John 1:9-13
The True Light of the World
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 3:1-2
Jesus' Miracles Were a Sign of God
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Mark 8:14-21
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they replied.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
They answered, “Seven.”
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Jesus was the True Light that had came into our world...He came to earth, and although the world was made through Him, many on earth could not recognized Him...And He came to Israel, to His own people, and His own people often did not receive Him...
Jesus in His ministry had shown the people many miracles...His miracles were a sign that He is from God and that God was with Him...And He wanted others to believe that He was sent by His Father...He wanted people to learn from His teachings...Many people had seen these many miracles with their own eyes...But many did not believe in Him or the miracles they had seen...The Pharisees and Herod were in this group of non-believers of the things going on around Jesus, and the things they had heard and seen about Him...They wanted to see even more miracles...They wanted to see other signs and things that this Miracle Worker could do...The Pharisees and Herod were unsatisfied (in a sense) with the miracles He had previously done and wanted to see more miracles, for their sake and just to be able to see another miracle and more miracles from Him...And Jesus would not just do a miracle for the sake of doing a miracle...Jesus did not particularly come to earth, just to do miracles...But He did do them, as a part of His ministry...And He warns His Disciples of the Pharisees and of Herod wanting to see more of the miracles...And He can and could have done many more, because He can do all things...The Pharisees and Herod seemed to understand Jesus could do miracles, but they did not believe in Him...So they wanted to see more and be maybe entertained by His miracles...Had the Pharisees and Herod learned from Him and what He was about, and where He was from?...
The Disciples seem to forget all He had done, and they had been with Him regularly...They had seen or at least heard about all His miracles...He had just fed more than five thousand people, and another four thousand...And they had seen this great miracle as eyewitnesses...Jesus ask them, "Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?...And don’t you remember?...When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"...“Twelve,” they replied..."And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”...They answered, “Seven.”...He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”...He was doing miracle after miracle...And it seemed they did not understand the miracles were a sign from God, and that He is from God and heaven...The Disciples had seen a number of miracles and still seemed to question where Jesus came from...They believed, but maybe did not understand...We must often remind ourselves of His purpose, His time on earth, and His warnings to us...We can learn much from what He did...Let us learn much from His miracles...
Jesus recognizes the various motives in us...As Jesus' unveiled His own ministry, He saw these deeper beliefs and these motive behind the different people's question...Jesus knows that until the heart is open, the ears and eyes remain closed...He warns us and reminds us that Truth and faith in Him is important...We overlook Him and the Truth and want to see and hear the things, we want to see and hear...And some people will not hear the Truth or see the Truth because of their motives...Sometimes we can go all through life living and yet not seeing or hearing, what is around us...We go through the motions of living in our thoughts, yet not seeing or hearing...Sometimes our past beliefs and old traditions have made us believe in something here on earth, that is not quite the Truth...We can miss important things by not having faith...While He was on earth, some learned little from His ministry...While He was on earth, some learned nothing from His miracles...