Nothing In My Hand I Bring

In one paragraph

The message moved through Matthew 16 and Mark 8, looking at the moment the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus and demand a sign, and then at the disciples' own dullness in the boat right after. Pastor Mark drew those threads together into a point about what it actually looks like to come to Jesus with nothing in your hands. The Pharisees and Sadducees almost never agreed on anything. Their...

Read together

1. Matthew 16:1-4 Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign from heaven, Jesus responding with red sky weather wisdom and the sign of Jonah
2. Mark 8:11-21 Parallel account of Pharisees demanding a sign, disciples forgetting bread, Jesus warning about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
3. Mark 8:22-25 Healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, progressive healing with spitting and laying on of hands
4. Deuteronomy 18:15 God will raise up a prophet and the people must listen to him, cited as messianic prophecy the Pharisees should have recognized
5. John 9 Man born blind questioned by religious leaders, responding that he does not know if Jesus is a sinner but once was blind and now sees
6. Romans 2:10-11 Glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, God does not show favoritism, used as benediction

Talk about it

1. Pastor Mark described the Pharisees as religious people who were sincerely seeking God and yet still missed Jesus. In what ways do you think that can happen to us today?
2. Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees they could read the sky but could not discern the signs of the times, meaning they were seeing miracle after miracle and still demanding more proof. When have you found yourself doing something similar, looking for more evidence instead of responding to what God has already shown you?
3. Jesus warned his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Herod, and then said that both sides are wrong. How do you personally guard against letting a particular political or theological tribe shape your faith more than Scripture does?
4. The blind man at Bethsaida did not receive his sight all at once. Pastor Mark connected that gradual healing to the disciples slowly coming to understand who Jesus is. Has your own understanding of Jesus ever grown that way, a little at a time rather than all at once? What did that look like?
5. Pastor Mark shared his dream about standing at a funeral with nothing to offer, and connected it to the baptism that morning, the idea that we come to Jesus with nothing in our hands. How does admitting that you have nothing to bring on your own actually change the way you live out your faith day to day?