In Pastor Grant Brown's sermon titled 'Behold! (Part 2)', he emphasizes the pivotal role of Jesus' resurrection in understanding the Gospel of Mark. The sermon highlights a 'great reversal' where, contrary to earlier parts of the Gospel where Jesus instructed not to speak, the resurrection commands proclamation. Mark's narrative uses irony to contrast the initial disbelief of the disciples with their ultimate enlightenment post-resurrection. Witnesses are crucial, fulfilling the biblical requirement of two or three witnesses to confirm the resurrection. Pastor Brown draws parallels between the physical healing of a blind man in Mark 8 and the disciples' spiritual awakening, underscoring the transformative power of the resurrection. The sermon also stresses the fulfillment of God's law through Jesus' resurrection, asserting it as a divine validation of his sacrifice. Pastor Brown calls for recognition of this miraculous event and its implications for personal faith and the global proclamation of the Gospel.

Father in heaven, we come before you on the merits of Christ Jesus, wrapped in His righteousness, approaching you only through the blood of your Son, shed for the remission of our sins and our redemption. We pray as sinners made saints, according to your great mercy, in the power of your gospel, not in any power of our own. You, God, are thrice holy. The whole earth is full of your glory. The heavens declare and sing to the glory of your name.

And yet we ourselves have some off key. This week, this day, we have not esteemed you, we have not treasured you, and loved you, nor trusted you as we ought. We confess to you that we have fallen short of your glory, and we cry out with the public in, God be merciful to me, to us sinners. And wonder of wonders, you are. You have been merciful.

You shower us with mercy. We woke up this morning, the sun was still shining, breath in our lungs, eyes and ears that still work, hearts that still beat, a faith that still clings to Christ. Oh what mercy! We deserve just the opposite. Your mercy extends to all of us in this room as we gather together in this body having just confessed our sins corporately and having just received assurance of pardon through the shed blood and imputed righteousness of Jesus your Son.

Oh, how we thank you for your Son, for the truth that you have saved us through his substitutionary death and justified us in his resurrection and you have sealed us in power as our ascended Savior sent us his spirit. What mercy! You have not given us what we deserve. And what grace! You shower us with undeserved loving-kindness.

We say this morning, With all our heart, soul, mind, and strength we say, wow! Lord God, we thank you for the ways in which you have answered our prayers, for families restored, for surgeries, treatments, and hospital visits that have succeeded. We thank you for loved ones being converted, and far more abundantly than what we could ask or think, you have showered us with good and gracious gifts. We thank you for the story that you have written and are writing still in Lincoln Riker's life. We thank you for the success of his surgery and the truly amazing testimony that his heart has been healed.

We ask all the more that you'd confirm now the work in his spiritual heart and move him to confess that Jesus is Lord and be baptized as a follower of Jesus Christ, him and Easton and Zephyr. We pray this for all of our children, for Abigail and Anne and Ellie and Emmy, for the children in this congregation, the promise is for us and our children. We trust you, dear Father, and we ask you to do a work on our beloved children for Jesus' sake. You would do this for your glory and their everlasting good, and for the joy of this body, oh what a joy that would bring us. We thank you for the ways you have cared for Sherry Reynolds and the Haxton's.

Pastor Dave, we continue to entrust them to you, God, a faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love forever. Please, Lord God Almighty, continue to heal our dear pastor. We ask Father in accordance with and in submission to your perfect and sovereign will, sustain our beloved pastor in this extremely difficult time, may you as you promise work all of this to your glory. And our pastor is great as good. We do ask for more time with Pastor Dave.

We ask for comfort for his precious family particularly that our dear sister Jean would be filled up with your precious and magnificent promises and that she would cling tightly to you, Lord God. We lift up our brother Evan and our sister Melody, that their souls would be stilled, that they would know that you, our God, will undertake to guide the future as you have the past, That the winds and the waves in their lives and in the life of their father those winds and those waves Still know the voice of him who ruled over them while he dwelt here below the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ ascended on high Father we pray for saints around the world, particularly this morning those in Pakistan and India and the conflict there. Cause your gospel to spring up like Almighty stocks of wheat that will not fade away. Cause the good news of Christ crucified, risen and reigning to be the balm that a lost, dead, and depraved people need. Strengthen pastors in Pakistan and India.

Sustain their families. For Jesus' sake, we ask. And Lord, we intercede also on behalf of local churches here in this state and in this nation, namely Christ the Redeemer Church in Pella, Reformation Church in Washington, Iowa, and Red Oak Ascension Church. We pray for Pastor Ray in Red Oak and his precious family. We pray for his daughter with a brain tumor, for wisdom for doctors for healing and sustaining grace.

Remind this precious little girl and remind her father, remind that congregation, and remind our congregation that you write the very best of stories. And while we do not know the paragraphs yet to be written in that little girl's life, we do know this, that those paragraphs will be perfect and eternity will bear out the grandeur of the story that you are writing in that family's life and in the lives of our families here. So we trust you, and we plead on behalf of that little girl in red oak, the little girl of the pastor. We pray for healing and for comfort, For the glory of your name, Father in heaven, giver of every good and perfect gift. Now I ask, as I come to this text and preach your word, that you would deliver me from error and make this word sweet unto your people.

That we would all behold the Lord Jesus Christ and marvel at him and be transformed and conformed into the image of Him, your beloved Son. Increase our love, increase our trust in Him for your Son's sake, and in your Son's name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

I pray. Amen. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 16. Pardon me.

Mark chapter 16 beginning in verse 8. If you have a pew Bible you can find our passage this morning on page 1017. Page 1017 and if you do not own a copy of God's word please use that this morning and then take it home with you and read it and know the truth for the promises the truth will set you free. Mark 16, beginning in verse 8, and we'll read all the way through verse 20. If you'd please stand with me.

Hear now the word of our God. They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Now after he had risen early on the first day of the week, he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning and weeping.

When they had heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. After that, he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. Afterward, he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. And he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen.

And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

So then when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions, and after that Jesus himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable Proclamation of eternal salvation. The grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever, and so may God bless the reading. And now the proclamation of this is eternal word.

Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Sometimes many of you are helped by writing notes and we typically give you an outline of sorts. But this morning our PowerPoint doesn't work.

So I'll do my best to really emphasize what you particularly should write down. And so briefly let's just review what we did last time. Last Lord's Day, we began by considering why these verses matter. And that should already be in your notes if you typically take notes. Why verses nine through 20 belong in your Bible?

We examined, number one, the doctrine of the preservation of scripture and how down through the ages God has preserved and kept His perfect Word. We also examined textual reasons for why these verses matter, namely that these verses are the perfect ending for Mark's gospel. Number one, Jesus keeps his promise to the same Mary who anointed him before his death, that the gospel would be preached to the whole world and her memory would go with it. Mark 16, verse 20, they went out and preached everywhere. Promise fulfilled, promise kept.

And number two, we looked at how the end of Mark shows the fulfillment of the promised kingdom triumph from Mark chapter four in the parable of the sower and the parable of the seed and the parable of the mustard seed. The tiniest seed in the garden will become the greatest thing in the garden. The kingdom of Christ will expand on the earth and over the earth with the promise of an unimaginable harvest 30, 60, 100 fold. Mark ends with just that. The kingdom advancing through gospel proclamation as the Lord Jesus goes with them with the promise of 30, 60, 100 fold and you sitting in this pew in this room in Erlem, Iowa are evidence of that promise being fulfilled.

That was last time. That's the big picture of the concluding verses of Mark. I wanted you to see but a big picture view, wow, these verses really matter. You should cherish them because God cherishes them. And now this morning we're going to turn to examine these verses more individually.

So last Lord's Day, big picture, and now this Lord's Day, these verses more individually, as we behold six triumphs in these final verses, six triumphs to behold. Six triumphs, the first of which starts in verse 8. What has happened leading up to verse 8? By the way, at this point I'd click and you would see the great reversal So if you're gonna write something down right the great reversal verse 8 great reversal What has happened? Leading up to verse 8 You've got Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Salome Three women and they've brought spices to anoint Jesus after the Sabbath day.

But what happens? They get to the tomb, stones rolled away, Jesus has been raised up and they're told by an angel, go and tell the disciples that the resurrection is true. Go and tell the disciples the resurrection news. That's the lead-up into verse 8. Go and tell the disciples.

And yet in verse 8, how does Mark describe their response? Look at verse 8. They went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. Now, this is a proper fear. These women have just spoken to an angel.

Throughout the Gospels, when someone speaks to an angel, it is a very fearful thing. And so they are afraid, rightly so. And they are also, by the way, in awe at this news that Christ has been raised. And so all of this is completely understandable for these women. They are trembling, astonishment's gripped them.

But notice how the verse ends. Look there at the end of the verse. Astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone. What?

Read that again. They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Alright, Question for you. Throughout all of Mark's Gospel, what has been the consistent command from Jesus when it comes to making it known who he is and where he is? What has Jesus said time and time and time again after he has performed a miracle after miracle after miracle.

You've asked me a number of times. Why does Jesus keep telling people not to say who he is and where he is? Here are just a few examples, not all of them but a few. Mark chapter 1 verses 43 and 44. Jesus heals a leopard.

What does he tell the leopard? Hey, don't tell anyone, don't say anything to anyone about this. But what does the leper do? He tells everyone, it's too good. Mark chapter seven, verse 36, Jesus heals a deaf man who spoke with difficulty.

Jesus tells the man and all those watching, don't tell anyone, and yet what happens? The more he says don't tell, the more they tell. The more he says don't proclaim, the more they do proclaim. Mark chapter 8, verse 26, Jesus heals a blind man. What does he tell the blind man?

Hey, don't even enter the village. Don't make this a public thing. You get the gist, right? You remember this. Time and time again, Jesus says, don't talk, and yet what do they do?

They all talk. This happens all the way through Mark's Gospel, especially in the first half. But now Here at the end of Mark's Gospel, what do we have? Here at the end, we have the exact opposite thing recorded. And beloved Mark very much does this on purpose.

You have been asking, I mean, I have talked to you, You have been asking me for 15 plus, two years, why does Jesus consistently tell people not to tell him? I thought we're supposed to tell. Well yeah! But you've got to get the whole thing. Just time and time and time again, you think Mark's going to, I mean Mark did something so wonderful here, so don't miss it.

Now here at the end, after a whole book of don't tell, here at the end we have the exact opposite thing recorded. These women are told to do what? Tell! Talk! And what do these women do?

Verse 8, they said Nothing to anyone. Are you seeing that? That's intentional irony put there by Mark, inspired by God. Throughout Mark's gospel, when Jesus said, don't speak, people did. Now here at the end, when people are told to speak, what happens?

They don't. Do you see the reversal? It's all turned around and Mark wants you to see exactly that. Mark wants you to remember all the times prior, Jesus said not to tell and they did. And now here at the end, tell and they won't.

Something has changed. What is that event that has created this great reversal in all of history. Well, it happened in chapter 15. And then it happened in chapter 16. What's the event?

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Changed everything. Now, just so you know, just don't get confused here. Just so you know, verses 9 through 20 tell us that these women did eventually obey the command and they very much went and spoke to the disciples they were very obedient they did exactly like Jesus had said they did that verses 9 through 20 tell us they did that but verse 8 is intentional there was a period of time there was a moment where these women were told to tell, they didn't tell, completely the opposite of the rest of the gospel. And I just told you the event that separates those two realities, I'm going to say it again, the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

That's what's happened. Before the death and resurrection of Christ, don't tell. After the resurrection of Jesus the Christ, tell. Here's what you need to understand. The only way to understand Mark's gospel, the only way to understand Jesus, the only way to understand who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do, the only way to understand it all is through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

You take the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ away, you don't have Christianity. That's what this verse is all about. Before the death and resurrection of Christ, don't tell. Why? Because you don't see clearly who Jesus is.

But now that he's died, and now that he's been raised, it's now very clear. So tell the world! And that's what verses 15 to the end of the chapter in chapter 16 are all about telling the world the great commission that the Christ has come he has ransomed the elect he's redeemed the world how through his death resurrection and ascension you can't understand Mark's gospel you won't get who Jesus is You don't have the gospel apart from Jesus giving his life as a ransom for many and God the Father raising him up from the dead. Hear this. Hear this very, very clearly.

If any of you are wondering why these things matter so much, hear this. If Jesus has not died, then there is no satisfaction of God's wrath towards your sin. And you therefore, each and every one of you, if Jesus has not died, you therefore are still very much dead and damned in your sin. And if Jesus hasn't been raised, then you have not been raised with him. And God's wrath was never satisfied, and so far from being justified, if Jesus has not been raised, you are still condemned, you are still dead in your sin.

If Jesus has not been raised, you are still condemned, you are still dead in your sin, if Jesus has not been raised, you are doomed. But praise be to God. Jesus did die on the cross. Jesus was raised up from the dead, defeating your sin, defeating the world, defeating the flesh, defeating the devil, and he has raised you up with himself, Christian, from spiritual death to spiritual life, with the promise of a final resurrection to come. Wow!

I was just talking to a brother in this congregation this week about the wonder of the resurrection among other things and he related to me a conversation he had had with the man that he has been continuing continually evangelizing And this man that he's been evangelizing, this man just he just refuses to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He just won't believe in the resurrection. How could such a thing be real? How could a dead man really be raised back up to life after being dead in the tomb for three days right now how can you know it's really true and my brother was talking to he said to this lost man and I'm very much paraphrasing I'm very much paraphrasing How can you know the truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Because he raised me up with him.

I know the resurrection personally. I was dead in my trespasses and sin. I was an enemy of God. I was dead and depraved. And God made me alive.

In Christ Jesus. I don't even just know about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I know it. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

I died with Jesus, and I live with Jesus. And the life I live, I live by faith in the one who loved me and gave himself for me. That's an exchange. That's a reversal. That's what verse 8 is all about.

Don't tell, don't tell, don't tell, don't tell. Something happened. Tell. And that's something that changed it all. That was the work of Jesus Christ in his substitutionary death and justifying resurrection.

All of Mark, if you think about this, it Makes a lot of sense. All of Mark has been about answering two questions. Who is Jesus? And what did he come to do? I said that in two years ago.

First sermon, what is Mark about? Who is Jesus? What has He come to do? And now at the end of Mark's Gospel, those two questions are fully answered. Who is He?

Now tell! He's the crucified and risen Savior. He has secured for sinners the great exchange for all who have repented and believed on his name. He's taken your sin upon himself, he's bore the curse for you, and in exchange for your sin, this Jesus then imputes, He clothes you with His righteousness, His garments of salvation. He has taken you who were spiritually dead in Adam and made you alive in himself, the second Adam.

He has taken the heart of stone that you once possessed in your slavery to sin, and he has set you free and given you a heart of flesh that now beats for the things above. He has taken that which once belonged to Satan, you and the nations and the world, and he has made you and the nations and the world now his own. That's a gigantic reversal that this Jesus has worked. That's the unmistakable emphasis of verse eight. For so many chapters, don't tell, Keep this private.

You don't understand. But now Christ has died, Christ has been buried, and Christ has been raised from the tomb. Now you see it all. Tell it. Proclaim this gospel to all the world.

Proclaim to all of creation. Mark writes, proclaim to all of creation. He says that in verse 15, right? Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation. Proclaim to all of creation that all that was cursed and lost by the first Adam's disobedience has been redeemed and found by the blood of Jesus, the second Adam's obedience.

That's quite a reversal. It's all reversed. All that was forfeited by the first Adam's disobedience in Genesis three has been won back by the second Adam's obedience in Mark 1 through 16. This Jesus has triumphed. He has fulfilled all prophecy.

All prophecy including the prophecy, the promise in the garden in Genesis chapter 3 you know that promise right? First mention of the gospel where God said that he would send someone to do what? Adam and Eve have fallen, world's been plunged into the curse, and God comes and God says, I will send someone to reverse that curse. God would send a seed from the woman to reverse the curse and that reversal was purchased and set in motion through the life, death, and resurrection and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So let me quote to you a song.

Christ the true and better Adam, son of God and son of man, who when tempted in the garden, never yielded, never sinned. He who makes the many righteous brings us back to life again. Dying, he reversed the curse. Then rising, crushed the serpent's head. This Jesus is triumphant.

He has fulfilled all prophecy, and he has fulfilled all righteousness. And that's the second triumph I want you to see here at the end of Mark's gospel. Triumph number two. Here at the resurrection, even here at the end, right? At the resurrection Jesus fulfills the law of God here's the heading triumph number two the fulfillment of the law the fulfillment of the law and that you can find that in verses nine through 14.

The fulfillment of the law. Now I want you to keep your finger in Mark's gospel. We're gonna come back to it, of course. But go to the other side of the Bible. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 19.

Deuteronomy 19 verse 15. Deuteronomy 19 verse 15. Alright, God is giving his law to the people of Israel and in Deuteronomy 19 verse 15 God says this, A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he's committed. On the evidence of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed." What does God say in his law there in that verse? Let me summarize it for you.

You can't decide a matter, you can't decide any matter on the basis of only one witness. So corporately, you can't decide a corporate matter on the basis of only one witness. So corporately, you can't decide a corporate matter on the basis of only one witness. You can't decide whether something is true or false unless you have two or three witnesses. If someone is accused of a crime, or if something is alleged to happen, The law of God requires the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Okay. You got that? Two or three witnesses. For an alleged thing to happen, what is the alleged thing to have happened at the end of Mark's Gospel. It has been alleged that Jesus the Son of God has been raised up by God the Father.

That's what's alleged. The resurrection has been alleged. And what does God say in his law about confirming such a matter? You need a multitude of witnesses. Even for the resurrection, Especially for the resurrection, you need a multitude of witnesses.

And what does Jesus give us? What does Mark give us? He gives us exactly that, a fulfillment of God's law requiring two or three witnesses to establish that the resurrection is true. Who are the witnesses? We'll go back to Mark 16.

Who are the witnesses? Mark 16. Look at verse nine. Jesus appears to who? Mary Magdalene.

She goes and reports to the disciples but they refuse to believe her. Okay, one witness. Verse 12. After that Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. Two more witnesses.

Now just a side note there. They're walking along in the country. In another Gospel, it says, I think it's seven miles. Miles. And these two witnesses are speaking to Jesus though they don't know it, on the road to Emmaus for miles.

This is the same Jesus that just three days before couldn't even carry his own cross. You know what I'm saying? So in the second, in verse 12, you have two of them, while they're walking along in the road to the country, two more witnesses, and they're walking with Jesus. What do you have there? You have two separate incidents, three witnesses to one astounding reality.

You have the law of God through these witnesses declaring all of this is true. Jesus really is alive. Jesus really has been raised. Jesus really has triumphed. The law of God declares it.

And just go back to the previous point a moment, and this is fantastic. This is one of my favorite things I'm going to say today. Go back to the previous point where we talked about the great reversal. Just think about this great reversal here in Mark's Gospel. We think about God's law of requiring two or three witnesses to establish a matter, and God has given that for the resurrection.

Just think about this. Jesus was condemned on the testimony of false witnesses, but his resurrection is now vindicated by true witnesses. That's a divine reversal of trial. There's two trials going on. Let me say that once more so you can hear it.

Write it down maybe. Jesus was condemned on the testimony of false witnesses But his resurrection is now vindicated by true witnesses. It's a divine Reversal of his trial Mark is making it very clear. You have three witnesses to the truth of the matter and how was it that God had said in his law that a matter should be confirmed or denied due to around me 19 verse 15 on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed and Jesus has fulfilled even that law's requirement he really is alive mark is showing you the biblical requirement has been met. And then some.

The law demands you can believe. In fact, you must believe that God the Father rose Jesus His Son up from the grave. And so according to God's law, what should these disciples do? They should believe. But what do they do?

Verse 13. What do they do? Verse 13, they, these other witnesses, they went and reported it to the others but they did not believe them either. The disciples did not believe and so what's going to happen? Jesus has fulfilled the laws requirements of two or three witnesses but many of his disciples still do not believe and so what's Jesus going to go do?

He's going to go himself. He's going to go himself and beginning in verse 14 what happens Jesus appears to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table he rebukes he chastises them he causes them then to see he restores them he promised long ago in Mark's Gospel. And then he sends them out to proclaim the truth. What's the truth that has been firmly established by two or three witnesses and then some? The truth that Jesus has given his life as a ransom for many on the cross, and that that ransom was approved and validated by God Almighty.

How do you know it was approved and validated by God? How do you know that what Jesus did on the cross was actually good enough for you? How do you know that? Because God raised him up from the dead, proving that Jesus, yes, is who he says he is, he's God. And also proving that the requirement of God's demand for wrath towards sin to be satisfied, it really was satisfied.

That God's holy requirement for justice to happen happened on his son at the cross for you. That's what's been firmly established. So I wanted you to see very clearly that in Mark's gospel, even here at the end, he's saying, hey, God's law matters. I'm gonna show you that even in the resurrection, this is firmly established on the basis of so many witnesses, more than just two or three. So that's why verses 9 through 14 are such a big deal because you and I, we've got to know if Jesus really has been raised.

Right? If Jesus hasn't been raised, we don't know that his sacrifice was sufficient therefore we have all men are to be most to be pitted no hope but he has been raised And so on the testimony of two or three witnesses, Jesus has been raised. And so in verse 14, Jesus goes to the disciples himself, and now there are far more than just two or three witnesses. And what does he do? I'm gonna say this again.

What does Jesus do with these disciples? He rebukes the disciples and then he makes them see. He makes them see. They see. By the end of verse 14, they see the truth.

They see the truth. Some of them have even touched the hand inside of Jesus. Then they're sent. And those are the next two triumphs here at the end of Mark's Gospel that I want you to see. The blind see, that's a triumph.

And then the disciples, no longer blind, are sent out with the Great Commission. So those are the next two triumphs. I'm only going to get to one more triumph. I know you thought I'd finish. I was talking to Pastor Matthew yesterday afternoon in our older meeting.

I said, brother, I am really close to being done with the sermon but it is super long and I'm going keep going through it and going through it try to cut things out he goes oh brother everyone knows you're gonna go three times so with his blessing I did so this is triumph number three the blind see the blind see And this is really me pulling from verse 14, the blind seed. Now I want you to remind, I want to remind you of what happens in the very middle of Mark's gospel. This is just fantastic. If you were to go back to Mark chapter 8, in fact you can go there if you'd like, Mark chapter 8 beginning in verse 22. I want to refresh your memory of what has happened.

There was a curious miracle that happened in the very middle of Mark's Gospel. Do you remember that really curious miracle? It's the curious miracle because in Mark chapter 8 verse 22, Jesus heals a blind man and he does it really strangely. Do you remember? Two stages.

It's the only time in all the Gospels where Jesus heals a man in two stages like that. It's really curious because you're left wondering after that miracle in the middle of Mark's gospel, what's up with that? I mean usually when Jesus heals someone, in fact not as usually, always except in Mark 8, It's always the same way. It's instantaneous. He says to the paralytic, get up.

What happens? The paralytic gets up. He says to the leper, be cleansed. And what happens? He is cleansed.

But not this time. Not in this miracle in Mark chapter 8. Right there, smack dab in the middle of Mark's gospel, a blind man, beginning in verse 22, he gets his eyes spit on. And then Jesus lays his hands on the man, And he asks the man, can you see? And the blind man says, I'm kind of, not really.

He's still blind, he's still blind. Doesn't work. Kindness sees, very unclear. He's still blind. And then Jesus lays His hand on the blind man a second time.

And this time, He sees perfectly. He sees clearly. He's no longer blind, no longer unclear vision. What's up with that? What's up with that?

You gotta deal with that. Why did Jesus do the miracle that way? That was the exact question we asked eight chapters ago, one year ago. Why did God do it that way? And what was the answer?

Here's the answer. Jesus heals a physically blind man in two stages because That is a picture of exactly what happens to the disciples who are spiritually blind themselves. Jesus heals a physically blind man in two stages because that is a picture of exactly what happens to the disciples who are spiritually blind themselves. Let me remind you, eight chapters of miracles, chapter one through chapter eight of Mark, eight chapters of miracles, and yet what do disciples still see? They do not see who Jesus is and what Jesus has come to do they do say with their mouths at the end of mark 8 right after this miracle Jesus says who do you say that I am and they said well yeah you're the Christ But then they start arguing with them about what the Christ should do.

Jesus says, hey, you're right. I am the Christ. And so I've come to give my life as a ransom for many. I've come to suffer, to die, to give my life for sinners. And then I'll be raised.

And the disciples say, Jesus, you got it all wrong, man. That's a bunch of baloney that's what they say I don't use the word baloney but I here for us they don't like it And then they tell Jesus as much, no Jesus that's wrong, they aren't having it, they are still very much blind at the end of Mark chapter 8. And if you doubt that, look at Mark chapter 14 into 15, what happens to all the disciples? They stick with Jesus? No, they flee.

They're blind. They don't see that it's gonna take the Son of God to die as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. And so what does Jesus do? What does Jesus do at the end of Mark 8? He chastises them.

He chastises them. He rebukes Peter especially. And then after the chastisement in verse 1 of Mark 9, if you have your Bible open, you can look at verse 1 of Mark 9, Jesus says to them, hey, you don't see now, but you will see, you will see, he says some of you will see the kingdom of God in power you've got your Bibles read that there mark eight they don't see correctly they don't see clearly they're blind but then Jesus gives them a promise mark 9 verse 1 you don't see now but you will see, you will see, you will see the kingdom of God after it has come in power. That was a promise that we pointed out right smack dab in the middle of Mark's gospel eight chapters ago. You don't see now, but you will see.

You'll see the kingdom in power. All right, I'll put this all together. That's the end of Mark 8. A blind man healed in two stages, two halves. And at the end of the first half of Mark's gospel, the disciples are still blind, just like the blind man was still blind in the first half of the miracle.

And yet you're supposed to wonder, what about the second half? What will happen at the end of the second half of Mark's gospel? What does happen? What happened at the second half of the miracle of the blind man? The blind man saw clearly.

What do you think's gonna happen to the disciples at the second half of Mark's Gospel? By the grace of God, they're going to see clearly. The promise from Jesus was that they would see. The promise was that they would see the Kingdom of God after it had come with power. They would see it and believe and no longer be blind.

And John Calvin says, and I wholeheartedly agree with him, Calvin says that the disciples saw just that. They saw the kingdom of God in power when? When they saw Jesus the Christ, raised from the dead, and then ascend on high. They saw. They had spiritual sight, like the blind man in two stages.

They couldn't see. Christ died and was raised, and now they see. And so just to be sure you can see it, again I want you to compare the two accounts. End of the first half of Mark's Gospel, Mark 8, Jesus chastises his disciples. They're spiritually blind and now we get to the second half, the end of Mark's Gospel, and just like the ending of the first half, what do you have in verse 14?

Jesus chastising his disciples. Chastising, chastising, but something's changed in between those two events. He chastises them the first time they remain blind. He chastises them the second time they see. This is amazing.

They have sight. They see. So in verses 15 through 20, these disciples, they see the kingdom of God after it's come with power. They see the resurrected Christ. They see Jesus Christ descend into heaven in power.

So what do they do? They go and proclaim. Now that they see, they go and proclaim his gospel. And what does Christ do? He sends his spirit.

He accompanies them and his power goes with them. They see the kingdom of God, it's come in power. Resurrection, ascension, and they go forth proclaiming his gospel, power with them. They were once blind, but now they see. They were once lost, but now they have been found and restored, just like Jesus promised.

And such were some of you. Such were some of you. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, you, who once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Why?

How? How was I who was lost and blind in my sin, made found and made able to see? How? Through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the crucified, risen, ascended one. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God and the salvation, for me and for you, for any blind sinner, That's good news.

For all those who have repented and believed in this Lord Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation is at work in you. It's amazing. I say this a lot, but I want to keep saying it. You are a walking miracle. This morning you woke up believing upon Christ that that's you.

It's a miracle. It's the power of God in your life. Let me walk you around with that nonsense. Man, I just wish I saw the power of God at work. Look at you!

If you have any inkling to fight sin, any desire to read God's word and believe, where do you think that comes from? Some little hidden place? It doesn't. There's no hidden valve. You had a heart of stone, and it needed to be crushed, and laid in the tomb, and in exchange, you needed a heart of flesh.

And Jesus gave it to you. And the invitation for all of that stands very much open for you this day friend. Come to this Jesus. He keeps his promises. If there's been one thing you've seen in Mark's Gospel, he keeps his promises.

He will not cast away any who repent of their sins and trust him for everlasting life. He kept his promise to these disciples. He overcame their spiritual blindness through his death and resurrection. And if this day you recognize that you need a savior to save you from the wrath of God due to your sins, to save you from your slavery and bondage to your iniquity, If you recognize that this morning, he's overcome your blindness too. Dead men don't recognize that.

So don't leave here this morning until you are right with God. Don't leave here until you're right with God. You've got two pastors, Pastor Matthew and Pastor Grant. You come speak to us and You say, I believe, help my unbelief. Help me to see how to follow Jesus.

The invitation stands open and he keeps his promises, but I must also point out the promise that we will get to next Lord's Day. But if you look in verse 16, there is a promise, he who has believed has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. That's a promise. You don't get to ride the fence on this thing. If you decide this day, I will reject the offer of grace in Christ Jesus, Well, you are accepting another offer.

That offer is eternal damnation forever. It is a horrid thing. And so this morning, children and adults, I plead with you, be reconciled to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, his gospel triumphs. You need to behold this Jesus who triumphs.

Behold the great reversal. Behold his fulfillment of the law. Behold the sower. Behold the savior. Behold the risen one who makes blind people see the disciples now see so they go into all the world and they preach his gospel and Christ goes with them in the spirit that's going to be the next triumph to behold in this passage, the Great Commission.

It is a mighty triumph. But we're gonna need another Sunday to unpack that. And we're gonna unpack two others. So we have three more triumphs to look at and we'll seek to do that next Lord's Day if the Lord allows but for now Let's pray together My father in heaven. Thank you for this your word.

I have asked that you would Impress it upon this your people continue to ask such a thing. Press upon the sages in this room down to the young. Lord help us, grant us grace to see your precious and very magnificent promises. All yes and amen in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's in His name I pray and give you thanks.

Amen.