Mark Chapter 8

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Mar 8:1

In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them,: Once again, a large group of people were following Jesus around. They were in the desert, so there was nowhere for people to get food.

Mar 8:2

"I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.: The people were more concerned with hearing and being with Jesus than they were of getting food.

Mar 8:3

And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.": The compassion of Jesus is on display here, as well as the demonstration of His knowledge of what will happen. When Jesus says that some will faint on the way back home, He means it. It's not hyperbole.

Mar 8:4

Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?": If I were Jesus, I'd smack them. They just went through this not long ago with five thousand people. There was only four thousand this time, and the disciples still didn't understand. We humans really are hard headed.

Mar 8:5

He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven.": But notice that Jesus didn't even get angry. He just went through the same thing with them again.

Mar 8:6

So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.: Just like last time, Jesus blessed the loaves and the disciples handed them out.

Mar 8:7

They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.: Also, just like last time, along with the bread, Jesus gave the multitude fish.

Mar 8:8

So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.: Just like last time, they ate, were filled, and the remains were gathered.

Mar 8:9

Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away,: Jesus made sure that they were taken care of and then sent them home.

Mar 8:10

immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.: From what I understand, Jesus had earlier traveled from Tyre to Sidon, then south through the decapolis (ten cities) to the east side of the Sea of Galilee. Now, Jesus travels west over the Sea of Galilee to Dalmanutha.

Mar 8:11

Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.: As if the signs Jesus had been showing them weren't enough. I guess raising the dead wasn't good enough. Jesus has to be their performing monkey and bang some cymbals together, I guess.

Mar 8:12

But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.": Mark doesn't record the full exchange. In other records of this event, Jesus told them that they'd be given only the sign of Jonah. Besides, it's not like Jesus hadn't been performing miracles. They just didn't want to believe.

Mar 8:13

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.: Jesus heads back east again over to Bethsaida.

Mar 8:14

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.: Strange that this would be mentioned, other than that it must have been on their minds. They had two examples already that food would be provided.

Mar 8:15

Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.": Jesus warns them to not listen to the Pharisees or to Herod. They were evil and could infect them with their thinking.

Mar 8:16

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread.": The disciples completely miss His point, and their guilty thinking turns into reasoning that Jesus must have been speaking about them forgetting food.

Mar 8:17

But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?: Jesus starts going in on the disciples here. He's basically saying, after all I've done, why would you still be concerned about the food?

Mar 8:18

Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?: Jesus quotes Isa 6:9-10 and attributes it to the disciples. Before, the disciples had asked Jesus why he spoke to the multitudes in parables, and Jesus said he was fulfilling the Isaiah prophecy. So Jesus is now asking his disciples, are you like the unbelieving masses?

Mar 8:19

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve.": Jesus is asking this to refresh their memory.

Mar 8:20

"Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven.": And he gets them to recall the second time as well.

Mar 8:21

So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?": After getting the disciples to note that they didn't forget the two times that Jesus created food out of nothing, he then asks why they don't understand. Mark doesn't include the explanation, but he was telling the disciples to beware of the religious leaders because they could infect the disciples with their teachings.

Mar 8:22

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.: The boat they took was to Bethsaida. When they arrived, the people there brought Jesus a blind man. Notice their faith was set on Jesus touching the man and he'd be healed.

Mar 8:23

So 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 on him, He asked him if he saw anything.: Jesus leading this man out of town was because He didn't want the people to try and set Him up as king. Jesus lovingly guides this blind man out of town, and heals him. He began by putting spit on the man's eyes.

Mar 8:24

And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking.": The man wasn't fully healed yet. He could only see slightly, and described people as if they looked like trees.

Mar 8:25

Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.: Jesus touched the blind man's eyes again and had him look around again. This time, he could see clearly.

Mar 8:26

Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.": Jesus tells the man not to tell anyone probably because He didn't want the people to try and set Him up as king.

Mar 8:27

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?": Jesus and His disciples leave Bethsaida and head to Caesarea Philippi. While heading there, Jesus asks who people say He is.

Mar 8:28

So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.": Just as had been discussed in chapter 6, the disciples say that some people think Jesus is John the Baptist (Herod thought so), some people think He is Elijah, and some think that he's just a prophet.

Mar 8:29

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ.": Jesus then asks the disciples who they think He is, and Peter says that Jesus is the Christ. The Christ was the Messiah prophecied throught many places in the Old Testament. It's interesting that people didn't think that Jesus was the Messiah, but the disciples picked up on this.

Mar 8:30

Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.: Jesus doesn't deny this claim that He was the Messiah, but tells the disciples that they shouldn't tell anyone.

Mar 8:31

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.: Here, we see Jesus begin to explain to the disciples that He must suffer, and that He will be rejected and killed, and then rise from the dead. This really caught the disciples off guard.

Mar 8:32

He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.: Jesus didn't use parables or anything. He wanted them to fully understand this. The Jews had been looking for the Messiah to come and free them from the Romans, and the disciples certainly thought that was what Jesus had come to do. This shocking teaching by Jesus caused Peter to take Jesus aside and try to tell Him that He was wrong. At least Peter didn't want it to appear that he was disagreeing with Jesus in front of the others.

Mar 8:33

But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.": This is a hard verse to understand. I had to resort to looking through commentaries and found a good explanation in the Pulpit commentary. Peter brought forth the desires in Jesus of worldly glory. Remember that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, but He never gave in to those desires. Here, Peter was tempting Jesus by wanting Him to set up the earthly kingdom, and in so doing, was doing the work of Satan. The Father's will was for Jesus to be the sacrifice for the world. The kingdom would come later.

Mar 8:34

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.: Jesus clearly predicted His death on the cross. He then tells them that just as Jesus had denied the desires of this world to follow the things of God, we who follow Him must also give up the worldly desires to follow the things of Jesus.

Mar 8:35

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.: We as disciples of Jesus need to be willing to give up our lives for Jesus. If we can't be willing to lose our lives, we aren't fit to be His disciples. This is a very hard teaching, and certainly not possible through ourselves. This commitment can only come through true faith in Jesus, and through the understanding of what awaits us after this world. And the understanding can only come from the Holy Spirit. When we believe, God, through the Holy Spirit gives us the understanding, and strengthens us to be able to stand and give up our lives if the time comes for that. I don't believe for a second that I could do something like that myself. Fear is real. I have no illusions that I'm some kind of spiritual giant and will lay down my life willingly. I pray God will give me the strength if it ever comes down to having to make that decision.

Mar 8:36

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?: Jesus is saying that this world isn't worth anything. It's going up in flames. What's coming for us after this life is infinitely better. Even if we were to become ruler of the world and had everything available to us that this world has to offer, it would be of no profit.

Mar 8:37

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?: This means that there is nothing on this world that is worth the cost of our souls. We can't pay the creator anything, He created everything! What can we possibly give the creator, other than our devotion? There's nothing.

Mar 8:38

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.": What God desires is that we love Him. He desires that we be devoted only to Him. Jesus wants us to know that He will come to establish an earthly kingdom, but we need to believe that He was to suffer as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. If we can't accept that, then Jesus won't accept us when He comes back.