MARK 8:14-21 BREADCRUMBS OF FAITH2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Mark 8:14-21 Breadcrumbs Of Faith

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017.

As we get into Mark chapter 8 this morning, continuing to work our way through the Bible in three years, and we're reading through the gospel of Mark right now, and just enjoying the life of Jesus, and the things that we get to see accomplished in his life and his ministry. And here we are jumping into an account where the disciples with Jesus are heading across the lake.

There has just been the occasion where 4,000 people have been fed by Jesus and they just had a few loaves of bread, not very many, and the Lord miraculously provided for this huge multitude of people with this small provision of bread that they had available.

And soon after that, we find them in the verses we're going through this morning on the Sea of Galilee, leaving that event and leaving that situation. Now they're on their way back, but there's a problem that develops because the disciples forget to bring bread for the journey. And so as they're on their way across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is having a discussion with them, but they're

The discussion is not going the way that really it should have gone or the Lord intended for it to go because the disciples are very distracted by this lack of bread. And it's really messing with their opportunity to hear from God. And as we look at that this morning, I think it's a good encouragement and reminder to us to learn from the pattern of the disciples and to not follow that path, but instead to

to really live our lives in relationship with God and in faith in what God has called us to. I've titled the message this morning, Breadcrumbs of Faith. It's the idea, those breadcrumbs from, of course, that

old story, Hansel and Gretel. And it's a kid's story, but if you read the story, it's kind of like a horror story. So it's not really a good kid's story, I would say, but, but you know, they're, they're Hansel and Gretel and they're, they're taken out into the woods and to try to leave themselves a trail to find their way back. Uh,

they leave the breadcrumbs so that they can make their way back to where their home was, where they were taken. And that's a concept that exists even to this day. In fact, even in technology and the website work that I do, that's part of, you know, the website design is to have breadcrumbs. And that is always have a way for people to get back to where they came from, to get back to the homepage.

And so that's, it's actually called breadcrumbs. And so you'll see that around. And so this idea of breadcrumbs of faith, the whole thing that I believe God wants to remind us about this morning is that as believers in Jesus Christ,

We sometimes, like the disciples, get in our own minds, in our own heads, in a place where we are away from where we need to be. And we're not able to hear from the Lord because we're distracted, we're confused, and we're consumed with other things. And we need to follow the breadcrumbs back to the place of relationship with God and

place of faith in God, to the place where God desires for us to be in. So this morning, I want to encourage you to follow the breadcrumbs, not the breadcrumbs of Hansel and Gretel, but the breadcrumbs of faith that you would come back to a right relationship with God and have faith and be able to walk with God and receive from God in the way that he has desired for you to. And so there's three points or three breadcrumbs that

we'll follow along with this morning as we work our way through this passage. The first one is found in verses 13 through 16. Here's breadcrumb number one. Jesus is not upset with you. I really want to make sure that this is clear, that we all grasp hold of this truth. This morning, you need to know Jesus is not upset with you.

The disciples, well, they were not thinking that way. In verse 14, we see, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Here in this scenario, here in this situation, the disciples are with Jesus crossing over the Sea of Galilee, but in their haste to leave, they had forgotten something. And it says that they forgot to bring bread.

Now, they just come from this miraculous provision where Jesus had provided bread to several thousand people, and there was great baskets left over, but they forgot to bring the leftovers. They forgot to, you know, pack some up and, hey, we're going to need some of that later. So they forgot that, and there they found in the boat, we only have one loaf of bread. Now,

in our minds, you know, if you're thinking about like a loaf of bread, you know, Wonder Bread or Oral Wheat or whatever you like, you know, that kind of bread that you like to eat, that's not what they're talking about. So we could think of a loaf of bread and say, well, that's, you know, pretty sufficient. You could have quite a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a loaf of bread. But what they had for a loaf of bread, you could think about pita bread. So it's just, you know, it's

Maybe tortilla, is that more relative to you? But anyways, so it's just a little round, you know, piece of bread. It's not a full meal for one person, much less the 12 disciples and Jesus. And so it was not a lot of food at all, you know, just a tiny little snack is what they had. And so they were supposed to bring the bread. And of course, in those days, they didn't have fast food restaurants or, you know, you had to bring food with you. If you were going somewhere and you wanted to eat,

You brought the food with you. There wasn't just the provision and ample opportunity to get food wherever you went. And so the disciples had this responsibility. They had this charge. You can see that they were supposed to bring bread, but they had forgotten to bring bread. So they failed in their responsibility. They failed to think ahead.

They were unprepared and they dropped the ball in their responsibility to bring food for the group to eat. And so this is where the disciples are. They're realizing we messed up. We fell short. We didn't do what we were supposed to do. And their heads are churning on this. They're caught up in this. They're concerned about this.

And while all that's going on in their head, in verse 15, it says, then he charged them saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Verse 16, and they reasoned among themselves saying, it is because we have no bread. So while they're very concerned in their heads about how badly they messed up, about how they failed to bring bread, it was their responsibility and they forgot to do it.

While that's going on, Jesus says, take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Now, when Jesus talks about leaven, the idea for them, they understood what leaven was. It was a piece of a batch of dough that they would leave behind.

in baking the bread and they would take that piece and they would bring it to the next batch and they would work it into the dough so that that next batch would be leavened and they would leave a piece from that batch bake the bread and then use that piece that was left over to make the next batch of dough and if you need a visual of this i highly recommend the bakery tour at disneyland that's where i learned everything i know about baking bread and so it's really good and informative and so it shows you in the sourdough bread that's what they do they leave behind a piece

of the dough. They bring it, they incorporate it into the next batch of dough and so on and so forth. And that's the leaven of the dough. And so Jesus talking to them about leaven sparks in their mind, well, the reason why Jesus is talking about leaven, that dough that's left behind to make the next batch, he's talking about leaven because we don't have any bread. Jesus knows that we messed up

He knows that we forgot the bread. And so now he's rebuking us. He's upset and he's correcting us because...

Well, now we're going to have to buy bread and we have to be careful that we don't buy bread from the Pharisees because their leaven isn't good. Their batch of bread, you know, we shouldn't buy bread from the Pharisees and we can't buy bread from Herod or their followers. And so, you know, now we got to be careful to figure out where we're going to buy bread from. And in their minds, they're just going off in all kinds of different directions because they're all caught up with and consumed with how badly they messed up.

And under the impression that Jesus is upset with them. Now, we read this today, verse 15. He charged them saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And I think for us to look at this, we would understand right off the bat pretty much that Jesus is not talking about a little piece of dough leftover that's brought into the next batch of dough. That Jesus is not actually talking about the process of making bread or baking bread and

We could look at this and it's so clear. Of course, no, Jesus is not talking about that. Now, why could they not see that? Why would they in that situation? Now they're reasoning in verse 16, it says they reasoned among themselves. So this wasn't just like a random thought that went through their head, but they're having full on discussions about the fact that they don't have bread and about the fact that Jesus is now correcting them because they failed to bring bread on this journey.

Why could they not recognize that Jesus was not talking about actual bread or the dough that made the bread? The commentator R. Allen Cole says it this way. He says, I think this is important to consider. Jesus was not rebuking his disciples at this point. He was not upset with them.

He was not freaked out. He was not trying to make them feel bad. He was not dealing with that whole subject at all. It was really important to them that they had forgotten to bring the bread. I mean, that was a big deal for them, but it was not a big deal for Jesus. There was more important things to attend to.

more important things to teach his disciples, more important things to share with them. And so this time that he has with them, he says, look, I want to teach you guys some things. I want to share some things and give you some warnings, but they're not receiving it that way at all because of where they're at in their own heads, caught up and consumed with their own mistake, thinking that Jesus is upset with them. They totally misunderstand because of their own guilty conscience.

because of their own sense of, well, how they have failed and let Jesus down. You need to know, Jesus is not upset with you. He's not upset with you. You may have a guilty conscience, and you may feel bad for failing. We can recognize that feeling, recognize what the disciples are going through. We all fall short. We all mess up, and we all deal with

a guilty conscience. We all deal with the weight of having great hopes and high hopes and wanting to do so much better and then not doing as good as we wanted to and falling short and sometimes just blowing it completely. But in all of that, you need to know Jesus is not upset with you. He's not angry. He's not there saying, I can't believe how stupid you are.

He's not there, you know, oh man, I'm so disappointed. I don't know how you managed to fall again in that same thing. I can't even believe it. What's wrong with you? That's not what Jesus is doing. But that is so often the way that we receive what the Lord is saying. He's talking about something completely different. All of a sudden we're like, oh, we forgot the bread. You know, he's talking about that. What? Yeah, I know. I blew it so bad.

And sometimes we're so conscious of our failures that we completely miss what Jesus really actually wants to say to us. And so we need to follow the breadcrumb. Back to faith. Starts with the first thing. You need to know Jesus is not upset with you. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, he says it this way, "...there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."

who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation. Jesus is not there looking to beat you with a stick. He's not there trying to condemn you.

Now, Paul says that in Romans chapter 8, after building the whole case and helping us to understand the gospel message in the preceding chapters, that the whole point is Jesus received all the condemnation for you upon the cross. He took the penalty for sin. He paid the price for sin so that now there is therefore no condemnation left.

for those who are in Christ Jesus, for those who believe in Jesus, as a follower of Jesus, there is no anger from God towards you at all. There's no condemnation left. There's no animosity left. There's no anger left. There's no punishment left. It's all been given out. Jesus received that on your behalf.

So that now as a follower of Christ, even if you've blown it, even if you've messed up, even if you forgot the bread and you were supposed to bring bread, Jesus is not upset with you. Now I can imagine some people thinking, well, maybe Jesus isn't upset with me, but God sure is. And let me just remind you that Jesus is God.

that Jesus, well, he declared, I and the Father are one. Now, that doesn't mean they're indistinct, that they're the same entity. It's the triune nature of God, which is difficult. But here's what Jesus means. We're one. We're united in our thoughts and our intentions. The Father thinks about you the same way that Jesus thinks about you. And so you could say also, God is not upset with you. He's not upset.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, as a follower of Christ, you've received the salvation and the forgiveness that he offers. There's no condemnation left. And sometimes we get so caught up in the condemnation, even though it's been removed, but in our own minds, we're so caught up with that. And we allow it to distract us. And it distorts the words that we hear from the Lord. It distorts as we read the Bible. It distorts the message.

And we misunderstand as we sit in service and the word of God is brought forth, it distorts it because, well, we're thinking he's talking about the bread, that he's upset with us, that he's furious, that he's so disappointed. And there's this misunderstanding that we have as a result. Now, there was times where Jesus did get upset. He did actually bring some pretty severe rebuke at some points. And that was towards the religious leaders,

knew the truth, but just flat out refused to believe. And so when there is that understanding, that knowledge of the truth and the flat out refusal and just disobedience, well, Jesus did get upset in those occasions. He especially got upset when the religious leaders, those who knew better, hindered others from getting to know God and receiving what God had for them. And those were occasions for Jesus to get upset. But

Generally speaking, for you, if you've believed in Jesus Christ, you're a new creation and you still fall short. But in your endeavor to walk with God, even with all the stumbles and mess ups, Jesus is not upset with you. Did you fall short this week? Did you mess up in some way to fail somehow? Neglect something important? Miss the mark? You need to know Jesus did not orchestrate all of this

so that he could bring you here this morning and then smack you over the head. He's not upset. He's not angry. He's not trying to tell you how surprised he is that you could blow it so badly again. We need to take the breadcrumb of faith, to take the step and start coming back to right relationship with God, where we need to be and understand, first of all, he's pleased with you. Those who believe in Jesus, he's pleased with you. You have his favor.

He's not upset. Well, moving on to verses 17 through 21, the second bread crumb of faith that we follow. Here, point number two is Jesus will provide for you. The disciples totally misunderstood what Jesus was talking to them about. First of all, because they had forgotten the bread. They let Jesus down. He was disappointed. He was upset. And so they misunderstood. But they also misunderstood. There was another thing going on in their head. And that was

But now what are we going to eat? Not only is Jesus upset with us, but we're going to be starving. We're going to be hungry. And what are we going to do about that? In verse 17, it tells us, but Jesus being aware of it said to them, why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Is your heart still hardened?

Jesus asked them. Now, he actually asked them a series of questions here. And as we work our way through this series of questions, I would ask you to consider, first of all, why does Jesus ask questions? Jesus doesn't ask questions because he really needs to find out the answer. He knows the answer. He asks questions, not for his benefit, but for the benefit of those that he's speaking to.

And so as he asks these questions, understand he's not asking because he doesn't know the answer. He's asking them because he needs them to think about the answer to those questions. In the confusion and distraction that's going on in their heads, caught up with the condemnation that they're experiencing and caught up with the concern over what are they going to eat and how are things going to get provided and worked out. And as they're caught up in all those things, Jesus is drawing them back to

by asking these questions. And I would encourage you to consider the tone. It's really interesting how we can come to some very different conclusions just based upon the tone that we read into things, right? It happens all the time, especially nowadays, right? We're text messaging back and forth, and there's not tone communicated. We try to communicate the tone with emojis sometimes, right? And kind of a little smiley face or whatever. That helps.

But so much is lost, right? In just the words being said, so much is lost, and the tone is not really communicated. And so here, as we look at these questions that Jesus asks, it's easy for us to read in a different tone than perhaps he actually had. Dave Guzik says, this is one of those situations where we wish we had a recording of Jesus's words to hear the tone differently.

that he used? Was it a tone communicating anger, concern, frustration? What was the tone that Jesus used as he asked these questions? And I like the way that William Barclay talks about it. He says, it may well be that he asked his questions not with anger, but with a smile, like one who tries to lead a slow child to see a self-evident truth. I really like that perspective.

Perhaps Jesus was asking these questions with a smile on his face. Like maybe you would ask a child some questions to just help the child come to the conclusion and think through the process and think through the steps and the concept. And you help them walk through those things just kind of little by little, step by step. And when you do that, you're not

You're not angry. You're not shouting at, well, hopefully you're not. Otherwise, repent because that's different. But you understand that you would easily ask questions with a smile and lead someone down, well, a path that they need to go down. And that's what I would suggest Jesus is doing with his disciples. In verse 17, it says, Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, why do you reason because you have no bread?

Now again, think about the tone. Is Jesus saying, you guys are so dumb. I can't believe how dumb you are. I can't believe. I don't even know why I put up. Why did I choose you guys? Why are you reasoning about having no bread? Was that the tone Jesus used? I doubt it. I think Jesus is trying to get them to recognize how much they're thinking about the bread.

And so Jesus asked them the question, why do you reason? Because you have no bread. It's not anger. It's not disappointment. It's a gentle leading. I would even say it this way. It's an invitation. Jesus is inviting his disciples back. They're off on a tangent. They're off to the side. They're not where they need to be in their relationship with the Lord. They're confused. They're distracted. They're caught up in their own minds and their own heads and imagining things that aren't there. And Jesus is saying, no.

You need to recognize. I'm sure you've experienced that, right? Have you ever been upset and you're in an argument, you're upset and you're in it for a little bit and all of a sudden you start to think, why am I so upset about this? Why does it really matter if the spoons go on this side or that side? Like all of a sudden it kind of dawns on you, you begin to ask yourself questions, right? Like why do I care about this so much? Why is this so important to me?

That's what Jesus is doing here with the disciples. He's helping them to start asking those questions. Hey guys, I want you to think about this. Why are you so preoccupied with the amount of bread that we have? Think about that. You need to come to the conclusion of what's really going on within your own minds and hearts. Why are you worried about that? He says, do you not perceive, not yet perceive nor understand?

Is your heart still hardened? In verse 18, having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? Jesus here is indicating a spiritual blindness that is going on. We'll talk more about that in just a few minutes in the final point. But there's a spiritual blindness. The commentator R. Allen Cole says, they were so blinded by their immediate bodily needs that

They had again forgotten to seek first God's kingdom with the faith that their bodily needs would be met. They were blinded by their immediate bodily needs. That can happen so easily in our lives. We're so distracted by something that's right in front of us that we forget about the life of faith, that we forget about the promises of God, that we forget about the relationship with God, that we get distracted and confused about

about what God is actually saying to us. I'd like to take a moment and just read to you some verses from Matthew chapter six. You can turn there if you'd like, but you don't have to. But either way, listen to the words of Jesus and think about your own life. Here, Jesus is talking about worry and the things that occupy our minds and how it distracts us. In Matthew chapter six, verse 25, Jesus says, therefore, I say to you,

Verse 1.

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? In verse 31, he says, therefore, do not worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

There in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus, in addressing the subject of worry, he says, you know, worry does not do you much good. He says, don't worry. Look at how God provides for the birds of the air.

He goes on to make the point, you're much more valuable than birds. Look at how God clothes the grass and the flowers, not even Solomon compared to the beauty and the glory of God's own creation there in that vegetation. And he says, you're much more valuable. God's going to provide for you. He's going to take care of you. That's his promise. And so Jesus says in Matthew 6 31, so don't worry.

saying, what will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? He says, your heavenly father knows that you need those things. It's no surprise. All of a sudden, God is shocked. Like what? You need to eat today? Oh, I hadn't planned on that. Why didn't you tell me sooner? I didn't know you needed to eat this week. I didn't need to. I didn't know that you needed those bills paid. I didn't know. Jesus says, no, instead, look, seek first the kingdom of God.

And then all these other things will be provided. All these other things will be added. That's God's promise that you don't have to worry about the provision. Your job is to focus on walking with God and pursuing the things of God. And God says, I'll take care of the provision. I'll meet all your needs. Now, if I had to guess, I would say all of us have heard that before. All of us know that.

We often make a little bit of a joke about it because it's Harvey's favorite verse. And anytime he has an opportunity to speak, you already know he's going to share Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. But although we know it, and maybe you can even quote it, so often we forget it and we get caught up in worry. We get preoccupied.

And we start seeking first the things that are occupying our minds and the things of this life and not the things of the kingdom of God. And Jesus, back here in Mark 8, verse 18, he says, and do you not remember? You know these things. But again, he asked the question to say, hey, you need to recognize that you've forgotten some things. You need to recognize that although you know the things, although you know the truth, although you know the concepts,

You need to recognize, you need to come to that awareness that I've forgotten and I've moved away from this place of faith, knowing that God will provide, trusting that God will provide, and I'm caught up and consumed in my own head and mind about the things of this life. Jesus in verse 19 and 20 reminds the disciples of some recent examples of his provision.

In verse 19, he says, when I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said to him, 12. Now we just read this last week in Mark chapter 6. This account where there's 5,000 men. Actually, we don't know how big the total crowd was because it's 5,000 men and it says, and there was women and children on top of that. So it could have been pretty massive crowd. At least 5,000, maybe 10,000. We don't know for sure.

The provisions were pretty small. There was five loaves of bread. And again, don't think Wonder Bread. I don't know why I do this size. Don't think, you know, the six foot long Subway sandwich. Five loaves of bread. It's the five little rolls of pita bread and a couple fish. And the Lord blessed it. He broke it. They distributed it. All the whole crowd ate. It says till they were full. It was an all-you-can-eat bread buffet, which sounds delicious, right? All-you-can-eat bread buffet was

And then there was 12 baskets left over. Now don't think about like communion trays. Baskets, like laundry baskets. There are 12. Do you have that much bread in your house right now? 12 laundry baskets worth of bread?

We get donations from Panera. Pastor Sisko usually picks them up, and there's these huge bags of bread. It's like that. It's like you have trouble carrying it because it's a heavy amount of bread, a lot of bread. And they have this abundant leftover from these five little loaves that they began with. Miraculous provision just happened not too long ago. And then in this same chapter, in Mark chapter 8,

Just a few moments, a couple hours before they're in the boat and having this conversation, Jesus, on this other occasion, fed 4,000 with seven loaves of bread. So you say, well, that's not as miraculous. You know, he started out with five and fed 5,000 and now 4,000 with seven loaves of bread, you know, but still it's miraculous. Seven little pita bread's

And he fed 4,000 people just a couple hours ago. And here are the disciples thinking, what are we going to eat? They're so much like us, aren't they? We know this. We know that God provides. We know his promise to provide. We know to seek first the kingdom of God and he'll take care of the needs. And yet we forget and we get caught up and distracted.

And even when God has just provided miraculously and done awesome things for us, and then we turn around the corner and we go, oh man, what am I going to do? This is just the worst thing I've ever had in my life. I don't know how I'm going to make ends meet. It's so easy for us to just forget the things. And so that's why Jesus says, do you remember? Think about, just stop and think about how I've provided for you in the past. In verse 21, he said, how is it you do not understand?

And again, just, I really want to make sure that we read the proper tone in here. Is Jesus saying, how is it that you do not understand? What's wrong with you people? I've provided for you in the past. Look, it was just a couple hours ago. I provided bread for 4,000 people. What's wrong with you? Is that the tone that Jesus had? No, that's not the tone that Jesus had. He said, hey, don't you understand?

Think about what's going on in your mind. Recognize what's going on in your heart and see where you're at compared to the realities that are right there and the ways that I've provided for you. And you and I sitting here this morning, we can do the same thing where God has provided for us and he's met our needs. And then it's just a little bit later, we easily forget.

And this morning, the Lord would say, hey, stop and remember. Stop and reflect and think about how I've met your needs, how I've fulfilled that promise to provide for you already. Pastor David Guzik says, we can always take the past faithfulness of God as a promise for his continued love and care. God has provided for you.

And so grasp hold of that and remember that and let that be an encouragement to you that all the things that are weighing upon you right now, God's going to be able to handle those things as well. He will. He can. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 verse 32, he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? This is an incredible verse to meditate on, especially as we

prepare to partake of communion in just a few minutes. Paul says, look, God gave his only son. Jesus died upon the cross for us. So if he was loving you that much that he was willing to give his only son for you, well, of course, all the other little things that don't cost him anything, he's going to provide for you.

Of course, he's going to meet your needs. It's no big thing for God to open up the heavens and pour down bread from heaven. He's done it in the past, provided the children of Israel manna in the wilderness, bread for 40 years, just out of the heavens, out of nothing, out of nowhere. God could do that. He could open up the door, the windows of heaven and just rain down money on you if you wanted to.

And then we might think, well, if he could do that, why doesn't he do that? It'd be really good if he would do that. I would stop worrying if he would just give me all the money I need. Well, see, the reality is God knows your heart and you actually would continue to worry and be more distracted perhaps if he gave you everything that you wanted. So he's concerned about, like with the disciples, not so much that you have the store of bread there so you could see, okay, I always know I have bread, okay.

Bread for life. I have it. It's right there. I can always access it whenever I want. He's encouraging you and teaching you how to walk with him, to live by faith, to know him, to trust him. All the while saying, I'm going to provide for you. But he's, you know, Pastor Dylan used to share this all the time when he was here, that when we were receiving offering, he would say, look, giving to God is God's way of not raising cash, but raising kids.

Like it was important for us to learn how to give, to grow up. And in a similar way, in all of these things that we're preoccupied with and worried and caring about, God's teaching us. He's training us. He's building us and showing us how to walk with him. But the promise is there. Listen, it's not difficult for God to give you all the food that you need and all the drink that you need and all the clothes that you need and the roof over you. That's not difficult for God.

To pay those bills and to provide what's necessary for your life and to bless you with even abundant things, it's not difficult. That doesn't cost God anything. And so if God is willing to give his only begotten son, which did cost him dearly, of course, he's gonna give you everything else that you need. That's his promise. And so follow the breadcrumb of faith. Jesus is not upset with you and he will provide for you.

And so you don't have to be so preoccupied with all of those things because he has promised to provide. Well, finishing it up in verse 15 through 18, we have point number three, and that is Jesus has important truth for you. Throughout this whole thing, it all was surrounded in this whole idea that the disciples left the bread. They forgot to bring bread. But there in the middle of it, Jesus was trying to teach them something very important. In verse 15, it says, then he charged them saying, take heed.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And then they reasoned among themselves, it's because we have no bread. But is Jesus talking about bread? No, he's not talking about bread. He's talking about something else. Now, in the book of Matthew, we have the same account recorded. Matthew gives a little bit more detail. And in verse 12 of Matthew chapter 16, it tells us, then they understood that

that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. So Jesus was trying to teach them a lesson, not about bread, but about doctrine. There was bad doctrine from the Pharisees, from the Sadducees, from Herod. There was bad teaching, incorrect ideas. Ideas which followed would cause destruction in your life. And so Jesus is dealing with more important things today

than just their immediate supply of bread. But they missed it because, well, they were caught up with the idea that Jesus was upset with them. They were concerned with what are they going to eat now that they've forgotten the bread. And they missed the important truth that Jesus had right there for them. Jesus says in verse 17, do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? He asked them about their heart. Is it hardened?

Now again, considering the tone, Jesus wasn't yelling at them or smacking them. He was calling their attention to their own weakness and saying, look, you need to pay attention to the hardness of your heart. You have eyes, but are you seeing? You have ears, but are you hearing? And don't you remember the things that I have done? Don't you remember the way that I have provided? You see, a hardened heart is not necessarily one that is in flat out rebellion against God.

Certainly that can be a hardened heart, but a hardened heart sometimes is, it's just hard because it's distracted, it's preoccupied, and so it's not able to receive from God. A soft heart is receptive, it's listening, it's considering the words of Jesus, it's focused on the spiritual things instead of the temporary things. And any one of us can slip into that hardness of heart as we

Well, as we step away from where we need to be with the Lord, we move away from faith and we start thinking that Jesus is upset with us. We start thinking that we have to provide for ourselves. We start being focused and consumed on those things and we're distracted and our heart is hardened and we're not able to receive the truth that Jesus is seeking to bring. Important truth that we need. Things that will change our life. Things that will bless our life. And we miss out on it because, well, we need to follow the breadcrumbs of faith.

And come back to the understanding. And I'm not just talking about, you know, here in service, Jesus has important truth for you. But on your own, as you spend time with God and get into his word, Jesus has important truth for you. He has the words of eternal life. He has for you insight and direction for those problems that you face, for those things that occupy your mind, for those situations that need to be resolved, and for the questions that you have. Jesus has insight for all of that.

But we got to come back to the place where we belong, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these other things will be added to us. And so we got to follow the breadcrumbs of faith and come back to a place where we recognize that we don't miss the point. But because I know that Jesus is not upset with me, I draw near to him.

Because I know that he will provide for me and I trust him to provide for me. I don't have to be worried and occupied about all those things all the time. But now I can come and say, okay, Lord, what do you have for me? And I'm in a place to receive, to hear, to listen, to consider what he actually speaks. Let these be breadcrumbs to lead you back to where you need to be this morning. We're going to close the service by partaking of communion together.

And in communion, Jesus gave us these reminders. He gave us the bread and he said, this represents my body, which is broken for you. The cup, it represents my blood, which has been shed for you. And he says, do this often and do this in remembrance of me. And just like Jesus reminded his disciples of the times where he's provided bread for them, Jesus this morning is reminding us, hey, if I loved you so much that I was willing to

to have my body be broken and my blood shed, I'm also going to freely give you all things. So have faith, believe in me, and come back to a place of fellowship with me, relationship with me, and listening what I have to say to you. The worship team's going to come up and lead us in a song, and the ushers are going to pass out the bread and the cup while they lead us in this worship song. And I would encourage you this morning to go ahead and partake at any time during this song.

As you receive the bread, as you receive the cup, as you spend that time with the Lord, let there be breadcrumbs that lead you back and you come back into that place where you trust God, where you enjoy the pleasure of God. God is so pleased with you because you believe in him, because you've received his offer of salvation, trusting that God will provide for you and has important truth for your life. And so come back to that place and receive all that God has for you.

As you partake of communion this morning. And at the end, if you haven't partaken, Lena will give you an opportunity to partake and we'll close out the service at that time. But let's worship the Lord together and follow the breadcrumbs back to a right relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.