How Is It You Do Not Understand?: St. Mark 8:10-9:1

St. Mark 8:10-9:1: "8:10 [He] immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha. 11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.' 13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, 'Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have no bread.' 17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?' They said to Him, 'Twelve.' 20 'Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?' And they said, 'Seven.' 21 So He said to them, 'How is it you do not understand?' 22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, 'I see men like trees, walking.' 25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, 'Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.' 27 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do men say that I am?' 28 So they answered, 'John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.' 29 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter answered and said to Him, 'You are the Christ.' 30 Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. 31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.' 34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, 'Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.'

9:1 And He said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.'"

This pericope comes immediately after (as the Evangelist St. Mark points out with his favorite word, "immediately") the feeding of the 4,000. What is interesting about this is that after performing this miracle, our Lord doesn't stick around to socialize. He "immediately" gets in a boat and departs for another region. There are two reasons for this, one, so that those who have been fed both spiritually and physically, do not have a cause to rush Him off and make Him a King. Second, our Lord rushes off to go to another area, so that His Word may be proclaimed to yet more people. So our Lord Jesus, and His disciples go to Dalmanutha.

 

And upon His arrival in this territory, He is confronted by the unbelievers, the Pharisees, which are the people who need to hear His Word the most. The Pharisees represent the assaults of the devil upon Jesus, and it seems whenever He goes to a new place the devil is there in the form of someone or something to create a roadblock to His spreading the Gospel. And so the Pharisees, to test Him, ask Him for a sign. This is particularly odd, since our Lord has just completed a sign, by feeding 4,000 men plus women and children. To the Jew, one could not help associate this feeding with the feeding that Moses provided to the Israelites in the wilderness through manna.

 

There is in this pericope and the preceding narrative of the feeding of the 4,000 a contrast. Those who believe the Word of our Lord Jesus, who run after Him and chase Him down to hear His holy Word, are given a sign. The Pharisees on the other hand, being unbelievers, and only wishing to test and temp our Lord, do not receive a sign. And our Lord Jesus tells them no sign will be given. Most significant about this sign of the feeding of the 4,000, and the not giving of a sign to the Pharisees, is our Lord Jesus' reaction in both cases. His reaction to the 4,000? He gives thanks. To the Pharisees? He "sighed deeply in His spirit," that is, He groans.

 

Our Lord Jesus is not alone in His reaction, for this is the common response of those who preach the Word of God. When met with great faith, and desire to hear God's Word, there is much giving of thanks. However, when met with unbelief and resistance to the things of God, there is much groaning. And our Lord Jesus shows us what to do when met with much unbelief and testing of God, He leaves. And this is quite right and proper, for where there is hope of correction, one should stay, and seek that correction, but where people show themselves incorrigible, we should depart, for the evil will remain with these people.

 

Therefore, He gets into a boat, and goes to the other side. But even in the boat, our Lord does not get any rest, for after warning His disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, meaning their evilness and unbelief, which is masked by good works and a religious life, they start thinking amonst themselves that He is chastizing them for not bringing bread. We see in this the unbelief of the Pharisees rubbing off onto the disciples.

 

This also is odd, as our Lord Jesus points out, because they had not only just been witness to the feeding of the 4,000, but earlier had seen the feeding of the 5,000. And in both of these cases, as our Lord points out, there were basketfuls left over. So that their bellies need not wonder about how it is going to get its next meal, for our Lord Jesus will supply it.

 

All this unbelief and doubt from the Pharisees and disciples, or to say it another way, their spiritual blindness, is met by an actual blind man. This man is physically blind, but spiritually he sees that our Lord is the Messiah. He has faith and trust, and can see who the Lord is, even though he cannot see the Lord. There is yet a whole other level to this miracle that is to be understood mystically.

 

For Bethsaida, the place where the Lord Jesus went to, and from where the blind man was from, means "house of the valley." This calls to mind the 23rd Psalm, where we pray, "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." Bethsaida, represents the world, or the place where sin, death, and the devil rule, and the blind man represents all those who are spiritually blind within this world. Therefore, our Lord Jesus brings the man out of Bethsaida, that is, He takes Him out of the world of sin, death, and the devil, so that He might give Him eyes to see. Mystically speaking the Lord brings Him into the Church, where He preaches to Him His holy Word, represented by the spittle, which comes from His holy mouth. The touching with His hand represents the means of grace, whereby the Holy Ghost, creates and sustains faith and life.

 

Therefore, in this healing, we see how we are healed of our own faithlessness and doubt, that is, our own spiritual blindness. We are healed by the preaching of the Word and the Sacraments, where the Holy Ghost imparts to us faith and life by these means, so that we see the good gifts of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Upon this healing, the Lord Jesus heads toward Caesarea Philippi, and along the way He inquires of His disciples of whom people say Him to be. Here we have the bold confession of St. Peter, who rightly calls our Lord Jesus, the Son of God. We are told that this was revealed to St. Peter. He did not come to this revelation by himself, but it was given to him by the Heavenly Father. Here it is then that our Lord after hearing the confession and belief of the disciples that He was believed to be the Son of God, He now reveals to them what the Son of God must do, and that is, that He must suffer many things, be crucified, buried, and arise on the third day.

 

The Evangelist St. Mark, seems to be just throwing a bunch of narratives together haphazardly, but there is a rhyme and reason to the order of these events. For after the sign of the feeding of the 4,000, and the unbelief of both the Pharisees and disciples, we are given the enlightenment of a blind man. It is here that the disciples reveal their own ability to see whom our Lord Jesus is, He is the Messiah. They know this through the revelation that has been given to them through the preaching and miracles of our Lord. But having confessed to know Who our Lord Jesus is, He tells them exactly what that means. It means a cross and death. To this St. Peter objects. Perhaps he believes he is speaking on behalf of all the disciples. Our Lord even turns to look at the disciples to suggest this may be the case. But the objection to our Lord's crucifixion and death, comes from only one individual, and that is Satan, the Accuser.

 

For without the cross, the Accuser, can go on accusing people of their sin. But with the cross, this accusation is rendered useless. So to stop our Lord from fulfilling the work for which He was born into our flesh, is to be in league with Satan, for only he desires this to be.

 

Our Lord then, after calling the crowds and the disciples to Himself, tells everybody to take up their cross and follow Him. Their cross, is His cross. This is just another way to say, "Do not be ashamed of the cross of Christ, for it is our life and salvation. It is the power of salvation for those who believe." This is the reality of the Christian life. Our life is one lived under the cross of our Lord. And that may include persecution and trial from the Pharisees and unbelievers of our day. But more than that it is the means by which our forgiveness, life and salvation has been won for us. To live under the cross, for us Christians, is no different than living in one's Holy Baptism, for in it we daily drown the Old Adam, or to say it another way, we crucify our sins and evil desires once again through the remembrance of our Lord's death and burial. And as He rose from the dead, we too, rise to new life every time we drown the Old Adam, and live as redeemed children of the Lord.

 

Therefore, let us cast off the leaven of the Pharisees, and rejoice that our eyes have been opened up to see that our Lord Jesus is the Son of God come into the world to suffer and die for our salvation. And let us take up this cross of His, and follow Him, by hearing His holy Word, and enjoying His Blessed Sacraments.

 

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Spirit of the Lord God is Upon Me: Isaiah 61:1-3

Isaiah 61:1-3: "1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

 

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me. Our Lord Jesus quotes these words about Himself, in the synagogue of Nazareth. This pericope contains that our Lord Jesus is to do and fulfill: preach good tidings to the poor; heal the brokenhearted; proclaim liberty to the captives; open the prison of those who are bound; proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; and comfort those who mourn.

The one phrase that stands out is the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. This is a reference to the crucifixion of our dear Lord Jesus. On that day and in that year, God's vengeance over sin was appeased by the acceptable sacrifice of our Savior on the cross. He offers Himself up as a sacrifice for our sins, taking on Himself our punishment.

This is the glad tidings that is preached to the poor, that heals the brokenhearted, that comforts the ones who mourn. The death of Christ, frees from the prison of sin and death, all those who are bound in it. It gives freedom from sin, death, and the devil to all those who are held captive by them. Our dear Lord Jesus destroys sin, death, hell, the devil, the world, our sinful flesh, all by His death on the cross.

This reading, which is the Old Testament appointed for The First Sunday after Epiphany from The Lutheran Hymnal, also ends talking about "trees of righteousness." How could this be anything but a reference to the tree upon which our dear Lord hung as a sacrifice for us. This tree which led to our Lord's death, cancels out the tree that led to Adam's death. It is a tree where His righteousness is displayed for the whole world. It happens in such a way that this tree of death, becomes for us, the tree of life. The means by which our Lord Christ, won for us eternal life by His death and resurrection.

This morning we heard from the Gospel lesson that the Boy Jesus was in His Father's house, answering and asking questions of the elders. Little did those who marveled at His wisdom, realize who this child was, nor did they know for what He was destined. We are not told what exactly was discussed, but one can't help but imagine that this passage from Isaiah, or another just like it from the Old Testament, was discussed by them. For we know that our Lord was constantly teaching people about the purpose of His coming, that is His suffering and death on our behalf.

And so, we rejoice today, for the death of our Savior. We rejoice that the Boy Jesus, who marveled the teachers of the Law with His wisdom, fulfilled that Law perfectly for us, and took our punishment upon Himself on that tree of righteousness.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

I Will Establish My Covenant With You: Genesis 6:9-22

Genesis 6:9-22: "9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark--you , your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.' 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."

This evening's reading tells us that Noah was a just and perfect man; that he walked with God. Noah is a picture of another just and perfect man, our dear Lord Jesus. That Noah walked with God, doesn't just simply mean that he went for walks with Him. It means that Noah did as God desired. He was in complete fellowship with Him, walking in all His ways. Noah is contrasted by the rest of the world. "Indeed it was corrupt." Noah is the only one who is righteous, and so God plans to destroy that which is corrupt, through a flood.

One can see two images in this narrative. The Cross of our dear Lord Jesus, and our baptism. In the Cross, God destroys all that is corrupt in mankind. Our Lord Jesus stands as both the Victim and the High Priest, offering Himself to the Father, as a sacrifice for all of mankind. He dies, we live. He suffers, we go free. We who are corrupt, suffer no punishment. He who is just and perfect, suffers our punishment. Like Noah, our Lord Jesus is also place in a type of Ark, but He is only in this Ark for three days; it is His tomb. Noah is carried through the death of the world, to life again after the flood. Our dear Lord Jesus is carried through the Tomb and death and, even hell, to life eternal.

The Cross and the Tomb, as well as the Flood, are all pictures of our Baptism. We are buried, through the waters of baptism, into Christ's death. For us Christians, this is our death. It is the death of all that is corrupt in us, that which we inherited from Adam. But just as we are brought out of the waters of baptism, so are we brought out of sin and death, so that now we have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation in Christ Jesus alone. Noah too was buried in the waters, carried safe and sound through those waters, to life again on the other side.

This is the covenant that God makes with Noah. That he will live with Him. And it is the covenant that God has made with us. He fulfilled this covenant through His Son's death on the Cross. And He makes us a part of that covenant through our baptism. When we receive the Flood of baptism, God places us into an Ark. He places us into the Church. Perhaps you have wondered why the main seating area in a church building is called the Nave? Nave, is the Latin word for ship. And in most historic looking church buildings, if you look up at the ceiling, the ribs of the  arches look like the underbelly of a ship. The Church is the ship, or to say it another way, the Ark, that carries those who have been called out of corruption, and put on the perfection of our dear Lord Jesus, to our heavenly home. We are carried through this sea, this life of death and trouble, to our eternal home.

This is God's covenant with mankind, this is His covenant with you. Rejoice at your baptism, and rejoice that when you come to the house of God, you are being carried through this flood of life, and nourished by the preaching of the Gospel, and by the very Body and Blood of Jesus given in bread and wine. And these gifts of God to you will sustain you, and strengthen you through this vale of tears, until you reach your heavenly home.

God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas