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Hardness
of Heart
Mark
6:32-56
For
some reason these passages are often studied separately.
This should not be, I think – because verse 52 clearly links the two
events told here.
The
Holy Bible, New International Version
32So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33But
many
who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and
got there ahead of them. 34When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had
compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he
began teaching them many things.
35By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him.
“This is a
remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36Send
the people away so
they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves
something to eat.”
37But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take eight months of a
man’s wages£! Are we
to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go
and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups
on the
green grass. 40So
they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41Taking the
five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke
the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also
divided the two fish among them all. 42They all ate and were satisfied, 43and
the
disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44The
number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
45Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on
ahead of
him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After
leaving them, he went up
on a mountainside to pray.
47When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he
was
alone on land. 48He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was
against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking
on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49but when they saw him walking on
the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50because
they all saw him
and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take
courage! It is I. Don’t be
afraid.” 51Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.
They were completely amazed, 52for they had not understood about the
loaves;
their hearts were hardened.
53When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored
there.
54As
soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55They
ran
throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard
he was. 56And
wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they
placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the
edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Testing
Test:
the school child’s least favorite word.
Alas, it is a fact of life, the test is always with us.
Why
does God allow us to be tested?
Consider
the situation from our usual point of view.
We don’t like to be tested. When
God permits a testing in our lives, we are quick to complain.
We ask to be delivered immediately.
As I write this, I have recently received the news that my right eye will
continue to be useless for another three months – and then we’ll see whether
or not any sight can be restored to it. One
might consider that God is testing me; my
first question is, “Why?”
 | Consider it from the
teacher’s point of view. The
test is designed to tell the teacher how successful the teaching has been.
This seems unlikely in God’s case;
he ought to know. After
all, he is omniscient. So it
must be something else.
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| One possibility is
this: motivation.
Nothing motivates the student to study as much as the knowledge that
there will be a test. It’s
difficult for us to see that in life, but perhaps we should.
Maybe we should prepare ourselves for life’s difficulties – since
we know they will come. (Do you
buy health insurance? Maybe you
should invest in some patience, too).
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| Sometimes the small
test is preparation for the big one. They
give final exams, you know. Perhaps
the trials you’re going through are only there to prepare you for a
greater examination later – and a greater triumph.
Is there any ecstasy like knowing you aced the test?
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| Perhaps the greatest
reason of all is this: in
testing, God introduces you to yourself.
You get to know your limits, your failings and your strengths.
Did you pass the beggar by? What
does that say of your Christian charity?
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Why we don’t like testing
Testing
has a number of drawbacks – at least, from our point of view.
But are they really so bad?
| Testing implies
suffering – and no one likes that. But
consider it in a different light: your Lord suffered.
The one you love, the lover of your soul, suffered for you.
Are you so unwilling to suffer for Him?
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| Testing implies work.
We’re lazy. But again
– are we always that way? No,
if we see a good result as the end, we’re willing to work.
Perhaps the problem is not the work so much as our view of the
objective of the work.
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| Testing implies fear
– have you ever panicked on a test? We
fear failure. But are we not in
the hands of the one truly benevolent teacher, who has every desire for us
to succeed? Surely testing at
his hands is most likely to produce success – if we cooperate.
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The gold mine
The
core of the matter is this: we
resent being tested because we have lost sight of the rewards of success.
What are those rewards?
| We are counted worthy
to be a part of the kingdom of God.
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| Such testing produces
perseverance, which ultimately leads to maturity and completeness of the
faith.
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We
need to realize that God allows such testing, but he does not tempt us.
He does not want us to turn to evil, but wants us to pass the test and
grow in the faith. So why then do we so stoutly resist this?
It
is because of the hardness of our hearts – the point Jesus is making to the
disciples here. We’re in need of
an attitude adjustment.
Hardness of Heart
Ask
most Christians if they are hard-hearted and they will deny it vigorously.
It’s like disease: sometimes it’s pretty obvious (a broken arm), sometimes
it’s not. We need to examine the
symptoms to see if they fit. Let’s
do so, from the obvious to the subtle:
The obvious – the fountain of evil
If
you’re in this category, the checklist is pretty simple:
| Are you living the
sensual life? The life in which
your bodily desires always come first?
Sometimes it’s sex; sometimes
(surprise!) it’s food. Gluttony
is a sin, though not as common as our waistlines would pronounce.
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| Are you living the
worldly life? This is pretty
common too – the new car, the new boat, the new house;
do these come first in your life?
Check your check book; the
truth is there.
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| Worst of all is pride.
If you’re proud that you’re not hard-hearted, you have a serious
problem
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Most
Christians know this; it’s pretty
obvious. But I’d hate to skip it
– it’s just possible you missed it.
The not-so-obvious -
Blindness
I
recently lost the sight of one eye, at least temporarily.
I wander around with an eye patch. Occasionally,
I embarrass myself by bumping into someone on my right side.
So I understand about blindness, a little.
| The first sign is the
wayward wandering. It’s that
lack of attention to your Christian life.
It’s not so much on purpose as it is by accident – but accident
that could have been prevented by prayer and study.
Usually, it’s bumping into other people, offending them when you
should have been pleasing them.
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| Another sign of
blindness is in what you believe. Some
of the blind will believe anything they are taught.
I encourage my students to test my words in class (and they do).
Why? So that they will
not believe just anything they hear, but rather will seek out the truth.
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| One form of blindness
is selective vision. We can see
what we want to see, but other things are invisible.
We often see the love of God, but miss his righteousness.
Want a test? The beggar
on the street corner often provides one.
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The subtle – double vision
This
is perhaps the worst form of blindness, for the Christian doesn’t recognize it
as such. It often happens that
people afflicted with this are quite capable of looking and sounding pious.
But here are a couple of indicators:
| Do you have a positive
opinion of someone on Sunday and a negative one on Monday?
Telling people what they want to hear?
Just depends on who is listening?
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| Are you the kind of
“friend” who always seems to stir up trouble? A word to this one, another to that one, and soon
there’s a lovely fight going on. And,
having started it, you cluck-cluck over the result.
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Some
of us are outraged on Sunday and complacent on Monday.
We’re all in favor of marriage and family life today – but tomorrow
we are reasonable people who can’t see any objection to homosexuality.
The result is evil in your life. So
what can you do about it?
Lessons for Us
May
I offer you an analogy? This is
somewhat like a form of cancer. It
may be hard to diagnose, painful to treat – and after treatment, something to
be watched. Let’s look at all
three steps.
Diagnosis
How
do I know if I have this hardness of heart?
| What’s your
conscience saying? If the
answer is that you haven’t heard from it in years, then you really have a
problem. But if the answer is,
“I don’t listen to it – on that subject”, then you know where the
problem is.
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| How about prayer?
Is there some area of your life that you will not take to God in
prayer? This is one reason I write my prayers in a journal –
it forces me to look at myself and admit just what it is that I don’t want
to talk to God about.
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| If the internal
evidence won’t work, God will provide external evidence.
Others will speak to you about it (God created wives, you know).
Maybe there’s a reason she repeats herself.
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Treatment
Now
what? Suppose you decide that you
have the problem; what do you do about it?
| First, explicitly ask
the Holy Spirit for help. Ask
Him to come into your life in complete fullness. (In short, go to the Doctor).
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| Next, surrender.
First you must surrender the difficulty to God, telling him that you
know that only he can deal with it. Then
you must surrender yourself to him, putting yourself completely in his
hands. (Cooperate with the surgeon).
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| Finally, be prepared:
there will be another test. You
will face this again. Watch the
results of that test; he wants
you to be encouraged by it. (There
will be more lab work).
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Living the change
Many
victims of cancer will tell you it is not cured, but survived. How
do you survive, then?
| Remember, God will
provide another test. Do not be
disappointed when it arrives, nor surprised.
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| Rather, you should
prepare for it. You’ve
identified the problem, taken it to him – have you rehearsed what you’re
going to do the next time it pops up?
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| Finally, grow in that
test. If you fail, resolve to
try again. If you succeed,
rejoice – and give God the glory.
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