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The New Testament – Verse by Verse Bible Study – Part 36 – Mark 8

[ 0 ] July 28, 2009 | stephenlawes

In this Bible Study series on Internet Pastor we will be studying through the New Testament verse by verse. You can watch or listen to the study by going to the Online Church page.

Mark 8:1-38 (NIV)
1 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. 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 set before 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 men were present. And having sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. 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 miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. 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?” 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 go into the village.” 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 Christ.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and 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 things of God, but the things of men.” 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his 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 him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

In the last few chapters Mark has presenting his case that faith in Jesus is the answer for the hard hearts that we have from living in a fallen world on a broken planet. Mark has shown the difference between people who claim to be religious and yet refused to see that Jesus was the “Messiah” they had been looking for. How different they were from the “pagan woman” who came to Jesus so humbly and begged His aid. She could not trust in her relationship with Abraham because she didn’t have one. She didn’t trust in the Law. She just came to Jesus, acknowledged Him as Lord, and hoped in His grace. That is how we are all to come to Him and live in Him.

In Chapter 8 Mark presents a series of stories to bring the issue of faith in Jesus clearly into focus.

Mark 8:1-13

The feeding of the four thousand. Fish sandwiches again. Jesus favorite food. This miracles clearly demonstrates Jesus compassion and power and points to Him as the Son of God.

Mark 8:11

Surrounded by a sea of miraculous accounts, the Pharisees want to test Jesus by demanding a sign from heaven. If they couldn’t see a sign from heaven in what they had already witnessed, nothing that Jesus did would convince them. Their hearts were too hardened by their own “religiousity”.

Mark 8:14-21

It was this lack of faith demonstrated by the Pharisees and previously by Herod that Jesus was warning His disciples about. It is not enough to merely believe in God, faith must be placed in Christ. It is not about the externals, it is about the internals. True faith results in a total commitment to God and make choices which please Him.

The disciples were still struggling with their own hardened hearts and were still having difficulty in understanding the new paradigm. The Kingdom message is so different from anything they had ever heard. It seems so much easier to follow rules and rituals then it does to live in faith being led by the Spirit. We often cling to the familiar even when it is bad.

Mark 8:22-26

Jesus is spitting again. This time on a mans eyes. Do you see anything? I can see a little. More prayer. I can see!

This miracle is like Jesus relationship with His disciples. They could see but because of hardened hearts, they did not yet see clearly. But the Pharisees, like Herod, whose hearts were far from God, could not see at all!

Mark 8:27-30

Why faith in Jesus? Because Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. When we put our faith in Him, we are in relationship with the one living and true God.

Like the blind man and like the disciples themselves, we may not see clearly at first. But as we continue to grow and trust in Jesus and as we learn to respond to Him, our hardened hearts will soften, and our vision will clear. It is faith in Christ alone that can transform the hard human heart.

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The New Testament – Verse by Verse Bible Study – Part 36 – Mark 8 | Internet Pastor Online | Ministry of Encouragement

The New Testament – Verse by Verse Bible Study – Part 36 – Mark 8

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