Bible Study series: Mark 8:11-13. Jesus does not grant their demand. He moved on.
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Scripture: Mark 8:11-13
11 The Pharisees went out and began to dispute with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, tempting him. 12 He sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth: Surely no sign will be given to this generation!” 13 Leaving them, he again embarked in the boat and went to the other side. (Mark 8:11-13)
Comments:
Let’s take these verses as a whole.
“Pharisees”: Please this post:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
They were the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior (David E. Garland, Luke: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Zondervan, 2011], p. 243). The problem which Jesus had with them can be summed up in Eccl. 7:16: “Be not overly righteous.” He did not quote that verse, but to him they were much too enamored with the finer points of the law, while neglecting its spirit (Luke 11:37-52; Matt. 23:1-36). Instead, he quoted this verse from Hos. 6:6: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Overdoing righteousness, believe it or not, can damage one’s relationship with God and others.
“tempting him”: the verb means, depending on the context, “to try” or “to tempt.” I struggled with either of those two words. They were tempting him to run out ahead of his calling. I settled on “tempting” because Satan tempted Jesus to perform a sign, by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple (Matt. 4:5-7). I can almost hear Satan’s voice behind the voices of these religious leaders. He refused.
“sign from heaven”: He denied their request because he did not want to broadcast his Messiahship with a magical super-sign (see v. 20, below). To put it in modern terms, he was not a trained seal at a waterpark. He does not respond to dares: “We double dare you!”
But what’s the context of the sign? Here are some possibilities.
Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal and called down fire from heaven, which consumed the drenched sacrifices (1 Kings 18:20-40). He ordered the false prophets to be put to the sword. Would he call down fire on the Romans?
Then Elijah also called down fire to consume the soldiers from king Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:1-16), exactly in the passage where the god of Ekron, Baal-Zebub, is mentioned. Jesus’s critics must have taunted him to call down fire on the pagan Romans. Would he do it? Recall his response to James and John, when they asked permission to call down fire on the Samaritans who rejected them (Luke 9:51-55). He wheeled on them and told them no. He rebuked them. Or maybe they tested him to do some other sign, like God making the shadow go backwards, as a sign to king Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:9-11; Is. 17:14-20).
Moses commanded the sky to go dark (Exod. 10:21-29) and other nine plagues. Could Jesus do that to deliver Israel from Rome or prove he was the Messiah?
Whatever the demanded signs were, he rejected their games. He would not produce a sign in the heavens or skies to dazzle the crowds. He was going to be a different kind of sign (see vv. 29-32).
Miracles of God, particularly the ones Jesus performed to usher in the kingdom of God, are purposed to help people, to set them free from natural deformities and diseases and spiritual, demonic afflictions and falsehoods with the truth—all the abnormalities of a world gone haywire, a fallen world. In Elijah’s case, the fire from heaven flashing down on the sacrifices helped the small nation of Israel to come out from under the false gods. But Jesus could foresee that the kingdom of God would not be restricted to Israel. The kingdom would go far outside its borders to all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). So there is no need to call down fire to protect an old Sinai covenant, for such terrifying displays of instant judgment is not how God works to proclaim the good news of the kingdom in the New Covenant to the entire globe.
Jesus could read their thoughts or motives and perceive what they were seeking: a contest of honor and shame. His critics were setting up the rules. “Perform this wonder in the sky, Jesus, like Moses did, and do it now, because we said so!” Uh. No.
However, Wessel and Strauss observe that the sign the Pharisees seek is not a sign like Moses or Elijah performed, but some sort of sign that confirms Jesus’ authority and actions come from God. Unfortunately, the two commentators don’t tell us which sign it could be. Next, Wessel and Strauss quote another scholar who sees similarities between this Jewish challenge to Jesus and the Jewish challenge to Paul. In the latter’s case, Jews also sought for a sign (p. 817). For Paul, the only sign is Jesus and him crucified. For Jesus, it was going to be the sign of Jonah or the resurrection (Matt. 16:1-4). Lane agrees with Wessel and Strauss—or they agree with him. The Pharisees were not seeking a sign from heaven, like a wonder in the sky, but for confirmation of his authority (p. 277).
However, neither does Lane offer what kind of sign would have satisfied the Pharisees. What could a sign be? Belonging to a school of an elder or rabbi? To me, a “sign” smacks of a miracle. So I return to my thesis that they were really saying, “We believe Moses, and he worked wonders in Egypt, which visibly proves his authority was from God. Can you, Jesus, do the same? If not, we don’t believe you. We’ll continue to stand by Moses.” But I am open to another interpretation of what a sign they were demanding could be. (BTSB agrees with me, however–or I agree with its editors.)
“I tell you the truth”: “Truth” comes from the word amēn (pronounced ah-main and comes into English as amen). Used thirteen times in Mark, it expresses the authority of the one who utters it. The Hebrew root ’mn means faithfulness, reliability and certainty. It could be translated as “truly I tell you” or I tell you with certainty.” Jesus’s faith in his own words is remarkable and points to his unique calling. In the OT and later Jewish writings is indicates a solemn pronouncement. It means we must pay attention to it, for it is authoritative. He is about to declare an important and solemn message or statement. The clause appears only on the lips of Jesus.
That is, in Paul’s epistles, for example, he never says, “I truly say to you.” That phrasing had too much authority, which only Jesus had. The clause only appears on the lips of Jesus in the NT. The word appears in a Jewish culture and means “let it be so.” So Jesus speaks it out with special, divine emphasis. “Let this happen!” “Let what I’m about to say happen!” We better take it seriously and not just walk by it or read over it with a casual air.
Now let’s look more closely at the verbal sparring match between Jesus and these religious leaders in their cultural context.
As I noted in other chapters, first-century Israel was an honor-and-shame society. Verbal and active confrontations happened often. By active is meant actions. Here the confrontation is both verbal and acted out. Jesus shamed the leaders to silence. He won. It may seem strange to us that Jesus would confront human opponents, because we are not used to doing this in our own lives, and we have heard that Jesus was meek and silent.
More relevantly, for many years now there has been a teaching going around the Body of Christ that says when Christians are challenged, they are supposed to slink away or not reply. This teaching may come from the time of Jesus’s trial when it is said he was as silent as a sheep (Acts 8:32). No. He spoke up then, as well (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:32; Luke 23:71; John 18:19-23; 32-38; 19:11). Therefore, “silence” means submission to the will of God without resisting or fighting back physically. But here he replied to the religious leaders and defeated them and their inadequate theology. Get into a discussion and debate with your challengers. Stand toe to toe with them. In short, fight like Jesus! With anointed words!
Of course, caution is needed. The original context is a life-and-death struggle between the kingdom of God and religious traditions. Get the original context, first, before you fight someone in a verbal sparring match. This was a clash of worldviews. Don’t pick fights or be rude to your spouse or baristas or clerks in the service industry. Discuss things with him or her. But here Jesus was justified in replying sharply to these oppressive religious leaders.
Here are the signs of the Messiah, which Jesus told to John the Baptist’s disciples, while John was in prison, doubting:
2 When John heard in prison of the works of Christ and sent word through his disciples, 3 he said to Jesus: “Are you the Coming One, or should we expect someone else?” 4 In reply, Jesus said to them: Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind see again and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised and the poor have the good news preached to them. (Matt. 11:2-5)
The Pharisees and Sadducees were not attuned to these Messianic signs because they were stuck in their old Judaism and temple worship.
In Matthew’s version (16:1-4), the sign that the evil generation will get is the resurrection. Plenty of people were eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection (e.g. 1 Cor. 15:3-8). To the Athenians, Paul preached the resurrection (Acts 17:31).
Some cessationists (those who believe the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Cor. 12:7-11 and other miracles have ceased after the apostolic generation) quote these verses to support their belief that only an evil generation seeks for “signs and wonders.” Of course, they are taking the verses out of context. In this context they asked Jesus to perform a sign in the sky, just to put him on trial and tempt him to use his divine nature on his own without the will of the Father. “Prove it, Jesus! We demand a sign in the sky right now!” He said no. He is not a performing seal at a water park. Signs and wonders like the kind Jesus listed for John the Baptist are designed to help people. Yes, they confirm that the kingdom is here, but not to show off and to put on a display and performed exactly when misguided people demand to be entertained and awed. The people who were actually healed were desperate, without the malevolent motive to tempt him to clap his hands once and gesture magically and work a miracle in the sky, like a magician.
GrowApp for Mark 8:11-13
1. Temptation comes in all forms. This one tempted Jesus to perform a sign in the sky. He refused. How have you refused temptation in your own life?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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