to the Romans. So the Romans say, You keep peace among your people and we'll give you some measure of authority. So that's Herod's people, also known as Herodians.
But they're mostly of the Sadducees. They are more of a priestly ruling class type people or wealthy merchants. They tended to have money. And the Pharisees were of the people. And he was saying, beware of both of those things.
The Sadducees had power and control and tradition and they only believed the first five books of the Bible. And strictly as it was written, not an interpretation during the times that they lived in, the Pharisees believed that it would change some. As culture changed, it would change some. So it's interesting. Today we think the Pharisees being absolutely rigid, no doubt about it.
And we don't really know who the Sadducees are. Sadducees were more rigid on the written originalists interpretation. The Pharisees left some room for that. And the Pharisees have more influence on modern day Judaism than anybody else. When the temple fell in seventy AD, the Sadducees ended with the temple.
The temple sacrifice system and all of the high priestly stuff that required the holy of holies. All of that died out. Sadducees were gone within a generation. But Pharisees influence remained. So it's a couple of centuries where the heyday for the Sadducees, two, two point five maybe.
And for the Pharisees, it lasted seven hundred years, something like that. And even into the now if you're considering their influence. Then they understood that he didn't say beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the pharisees and the sadducees. Okay. Mark.
Let's let Mark tell us. And the disciples had forgotten to take bread. And they didn't have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And he was given orders to them saying, watch out now. Beware of the leaven of the pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
So Herod, like I said, Herod is the Jewish king and there were six or seven of them in the Bible. And they were the ones that were supposed to be in charge over all of that what we what some people call Palestine now. All of that area was covered by the Herod, Herodian dynasty. And he was given orders to 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. We are always worried about earthly stuff. He's he's got a big point to make here. There are factions that will rise up claiming authority. And he's saying beware of that.
We don't have any bread. I wonder what we're going to eat. I used to work in an office. I don't work I mean I've still worked in an office I suppose. But I used to work in an office and there were 27 people in this one office.
And I could not get over the fact that we started talking about what we had for breakfast when we got there and what we were going have for lunch about halfway through the morning and then what we had for lunch and what we were going to have for supper halfway through the afternoon. It was so steady. It was one of the things that we could agree on without fighting. Jesus had said to them, why is it that you're discussing this fact that you have no bread? Do you not comprehend yet or understand yet?
I think the yet is really important in there. He's saying, Revelation happens a little at a time. You understand a little at a time. Don't you all get it yet? Do you still have your heart hardened because of the way that you were raised or because of your circumstances of life?
Is your heart still impenetrable to the message that I'm trying to bring? Remember that he had up at Tyre and Sidon up in Phoenicia just healed a Syrophoenician Canaanite woman's daughter and then went across to Decapolis and fed the 4,000. And then this, it matters. Context matters. Do you still have your hardened heart even seeing that the rabbi that you are following is blessing all of these other peoples?
Are you still hardening your heart? Having eyes, do you not see? Earlier than this, he has said about the pharisees, couple of different places. He said, seeing they will not see and hearing they will not understand. And the disciples, you tell us that we wanna understand.
We wanna get it. 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 you picked up? And he said to him, well, it's 12.
We remember that. We count stuff. Seriously, put your hands on that. And when I broke seven for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces you picked up? And he said, yes, seven.
We got that too. And he was saying to him, do you not yet understand? Do you get that there is plenty with me? There's enough and more abundance. Little break.
They came to Bethsaida. So Bethsaida was just north of where they probably landed, just on those little trickle. And they came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a man who was blind to Jesus. And they beg him to touch him. And taking the man who's blind by the hand, he brought him out of the village.
That's interesting. I haven't seen that before. So he's in the midst of the village, seems. Probably begging it doesn't say that in the text, but that's what generally, that's what the people are doing. But taking the man who was blind by the hand, Jesus, brought him out of the village.
He got him out more secluded. His disciples were apparently with him. And after spitting in his eyes that just sounds so normal, doesn't There there are some there are quite a few actually texts and histories of the Jews of that time. Pharisees in particular because the Sadducees wouldn't do something like that. But of the time where they believed that the firstborn spit, the firstborn saliva, as gross as that sound to us, had some healing properties.
Okay. Still seems weird to me, but it's included. I'm gonna say it. He brought him out of the village and after spitting in his eyes, which by the way, what do the pharisees have the biggest trouble with Jesus about? His parentage.
And the sadducees would have too actually. They were really into the lions, the genealogies. But the pharisees were like, we know his parents. I mean, we know how he got here. It was illegitimate.
They've got all of that. But was Jesus you know, was sonship for Jesus. Right? He is a firstborn son. He's got definitely got healing powers.
After spitting in his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people for I see them like trees walking around. That's weird, isn't it? Trees don't walk around. But also a blind man, how does he know what a tree looks like?
I mean, he's probably bumped into a few of them. No joke in there. He knows that they stand up, right? But he sees people, and they're all walking around. I see people walking like trees.
Well, that's not a clear picture, is it? And it sounds like for Jesus to be healing somebody, it seems like, bam, you just get it. A 100% right there. Oh, immediately. But I think Jesus is still teaching his disciples and he's saying, alright.
Come come out here outside the village. I'm doing this for you. I'm not doing it to be seen. I'm not doing it for fame. You see anything after he had done his little spitting in his eyes and laying his hands on him.
I see people for I I see him walking walking around seem like trees. Then again, Jesus laid his hands on his eyes, and he looked intently and was restored. And he began to see everything clearly. I looking through the New Testament, I see how many different ways Jesus healed people, and I think, that is amazing. Why is it that he does it so many different ways?
There's so many different individuals. And in this particular case, I think he was showing the progressive way that he heals. Sometimes. Sometimes it's instantaneous. But more this time, it wasn't for everybody, but it was for that individual and for his disciples to see a little at a time and then he sent him to his home saying, don't even go back to the village.
Isn't that funny? Because we think, oh man, he just healed this guy. The guy's blind and now he can see. That's eventually going to get out. Right?
But he's like, just go home. Go home and enjoy it. Don't even enter the village. Now for the last four Sundays that I have preached, Jesus has been seeking rest. He's been going across that lake and back to the other side and back to the other side and back, and he's been looking for rest.
And in this one, I imagine I don't know this is true, but I imagine he just said, you head on home. I need a head start. That's the last of the scripture I think I have today. I have a lot of other verses that have to do with baptism, but I I wanna talk about kinda and did it during but the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees were in that time the factions or the parties. In Corinthians, Pharisees still existed and Sadducees still existed, but the church, the nascent church is starting out.
And Paul says, hey. Some of y'all are saying, I'm of Apollos, and I'm of Paul. And some of you are even saying, I'm of Christ. And you're following after people, and you're following after ideologies, but you're you're not unifying. You're not coming together, people.
The pharisees and the sadducees were opposed to one another, and they were gonna bump heads no matter what. Oh, but it's not no matter what. When they encountered Jesus, they were both against him. If they had thought that he was a good thing, would have both been for him. Do do you see where I'm going with that?
So today, we don't have Pharisees, really. We don't have Sadducees, really. But we do have factions, and they are all around us. And they are opposed to each other, and they ain't never gonna get along ever. Beware of the leaven of both sides.
There is a little bit of truth on both sides, but Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. Follow after him individually. I was so thankful for Brooke this morning for her coming and saying, I want to be baptized. I believe in Jesus. I want to take a step of obedience, trusting him.
And that is really what is required. If you look in the New Testament and you see anybody that reaches out for Jesus in faith, he responds to the call of faith every time. He does not care what side it's coming from, and he's proven that. Last three weeks, we have seen how he does that and how he's gracious towards his disciples who can't seem to break free from their old paradigm. I will guarantee you this, that people who recognized their helpless estate and turn to Jesus are made whole.
While everyone that thinks they have it all figured out goes away without, no sign will be given that'll be sufficient for you. Right? God help us. I was thinking the other day too about baptism and thinking about how the buried with and raised to walk in newness of life. The symbolism of having been buried with Christ.
I mean, the flood. We've got the pharaoh's armies drowning in the Red Sea not coming up again, dying in their sins as it were. And we've got Peter saying that Noah's family, it corresponds to baptism. You know, there's this flood that destroys everything, but there were these that came up through it by the promise of God, by his providence, and by his covenants. I had a horrible dream this week.
I mean horrible. It's more embarrassing than I will tell you, but it was horrible. I dreamed that I had to do a funeral. That's not bad. I like I don't mind funerals.
I don't really like to do funerals when I don't know the person well. It's really hard to do one when I know the person and I know they were just flat not a believer. And that's a harder funeral to do. I still don't mind doing it because I I wanna be doing the one for the folks who are in the seats, right? But I did not know the person, and I did not know what I was going to say.
I'm usually fairly well prepared, I think. But I didn't have anything to say, and I was going, I'm completely lost. I have no idea what's going on. And then I had a physical reaction to that feeling of being absolutely destitute. My whole body was crumbling, and then I found myself like, God help me.
I woke up in a hospital, and I was being fixed from everything that was wrong with me. Hooked up to all kinds of stuff I didn't know anything about. Plugged into power sources I I didn't have any control over. And I was so thankful I didn't have to speak at that funeral. But it I was delivered.
That's the the point of the whole thing was I was delivered. And I I there's water still up here. If you have made a decision to follow after Jesus, but you've never taken a step of obedience to be baptism, I brought extra clothes. They'll fit you. I'm bigger than everybody in here.
If you want to be baptized, pool's open. If not, Carl and the band will come forward. Alright. Carl doesn't want to be baptized. He's coming forward.
Would you all stand up And we'll sing our way out here. God, thank you. Thank you for Brooke. I thank you that baptism is an individual step of faith that says publicly, I'm ready to be serious about you, God. In Jesus' name, I thank you for the little testimonies.
And I ask you, Lord, for your help in detecting the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees because no side has a corner on this market. Would you make us pious, Lord, where we are prodigal? Amen. Psalm says, the word of the Lord is right and is true. God is faithful in all that he does.
Lord, would you show yourselves faithful through us this week? Amen. Amen.
