And Leaving Them

⏱️ 5 minutes.

Hello beloved,

Today, let us take a look at what happened after the Pharisees demanded a sign from heaven.

And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.
— Mark 8:13

Mark’s point here is to show what happened immediately after Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their demand. They were asking for a sign—not out of faith—but out of unbelief. Jesus had just called them a wicked generation, revealing their hardened hearts. And then, without further debate, He left them and went to the other side.

There was no extended discussion. Jesus was not interested in convincing hearts that were already set in unbelief.

This underscores the condition of the heart. What the Pharisees needed wasn’t more evidence or information—they had already seen and heard much. What they lacked was a heart that was willing to believe. Their hearts were hard, closed off, and unwilling to consider the truth. For this reason, Jesus left them.

It is a dangerous thing when God turns away because of an unbelieving heart. This is the natural consequence of persistent sin. When we give in to sin’s deception, our hearts become hardened, making it harder and harder to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.

A clear warning is given in the book of Hebrews:

See to it, brothers, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
— Hebrews 3:12–13

The writer of Hebrews exhorts the church to encourage one another daily so that no one is hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

That same encouragement I extend to us today. Lest we be hardened by sin, let us run to Jesus for salvation. When we indulge in the ways of the world, we slowly drift away from our Savior. And it is a tragic thing when our rejection of His love and invitation causes Him to leave us.

The apostle Paul gives a similar warning in his letter to the Romans, where he explains how God gives people over to their own sinful desires when they continuously suppress the truth.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
— Romans 1:24

For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
— Romans 1:26

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper,
— Romans 1:28

Let us not miss the small but powerful detail Mark includes: that after seeing the Pharisees’ unbelief, Jesus left. It serves as a sobering warning for us to submit ourselves to the safe hands of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to seek and save the lost. Let us remember, as believers, that Jesus bore the wrath we deserved—He took our place, we who were once children of wrath.

Another takeaway here relates to evangelism. Often, we may encounter people who are hostile to the gospel—those who ridicule or argue not to learn, but to resist.

With the Pharisees, Jesus recognized that their minds were made up and their hearts were hard. Rather than engaging further, He made His point and then left to continue His mission elsewhere.

In our own efforts to proclaim the gospel, we may find ourselves in similar situations. While the temptation may be to stay and argue harder or present more facts, we must remember: salvation is the work of God, through His Son Jesus Christ, by faith, through the Holy Spirit. We are merely clay vessels carrying the precious message of the gospel.

Paul found himself in such a moment when preaching to the Jews in the synagogue:

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
— Acts 18:6

This is not an excuse to stop evangelizing, but rather a call for wisdom and discernment. We must recognize when a heart has grown hard and entrust that person to God through prayer and supplication. Only God can soften a heart of stone and raise the spiritually dead.

A powerful example is the apostle Paul himself—he once violently rejected the gospel, but God intervened and transformed him on the road to Damascus.

So when someone rejects the gospel, do not be discouraged. Like Jesus, after clearly presenting the truth, we should move on with gentleness and grace, continuing to sow seeds where the field is still ripe. And always, we should continue to pray for those who resist, entrusting their salvation into the hands of the Lord.

Let us take comfort in knowing that the Lord will never turn away those who come to Him in faith. Unlike the Pharisees, who constantly sought signs, we who have believed in Jesus have already received the greatest sign—His death and resurrection. In Him, we find rest.