Skip to content Miracles of Healing and Understanding found in Mark 7-8 Jul 29 · 14 min ...more
Miracles of Healing and Understanding found in Mark 7-8
July 29, 2025 · 14 min
Discover the unique healings and insights of Jesus in Mark's account, from deafness to spiritual blindness.
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Traditions vs. True Faith 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. Today, we're in, Mark chapter 7 and 8. Verse 37 of chapter 7, and they were astonished beyond measure saying he has done all things well.0:22 He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. So in these chapters, we have the following teachings and the events that occur. We have hearts over hands, the emptiness of man's traditions.0:34 We have healed from a demon at a distance. We have healed from deafness according and this is only, in the book of, Mark, this particular incident. We have healed from blindness. This also is0:46 a an incident that is specific to the book of Mark. Then we have the hungry people fed. There were 4000 of them. We have hardened hearts that are slow to understand. And then finally, who's Jesus and the cost of0:58 following him? Let's begin verse 1 chapter 7. And the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to him having come to Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with1:09 defiled that is unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews did not eat unless they washed their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. Verse 5. And then the1:21 Pharisees and the scribes asked him, why did your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? He answered and said to them, well did Isaiah prophesy1:33 of you hypocrites. As it is written, the people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Lip service. They honored God with their lips by washing1:45 their hands, but their unclean hearts, well, they were far from God. Verse 9. And he said to them, all too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your traditions. You see, they had1:57 elevated the traditions of man above the commandments and the teachings of God. So let me let me ask you, do we do that today? And if so, how? And and but here's the bigger question, how2:09 do we discern whether or not we're elevating man's traditions above God's instruction for us, his truth? Here it is. This might try this might surprise you. It's the word2:21 of God. We need to examine all things according to the word of God. It's it's it's not the tradition of the church, it is the word of God. Alright? Verse2:33 10. Well, first so so Jesus then goes into an example. He provides him with an example of what he's talking about here in verse 10. For Moses said, honor your father and your mother, and he who2:45 curses his father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say alright. So God teaches this. He says, honor your mother and father. He who curses his father and mother, lend you to death. But you say, if a2:57 man says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban, that is a gift to God, then you no longer let him do anything for his his father or his mother, making the3:09 word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down, and many such things you do. So God says honor your mother your father and the mother. And this means3:21 you take care of them even in their old age, and their tradition had emerged. Well, if I dedicate, I I'm gonna give all of this to the temple, therefore, I'm free of my obligation of honoring3:33 my parents. And he says, and many such things you do. Just 1 example, Jesus was saying. Here is really the heart of the matter, verse 18. So he said to them, are you thus3:44 without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him? Verse 20, and he said, what comes out of man, that's what defiles him.3:57 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride,4:08 foolishness, all these evils come from within and defile a man. It's not the washing of the hands, it's the cleansing of the heart. SoMiracles and Faith 4:20 next is the deliverance of the daughter of a gentile woman seeking deliverance and healing for for for her daughter. Now we looked at this in Matthew and Luke as it pertained to the persistence of4:32 the mother and a g and Jesus, eventually granting her request. The 1 aspect of the encounter that Mark makes clear is that the daughter was not present. She was at home and she was healed without Jesus speaking a4:44 word or physically touching her. Alright. The next encounter with a man, this man was deaf and dumb, and it's 1 of the 2 healings that we look at today that are unique to the book of Mark verse4:56 32. Then they brought to him 1 who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged him to put his hand on him. Now just notice this that the the man's family or his5:08 friends brought him to Jesus and spoke and he couldn't speak, so he spoke to Jesus on his behalf. They were interceding. You know, sometimes we need to bring others to Jesus.5:20 Verse 33, and he took him aside from the multitude, took him aside, and put his fingers in his ears and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, Ephphathatha,5:32 that is be opened. Immediately his ears were opened and the impediment of his tongue his tongue was loose and he spoke plainly. Now if you can actually say that word, then, it's a tongue5:44 twister in itself. Verse 37, and they were astonished beyond measure saying he has done all things well. He makes both deaf to hear and the mute to speak. So5:57 1 thing that I take note of from that verse is that Jesus' ministry was not haphazard. It was not halfway done. It was done with excellence. Everything he did, he did to its6:09 completeness. He did it fully. Alright. Then we roll into chapter 8, and we start with the feeding of the 4000. Now this is a separate event from the feeding of the 5000. It wasn't just a miscounting. It6:21 was it's a totally different event. Mark's account does not provide any additional information beyond what we previously read. And there is a lesson though here for us,6:33 and and that's that this feeding of the 4000 came after the 5000. And notice how the disciples appear to have forgotten what Jesus had previously done6:45 when confronted with the need to feed those who had gathered. I mean, they had just seen 5000 fed. They had 4000 and they was like, what do we do? Verse 4, then the disciples answered him, how can6:56 1 satisfy these with bread here in the wilderness? How quickly we forget what God has done even in our own lives. We need to remember what God has7:08 done before because guess what? He can do it again. And we need to celebrate even in history, and that's why if you look, if we we've seen before, especially in the old testament,7:20 where they recounted the things that God had done, it's good for us to do that in our families. Alright. Next, the Pharisees are seeking a sign. Verse 11. And the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with him, seeking7:32 from him a sign from heaven, testing him. And 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. See,7:44 no number of miracles would suffice for those who refuse to believe. It it it wouldn't matter. In in in fact, Jesus said if 1 raised from the dead for 3 days, you still wouldn't believe, and in7:56 fact, they did not. Alright. Next, the disciples are loafing. Alright. Jesus tells them to avoid the leaven or the sin of the Pharisees, which was hypocrisy and worldliness8:08 of the Herodians, and they think he's chastising them for not bringing bread for their trip. Verse 17, but Jesus said, be aware of it. He said, and then why do you reason because you have8:20 you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you8:32 not hear and do you not remember? Now, these men walked daily with Jesus. Alright. 3 years. Almost 3 years. They were with him daily, but they still had difficulty8:44 going beyond the physical realm. And and we, alright, we need to pray. I mean, they were with him they were with him physically, and they still had a difficult time. So, yes, we8:56 we we have challenges, and it's it's okay to acknowledge that we have difficulty. And they prayed, Lord, increase our faith. We need to pray. Lord, increase our faith. Open our eyes and help us to understand.9:08 We need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in leading us to understand the truth of God's word and to remember what he has done and the9:20 significance of it. Verse 22. Then he came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. So he took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the town. And when9:32 he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and he said, I see men like trees walking. Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he9:44 was restored and saw everyone clearly. Now, there are roughly about 37, recorded miracles that Jesus did in the bible, specific. Alright? And we know that9:56 from John 20 30 that there were more, many more that were not record recorded in scripture. Let me just read that. And truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not10:07 written in this book. That was John. So just in these 2 chapters alone, we see we see something I think is very unique that we should or very important that we should point out, and that is the different approach to each10:17 situate each situation. Jesus did not heal the same way every time. In fact, in this case, there is a progression in the healing of the blind man. The differing approaches, I I I can't explain10:29 them other than this. This is just me, in looking at this. The differing approaches could be based upon the individual's varying levels of faith. Jesus appears here, I think, to bring this man10:41 along, building his faith in the process so that he can receive his total sight. That's how merciful God is. And he's with us. He he does that with us. He builds our faith so that we can truly see10:53 what God is doing. And I I I think it also communicates that there's no magical method to healing that can be replicated, but rather, it's a compassionate messiah whoThe Cost of Discipleship 11:05 hears and he heals. Next, we have the account of Peter declaring Jesus is the son of God in Caesarea Philippi, which we have covered before. And then finally, we have the cost11:16 of discipleship, which I think bears repeating every time that we see it. I spoke on this this past Sunday, from the book of Luke. And here in Mark, we have the same, encounter, the same conversation, verse11:28 34. And when he had called the people to himself with his disciples also, he said to them, whoever desires whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For11:40 whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. You see, the kingdom of God, it's counterintuitive. It11:52 operates in the opposite way the world thinks. We think if you wanna save your life, you gotta do everything you can to to to gain life, to to to gain the things of this world, to preserve. And God says,12:03 give it up. Lay down your life for me, and you'll gain it. To gain life, you give it away to God. Verse 36, for what profit? What will it12:15 profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the son of man12:27 also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels. This is a message to believers. When Jesus and his word fall out of favor with the world, those12:39 who follow him are marginalized, they're mocked, and even martyred as we see happening in some parts of the world today. Here's a question, will you stand firm in your faith or will you12:51 deny it? So we have to count the cost of being a disciple. We don't wait until we're in that moment of crisis to decide it. We have to decide that right now.13:03 Father, we thank you for your word, for your mercy, and for your grace. Thank you for your loving kindness, father. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace. And, Lord, we do13:14 pray that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes and our understanding that we might walk with you and the power of the Holy Spirit with an understanding of your word and its application to our13:26 lives in this world in which we're living. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, father, and we pray all this in Jesus13:38 name. Amen. Thanks for joining me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the word.13:47 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:59 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Traditions vs. True Faith4:19 Miracles and Faith11:03 The Cost of Discipleship
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