But you know as Believers we are to walk by faith not by sight just as Jesus said to these Pharisees and Sadducees you know you can look at the sky you can determine the weather based upon what's going on in the sky but you cannot discern the times and I hope that none of us in here are ignoring what we're seeing as signs of the times. [00:02:55] Making vertical captioned clip



And so instead of Performing signs on demand he pointed to the greatest sign what was that well he tells us in Matthew 16 the parallel Passage and that's about his death and Resurrection so we are not to base our belief on signs and wonders and but we're to do it on the testimony of scripture. [00:06:47] Making vertical captioned clip



Peter affirmed that even though we have not seen Christ physically we love and trust him and we rejoice in the salvation of our souls he says and though you have not seen him you love him though you do not see him now but believe in him you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of Glory receiving as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. [00:09:22] Making vertical captioned clip



Our faith rest on God's promises not on fleeting signs it rests on the word of God and Paul even said in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ so we don't seek signs to validate Jesus's identity we trust the word of God which testifies that he is the Son of God that he is our savior and that he is the Fulfillment of all of God's promises. [00:09:51] Making vertical captioned clip



The Pharisees Mark says and the Sadducees Mark or Matthew brings them in they came together in opposition to him and their demand for a sign was met with Jesus's deep frustration and we see that in Mark and then a rebuke about their spiritual blindness that's emphasized in Matthew and ultimately his refusal to perform a sign on their terms. [00:10:34] Making vertical captioned clip



And so what does he say he says a sign will not be given except the sign of Jonah what was the sign of Jonah well Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for how long three days days and three nights this foreshadowed Jesus's death and burial and Resurrection where he would spend three days in the Tomb and Rise Again. [00:34:51] Making vertical captioned clip



Having already given them more than enough proof Jesus refused to accommodate their spiritual blindness and the Supreme sign that would verify his claim to be the Son of God and the Messiah would be his resurrection so it says in the text after this rebuke he left them and departed and this action of him leaving them was symbolic of divine judgment since they rejected him he withdrew from them. [00:35:32] Making vertical captioned clip



This encounter here is really a sobering encounter it's a sobering truth that a hardened heart will always demand more proof and yet will never be satisfied because Jesus did many miracles in the presence of these two religious groups and they still would not believe and even if he did accommodate them and call down some miracle from Heaven they still would not believe they had no faith. [00:38:28] Making vertical captioned clip



We are walking Miracles he's transformed our life we are not the same people that we used to be we have been redeemed we have been made alive we're no longer spiritually dead we've been given the hope of of Heaven and the hope of our savior he didn't need to do anything else does he he saved us that's enough that is far enough our faith doesn't rest on visible Miracles it rest on the unchanging truth of scripture. [00:41:08] Making vertical captioned clip



Faith comes from hearing and hearing by what the word of God the word of Christ even in John 2029 Jesus said blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed so don't fall into the Trap of skepticism don't fall into the Trap of unbelief just recognize that the greatest sign is the resurrection of Jesus and put your full faith right there in him. [00:41:48] Making vertical captioned clip



We trust him we obey him we Proclaim his word and we know that he is the Fulfillment of God's word so as you leave today Lord's given us looks like some sunshine outside after this storm we can leave this place knowing that we have just experienced the light of scripture the light of Life the Lord Jesus himself and we could take this to our family take this to the world go and make disciples. [00:42:35] Making vertical captioned clip



We thank you Heavenly Father for the word of Truth today and we thank you for what you've shown us here in these two passages we pray Lord God that you would forgive us when we pray foolish foolishly asking for you to do something just to affirm our faith we don't need you to do any of those things but Lord we also know that there are times when you do when you do things that affirm our faith and we praise you for that. [00:43:56] Making vertical captioned clip

Amen. Well, we are looking once again at Mark's Gospel. So let me invite you to pick up where we left off last time in Mark chapter 8. We looked at verses 1 through 9 last week in the feeding of the 4,000, and today we're picking up at verse 10 and going down to verse 12. The parallel account of this story is found in Matthew 15:39 through chapter 16 and verse 4.

As I've been doing, I'm going to read both accounts together. From John MacArthur's book, *One Perfect Life*, it says:

"And he sent away the multitude, immediately got into the boat with his disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha, near Magadan. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came out and began to dispute with him, and testing him asked that he would show them a sign from heaven. But he sighed deeply in his spirit and answered and said to them, 'When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather," for the sky is red, and in the morning, "It will be foul weather today," for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and assuredly I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'"

I take it by Providence that we're here in this text this morning after having thunderstorms and showers as well. We didn't have to look out at the sky to see what was going to happen because we could tell what was going to happen, right? But we probably did look on our apps or look on the television and get the weather forecast, and they already forecasted what you were seeing out there.

Now, we have very sophisticated ways to look into the weather, don't we? And it does become so much a subject of conversation when we're around people that we don't know. It's like the one thing that we can commonly agree on to talk about. You may be standing in line at the grocery store, and you're really wanting to witness to the person or at least invite them to church, and you're thinking, "Talk about the weather." You know, we've had some weird weather lately or something like that, and we go into this discussion. You know, you always get someone willing to break the ice with you by talking about the weather.

Then you try to shift it from the natural to the supernatural. My thoughts are definitely to use whatever is going on around you to tie in the supernatural. But, you know, as believers, we are to walk by faith, not by sight. Just as Jesus said to these Pharisees and Sadducees, "You know, you can look at the sky; you can determine the weather based upon what's going on in the sky, but you cannot discern the times."

I hope that none of us in here are ignoring what we're seeing as signs of the times. We're not looking at dates for Jesus to return. The Scripture tells us that no one knows that. Yet, there are people out there that have calculated it, and of course, they've been wrong. But what we do look at are the characteristics of the times, the signs of the times themselves.

Let me have you turn in your Bible over to 2 Timothy chapter 4 and note some of the signs of the times that the Apostle talks about. In 2 Timothy, and I said chapter 4, go to chapter 3. He says, "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come." These are terrible times, painful times, grievous times.

Then he characterizes what will show us those times. He says, "For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." Paul says, "Avoid such men as these."

He's telling us here that you need to realize this: that in the last days, these terrible times are going to come. So my question to you is, based upon what we just read, are we in the last days?

Absolutely. Many theologians believe we've been in the last days since Jesus was here when he came the first time, and I agree with that. I tend to take it one step further in this sense, believing that we are in the last of those last days or we're approaching fast toward the last of those last days when our Savior will come back and rapture his church.

Again, we don't know the date; we don't know the time. But we're not looking at dates, are we? We're just looking at the signs and the seasons. Now, that's not what Jesus is talking about here in Mark chapter 8. They are talking about something far different.

As I said, as a believer, we walk by faith, not by sight, and our faith is not built on visible signs but it's built upon the unshakable word of truth, the Bible. So when these two religious groups demanded a sign from Jesus to prove his authority, did he give them what they wanted?

No. What he said was, after he rebuked them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign." Instead of performing signs on demand, he pointed to the greatest sign. What was that? Well, he tells us in Matthew 16, the parallel passage, and that's about his death and resurrection.

So we are not to base our belief on signs and wonders, but we're to do it on the testimony of Scripture. There are churches today that focus just on signs. Every time I put a YouTube short up on our channel, I get the same person that always responds and wants to talk about spiritual gifts, even though the short I put up has nothing to do with spiritual gifts.

He's for them, obviously, by things that he is writing. But again, we can have that discussion when we're talking about that, but that's not what we're talking about here. It's okay to agree to disagree, and we all feel that we have good reasons to either agree or disagree.

But I have seen people break fellowship in church over various interpretations of Scripture, and they're dying on every single hill possible instead of being picky on what hills to die on and what not to die on. You know, Jesus told Thomas in John 20:29, after Thomas had said, "My Lord and my God," and this was after seeing his hands and Jesus telling him to bring your finger here, see my hands, bring your hand here, put it into my side. "Do not be unbelieving, but believing."

Thomas didn't have to do that. He recognized his Lord through those wounds, and he said, "My Lord and my God." Then Jesus said this monumental statement, and I believe this statement applies to everyone after he ascended, where he says, "Blessed are those who did not see and yet believed."

That encompasses us, don't we? We've never seen him physically, and the same is true after he ascended back to the Father. No one saw him physically again, but yet they believed the message. So the most important thing is the message itself, not the signs.

Peter affirmed that even though we have not seen Christ physically, we love and trust him, and we rejoice in the salvation of our souls. He says, "And though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

Our faith rests on God's promises, not on fleeting signs. It rests on the word of God. Paul even said in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So we don't seek signs to validate Jesus's identity; we trust the word of God, which testifies that he is the Son of God, that he is our Savior, and that he is the fulfillment of all of God's promises.

Now, the account that we have just read, that we're looking at here in Mark and Matthew's Gospel, by integrating both of those accounts, as you heard as I read this, we get a fuller picture of this moment in Jesus's ministry. The Pharisees, Mark says, and the Sadducees, Matthew brings them in, they came together in opposition to him, and their demand for a sign was met with Jesus's deep frustration, and we see that in Mark, and then a rebuke about their spiritual blindness that's emphasized in Matthew, and ultimately his refusal to perform a sign on their terms.

So he mentions the sign of Jonah only in Matthew, pointing to the ultimate proof, his resurrection, and then he leaves them. So we pick up the story in verse 10 of Mark, and that is chapter 8. Again, this is after the feeding of the 4,000. Jesus dismisses the crowd, and then they begin to leave Decapolis.

Notice verse 10 says, "Immediately they entered the boat." Now, you know Jesus often would withdraw after a significant event, or he would withdraw to continue his mission somewhere else. It seems to be at the end of verse 10, it shows his leaving was due to continuing his mission. It says that they came to the district of Dalmanutha.

Now, Matthew 15:39 says it was the region of Magadan. You have to ask the question, well, which was it? Was it Dalmanutha or was it Magadan? Well, the exact location is certainly uncertain, but it is believed to be the region of Magadan or near the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Some also believe that these are likely just different names for the same area.

But wherever this was, it was likely a Jewish populated area, and it set the stage for what was going to happen next, and that is the confrontation with the Pharisees and the Sadducees that's mentioned in verse 11. Only verse 11 mentions the Pharisees when Mark says, "The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him."

Now, Matthew, in his Gospel, in this parallel account in chapter 16, verse 1, he mentions it was both the Pharisees and the Sadducees that were testing him. It says in Matthew 16:1, "The Pharisees and the Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven."

Who were the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Well, we've talked about them on other occasions, but let me just remind you that the Pharisees were a very strict Jewish sect. They were known for their adherence to the law and the oral traditions. They believed in the resurrection; they believed in angels; they believed in the afterlife. They were very influential in the synagogues and influential throughout the culture.

Though many opposed Jesus for challenging their traditions, some, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, both were Pharisees, by the way, but they believed in Jesus and they followed Jesus. Now, the teachings of the Pharisees were shaped in rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

Now, the Sadducees, they didn't believe in the resurrection, and that's why some say they were so sad, you see? They worked hard on that one. They were wealthy; they were a priestly Jewish sect that controlled the temple. They controlled the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body of 70 members. This is who the apostles appeared before when they were persecuted.

But unlike the Pharisees, they only accepted the Torah. They rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees; they rejected the resurrection; they rejected angels; they rejected the afterlife. Acts 23:8 says, "For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all."

So there was a difference in doctrine and what they believed. Politically, the Sadducees were aligned with Rome, and they opposed Jesus, and they later persecuted the early church. Their influence, of course, ended after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, but they held significant political and religious influence, especially in the temple and in the Sanhedrin.

Now, I find it very interesting that both of these groups came together. Why is that? Because they were constantly at odds. But here, there was one thing that they could agree on: they both hated Jesus, and they both wanted to discredit Jesus. So that's why they came together; that's why they aligned themselves with each other.

Now, if you look at verse 11, Mark says that when they came out, they began to argue with Jesus. Matthew doesn't mention this, but the word that Mark uses for "argue," you might have "dispute," implies a very contentious debate, and it's used here in the present tense to mean that this was an ongoing thing. They just kept doing this and kept doing this, and it really was reflecting their hostility, their unwillingness to accept Jesus's previous miracles as sufficient evidence of his authority and his identity.

So they asked for a sign. Now, let me just tell you, this is not the first time they've asked for a sign. They asked for a sign in Matthew 12:38, John 2:18-22, John 6:30, right here in Mark 8:1, Matthew 16:2. They were always asking for a sign.

Now, notice what he says there, and this is going to come from Matthew. In Matthew 16, when they're asking for this sign, it says that they want a sign from heaven, and they say the same thing in Mark 8:11, "Give us a sign from heaven." We've already seen your earthly signs, but do something miraculous, calling down something from heaven.

Debond Herbert says they desired a sign from heaven coming from the realm of the sky, as distinguished from his healings, which were confined to things here on earth. The source of his miracles, they implied, was dubious, and they wanted a sign that would unmistakably establish his Messianic authority. They did not specify what precise sign they wanted; that he should stop the sun, he should rain in on the moon, or hold down thunder or the like. They wanted some startling celestial phenomenon, some audible or visible sign in the sky which would establish his claims.

What it basically points out is that their motives were not genuine. All they were wanting to do was test him and discredit him. If you'll notice, both Mark and Matthew mentioned their motive, and he says here it was to test him. In verse 11, you could even translate this as "tempt." They never believed Jesus was the Messiah, so they continuously tested him or tempted him.

Paul had this word for those who seek after signs. He says in 1 Corinthians 1:21, "For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

This is what they sought after. Paul even reminds us that there is one coming at the end of the age who will perform signs. It says, "The lawless one," in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, "will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming, whose coming is in accord with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of unrighteousness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved."

Yeah, in the end times, there will be a sign. It'll be performed by the false prophet and the Antichrist to lead all of those astray whose names are not written in the book of life, and they will worship the false prophet and the Antichrist. The temple will be rebuilt at that time; Israel will have peace with her neighbors, but it will be a short-lived peace. They will be allowed to rebuild the temple; they will return to their sacrificial offerings.

But the Antichrist himself, he will come into that temple, and he will decimate it. He will sit down in that temple, according to 2 Thessalonians 2, and declare himself to be God. That's what he will do.

But, you know, the religious leaders, again, because they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, they constantly accused him of many things. For example, in chapter 2 of Mark, back at verses 23 and following, they accused Jesus of violating the Sabbath. You remember when he healed on the Sabbath, and then he also allowed the disciples to pick the heads of grain? You remember that? They wanted to kill him for that.

In chapter 3:22, they accused him of casting out demons by the ruler of the demons, Beelzebub. In Matthew 11:19, they accused Jesus of being a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Aren't you thankful that he is a friend of sinners?

In chapter 7, they accused Jesus of breaking the tradition of the elders by not ceremonially washing their hands. Then in Luke 23:2, they accused Jesus of stirring up the people and claiming to be a king. Even at his trial, they brought false witnesses to testify against him because they wanted to put him to death, and they falsely claimed that he said to destroy this temple, and in three days I will build another made without hands. They didn't understand what he was saying right there.

You know, Jehovah's Witnesses don't understand that one either. But when you tell them what he did mean in John 2:19, he said, "Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up." They said, "It took 46 years to build this sanctuary, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the sanctuary of his body. See, when you point out verse 21 to Jehovah's Witnesses, they get really quiet.

They didn't understand that he was talking about his death, but these religious leaders did not even want to understand. They rejected Jesus from the beginning.

So in verse 12, Mark says Jesus sighed deeply. How many times have you done that with your kids or your grandkids? Or you hear the same excuse again and again, and you shake your head? Matthew doesn't record him sighing, but these two words describe the grief and the disappointment that he had for these two groups. Because of their spiritual privileges with the word of God, they should have been more responsive to him, but they were spiritually blind; they were spiritually dead.

When you're unbelieving, you cannot see or understand the Spirit of God, right? 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, "But the natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually examined, spiritually discerned." It's on a totally different level.

You've heard me say this when I was sharing my testimony. At different times, I would say that when the Lord Jesus Christ saved me, one of the first things I recognized is that my desires were now different. Not only were they different, it seemed like the whole realm of heaven had opened up, and now I had a desire for the things of God, and now I had a desire for my Savior who had just saved me.

I remember that night telling someone when we were going to get a Bible and go get some tracks and all that. I just now want to know more about my Savior who had just saved me, who had just loved me to the point of forgiving me of all my sin. The least that I could do is to serve him. But you didn't have to tell me to do that because that was already in my heart. I wanted to do that.

When God makes you spiritually alive, it changes everything. It changes your whole outlook, your whole perspective on everything—not just one or two things, but every single thing in your life. You don't have to wear a bracelet around your wrist that says, "What would Jesus do?" You have this intuitive desire in your heart because the Spirit of God is now living within you, and you've now been made alive.

You yearn for spiritual things; you yearn for truth. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, and they fell into sin, every human being has been born spiritually blind. Every baby that is in the mother's womb is a sinner from the womb. The eyes of our hearts were clouded by our sin; they were darkened by Satan so that we naturally loved the darkness and hated the light. We were unable to comprehend truth; we stumbled through life groping for answers, and we wandered about in moral and spiritual confusion.

You know, some of this blindness is temporary, just like ours. It was temporary because God saved us. But for many others, their blindness is permanent; it's eternal. They refuse to embrace the Lord Jesus in saving faith. They remain in the total darkness of sinful rebellion and unbelief, and though they may be externally religious, in reality, they are spiritually ignorant and self-deceived.

The Jewish religious leaders were the same. They considered themselves to be the most enlightened of all people, yet the Lord condemned them as blind leaders of the blind (Matthew 15:14). Though they had been given the Old Testament Scriptures and though they had been given biblical covenants, their spiritual blindness was so acute that they refused to receive their own Messiah.

So you could hear Jesus sighing deeply here because of their unbelief. R.C. Sproul says that that phrase "to sigh deeply" means that Jesus came to his absolute limit, humanly speaking. When you talk about exasperation, you've been exasperated before. Your kids did that to you a number of times; your grandkids have done that to you. Not just people you're related to, but friends have done that; coworkers have done that.

You've spent your life experiencing what it's like to be exasperated by other people's behavior or their response to you. But he was sick and tired of this kind of response. His deep sigh reflects that exasperation at their hardened hearts and their unbelief.

You remember Pharaoh during the Exodus? Well, before the Israelites left, God sent 10 plagues, remember? And what was the common statement after each sign, after each plague? Pharaoh hardened his heart. See, it didn't matter what kind of sign that Moses did; Pharaoh was bent on hardening his heart because he did not believe.

That's one of the hardest things to break through, and that's why we keep saying Scripture says salvation is supernatural. We can't save ourselves. If you couldn't save yourself, you certainly can't save somebody else. Breaking through the own hardness of your own heart in that day, only God could do that.

I remember different people coming and talking to me. I remember there was a pastor from Cedar Bay who came and talked to me. He wasn't the senior pastor; he was one of the pastors. But the Lord was already doing things; he had already saved me. When he walked up in our backyard that day, I had a little fire going. I was burning all of this paraphernalia that I had, and I'm not talking about drug stuff because I got rid of that a long time ago.

But I was burning all of my albums. I even burned a friend's album. He didn't like that; he wanted his Led Zeppelin album back. But I burned it up like he didn't need it either. I was burning everything up because what I was doing is I was cutting my ties with my past. I didn't want anything of my past, and I didn't want any temptation to go back to it, so I just burned it all up.

Their hearts were hard; they were full of unbelief. Now, let me just have you flip over to Matthew 16 because he's going to give us something that Mark doesn't say. So that we can listen to this analogy that Jesus gives as he rebukes the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he says in verse 2, "When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning there will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening."

He says, "Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given it except the sign of Jonah." And he left them and went away.

So he rebukes them. He says that these hypocrites could predict the weather, but they could not recognize the signs that Jesus had already given regarding himself. You know, there's another account where Jesus rebukes the crowds for the same reason. That's found in Luke 12, and they were seeking for signs. It says that he was saying to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming,' and so it happens. When you see a south wind blowing, you say, 'It will be a hot day,' and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not examine the present time?"

See, he rebuked them too. Jesus called them hypocrites because they were wise in worldly matters, but they were blind in spiritual matters. They could interpret weather signs, but they failed to recognize the signs of God's kingdom, namely Jesus's miracles, his teaching, his fulfilling of prophecy.

When it says that they interpret the present time, that refers to Jesus's coming as the Messiah and the urgency to respond in faith. But he also calls them an evil and adulterous generation. And why were they evil? Well, they were evil because of their unbelief. They were evil because of their rejection of clear evidence. Their adulterous is used here as a metaphor to speak of spiritual unfaithfulness.

You know, in the Old Testament, Israel was often called an unfaithful nation. When they turned away from God, Jeremiah 36 says, "Then Yahweh said to me, 'In the days of Josiah the king, have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. I said, "After she was done with all of these things, she will return to me," but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she went and was a harlot also.'"

That's one of the horrible scenes that you see over and over repeated time and time again in the Old Testament with Israel. Well, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they were the religious leaders of Israel, and they were spiritually blind to what was right in front of them—or I should say, who was right in front of them: Jesus, the Messiah himself.

So what does he say? He says, "A sign will not be given except the sign of Jonah." What was the sign of Jonah? Well, Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for how long? Three days and three nights. This foreshadowed Jesus's death and burial and resurrection, where he would spend three days in the tomb and rise again.

Jesus explained what he meant by that in Matthew 12:39, where he says, "Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Having already given them more than enough proof, Jesus refused to accommodate their spiritual blindness, and the supreme sign that would verify his claim to be the Son of God and the Messiah would be his resurrection.

So it says in the text, after this rebuke, he left them and departed. This action of him leaving them was symbolic of divine judgment. Since they rejected him, he withdrew from them. You know, that's the case when we have talked many times to someone about the gospel, and they just keep hardening, hardening, and hardening their heart. Your departure from them is a sign of judgment because they have rejected the only way to heaven, and they have continued to embrace their unbelief.

Did you know that there were places where Jesus would not do his miracles? One was in Nazareth. It says in that particular town, which was his hometown, that he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. Over in Romans 1, we're told that God gave up people to their sin when they persisted in rejecting him.

Listen to what this says: Romans 1:24 and following, "Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them over to dishonorable passions, for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also, the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, male with males, committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind to do those things which are not proper, having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful."

This is what characterized them, and God gave them over to it. They would not repent, so God gave them up.

So this encounter here is really a sobering encounter. It's a sobering truth that a hardened heart will always demand more proof and yet will never be satisfied because Jesus did many miracles in the presence of these two religious groups, and they still would not believe. Even if he did accommodate them and call down some miracle from heaven, they still would not believe. They had no faith; they had witnessed countless miracles, and they still refused.

So instead, they chose to test him; they chose to discredit him. Jesus sharply rebukes them, calls them an evil and adulterous generation, not because they lacked evidence, but because of their spiritual blindness and their unwillingness to accept the truth. He refused to give them a sign on their terms, and the only sign that he would give them would be the sign of Jonah, which was again a direct reference to his death, his death, burial, and resurrection. The ultimate sign would be the defining proof of his identity as Messiah, as the Son of God.

So as we come back from this story and we take this with us, we can ask ourselves, are we like the Pharisees sometimes? Are we like the Sadducees sometimes, where we want to see a sign? You know, that's the temptation when we're going through an issue, and we're praying that we tend to put a little line in there: "God, if you would do this, then I will..." How many times have you done that?

I have found myself, when I've tried to do that—I'm not saying I'm perfect—but I found myself discounting that prayer, saying, "Lord, I would like to see you do something like this, but you don't have to do this, and I'm not telling you you have permission not to do it or permission to do it. I'm just saying my faith is not going to rest on that."

I believe whether you do it or not, he doesn't have to do anything else. Look what he's done! We are walking miracles. He's transformed our life. We are not the same people that we used to be. We have been redeemed; we have been made alive. We're no longer spiritually dead. We've been given the hope of heaven and the hope of our Savior.

He didn't need to do anything else, does he? He saved us; that's enough. That is far enough. Our faith doesn't rest on visible miracles; it rests on the unchanging truth of Scripture, right? Faith comes from hearing and hearing by what? The word of God, the word of Christ.

Even in John 20:29, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." So don't fall into the trap of skepticism; don't fall into the trap of unbelief. Just recognize that the greatest sign is the resurrection of Jesus and put your full faith right there in him.

You know, when the Pharisees and the Sadducees walked away that day, they walked away still in unbelief and still blind. No one in here needs to make that same mistake. We trust him; we obey him; we proclaim his word, and we know that he is the fulfillment of God's word.

So as you leave today, the Lord's given us, looks like some sunshine outside after this storm. We can leave this place knowing that we have just experienced the light of Scripture, the light of life, the Lord Jesus himself. We could take this to our family, take this to the world, go and make disciples.

Let's pray.

We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the word of truth today, and we thank you for what you've shown us here in these two passages. We pray, Lord God, that you would forgive us when we pray foolishly, asking for you to do something just to affirm our faith. We don't need you to do any of those things, but Lord, we also know that there are times when you do things that affirm our faith, and we praise you for that.

But Lord, the faith you've given us is certainly enough. We pray now as we leave that we will take this with us, think on this, meditate on this, and talk about this throughout the day. We thank you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Subject: Faith Beyond Signs: Trusting in Jesus's Resurrection



Dear Changed By Grace,



I hope my email finds you reflecting on the profound truth that our faith rests not on visible signs but on the unchanging word of God.



This past Sunday, we explored Mark 8:10-12, where Jesus confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees about their demand for a sign. Despite witnessing countless miracles, they remained spiritually blind, seeking proof rather than recognizing the truth standing before them. Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief, emphasizing that the only sign they would receive was the sign of Jonah, pointing to his death and resurrection as the ultimate proof of his identity as the Messiah.



As we navigate our own lives, let us not fall into the trap of demanding signs to validate our faith. Instead, let us anchor our trust in the resurrection of Jesus, which is the greatest sign of all. Remember, our faith is built on the promises of Scripture, and we are called to live in the light of that truth, sharing it boldly with those around us.



Blessings,

Changed By Grace Team