LENT 2011, Day 32

Mark 8

Mark tells us about another mass feeding. 4000 people have been with Jesus for 3 days - and Jesus once again gives them far more than they need - proving His ability for abundantly supplying all of man's needs....

The one thing that does astound me is that they'd experienced a prior miraculous feeding - yet they question, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" You'd think they'd be saying, "Great! We're ready to do whatever You ask, Lord." Great reminder for me! How many times has Jesus 'come through' for me? How many times do I question how He's going to pull it off in the present situation? Sorry, disciples. I shouldn't judge you so quickly. I am humbled by the reminder.

I pay attention to the wording in Mark - it appears that there were just 5000 present the prior time - and 4000 this time. My understanding was that there were 5000 men plus women and children - - so I guestimated a conservative 10,000 for that first picnic. The number is somewhat irrelevant - but I'd like to be accurate in what I report....

Last time it was 5 loaves and 2 fish for a huge crowd. This time it is 7 loaves and a few small fish. Jesus, the Bread of Life, providing the bread of necessity for physical sustenance.

Then Mark moves to another story of bread. This time it involves leaven.

I don't bake much any more - but I used to make the most amazing cinnamon roles from a recipe that had to be done from scratch, which means using yeast - aka leaven. It doesn't take much yeast to make an enormous bowl of dough - but if it wasn't added, the other ingredients mixed and baked alone, would make a cracker - not a bread. One of the things about leaven is that it completely changes the ingredients it is added to.

The leaven of the Pharisees was their litany of rules. Their rules generated hypocrisy. Jesus keeps the instructions simple. Believe. Follow. Be Holy. Seek. Obey. Love.

There definitely is a manual for living we are to follow. It is the Bible, and the Bible alone. All of the other additions that man has concocted are superfluous - and leaven. The Bible is our plumb line. It, and it alone.

The simple truth is...simple. It is hard to follow - but the instructions are simple!

Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. Even if a man could follow 614 specific rules to the letter, just following rules would not make him right with God. Our salvation is not about what we do - but about what Yeshua aka Jesus did for us on the cross. That is where Salvation begins.

It is not that we have a freedom to sin, as some would try to pervert this to mean - - it is that we have freedom from sin. We are not sinners any more. Once we accept the Messiah as our Savior and Lord, we are identified by his name. In the Greek they referred to our predecessors as Christ-ones (English translation). The word Cristos translated to English: Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. It isn't that Christians don't ever sin - they just aren't identified that way any longer.

Sinner + saved by grace = Christian.

I recall a clever math equation I saw on a shirt one time:

1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4-given. That is simplistic, I know.... Jesus suffered so much more than having 3 nails driven through his hands and feet. But it makes the point clear. Forgiven is a wonderful word. It is something completed - all done - and it was done for us on the cross.

Grace isn't free - that's why it's grace. He paid the price. Since He paid it all - there is nothing I can do to earn my salvation. But - my response to His love costs all I have to offer....

It occurs to me that a current leaven issue is the 'go along to get along' tendency. We cannot compromise truth and still have any semblance of truth. God does not need us to defend Him - but we need to declare our defenses from His Word - not what 'feels right in the moment.' We face challenging days - just as Jesus and His disciples did. We have to watch out for leaven, too.

That's enough to share for today. I keep getting caught up in wanting to address everything in each chapter, This is a rich, rich chapter. I could say a lot more - but some of that would be redundant since I recently reported on the trip to Caesarea Philippi.... I keep having to remind myself: this is a blog - not a Bible Study.