Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
MARK 8
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
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 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.
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.
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?”
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 the village.”
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 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.”
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 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?38If 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.”
Application Notes
8:1-9 This is a different miracle from the feeding of the 5,000 described in Mark 6. At that time, those fed were mostly Jews. This time Jesus was ministering to a non-Jewish crowd in the Gentile region of the Decapolis. Jesus' actions and message were beginning to have an impact on large numbers of Gentiles. That Jesus would compassionately minister to non-Jews was very reassuring to Mark's primarily Roman audience.
8:1-3 Do you ever feel as though God is so busy with important concerns that he can't possibly be aware of your needs? Just as Jesus was concerned about these people's need for food, he is concerned about our daily needs. At another time Jesus said, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need [all these things]” (Matthew 6:32). Do you have concerns that you think would not interest God? Nothing is too large for him to handle and no need too small to escape his interest.
8:4 How could the disciples experience so many of Jesus' miracles and yet be so slow to comprehend who he was? They had already seen Jesus feed over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish (6:35-44), yet here they doubted whether he could feed another large group.
Sometimes we are also slow to catch on. Although Jesus has brought us through trials and temptations in the past, we often don't believe that he will do so in the future. Is your heart too closed to take in all that God can do for you? Don't be like the disciples. Remember what Jesus has done, and have faith that he will do it again.
8:6 Jesus gave thanks for the food, and he serves as a model for us. Life is a gift, and the nourishment life requires, while it comes from the work of many hands, conveys God's material blessing. Mealtime provides an opportunity to thank God for daily needs met, for taste and beauty, and for human company and divine companionship. Giving thanks keeps us from regarding a plate of food as a trough, our stomachs as bottomless pits, and our gathering to eat as a bothersome interruption. Keep up the good tradition of praying and thanking God before your meals. Let your gratefulness to God be genuine.
8:11 The Pharisees had tried to explain away Jesus' previous miracles by claiming they could be attributed to luck, coincidence, or evil power. Here they demanded a sign from heaven—something only God could give. Jesus refused their demand because he knew that even this kind of miracle would not convince them. They had already decided not to believe in him. Hearts can become so hard that even the most convincing facts and demonstrations will not change them.
8:15 Mark mentions the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod, while Matthew talks about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Mark's audience, mostly non-Jews, would have known about Herod but not necessarily about the Jewish religious sect of the Sadducees. Thus, Mark quoted Hie part of Jesus' statement that his readers would understand. This reference to Herod may be to the Herodians, a group of Jews who supported the king. Many Herodians were also Sadducees. Yeast in this passage symbolizes evil. Just as only a small amount of yeast is needed to make a batch of bread rise, so the hard-heartedness of the religious and political leaders could permeate and contaminate the entire society and make it rise up against Jesus.
8:17-18 Jesus rebuked the disciples for their hard hearts, which hindered their faith in God and his power. Today, those with hard hearts have a difficult time believing in those same things. This causes them to come to conclusions like these: (1) Poverty is always caused by laziness; helping people who are poor only enables them. (2) Worship is best conducted in one way—“my way, which has worked very well my whole life, thank you, and need not be changed.” (3) Jesus' command to make disciples doesn't apply to us; people will never change anyway, so we don't need to do it. The best way to avoid becoming hard-hearted is to listen to Jesus' questions. Don't allow your heart to become hardened. Be open to God's truth, which is full of grace, mercy, and understanding, and it will soften your heart.
8:25 Why did Jesus touch the man a second time before he could see? This miracle was not too difficult for Jesus, but he chose to do it in stages, possibly (1) to show the disciples that some healing would be gradual rather than instantaneous or (2) to demonstrate that spiritual truth is not always perceived clearly at first. Before Jesus left, however, the man was healed completely.
8:27 Caesarea Philippi was an especially pagan city known for its worship of Greek gods and its temples devoted to the ancient god Pan. The ruler Philip, referred to in 6:17, named the city Caesarea in honor of the emperor, Caesar; it became known as Caesarea Philippi so that it would not be confused with the coastal city of Caesarea (Acts 8:40), the capital of the Roman province of Judea. This pagan city where many gods were recognized was a fitting place for Jesus to ask the disciples to recognize him as the Son of God.
8:28 For the story of John the Baptist, see Mark 1:1-11 and 6:14-29. For the story of Elijah, see 1 Kings 17-19 and 2 Kings 1-2.
8:29 Jesus asked the disciples who other people thought he was; then he asked them the same question about themselves. It is not enough to know what others say about Jesus: You must know, understand, and accept for yourself that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and the one anointed by God to rescue us from the deadly consequences of sin for all eternity. To get to this realization of who Jesus really is, you must move from curiosity to commitment, from admiration to adoration.
8:30 Why did Jesus warn his own disciples not to tell anyone the truth about him? Jesus knew they needed more instruction about the work he would accomplish through his death and resurrection. Without more teaching, the disciples would have only part of the picture. When they confessed Jesus as the Messiah, they still didn't know all that this meant. We may work with new and growing Christians who use words and concepts they may not fully understand. Don't assume that because they say something correctly the message has sunk into their lives. Follow up with them in a one-on-one setting to reinforce the teachings they receive.
8:31 The name Son of Man is Jesus' most common title for himself. It comes from Daniel 7:13, where the Son of Man is a heavenly figure who, in the end times, has authority and power. The name refers to Jesus as the Messiah, the representative person, the human agent of God who is vindicated by God. In this passage, Son of Man is linked closely with Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ and confirms its messianic significance.
From this point on, Jesus spoke plainly and directly to his disciples about his death and resurrection. He began to prepare them for what was going to happen to him by telling them three times that he would soon die (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34).
8:32-33 In this moment, Peter was considering not God's purposes but only his own natural human desires and feelings. Peter wanted Jesus to be king, but not the Suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah 53. He was ready to receive the glory of following the Messiah, but not the persecution.
The Christian life is not a paved road to wealth and ease. It often involves hard work, persecution, deprivation, and deep suffering. Peter saw only part of the picture. Don't repeat his mistake. Instead, focus on the good that God can bring out of apparent evil, like the Resurrection that would follow the Crucifixion.
8:33 Peter was often the spokesman for all the disciples. In singling him out, Jesus may have been addressing all of them indirectly. Unknowingly, the disciples were trying to prevent Jesus from going to the cross and thus fulfilling his mission on earth. Satan also tempted Jesus to avoid the way of the cross (Matthew 4). Whereas Satan's motives were evil, the disciples were motivated by love and admiration for Jesus. Nevertheless, the disciples' job was not to guide and protect Jesus but to follow him. Only after Jesus' death and resurrection would they fully understand why he had to die.
8:34 The Romans, Mark's original audience, knew what taking up a cross meant. Death on a cross was a form of execution used by Rome for dangerous criminals. Prisoners would carry their own crosses to the place of execution, signifying submission to Rome's power.
Jesus used the image of carrying a cross to illustrate the ultimate submission required of his followers. He is not against pleasure, nor was he saying that we should seek pain needlessly. Jesus was talking about the heroic effort needed to follow him moment by moment, to do his will even when the work is difficult and no immediate rewards are in sight.
8:34 Jesus did not teach self-denial as an end in itself. He does not desire us to be miserable for misery's own sake. We deny the aspects of the self that lead to death-selfishness, cruelty, and indifference—in order to experience life and bring true life and hope to others. Taking up your cross will require sacrifice and possibly pain, but it will lead to a life with a new level of appreciation for Jesus and service to others.
8:35 We should be willing to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel, not because our lives are useless, but because nothing—not even life itself—can compare to what we gain when we follow Jesus. Jesus wants us to choose to follow him rather than to lead lives of sin and self-satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own destinies and to let him direct us. This makes good sense because, as the Creator, Jesus knows better than we do what real life is about. He asks for submission, not self-hatred; he asks us only to lose our self-centered determination to be in charge.
8:36-37 Many people spend all their energy seeking pleasure. Jesus said, however, that worldliness-which is centered on possessions, position, or power—is ultimately worthless. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary; it cannot be exchanged for your soul. If you work hard at getting what you want, it might seem like you have a satisfying life, but eventually you will find that it is hollow and empty. Are you willing to make the pursuit of God more important than the pursuit of pleasure for pleasure's sake? Follow Jesus, and you will know what it means to live abundantly now and ultimately to have eternal life.
8:38 Jesus constantly turned the world's perspective upside down with talk of first and last, saving and losing. Here he presented a choice: We can reject Jesus now and be rejected by him at his second coming, or we can accept him now and be accepted by him then. Rejecting him may help us escape shame for the time being, but it will guarantee an eternity of shame later.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)