Lesson 93

LESSON 93 MARK 8:10-21

10And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. 11And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. 13And he left them,...

Dalmanutha is thought to be on the western side of the Sea of Galilee near Magdala.

Here come the Pharisees again to hassle Jesus. This time they ask for a sign from heaven, meaning they want to know if He is the real Messiah they have been waiting for. How many signs from heaven did they need? Jesus had already been declared the Messiah by His Father, by John the Baptist, (John 1:24-34), by the many, many miracles Jesus had done (John 5:36, 2:23, 9:32, 2:11, 20:30-31), by His fulfillment of many scriptures and prophecies (John 5:39,46-47, Luke 24:27,44-45), and by the testimonies of people who had seen His works and heard His teachings (John 4:29, 42, 1:40-41, 45, 48-49, Mt 16:16). Instead of believing the overwhelming amount of evidence as to the Messiahship of Jesus, the Pharisees ignored it and try to tempt Jesus to prove Himself to them. (Does this sound familiarly like the devil's trying to tempt Jesus [Mt 4:3]?)

Believers need to be careful of this as well. Do not use spiritual things, how much scripture you can quote, etc., to impress people. Trying to use spiritual things to get glory for yourself is wrong.

It was not Jesus' purpose to continue to give signs to those who had already been given more than enough signs, but who had refused to believe them.

Jesus was not trying to win an argument or show off for the Pharisees. He knew by this point that the Pharisees were not interested in believing the Word of God or in accepting the true Messiah. They didn't care about the truth. They were just interested in their own agenda to remain in power. If they had accepted Jesus as Messiah, they would have had to be subject to Him, to humble themselves, to start living right, to obey. They didn't want that--at all!

Isn't interesting that it is the religious leaders that don't believe Who Jesus is? They should have been the first to accept Him and to help others to come to Him. Instead they lagged behind.

Verse 12 states that Jesus sighed deeply. In Matt 16:1-4, Jesus told them that they could predict the weather with only one sign, but they refused to recognize Him as Messiah after having been given many signs. Can you understand why He sighed?

In the Matt 16 account, Jesus calls the religious unbelievers "a wicked and adulterous generation." Why do you think He used those words? Let's look at the word "wicked." Ps 10:4 The wicked will not seek God. Ps 37:21 The wicked borrow and don't repay. In other words, they're thieves. Ps 73:6, 8-11 The wicked are bound with chains of pride and violence. They are corrupt and speak against heaven.

The word "adulterous" indicates a transfer of affection, so it refers to those who let themselves be drawn away from the One with Whom they are in covenant and to replace Him with someone or something else--false gods.

The Lord wants to see faith in us every day and about everything. We are to learn to depend on Him, to believe Him and to walk with Him in blessed assurance without doubt toward Him. We've had more than enough "signs" for us to know He is Who He said He is. . . so let's trust Him completely.