A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

MM. Christ’s Patient Work To Impart Discernment

(Matthew 16:5-12; Mark 8:13-26)

I. Introduction

A. After Jesus withdrew from the spiritually blind Pharisees and Sadducees when they had tried to test Him in unbelief, He ministered to produce a contrasting spiritual discernment in His own disciples.

B. That ministry is taught and illustrated for us in Matthew 16:5-12 with Mark 8:13-26, and we view these passages for our insight, application and edification (as follows):

II. Christ’s Patient Work To Impart Discernment, Matthew 16:5-12; Mark 8:13-26.

A. Jesus critiqued the faithless spiritual hardness in His disciples that had left them lacking spiritual discernment:

1. After Jesus curtly left the Pharisees and Sadducees, got into the boat He had just left to cross back over the Sea of Galilee from where He had just come, He warned His disciples to beware of the “leaven” of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod (Matthew 16:5-6; Mark 8:13-15; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 128).

2. Since the disciples had forgotten to bring more than one loaf of bread, they concluded that Christ’s remark was a warning that they not buy bread from the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod (Mark 8:14, 16).

3. When Jesus knew that the disciples had come to this conclusion, He criticized them for their lack of faith (Matthew 16:8) and hardness of heart that had led them to a lack of spiritual insight (Mark 8:17-18).

4. To explain His criticism, Jesus asked His disciples how many baskets full of fragments they had gathered up after His miracle of feeding the five thousand, and they replied, “Twelve,” Mark 8:19.

5. He then asked them how many baskets full of fragments they had gathered up after His miraculous feeding of the seven thousand, and they replied, “Seven,” Mark 8:20.

6. Jesus then asked how it was that they did not understand what He meant by His warning them to avoid the “leaven” of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod, Mark 8:21. Christ’s point was that due to His recent feeding miracles, He could easily multiply the loaf they had to feed them and Himself. Thus, the disciples should not have thought that He was suggesting that they needed buy physical bread since He would provide it, but that He was warning them about spiritual “leaven.” The disciples then knew that He was warning them of the false teaching of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod, Matthew 16:12!

B. Following this conversation about spiritual “leaven,” Jesus healed a blind man in stages, Mark 8:22-26:

1. When Jesus reached the other side of the Sea of Galilee at Bethsaida, some people brought Him a blind man, asking that He touch Him to restore His eyesight, Mark 8:22.

2. Christ took the blind man outside of the town, obviously seeking to avoid publicity as He was then in the process of withdrawing His offer to Israel as her Messiah, Mark 8:23a.

3. Jesus then spat and used His saliva to touch the man’s eyes, Mark 8:23 (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 2004, p. 506). The use of saliva was a well-known Jewish remedy for eye problems (Ibid.), and since the man was from a heavily Gentile populated area, he may have been a Gentile, so Jesus needed to show him that He was healing him by God’s power and not practicing magic.

4. Jesus then asked the blind man if he saw anything, and looking up, the man replied that he saw men as trees walking, Mark 8:24. Apparently, the man had once been able to see since he knew what trees and men looked like, so this man’s report revealed that Jesus had only partially restored his eyesight.

5. Christ then put His hands on the man’s eyes and had him look up, and he could see clearly, Mark 8:25.

6. Jesus then told the man to go home, not to the town, nor to tell anyone in the town of his healing, v. 26.

C. This miracle illustrated Christ’s willingness to work patiently to give His disciples spiritual insight:

1. Christ’s critique of His disciples’ spiritual blindness followed directly by His healing a blind man in stages appear only in Mark’s Gospel, so Christ purposely connected these events, op. cit., B. K. C., N. T., p. 138.

2. Since the healing miracle was performed in stages with Christ’s patience, it illustrated Jesus’ willingness to work patiently to give spiritual insight to His spiritually hardened, faithless disciples, Ibid.

Lesson: Though Jesus’ disciples lacked faith in Him to where they were spiritually hardened and thus unable to discern His spiritual teaching, Jesus illustrated that He was willing patiently to work to give them such insight.

Application: (1) As we read Scripture, may we recall God’s recent working with us to discern His message to us from the passage we are reading. (2) May we trust God to work patiently with us to give us the spiritual insight we need. (3) May we in turn be patient in discipling fellow believers to discern spiritual truth (2 Timothy 4:1-2).