Mark 8 - Do We Make Christianity Soft?
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
8 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” 4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.
This story is very similar to the story when Jesus fed the 5,000. Both of them were motivated by Jesus' compassion for the people. Once again the disciples were not sure how they were going to find enough to eat for the people. Apparently they had forgotten what Jesus had done with the five loaves and two fish. This time they had seven loaves and the fish are not mentioned initially.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
In a similar way Jesus took the bread broke it and gave it to the disciples to distribute. Now we see that the disciples had some fish too, which Jesus gave thanks for and had the disciples distribute. Once again the people ate and were satisified. When God provides we are satisfied. Once again there were leftovers. This time seven basketfuls of bread. In the last miracle there were 12 basketfuls of bread leftover. Since Matthew's gospel was the Jewish gospel, some commentators think this is connected to the 12 tribes of Israel. Seven is the number in the bible of "perfect completeness". Again, when God provides it is perfectly complete.
Dalmanutha is on the Northwest side of the Sea of Galilee probably near Capernaum.
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
Once again the Pharisees were out to trap Jesus. This time they asked him to produce a sign. By this time they should have known Jesus did nothing at their bidding. Instead their request drew a deep sigh from Jesus. After all, it wasn't like Jesus hadn't done a ton of signs and miracles already. Jesus knew that even if he gave this generation, including these leaders, a sign they would just ignore it. What they needed was faith, which is a gift from God.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” 16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” 17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. 20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” 21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Although the disciples had just seen basically the same miracle, it is amazing how slow they are to understand the meaning of it. When Jesus told them to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees, they completely missed what he was talking about. They took it literally and thought he was talking about physical bread.
Yeast was a metaphor for sin in Jesus' day. A little yeast tainted the whole batch. It was insidious in nature and could work its way through the whole dough.
This leaven wasn’t merely yeast, but a pinch of dough left over from the previous batch, as in the making of sourdough bread. This was how bread was commonly leavened in the ancient world, and a little pinch of dough from the old lump could make a whole new lump of dough rise and “puff up.” So, the work of leaven was considered an illustration of the work of sin and pride. The presence of a little can corrupt a large amount. (Guzik)
“Sometimes the Jew used the word leaven much as we would use the term original sin, or the natural evil of human nature.” (Barclay)
The disciples were still worried about not having enough, and Jesus reminded them after both miracles there were plenty of leftovers. This is often how we are when God answers our prayers. We are gratetful for His provision, but then often worry right away the next time we fear we don't have enough.
Jesus at this point seems as a little exasperated as he says, "Do you still not understand?"
Jesus is attacked by the Pharisees, who are out to get him, and then he has to put up with his disciples who are so slow to get the lessons he is trying to teach them.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” 24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into[a] the village.”
Bethsaida was on the Northeast side of the Sea of Galilee, and the home of Philip. Jesus' reputation followed him and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to heal him. Once again Jesus demonstrates that he rarely uses the same method to heal anyone. This time Jesus spit and put his hands on him.
One commentator thought this was because the man's eyes were "gummed together". (Adam Clarke) After laying hands on him, Jesus checked in with the man to see how he was doing. The man was beginning to see but people were they looked like trees. The man was only partially healed. Jesus laid hands on the man again and this time his eyes were fully healed. Jesus sent him directly home again trying to keep the hype around his healing ministry down.
So why was the man not healed the first time? Did Jesus not have enough power or faith to heal him? Obviously the answer to these questions are "no". I think this illustrates two things. One, sometimes our prayers are answered gradually. Second, God is the only one can heal we cannot necessarily dictate how or why he does it. There is no one way to pray for people for healing. We have seen in this chapter Jesus using a combination of methods. This was also used to teach the disciples who would have their own healing ministry after the received the Holy Spirit and started the church.
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus and his disciples walked to Caesarea Philippi which was about 25 miles north of Bethsaida. Here are a few facts about the town.
Location:
1. 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee
2. At the base of Mount Hermon
History:
Named after Caesar by Herod's son, Philip the Tetrarch
Known as Baal Hermon and Baal Gad in the Old Testament
Named after the Greek god Pan, who was worshiped there
It took two days to walk there, so it gave Jesus a time to give them a pop quiz. Jesus was curious about who people thought he was. Basically the disciples' answered that people thought he was one of the prophets. And then Jesus turned and asked them what they thought?
Peter, never the shy one, blurted out, "You are the Messiah". In Matthew's version (16:17), Peter says, "You are the Messiah the Son of the Living God". And Jesus answered, "Blessed are you Peter because this was not revealed to you by men but by God!"
Jesus again warned the disciples not to tell anyone about this. This is a pattern of Jesus'. He knew the more the word got out, the quicker he would be brought to the cross, and he still had a lot of towns to go to.
Jesus Predicts His Death
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Jesus' disciples were looking for a political Messiah to overthrow the Romans, so when he shared that he would be killed and raised again in three days Peter didn't understand. Peter went as far as the rebuke Jesus. Jesus didn't mince words with Peter and said, "Get behind me Satan". Just as Satan had tried to tempt Jesus in the Garden to take a shortcut the cross, now he was using Peter to do the same.
Jesus wasn't calling Peter "Satan", but he was recognizing Satan trying to use Peter. It's amazing that one minute Peter is the only disciple to say Jesus is the Messiah, and then in the next he is used by Satan to try and get Jesus to abort his mission. Sounds familiar doesn't it? One minute we can on track and following Jesus only to get derailed in no time.
The Way of the Cross
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Jesus called disciples and the crowd back to him. He gave a sobering message about what it meant to follow him. He had just told the disciples about his own cross he had to bear, and now he told them about theirs. To follow Jesus meant understanding the way of the cross. Jesus made it clear to eveyone that if they want to follow him, they would need to deny themselves and lose their lives.
They would have to give up their lives to find them. So Jesus went from a Messiah who was going to have superhuman powers to defeat the Romans, to a Messiah who would carry his cross up to Calvary. He was anointed as a King, only to use his kingship to lay his life down for the sins of the world.
Jesus concludes by sayiing that if anyone is ashamed of him or the message He had just given, that He would be ashamed of then when he returned in great power with his mighty angels.
You can see following Jesus isn't easy. It requires of all of us. We can't just compartmentalize Jesus into one little box. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who certainly understood the way of the cross said this,
"When Jesus calls a man, he bids him to come and die!"
While that might not sound very inspirational, I have found that when you lose your life for Jesus you find it. When you die to yourself, you receive abundant life. Jesus never asks us to do something that will not be the best thing for us. I think today we have made Christianity a "little soft". We probably don't talk about what Jesus requires of us to be his followers enough. I know I don't!
Questions to Consider:
1. Have you picked up your cross to follow Jesus, or are you still trying to save your life?
2. When Jesus answers your prayers, are you slow to understand? Do you quickly forget what he has done for you lately?
The next time you are in a hard place remember all the times Jesus has provided for you. He will do it again, it just might
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