THE FEEDING OF FOUR THOUSAND MEN (8:1-10). In the light of Jesus' experience with the Syro-Phoenician woman this feeding is of huge significance and tremendous importance. It was not just a repetition of the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30) but an important indication that Jesus was now awa... [ Continue Reading ]
‘In those days, when there was a great crowd and there was nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and says to them.' The gathering of the great crowd is explicable in terms of the spreading of the news of the healing of the deaf and dumb man (Mark 7:36), and probable subsequent healings whic... [ Continue Reading ]
“I have compassion on the crowd because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat, and if I send them away fasting to their home they will faint in the way, and some of them are come from far.” Here it is Jesus Who expressed concern for the lack of food, while in chapter 6 it was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And his disciples answered him, “From where will one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?” Some have argued that the disciples would not have asked this question if they had already been at the feeding of the five thousand. But that is not necessarily so. They had no doubt... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he asked, “How many loaves have you?” And they said, “Seven”.' Jesus knew His disciples had some food and asked what loaves they had. The reply was ‘seven'. At this the ears of everyone who was listening to the Gospel being read, and believed in Jesus, would prick up. Every listener would reco... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke and gave to his disciples to set before them. And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them he commanded to set these also before them.”... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they ate and were filled, and they took up of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets. And they were about four thousand, and he sent them away.' How remarkable an event is summed up in such few words. Firstly they ate and were filled. What Jesus was offering of Himself as symbolised i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And immediately he entered into the boat with his disciples and came to the parts of Dalmanutha.' Jesus took boat and returned to Galilee. Dalmanutha is at present unknown to us. Matthew has that they ‘came into the borders of Magadan' (Mark 15:39) which papyrus 45 also reads in Mark. Magadan is a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PHARISEES COME SEEKING A SIGN (8:11-13). The stubbornness of the Pharisees is now contrasted with the willingness of the people in Decapolis to receive Him, and to recognise the sign that He gave them. But by all current thought the situation should have been the opposite. It should have been t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Pharisees came forth and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.' On His arrival the Pharisees came and began to dispute with Him. How genuine they were we do not know. Probably their aim was simply to discredit Him. But it brings out how, in spite of a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he sighed deeply in his spirit and says, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, there shall be no sign given to this generation.” Their unbelief moved Him deeply, and He recognised that that unbelief was not only in them but in many of the people who had crowded around to s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he left them and again entering into the boat departed to the other side.' The silence concerning what He did in Galilee speaks volumes. As far as Mark was concerned His activity there was in the past. They had had their opportunity and had failed to seize it. And now their opportunity was gon... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they forgot to take bread. And they had no more than one loaf in the boat with them.' In spite of our natural curiosity we are not told who had forgotten to take the bread. Someone was responsible and had failed in their responsibility. Perhaps it was all of them, each leaving it to the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONVERSATION IN THE BOAT (8:14-21). But the Pharisees and Herodians are not the only blind ones. As attention now turns to the Apostles they too are seen to be lacking in understanding. They are seen as being disturbed about having little ‘bread' when what they should have been concerned about w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he charged them saying, “Take notice. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod ”.' The situation drew from Jesus one of His enigmatic sayings. As He saw them worrying about shortage of bread He still remembered the Pharisees' demand for a sign, which had demonstrated their... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they reasoned one with another, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” ' But once again the obtuseness of the disciples comes out. Their thinking is still on the physical plain so that they miss the point of what He is saying. They are still deaf and blind. They think that all that Jesus is... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus perceiving it says to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not perceive, nor understand? Have you your heart hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they come to Bethsaida, And they bring to him a blind man and plead with him to touch him.' They have returned to Bethsaida, outside Galilee and north of the sea of Galilee, and a blind man is brought to Him. Notice that as with the deaf and dumb man, (‘to lay His hand on him' - Mark 7:32) Mar... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EYES OF THE DISCIPLES ARE OPENED (8:22-9:33A). Following on Jesus' concern at the lack of understanding of the disciples we now learn how their eyes are gradually opened to see at least something of the truth. The subsection commences with the healing of a blind man in two stages, a picture of... [ Continue Reading ]
A BLIND MAN IS HEALED IN TWO STAGES (8:22-26). This account comes after the blindness of the disciples has been stressed (Mark 7:18) and before the scales are revealed to have been at least partially dropped from their eyes (Mark 8:29). It is clear that it is heavy in symbolism as with the healing... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he took hold of the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village.' Again we note the parallel with the deaf and dumb man. ‘He brought him out of the village', compare ‘He took him aside from the multitude privately' (Mark 7:33). And that was what He had done to the disciples in ord... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I behold them as trees, walking”.' The healing was only partial. The eyes that had been opened were still dim, just as with the disciples spiritually. The Greek brings out the excited state of the man. The picture is vivid ‘men as trees, walking', his sig... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then again he laid his hands on his eyes, and he looked steadfastly (aorist - indicating the moment of truth) and was restored and saw all things clearly (imperfect - indicating the continuing result).' After further action (a unique occurrence for Jesus' healings in the Gospels) full sight is rest... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he sent him away to his home saying, “Do not even enter into the village.' As with the deaf and dumb man we may see this as silence enjoined - compare Mark 7:36 (‘tell no one in the village' is in fact a variant reading). The man was to go home without contacting anyone, the matter was not to... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DISCIPLES' VIEW OF JESUS IS REVEALED - JESUS TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES AND CORRECTS THEIR WRONG IMPRESSIONS - THREE OF THEM BEHOLD HIS GLORY - AND HE HEALS A MAN WHOM HIS DISCIPLES CANNOT HEAL. THE DISCIPLES ARE RECEIVING GRADUAL ILLUMINATION (8:27-9:32). We have already seen how Mark has built up... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus went out, and his disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and in the way he asked his disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” And they told him saying, “John the Baptiser, and others Elijah. But others, one of the prophets.” The group travelled northwards towards C... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers and said to him, “You are the Messiah.” And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.' Jesus then became more direct and challenged them as to how they saw Him. At the challenge of Jesus (the ‘you' is emphatic) Peter made c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and after three days rise again. And he spoke the saying openly. ' We should note here that Jesus not only refers to His coming death, but act... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Peter drew him aside and began to rebuke him.' For the use of the verb proslambano as ‘drew aside' compare Acts 18:26. Peter did not want to make an open issue of the matter, and did not want to embarrass Jesus or himself. But the word ‘rebuke' is fairly strong. Peter clearly felt quite strong... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he, turning about and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and says, “You get behind me, Satan, for you are not minding the things of God but the things of men.” ' Peter's words would immediately remind Jesus of another who had sought to turn Him aside from the way of suffering when He was temp... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he called to him the large crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it, and whoever shall lose his life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News shall find... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ADDRESSES THE DISCIPLES ALONG WITH A GATHERED CROWD (8:34-38). Analysis of 8:34-38 a And He called to Him the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). b For whoever would save his li... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?' His question was this, is anything worth having or clinging on to if it means losing eternal life? If we gain the whole world, what is it worth if it means that we lose our hope of eternal life? There is life on offer to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Or what should a man give in exchange for his life?' At what price, asks Jesus, will you value a man's eternal future? If a man gains the whole world and loses true life he has made a bad bargain. So having the chance of life, how great is the price he should be willing to pay to obtain it? The Ps... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.' Then Jesus puts it all in the light of the great Day that is coming when He ‘comes in the glory of H... [ Continue Reading ]