A Gospel that Multiplies

 Job 22; Mark 7-8 

“…Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?...When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces do you pick up? ‘Twelve,’ they replied…Do you still not understand?...Who do people say that I am?...‘You are the Christ’…If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Mark 8:17-21, 27, 29, 34

The yeast, or teaching, of the Pharisees did not feed people, nor could it multiply for their needs. Jesus’ gospel fed both Jesus and Gentiles and it satisfied; however, Christ’s gospel called for a denial of self, a dying to self, and  a complete surrender to the will of God. Only this gospel will reproduce disciples of Christ. If we have in mind the things of men, like Peter, we will reject this gospel and instead follow a gospel of self-fulfillment where God meets all our needs, like the disciples who chased him around the lake after having their stomach’s filled.

Which gospel are we living and which gospel are we sharing?

“Lord Jesus Christ, you died for my sin that I would live. I too choose to lay down my life for you that others might see you in me. Only this gospel will multiply.”