Mark · chapter 8 of 16
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Mark 8 is the turning point of the Gospel. Jesus feeds four thousand, warns against the leaven of the Pharisees and heals a blind man at Bethsaida in two stages. At Caesarea Philippi, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ; Jesus announces for the first time that he will suffer, die and rise, and calls his followers to take up their cross.
Up to Mark 8 the question of the Gospel has been who Jesus is. In this chapter Peter gives the right answer, but Jesus begins to teach what kind of Christ he is: one who suffers. From here the book moves toward Jerusalem, and discipleship is defined by the cross.
A great crowd has been with Jesus for three days and has nothing to eat. Moved with compassion, Jesus takes seven loaves and a few small fish, gives thanks and breaks them, and the disciples distribute them: about four thousand eat, and seven baskets of leftovers remain. He then sails to Dalmanutha, where the Pharisees demand a sign from heaven to test him. Jesus sighs deeply, says no sign will be given to this generation and leaves. In the boat he warns the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod; they think he is talking about having no bread, and Jesus rebukes their lack of understanding, reminding them of the two feedings.
At Bethsaida they bring him a blind man. Jesus leads him out of the village, spits on his eyes, lays hands on him and asks if he sees anything. The man sees people like trees walking. Jesus lays his hands on him again, and then he sees everything clearly.
On the way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is. They answer John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets. When he asks who they say he is, Peter answers that he is the Christ. Jesus orders them to tell no one and begins to teach that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes, be killed and rise after three days. Peter rebukes him; Jesus turns, looks at the disciples and says: Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of man. He then calls the crowd and says that whoever wants to follow him must deny himself, take up his cross and follow him, for whoever loses his life for his sake and the gospel's will save it.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Peter answers Jesus' question by saying that he is the Christ, the Messiah. It is the first time in the Gospel that a disciple declares it plainly, and it marks the center of the book.
Jesus begins to teach that the Son of Man must suffer, be rejected, be killed and rise on the third day. He corrects the idea of a triumphant Messiah without a cross.
Whoever wants to follow Jesus must deny himself, take up his cross and follow him. Discipleship is not a collection of benefits but a surrender that follows Christ at cost.
Jesus asks what good it is to gain the whole world and lose one's life, and what a person could give in exchange for it. No earthly gain makes up for losing what truly matters.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Seven loaves and a few small fish; seven baskets were left over. — Mark 8:5-8
Answer: A sign from heaven, to test him. — Mark 8:11
Answer: He saw people like trees walking; after a second touch he saw everything clearly. — Mark 8:23-25
Answer: That he was the Christ. — Mark 8:29
Answer: That he would suffer many things, be rejected, be killed and rise after three days. — Mark 8:31
Answer: To deny himself, take up his cross and follow him. — Mark 8:34
Jesus' question, who do you say that I am, is still current for every person. In a class or small group you can make room for each person to answer in their own words, beyond what they have heard from others. Confessing Jesus as Christ means accepting the kind of Messiah he is.
The call to take up the cross is not an invitation to seek suffering, but to not put comfort above obedience. The two-stage healing of the blind man is also encouraging: God is not discouraged by our blurred vision, and he keeps working until we see clearly.
Mark 8 leaves the reader with Peter's confession and the road of the cross. In Mark 9 three disciples see Jesus' glory on the mountain, and the rest learn that faith needs prayer.
Probably because people expected a political and military Messiah, and a public proclamation would have fed that mistaken expectation. Jesus first had to teach his disciples that his way goes through suffering and the cross.
Peter was rejecting the cross and thereby repeating the temptation of a path without suffering. Jesus is not calling Peter a demon but rebuking the idea, contrary to God's will, that spoke through his mouth, with words used against the adversary.
It is the only healing in Mark that happens gradually. Many interpreters see it as a picture of the disciples' understanding, who see Jesus blurrily until they truly grasp his way to the cross.