Then He Left Them (Mark 8:11-13)

As Isiah had prophesied, the people who had walked in darkness had seen a great light; on those dwelling in great darkness a light had dawned. The prophet Malachi had also prophesied, “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will come with healing in its wings.” In the fullness of time Jesus had come bringing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute. The demons had shrieked in response to Jesus’ command that they leave those whom they had possessed. But they had to leave, because He had authority over them. Even Jairus, ruler in the Synagogue, had received his daughter back from the dead at Jesus’ command.

All these things had been done in Galilee. Yet the Pharisees confronted Jesus and demanded a sign from heaven to test Him. When I think about this I find myself wanting to scream as loud as I can, “What is wrong with you! Can’t you see what He’s already done?” This demand provoked  an emotional response in Jesus as well, but not the anger and rage that I feel. Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit.

Jesus had come as the sun of righteousness with healing His wings. He had come as a great light to those who were sitting in darkness. But some preferred the darkness. Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit because He was not only the fulfillment of the sun of righteousness, but He knew how the verse before that prophecy would be fulfilled. “For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them a root or branches” (Malachi 4:1). He had come not only to heal the diseases of their body, but also of their soul. But He was rejected.

When the Pharisees rejected Jesus, what exactly were they rejecting? They were rejecting the Light of the world. They were rejecting the Sun of Righteousness. They were rejecting the one whom God had sent to take away the sins of the world. They were rejecting the love of God. He had clearly shown them who He was, but they had refused to see. His response wasn’t anger, it was grief. He got in the boat and went away.

This is not the end of the story. I am writing this over 2,000 years later. There is still hope for those who will receive it. The Sun of Righteousness still shines with healing in His wings. The light of the world will illumine the darkness of anyone who comes to Him. But there is a warning that I see in these verses: There will come a time when it will be too late.