DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Mark 8:11-21
(12/12-12/25)
Monday of the Thirtieth Week after Pentecost
Signs and Faith: Saint Mark 8:11-21, especially vs. 12: “But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said,
“Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall
be given to this generation.”
The Pharisees who challenged the
Lord Jesus have a certain kinship with our present-day secularists who thrive
on doubting and trust only in tangible measures to prove the validity of Christ
to their senses - sad, shriveled souls, captive solely to physical data.
Wisdom perceives two ways to understand what the Pharisees
were demanding: the Lord Jesus should cause 1) a cosmic display or 2) a
perfect, coincidence of earthly events.
Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid
understood that they were asking for “...a sign from heaven such as to
make the sun or moon stand still, or to send down a
lightning bolt, or to change the winds.
For they thought that it was only by Beelzebub that He was able to work
miracles....” They
‘knew’ He would not be able to give a sign from Heaven and thereby
disclose that He was not from God.
The Pharisees thought to use the prophetic test of Moses
the Seer: “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he
gives you a sign or a wonder today, and the sign or the wonder he spoke to you
comes to pass, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ you have
not known, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of
dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments
and obey His voice; you shall hold fast to Him” (Dt. 13:2-5). ‘Knowing’ in their own minds
that Jesus was serving a false god, these men felt vindicated by His refusal
(Mk. 8:12).
The Pharisees’ demand for our Lord to authenticate
Himself was equivalent to what the Temple Authorities later would require -
that He tell the source of His authority (Mk. 11:28). God would have to verify Christ through
some tangible event, a coincidence that could be explained in no other way than
by the miraculous intervention of God.
Our Lord refused to give this (Mk. 8:12), putting forward trust in
Himself as the sole, true, life-giving response.
Notice that no matter how one interprets the
Pharisees’ challenge, it requires a measurable, tangible occurrence. That assumption connects them directly
to the contemporary pseudo-scientific scoffers who labor under the delusion
that the only reality is physical.
The call for a sign from heaven is a denial of the radical faith that is
integral to the gospel.
The Pharisees’ demand that Christ
produce irrefutable, concrete evidence, if seen from the perspective of faith,
is satanic (Mt. 4:6). A cosmic display or a miracle would
destroy the true ground for a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus. Faith that depends on tangible proof is
not genuine faith but simple, rational deduction. The observer remains detached and
uninvolved.
True faith in Christ our God requires a decision to be
involved with Him, and to change within one’s self, and obey. The Gospels provide an abundant record
of our Lord’s wondrous words and deeds. Still, multitudes have been unmoved by
the record of the signs Christ did provide, including even His glorious
Resurrection. Faith takes personal
risk.
Always Christ Jesus holds out the critical risk of trusting
Him as Lord. We must respond to Him
as King and God. Then, each of us
must take up his or her own cross, sell all, if He
asks it of us, or tell what the Lord has done for us. In every case we have to trust Him for
Who He says He is, believe in the mystery of God in Christ, and, as necessary,
say, “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mk. 9:24). In the end, faith cries out, “My
Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28).
O Christ, I come trusting in Thine
indescribable goodness, lest through long absence from communion with Thee, I
may become a prey of the invisible wolf.
Renew me entirely!
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