mark 8:11-13 :: pharisees questions and asking for signs

“hey God, can you please just give me a sign on this one? then i’ll be sure..and then i’ll know. please just make the lights blink or have the phone ring or something. i just need this one sign….please.”

rather than trusting that God is who He said He is and that He will do what He said He would do, often times we ask for what may seem like little things, little signs that actually rob our faith. Jesus wasn’t in the habit of doing miracles for the sake of doing miracles. He did them because He cared about someone or a group of people, in this case 4000+ people were very very hungry and nowhere near food, and so our of compassion, He would act.

but here the pharisees come asking questions, and request a sign for proof. and Jesus responds to them by saying “no, you won’t get a sign.” because they were trying to trap Him, or press Him…maybe they thought that what had just happened was an elaborate hoax, that maybe He already had bread stashed around the hillside in key areas, and there was no real shortage. and so they ask for one on the spot so they can watch His hands and see how de does what He does.

but Jesus isn’t a street corner hack with a scarf hidden in his fake thumb or a magic quarter that a pencil can go through…Jesus isn’t performing magic. He isn’t performing at all.

Jesus is feeding people in response to their real need to eat. He is meeting their needs. Just like blind bartemaeus who realy just needed to see, and so he was healed and given sight. Jesus is about meeting needs, not making a show.

and that is what living the life of faith is about. not being part of a show, or sitting in the audience waiting for something amazing to happen… but instead, getting out there and trusting that God will meet your needs, knowing that even though you cannot see Him, taht He is at work around you constantly and with you at all times. you don’t need the show because you know the truth of His role in your life. asking for signs doesn’t increase your faith, but robs it instead.

aren’t you worth more than many sparrows? of course. so don’t worry about things, just live according to God’s direction in your life following after the example of Jesus, and don’t sweat the small stuff or the big stuff either. He is in control, and He will meet your needs. just trust and obey for there is no better way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.