The Pharisees Demand a Sign (Mark 8:11-13)
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. (8:11-13)
Is it not a shame that the Pharisees would demand a sign from heaven? They were telling me that they were the ones with authority, and I would have to prove to them that I could do miracles under their orders. Yet, the Father was showing his authority through me in a way that he did not show through them.
They were jealous and wanted to make me fall. They wanted to tame me, but they could not tame the Spirit of God which was in me. The Spirit blows wherever he wants, and you hear his voice. You cannot put God in a box, or have him submit to you. You should rather learn to submit to God for His grace to flow in your life.
In your world, human authorities, in particular in religious settings, often present themselves as ‘specialists’, knowing well what is good, what God desires. Theologians are the ones who are supposed to be the specialists of God’s will. The reality is that God does not submit himself to the microscope of theologians, he wants to be their Lord. This means that the theologians who learned to pray, like Nicodemus, will both submit to Him and be able to be good human authorities. Yet, many will want to stabilize their power and will restrict the work of the Holy Spirit. This is a human habit that has nothing new, this desire to control that fights against God and wants to master - even using the name of God in this attempt.
I would never do a miracle if the Father did not show me he wanted me to do it. In this case, He clearly did not want me to perform a sign. I had already performed many. If the Pharisees were not satisfied, it is because what they looked for was not a sign. They wanted to make sure that I would submit to their human authority. I was not submitting to them, because I was fully submitted to the Father.
This tension, between human authorities and God’s authority, is something that all my disciples will experience, under one form or another. It does not mean that you should reject religious structures. In fact, those who reject such human structures create new ones, like for instance what some call ‘non-denominational’ churches. Accept that in my Church on earth the human authority structure will never match perfectly the Father’s authority. Learn to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. If you have a role of authority, learn from Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea to take risks in my name. Whatever your role, always learn to be submitted first to the Father, listening and obeying my voice before obeying human voices. When you hear me less than human authorities, you will often get confused about my will. Learn to come to me. Learn to meditate the biblical text by listening to the Holy Spirit, learn to put God first, before anything else, and you will not fall.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod (Mark 8:14-21)
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (8:14-21)
My disciples had a hard time to understand how my teaching was going to create tensions for them, how the teaching of the Pharisees or of Herod was impacting them. They did not understand what I said, they just focused on the bread. Yet, they saw that the bread came also from God, from faith. God did provide what was needed. The Father showed through me that he was manifesting clearly His divine authority, feeding the five thousand and the four thousand. Yet, the disciples were still too much focused on the bread, and not enough on the Father.
They still did not see how the Pharisees and Herod were opposing the Father’s authority. The teaching of the Pharisees, their leaven, was all the rules that they added to the Bible, as if following a set of rules was what God had intended for humanity.
When the Father spoke to Israel on Mount Sinai, He wanted to speak directly to them, but they asked Moses to be the one to listen to God, and they would follow what Moses would say. That approach seemed to work, but it was not a good solution. The generation of Israel that went out of Egypt rebelled many times against God and against Moses. The way of the Father was to speak to each of His children directly. That was what he said: Hear O Israel, the Lord is your God, the Lord alone (Deut 6:4). Israel was supposed to hear, listen and obey to God before any other authority. Yet, many like the Pharisees replaced this obedience to the voice of God by the obedience to a text interpreted by humans.
Some interpretations will be better than others, but none will replace the fresh presence of the Holy Spirit, that is why I came to release the Spirit in the hearts of my disciples. The leaven of the Pharisees was the added human traditions leading people to be submitted to a human authority instead of being submitted to God. They had created many rules, and even what they called prayer was a repetition of words without listening to the Father.
The origin of this leaven could be found in the fact that people did not seek the Father but a logical coherence in the Biblical text, they attempted to build a cathedral of principles that would guide humans in all their activities. At a practical level, they tried to make of the biblical text, with their traditions added, an idol sufficient for guiding all the steps of the believers. In claiming to have only one God, they created a second one made of paper and traditions.
The biblical account is very important and should never be despised. Yet, it cannot replace God. The Pharisees added human traditions to this account that contradicted the intentions of God. If you have to choose between the Biblical account and traditions, it is wise to choose the Bible. Yet, the Bible without the Spirit of God will always lead to a new set of human traditions. This has happened many times and will continue to happen, that is like the leaven of the Pharisees.
Don’t let logic or traditions replace the role of the Holy Spirit. The heavenly Father is the only perfect father, and he will give the Holy Spirit to every person who humbly ask Him. That is a promise He made through me, that is a promise He honors (see Luke 11:13). When you read the Bible, when you walk in your life and have to make choices, ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Learn to welcome him, learn to listen to my voice - the Holy Spirit himself will carry my voice to your heart.
Do you now understand, are you ready to get rid of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, of all these authorities in your heart that claim to be absolute and divine, while they are only human? Don’t reject everything, but test everything. Learn to first accept me as your Lord and Savior. Learn to listen to me, to let the Holy Spirit fill you and guide you, as you meditate Scriptures and as you live. Then, you will discern clearly which human authorities you can accept and which ones you should not.
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