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Mark

Mark 
Day 
Day 175

2 Peter 1:19 "Which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

Day 175 – Mark 8

“Which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19

DEMANDING A SIGN FROM JESUS

The Pharisees must have felt quite confident when they demanded that Jesus gave them a sign that would prove His identity.

“Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him,
seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.”
MARK 8:11

1. No specification of the “sign from heaven”

The Pharisees shrewdly avoided determining the particular sign from heaven that would have “satisfied” them.

a) A particular sign
If their request for a particular sign had been answered by Jesus, they would then have to recognize His authority.
b) Leaving it to Jesus
The Pharisees demanded a sign from heaven, without clear specifications. This way, whatever sign Jesus gave, the Pharisees could debate “the sign from heaven” the whole day through.

2. Testing Him

Jesus knew that the Pharisees were merely testing Him. He knew the following facts about the Pharisees.

a) They had been plotting to destroy Him (Cf. Mark 3:6).
b) They had already accused Him of being in league with Beelzebub (Cf. Mark 3:22).

He knew better than to pander to their request for a sign from heaven. No matter what He did, the Pharisees would never have accepted it.

SIGNS GALORE

Why would the Pharisees need more signs? Were not the miracles Jesus performed great signs? If the following were not signs, what were they?

1. The casting out of demons (Cf. Mark 5:1-20)

2. The healing of hopeless cases (Cf. Mark 5:25-34)

3. The raising of the dead (Cf. Mark 5:35-43)

4. The feeding of the multitudes (Cf. Mark 6:41-44; 8:1-9)