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| Chapter 8 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him and said unto them, 2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way; for divers of them came from afar." 4 And His disciples answered Him, "From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?" 5 And He asked them, "How many loaves have ye?" And they said, "Seven." 6 And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks and broke, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes, and He blessed them and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven baskets. 9 And those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away. 10 ¶ And straightway He entered into a boat with His disciples and came into the region of Dalmanutha. 11 And the Pharisees came forth and began to question with Him, seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, testing Him. 12 And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation." 13 And He left them and, entering into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the boat with them more than one loaf. 15 And He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread." 17 And when Jesus knew it, He said unto them, "Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Do ye not yet perceive, nor understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?" They said unto Him, "Twelve." 20 "And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?" And they said, "Seven." 21 And He said unto them, "How is it that ye do not understand?" 22 ¶ And He came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. 23 And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, "I see men as trees, walking." 25 After that He put His hands again upon his eyes and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 26 And He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town." 27 ¶ And Jesus went out with His disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, "Who do men say that I am?" 28 And they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets." 29 And He said unto them, "But whom say ye that I am?" And Peter answered and said unto Him, "Thou art the Christ." 30 And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. 31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and by the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And He spoke that saying openly. And Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get thee behind Me, Satan; for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men." 34 And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." |
v1-9 Feeding the four thousand. Matt 15:32-39. Many confuse this miracle, which only Matthew and Mark record, with the feeding of the 5000 which is recorded in all the Gospels. However, there are major differences. The first happened in Galilee and involved mainly Jews, this one takes place near Decapolis and involves mainly Gentiles. twelve baskets were collected after the feeding of 5000, while seven baskets after this event. Finally, the time with Jesus without food was different and different quantities of food were used. v2-4 The Lord is full of love and feeling for these hungry people, the sad fact is that the disciple could see no way of feeding them, did the previous miracle mean nothing to them? It reminds us that we too forget the way our Lord has blessed us before. v5-9 From the hands of Jesus the food and blessing feeds the people, it was not the disciple but the power of Jesus that supplied the needs. He can supply all our needs if we trust Him. v1-13 The people and the Pharisees came seeking, the people were satisfied, the Pharisees went away not satisfied. v10-26 More warnings. Matt 16:1-4. Following a boat journey to the western side of the sea, Jesus and the disciples arrive at the region of Dalmanutha. The still angry Pharisees are gathered there after being called hypocrites Mark 7:1-23. They wanted Jesus to produce a sign from heaven as they could not accept the earth bound miracles He had already done. They want something extra special, perhaps "fire from heaven ?" v12 Jesus is so sad for their lack of belief and hard hearts, they were "blind" to His proof of who He was. True faith does not need a visible sign, we trust in the Word of God and accept what His Spirit tells us. Mark does not mention the response Jesus gave them, The sign of Jonah was all they were to get. Matt 16:4. See also Matt 12:38-41. What is this sign? Death, burial and resurrection. Soon to be proved by Him. v13-21 Jesus departs to the east side of the Sea of Galilee, on the way He gives the disciples some warnings but all they thought was that He was telling them off for not bringing any food. Jesus must have felt very sad as He sees them not understanding, "I have fed nearly 10,000 people don’t you think I can feed this small group." The real message He gave is to watch for the evil of mankind, like a small amount of leaven (yeast), it spreads through the bread, so does a small evil spread through the world or church. Jesus was warning them of possible false teaching of the religious leaders, then and now. v22-26 This miracle is not recorded by the other Gospels. They arrive at Bethsaida where a blind man is brought to Him. This miracle is different as it takes place gradually. Jesus takes the man outside the city, probably because the city has already rejected Him and is judged. Matt 11:20-22. Jesus does not explain why the healing took place gradually, He did it as it was needed. The man recognized the trees so he had not been born blind, it was through illness or an accident. He was not from the town of Bethsaida as Jesus sent him home and not to the town. v27 Jesus takes them to Caesarea Philippi, a town about twenty-five miles north of Bethsaida, and starts to reveal to His disciples what the future months hold, how He will suffer and be rejected by the people, die and rise again. But first He asks them "who do you think I am?" We need to ask ourselves this question, who do we think He is? John 8:21-24; 1 John 2:22-23; 1 John 4:1-3. There is only one confession we should make "Jesus is Lord." 1 Cor 12:1-3; Rom 10:9-10. The people had a number of idea’s as to who Jesus was, John the Baptist, a strange one as Jesus and John had been seen together, some thought Elijah, one of the prophets. Some were saying Jeremiah the "weeping prophet," - Jesus was a "man of sorrow" so there could be some similarities. But in all the actions of Jesus and what He spoke, all pointed to Him being the Son of God, the Messiah, but they chose to ignore this. v29 The confession of Peter was from the heart, "You are the Christ." Matt 16:16,17. "Christ or Messiah" means "the Anointed One." v30 Why did Jesus tell them to not tell anyone? The disciple still needed much more teaching, the suffering of Jesus and commitment needed by them in their service. The people liked the miracles, but not the words. The declaration that He is the Messiah would more likely cause a political problem as the religious leaders had already rejected Him. We must remember that it was always the plan of God that He would be rejected and crucified as the Lamb of God. v31-38 Mark’s record now will focus on the journey to Jerusalem and the death and resurrection of Jesus but following His teaching Jesus is challenged by Peter, still not understanding. The reaction of Jesus "Get behind Me, Satan," is a warning to us to watch our understanding of God’s plan. Jesus also turned and looked at the disciples because He knew that they also agreed with what Peter was saying, they were unable to see how the Messiah was to suffer first, most of the prophets wrote only about the glory of the Messiah. 35-38 Jesus now list three conditions for being a disciple:-
Why should we do this? v35 "for my sake and the Gospel’s." A sign of love and devotion. "Losing your soul" does not mean a saved person will lose their salvation, no it is wasting your life, possibly "gaining riches and position in the world" instead. If we are prepared to go this way then the suffering will turn into glory, the alternative is we reject Him, then He will reject us. One day He will take us to share in His glory. |
Easy English Translation
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