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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 8:1

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In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples [unto him,] and saith unto them,

Ch. Mar 8:1-9. The Feeding of the Four Thousand

1. the multitude being very great ] The effect of these miraculous cures on the inhabitants of the half-pagan district of Decapolis was very great. So widely was the fame of them spread abroad, that great multitudes brought their sick unto the Lord (Mat 15:30), and upwards of four thousand, without counting women and children (Mat 15:38), gathered round Him and His Apostles, and continued with Him upwards of three days (Mar 8:2).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

See this passage explained in the notes at Mat 15:32-39.

Mar 8:1

In those days – While in the wilderness, where he had cured the deaf-mute man.

Having nothing to eat – Having come unprovided, or having consumed what they had brought.

Mar 8:2

I have compassions – I pity their condition. I am disposed to relieve them.

Mar 8:9

Four thousand – Four thousand men, besides women and children. See Mat 15:38. See this passage explained in the notes at Mat 15:32-39.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mar 8:1-9

In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat.

Christ knows and supplies our need

A little lad, during the American war, was his widowed mothers comfort and joy. One day, as the poor woman was trying to scrape the flour from the sides and bottom of the barrel to help out the days supply, the lad cried, Mother, we shall have some more very soon, I know! Why do you say so, my boy? asked the mother. Why, because youve got to scraping the barrel. I believe God always hears you scraping the barrel, and thats a sign to Him you want another. And before the day was over the fresh supply had come.

Feeding the people

I. Now we read that some of our foremost scientists-men of learning and research, and I am not here to say one word against them or their noble labours-have, as it were, if not formally, tacitly agreed to banish God from His own creation. They continually declare we have nothing to do with God. He is the Unknown, and must remain forever Unknowable; we are Agnostics, we know nothing of Him. We summarise in a few words the net results of the development theory as applied to the food of man. Within the last ten years special investigations have been directed to the origin and growth of corn. I cannot now indicate the course and scope of these researches more than to say that we have two ways or prosecuting the inquiry-by the records of history, and by the deposits of geology. And their teachings in fine amount to this. Wheat has never been found in a wild state in any country in the world, nor in any age. It has no development, no descent. It has always been found under the same conditions as it is now-always under the care and cultivation of man-never existed where man did not cultivate it. Moreover, it has never been found in a fossil state. So, if we hearken to the teachings of geology, man existed long before his staff of life. The most minute investigations into the origin of wheat have failed to find it under any conditions in the least different from what it is with us today. The oldest grain of wheat in the world is in the British Museum, and this has been microscopically examined and subjected to the most searching analysis, but it is found to be in all respects exactly the same as the wheat you secured a fortnight ago in this parish in the Vale of Clwyd. So there has been no development within the records of history, and it has no existence in the deposits of geology. Again: the power and the means of perpetuating its own existence have been given to every living and growing thing, animal and vegetable, and this is carried on from age to age, without any interference on the part of man. The only great exception to this grand and beneficent law is the corn-the food of man. A crop of wheat left to itself, in any latitude or country, would, in the third or fourth year of its first planting, entirely disappear. It has no power to master its surrounding difficulties so as to become self-perpetuating. Thus it does not come under the law of the survival of the fittest. And what is still more singular-we have never more than a sufficient supply for some fourteen months or thereabouts, even after the most bountiful harvest, and it has been calculated that we are often within a week of universal starvation should one harvest totally fail. And how near this awful catastrophe we may have been this year even, God only knows. A shade too much, or a shade too little; and oh how little, and it might have been! And science informs us that the wheat has untold millions of enemies peculiar to itself. And no wonder it is a matter of universal rejoicings when another harvest has been scoured, and the farmers anxious labours have been crowned with success.

II. Man must work. And this is nowhere more evident than in the harvest. Man must plough and harrow, and sow and reap, and bind and gather into barns, and thresh and grind, and knead and bake, and the hundred and one other little things allotted as his honourable share in this grand concern; otherwise his body, with its mysterious relations to earth and sky, to time and eternity, to matter and spirit, will not receive the nourishment intended for its growth and work, though all the cycles of immensity were kept to shed their benign influences on field and meadow and homestead. And on the other hand, man may do all his part, and yet not one single grain could he gather into barn or rick if our heavenly Father did not cause the earth to revolve, the planets to move, the inconstant moon to wend its way along the star-bespangled firmament, the river to roll on its pebbly bed, the myriad laughing ocean in its cradle to ebb and flow, the entrancing landscapes of the sun-tinted clouds to sail in the balmy air, and the barriers of the dawn to be loosened that the golden rays of the lord of day may dance on the petals of the flowering wheat, and kiss the dew from the lips of the lily. Now sublimate this thought into the domain of the gospel, and you will have our part-our bodily and mental part, little though it be-in the spiritual and eternal life. For instance, you have power over your own limbs to come here to Gods house, to bow the knee, to blend your voice in psalm and litany, to kneel before the holy table and receive the visible symbols of His Divine presence, and demean yourselves in bodily and mental posture as men who feel that God is amongst you; but after all you will go away empty if the Holy Spirit be not here to carry the words from the lips of the preacher to the heart of the hearer, and your Holy Communion will be an ideal ceremony if Gods presence be not here to bless and satisfy the faithful worshipper. In one and the truest sense, all is of God, but He will not take you to heaven in spite of yourselves. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

III. These miracles are characteristic of our Lord Himself, His life, His work. Contrast this miracle of feeding the multitudes with our Lords refusal, at Satans bidding, to convert the stones of the desert into bread for His own sake. Our Lords temptations and sufferings and death were all for the sake of others-of us-of me a sinner-of the human family. (D. Williams.)

Gods food the only satisfaction

And they were filled. No true wealth except the harvest. All the gold and silver are simply means of exchange: they have a purchasing power; nothing is true wealth but the harvest. The harvest alone enriches, the harvest alone satisfies. If the harvest once failed, your gold and precious stones would soon become only so much dross to be flung away. Riches, pleasure, fame, empires even, do not satisfy; these things only increase the hunger of the soul, created to have its enjoyment and satisfaction in God alone. The food in which God is present alone satisfies. If God be here you will not go away empty. The Divine presence gives eternal satisfaction. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. (D. Williams.)

Fragment gatherers

The apostles-the agents who were chosen to distribute amongst the multitudes the food which Jesus blessed-were privileged to gather the fragments. Oh, what precious fragments all who help to administer bread to the perishing souls receive back themselves! The preacher, the teacher, the district visitor, if their own hearts be in the right place, what lessons of encouragement, self-discipline, and mutual love! what precious fragments in the respect, gratitude, and affection from those amongst whom they minister, do they not receive! Virtue is its own reward. Do good, and the basket of fragments is yours. The less the material, the greater the number fed, the more fragments. Strange arithmetic! But it is the rule of three and practice of God. This is true of all lives. Those who have large means, and do but little, bare no fragments to gather. (D. Williams.)

How many loaves have ye

The miracle was made less startling, less striking, by the actual manner of performing it. The moment of its beginning was veiled. The first recipients took common bread. The multiplication was imperceptible. It was only reflection which would convince. The transition was so gradual from the natural to the supernatural, from the common into the miraculous, that careless or superficial observers might rise from the meal half unaware that a Divine hand had been working. In all this we see much that is Christlike. As no man (Prophecy said) should hear His voice in the streets, so no man should be forced to track His path in the self-manifestation of His glory. There was nothing glaring or for effect, nothing (as we should now say) sensational, even in His signs. Christ sought rather to show how alike, how consistent, are all Gods acts; those which He does every day in Providence, and those which He keeps commonly out of sight in grace. When that which began in eating common bread changed imperceptibly into eating food multiplied by miracle, that was a type of Gods two worlds, the one seen, the other unseen, yet each the counterpart and complement of the other, and separated each from each by the thinnest possible veil of present mystery. Christ might have wrought this miracle without asking for, without making use of, the seven loaves. But He did not. In like manner, Christ might now, in His Church and in His world, dispense with everything that is ours; might begin afresh. Instead He asks for the seven loaves that we have. The applications of this truth are many and various.

I. We see it in inspiration. When it pleased God to give us a book of light, it was in His power to have made it all His own. But the human element mixes with the Divine. Bring forth all your gifts, such as they are, of understanding and culture and knowledge and utterance; bring them forth, all ye holy and humble men of heart, Moses and Samuel, David and Isaiah, Ezra and Ezekiel, Paul and John, Luke and Mark, Matthew and Peter; and then Christ, taking them at your hands, shall give them back to you blessed and blessing, to be to generations yet unborn the light of their life and the consolation of their sleep and of their awakening.

II. That which is true of the Book is true also of the life. How many loaves have ye? Christ puts that question to the young man, whose course is not yet shaped definitely towards this profession or that, and who would fain so pass through things temporal that he finally lose not the things eternal. Christ bids him to ponder with himself each particular of his character and of his history; gifts of nature and of education, gifts of mind and body, gifts of habit and inclination, gifts of connection and acquaintanceship, gifts of experience and self-knowledge; and to bring these, like a man-not standing idle because he has not heard or felt himself hired: not excusing himself from obeying because his loaves are but seven, or because they are coarse or stale or mouldy-but to bring them to Him who made and will bless. How many loaves have ye? Nothing? Not a soul? not a body? not time? not one friend, not one neighbour, not one servant, to whom a kind word may be spoken, or a kind deed done, in the name, for the love, of Jesus? Bring that-do that, say that-as what thou hast; very small, very trivial, very worthless, if thou wilt: yet remember the saying, She hath done what she could. There are others but too confident in their gifts and in their doings. It is not without its risk, even a life of charity, even a life of ministry. Are you quite sure, that, bringing out your seven loaves, you brought them to Christ for that blessing which alone gives increase? Nothing works of itself-nothing by human willing or human running-but only by the grace of Him who giveth liberally, and who showeth mercy. Most of all, that which would help Christs own work-to seek and to save that which is lost. How many loaves have ye? The question is asked of the man-it is asked also of the community. (C. J. Vaughan, D. D.)

Wherever there is anything new, unusual, or exciting going on, there the crowd is sure to collect. These people were in distressing bodily want. It seems a little singular that this multitude should have so forgotten themselves, as to hurry out thus unprovided into the empty wilderness. We should never see half the distress we do, if people were only a little more considerate and thoughtful. But it was to the credit of these people that the distress they suffered was incurred by what was commendable. With a right appreciation of Christ, it would be no unwisdom to perish in following after Him, rather than to live in ease by forsaking Him. There was no relief for the multitude in the common course of things. But mans extremity is Gods opportunity. And what a picture is thus given us of the tenderness and goodness of our Lord! Jesus pities people in want of bread for the body, as well as those in want of food for their souls. He enters into our temporal as well as spiritual needs. Nor was His compassion a mere empty sentiment. It stimulated to action. It exhibited itself in deed. It set to relieve the distress that stirred it. It would not be right to expect such interpositions as a common thing. God has His own ways for dealing out to men their daily bread, which must be regarded; but his resources are not limited. But there is method in this marvellous relief. So they did eat.

1. There were directions given which had to be obeyed. And so there are commands to be observed in order to get the bread of life. There must be a coming down, a sitting in the dust at Jesus feet, a humiliation of self to His orders ant institutes.

2. He took what the people had, and added His power and blessing to it, and thus furnished the requisite supplies. They had seven cakes and a few small fishes. Grace was never meant to supersede nature, but to work upon it, to help it, bless it, and augment it. God is a frugal economist. He never wastes what already exists. He is never prodigal in His creations. We have eyes, and ears, and hearts, and understanding wills, which can be of good service in our salvation. All that they need is to be brought to Christ, submitted to His handling, bathed in His words of blessing, and filled with His power, to serve most effectually.

3. But the food He furnished was given to these hungry ones only through second hands. The bread and the fishes He gave to His disciples to set before them, and they did set them before the people. Christ has appointed a ministry-an office which is filled by men, who, by His authority and command, are set apart and ordained to officiate between Christ and their fellows. And where there has been no ministry, there has been no salvation. The bread of life no man can have, until it is ministerially conveyed to him. Be it through the living voice, or the written page, or the solemn sacrament, that voice implies a speaker, that page a writer, that sacrament an administrator, who is Gods appointed agent for the carrying of it to him who gets it. (J. A. Seiss, DD.)

Faith in Christ helpful against hunger

There be those who make sport of the thought that faith in Christ can help against the pangs of hunger, or the pinchings of bodily need. That a religious sentiment should serve to put bread in the mouths of the destitute, is to them ridiculous. And even unfledged apostles are often in such unfaith as to be in perplexity and doubt if He who saves the soul can also feed the body. The world, in its wisdom, does not know Christ, and so it doubts Him, and laughs at trust in Him. Well-meaning people get wrong in their Christology, and it sets them wrong at every other point. Let men learn that Jesus is the Saviour of bodies, as well as of souls; that He is the Lord of harvests and of bread, as well as of moral precepts and spiritual counsels; that He lives not only in a system of doctrines and religious tenets, but also in sovereign potency over all the products of land and sea, as well as over all the hidden principles of production; that He is not only a marvellous prophet of truth who lived in the time long past, but also an enthroned king of the living present, swaying His potent sceptre over all worlds, all nations, and all affairs, and dispensing His comforts, blessings, and rebukes untrammelled by laws in nature or the economies of earth; and doubt will cease as to whether faith in Him may not bring bread to the destitute, as well as pardon to the guilty, or hope of heaven to the dying. (J. A. Seiss, DD.)

A picture of mans life

In the desert of this world he is in continual want, hungering and thirsting in the midst of its transitory delights, and longing to be filled with food. Sin offers itself, and the world tempts him with its barren show, but these cannot satisfy. Only when he follows Christ, knowing that he is sick, and owning that he is blind in soul, and maimed in will, and attesting by his stedfastness in continuing with his Saviour the earnestness of his desire for the help which comes from above, will Christ give him that water which whosoever drinketh thereof shall never thirst, and that bread, even Himself, which came down from heaven. In this miracle we are taught-

1. The promptness with which Christ succours us. We see this in His providing bread before the multitude hungered, and in His care lest afterwards they should faint by the way.

2. The motive causes for all Gods mercies to us, viz., our needs and our dangers.

3. The true effects of Gods mercy-what He gives us is that true food which really satisfies, and which alone can satisfy, the whole nature of man. (W. Denton, M. A.)

The multitude fed

Christ came into personal contact with human wants and woes.

I. Some characteristics of this miracle as contrasted with others.

1. The desire to grant this blessing originated with Christ Himself. How comforting to know that He does not mete out His mercies in the scant measure of our prayers.

2. A striking instance of prevention, rather than cure. From how many ills unthought of, dangers unseen, woes unimagined, are we daily delivered by the preventing grace of God.

3. Human intervention employed. Christ the source of supply; the disciples privileged to dispense His bounty.

4. Unbelief in the innermost circle of disciples.

5. A vast multitude were benefited.

II. The miracle itself.

1. Illustrates Christs care for the bodies of men.

2. The abundance of Gods bounty. The more we feed upon Christ, the Bread of Life, the more there is to feed upon.

3. The need of daily feeding on Christ. The miracle falls short here. To feed once for all is not sufficient. It is because they think it is that so many are spiritually sickly and weak. (R. W. Forrest, M. A.)

On the encouragement which the gospel affords to active duty

I. One singular feature in the character of our Lord-His superiority to all the selfish passions of our nature. This miracle demonstrated His power over nature, and taught those who witnessed it that if His kingdom were of this world He possessed the power to maintain it. They would naturally wish to assemble under such a Leader. It is at this moment, when all the vulgar passions of hope and ambition were working in the minds of the multitude, that He sends them away; to show them that His kingdom was spiritual.

II. The character of His religion. The systems of pretended revelation which prevail in the world encourage either superstition or enthusiasm, and have often separated piety from morality. They have drawn men from the sphere of social duty to unmeaning devotions. Christ assembles the multitude that He may instruct them.

III. We are the multitude described in this passage of the Gospel. We have heard that there was a great Prophet come into the world tot the purpose of spiritual improvement. He has spread before us, in the wilderness of human life, that greater feast, of spirit and of mind, which may save us from fainting on our way. The services we are called to perform in the cause of humanity. That they who had eaten were about four thousand. The number who have this day approached the same Lord, and heard the same accents of salvation, are countless millions of the family of God. (A. Alison, LL. B.)

Satisfaction for the food in the wilderness

I. Satisfaction. Is not the Church tired out, fainting? Is not the world a wilderness to you? Does not the Spirit of God make you feel the nothingness of everything upon earth? Christ the only satisfaction.

II. The thing that satisfies a man. Bread.

III. The place where these individuals were to have that satisfaction. (J. J. West, M. A.)

Second miracle of feeding the multitude

It could hardly have been without some special reason that the same miracle should have been worked twice by Christ with scarcely any variation of detail, and twice recorded with so very great attention to detail. In each case, too, Christ Himself drew from the miracle teaching of the highest importance. Notice these points of similarity.

I. In each case Jesus, beholding the multitude of people, has compassion on them. That is the origin and source of help for man. Because of His compassion-

1. He came from heaven to earth to bring to famishing men the Bread of Life.

2. He sends to us His Church, by and through the ministry of which He gives us all the means of grace. He takes just what we have, water, bread, wine-all insufficient of themselves-and by His power makes them more than sufficient for our needs.

3. He looks at us not in the mass, but one by one. It is the individual soul which is the factor in the mind of God.

II. In each case, before working the miracle, He draws from the disciples a declaration of their inability to supply unassisted that which was needed.

III. In each case He takes, nevertheless, that which they have, and makes it sufficient. How many loaves have ye? Seven.

1. The gift of baptismal grace-the germ of all graces.

2. The seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit, bestowed in confirmation.

3. The Holy Communion.

4. All the means of grace. The Word of God. Opportunities of public worship.

5. The power of repentance.

6. The gift of prayer.

7. The ministry of the Church.

So that we have, after all, a great deal: if we use these gifts faithfully, by Gods blessing they will more than suffice for the wants of our souls.

IV. In each case He commanded the multitude to sit down. We must come to receive Gods blessing obediently, quietly, calmly. Need of this lesson in a busy, energetic age, so restless and so excited. We need more repose of mind and character. It is good to be up and doing, but there are times when it is well for us to sit still. The life most free from feverish excitement is the life most likely to profit by Gods gifts.

1. Sit down before you say your prayers, if you would really have them answered. Recall your thoughts, be patient and quiet and humble, try to remember to Whom you are about to speak, and what it is you are going to ask, what you really need.

2. Sit down before your acts of public worship. Let there be more restfulness about your worship, more repose of thought, more concentration of thought on what you are about to do.

3. Sit down before each communion you make (1Co 11:28).

(1) Let me calmly, honestly, and thoughtfully look into my past life, especially examining that part of it that has been lived since my last communion.

(2) Let me see where I am, and what I am.

(3) Let me try my best to see my sins as they really are, and as they are recorded in Gods book.

(4) Let me truly repent of past sins, and make my humble confession to God, honestly purposing amendment of life.

V. In each case, either at His command or with His approval, the fragments are gathered up. Gods gifts, whether temporal or spiritual, are never to be wasted. He gives with a splendid liberality, but only in order that His gifts may be used. Gather up-

1. Fragments of time.

2. Fragments of opportunities.

3. Fragments of temporal goods.

4. Fragments of prayer, repentance, worship, grace. (Canon Ingram.)

Divine law of increase

Usually a single man needed three of these loaves for a meal, and here were more than a thousand supplied by each loaf. Nobody can tell how it was done, any more than we can understand how God began to make the world when there was nothing anywhere. It may be objected that the Lord does not feed us now in this way; that, if we want bread, we must work for it. But think about it, and you will see His power and kindness just as plainly in giving us food in reward for our labour. We plant single kernels of grain, and God makes each one grow into a great many. What is this but another way of multiplying the loaves? How hard and dead the seed looks when we put it into the ground. The rain and the sun find it there, and the yearly wonder begins. The seed swells and bursts; a wee pale root comes out and goes down into the earth; another shoots up to the surface. They look very tiny and weak, but a microscope shows that the tender cells are protected by tough coverings, sometimes even by particles of flint along the edges, so that they can push their way through the earth. One acre of soil, three inches deep, weighs a million pounds, and all that is stirred and lifted by these growing fibres. Up come the stalks, straight and slender, yet so tough and elastic that when the wind blows they can bend clear to the ground, and then spring back again, as the strongest tree can hardly do. Soon a spike of tiny flowers appears on top, then a cluster of kernels, and at last the whole gets yellow and ripe. Is not this work of Gods stranger and more beautiful than turning one piece of bread into a thousand just like it? (C. M. Southgate.)

So they did eat, and were filled

In the original it is, They were fed to satisfaction. That such a result followed, was the consequence of their being fed by Him alone who satisfies the empty soul, and filleth the hungry soul with gladness. There is need to be reminded of this in an age when men are pointed to other sources of satisfaction-to education, to culture, and to refinement, and bidden to find their highest enjoyment in these and such-like pursuits. If they bear no reference to Him towards whom all that is noblest and best in nature and art is designed to lead us, they will turn out to be but broken cisterns that hold no water. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)

Help in extremity

May we not learn from this miracle how Christ will exercise acts of special providence to help and succour those who are following Him? Dean Hook mentions a striking instance of this. There was an individual who gave up a profitable employment, acting under advice, and not from the mere caprice of his own judgment, because he thought, taking his temptations into account, he could not follow it without peril to his soul. And after many reverses he was reduced to such a state of distress that the last morsel in the house had been consumed, and he had not bread to give his children. His faith did not, however, forsake him; and when his distress was at its height, he received a visit from one who called to pay him a debt he had never hoped to recover, but the payment of which enabled him to support his family until he again obtained employment.

Mans food supply

The question of the disciples has been the natural question of all thinkers at all times. The foremost difficulty to be encountered everywhere is the difficulty of getting daily bread for self or others in this wilderness, this land of thorns and thistles. We, indeed, raised above our fellows by centuries of civilization, only partially feel the direct pressure of bodily hunger, only occasionally realize the paramount necessity which governs the life of man-the necessity of procuring food. But, in fact, a vast proportion of all human effort and anxiety is directed to this one point; whatever else is left undone, this must be bone: only if there is any time and vigour over when daily bread is secured can it be spent on other things, on comforts and adornments for the body, on learning and improvement for the mind. There is, perhaps, no animal that has to spend so large a part of his time in procuring the food he needs as man. And when he has got it, it will not satisfy him as their daily food will satisfy the other creatures. No sooner is he filled than he finds out that man cannot live by bread alone; that he cannot be satisfied from any earthly stores; that he wants something more, and has another kind of hunger. This is, of course, because God has made him with a soul as well as a body, and has so made this soul and body that each requires its own proper food. Indeed, we must acknowledge that we are the most dependent of all creatures; we cannot go a few hours without suffering pangs of hunger, which must be stilled at any cost or risk, or else we die; and when this craving is appeased, then the hunger of the soul awakes, and it demands to be satisfied with something-it knows not what, perhaps; for God has made us for Himself, mede us to be satisfied with nothing less than Himself, made us to be entirely dissatisfied and discontented without Himself. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)

This world a wilderness

Men often talk about this life as being a wilderness, and they are right; but do you know why, and in what sense? What is the wilderness to which our earthly life is like, the wilderness in which our Lord worked this and other miracles? Is it a great howling expanse of sand and rock, with nought but blazing earth below and blazing sky above? Is it the vast and terrible desert, where fiery death pursues the steps of the unhappy traveller, where doleful creatures cry, and whitening bones lie all about? If this were the wilderness, then would our life be very unlike one. The wildernesses of Palestine, like the bush in Australia, are not by any means always barren, or ugly, or desolate: often they are very beautiful, and very productive; only, their beauty and productiveness are so uncertain, so unreliable, so disappointing, that no one can live there or make his home there-unless, indeed, he receives his supplies from somewhere else. Now, our life is lust like the wilderness in this sense: very often it is full of beauty, of grace, of life, of promise; there are times when every element of hope and contentment seems present in abundance. But all this beauty and promise will not satisfy the soul of man, however much it may please his fancy and his taste. Suppose you found yourself in the wilderness among the grasses and flowers, could you feed on them? Could you sustain life on them? No; however lovely and luxuriant they might be, however grateful as elements in a landscape, they would not appease your hunger; your limbs would grow weak, your eyes would fail, your head would swim, and you would fall and starve and die amongst the dewy grasses and the many-coloured flowers. Even so would it be if you tried to satisfy your immortal souls with the pleasures and beauties, and joys and riches, of this life. We should be other than human if we did not like them, we should be very ungrateful if we did not give thanks for them-but, all the same, we cannot be satisfied with them; the old craving would return-we should feel ourselves discontented, miserable, perishing, amidst all the abundance of this world. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)

God alone can satisfy

It is easy enough to please people in the wilderness it you go at the right time; the beauty of the landscape, the buoyancy of the air, the exhilarating sense of freedom and expanse-all these are delightful. It is easy to amuse people in the wilderness, with so many new things to be looked at and admired; it is easy to lead them on further and further from home, into a region where there are no barriers and few landmarks. But to satisfy them-that we cannot do; that can only be done, in the wilderness, by the Divine power of Christ, He only can feed the myriads of famishing souls which, even in listening to His words, have only felt their hunger growing keener. He can and will, and it makes no difference to Him how many the people, how few the loaves, they shall all be satisfied and go home in the strength of that food; He can and will, and it makes no difference to Him how many millions of souls are waiting upon Him for spiritual food-how feeble, apparently, and paltry the means of grace by which He designs to feed them. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)

Scattering yet increasing

Good husbandry does not grind up all the years wheat for loaves for ones own eating, but keeps some of it for seed, to be scattered in the furrows. And if Christian men will deal with the great love of God, the great work of Christ, the great message of the gospel, as if it were bestowed on them for their own sakes only, they will have only themselves to blame if holy desires die out in their hearts, and the consciousness of Christs love becomes faint, and all the blessed words of truth come to sound far off and mythical in their ears. The standing water gets green scum on it. The close-shut barn breeds weevils and smut. Let the water run. Fling the Seed broadcast. Thou shalt find it after many days-bread for thy own soul. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The conditions of increase

The condition of increase is diffusion. To impart to others is to gain for oneself. Every honest effort to bring some other human heart into conscious possession of Christs love deepens my own sense of its preciousness. If you would learn, teach. You will catch new gleams of His gracious heart in the very act of commending it to others. Work for God if you would live with God. Give the bread to the hungry, if you would have it for the food of your own souls. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER VIII.

Four thousand persons fed with seven loaves and a few small

fishes, 1-8.

Christ refuses to give any farther sign to the impertinent

Pharisees, 10-12.

Warns his disciples against the corrupt doctrine of the

Pharisees and of Herod, 13-21.

He restores sight to a blind man, 22-26.

Asks his disciples what the public thought of him, 27-30.

Acknowledges himself to be the Christ, and that he must suffer,

31-33.

And shows that all his genuine disciples must take up their

cross, suffer in his cause, and confess him before men, 34-38.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII.

Verse 1. The multitude being very great] Or rather, There was again a great multitude. Instead of , very great, I read , again a great, which is the reading of BDGLM, fourteen others, all the Arabic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian, Gothic, Vulgate, and Itala, and of many Evangelistaria. Griesbach approves of this reading. There had been such a multitude gathered together once before, who were fed in the same way. See Mr 6:34, &c.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

These verses give us an account of another miracle wrought by our Saviour, of the same nature with the one which we had in Mar 6:30-44; only there five thousand (besides women and children) were fed with five loaves and two fishes, here four thousand are fed with seven loaves and a few fishes; there twelve baskets full of fragments were taken up, here but seven. We meet with the same history in Mat 15:32-38;

See Poole on “Mat 15:32“, and following verses to Mat 15:38. Both miracles testified Christ to have acted by a Divine power, and were certainly wrought to prove that the doctrine which he delivered to them was from God; both of them show the compassion that he had for the sons of men, showed to them not only with relation to their spiritual, but also to their corporal wants and infirmities. In both of them is commended to us, from his great example, the religious custom of begging a blessing upon our food when we sit down to it, and receiving the good creatures of God with thanksgiving. From both of them we may learn, in the doing of our duty, not to be too solicitous what we shall eat, or what we shall drink. God will some way or other provide for those who neglect themselves to follow him. From both we may also learn our duty to take a provident care to make no waste of the good things which God lends us. These are the chief things this history affords us for our instruction.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. In those days the multitude beingvery great, &c.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

In those days,…. The Ethiopic version reads, on that day; as if it was on the same day that the deaf man was healed; and so it might be; and on the third day from Christ’s coming into those parts; and so is very properly expressed, “in those days”; see Mr 7:31, compared with the following verse:

the multitude being very great: for the number of men that ate, when the following miracle was wrought, were about four thousand; see Mr 8:9. The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions add, “again”; referring to the former miracle of the five thousand, who were fed with five loaves, and two fishes, Mr 6:44.

And having nothing to eat; what they might have brought with them being expended, and they in a desert, where nothing was to be had, nor bought for money:

Jesus called his disciples to him, and saith unto them;

[See comments on Mt 15:32].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Christ Feeds the Four Thousand.

1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

We had the story of a miracle very like this before, in this gospel (ch. vi. 35), and of this same miracle (Matt. xv. 32), and here is little or no addition or alternation as to the circumstances. Yet observe,

1. That our Lord Jesus was greatly followed; The multitude was very great (v. 1); notwithstanding the wicked arts of the scribes and Pharisees to blemish him, and to blast his interest, the common people, who had more honesty, and therefore more true wisdom, than their leaders, kept up their high thoughts of him. We may suppose that this multitude were generally of the meaner sort of people, with such Christ conversed, and was familiar; for thus he humbled himself, and made himself of no reputation, and thus encouraged the meanest to come to him for life and grace.

2. Those that followed him, underwent a great deal of difficulty in following him; They were with him three days, and had nothing to eat, that was hard service. Never let the Pharisee say, that Christ’s disciples fast not. There were those, probably, that brought some food with them from home; but by this time it was all spent, and they had a great way home; and yet they continued with Christ, and did not speak of leaving him till he spoke of dismissing them. Note, True zeal makes nothing of hardships in the way of duty. They that have a full feast for their souls may be content with slender provision for their bodies. It was an old saying among the Puritans, Grown bread and the gospel are good fare.

3. As Christ has a compassion for all that are in wants and straits, so he has a special concern for those that are reduced to straits by their zeal and diligence in attending on him. Christ said, I have compassion on the multitude. Whom the proud Pharisees looked upon with disdain, the humble Jesus looked upon with pity and tenderness; and thus must we honour all men. But that which he chiefly considers, is, They have been with me three days, and have nothing to eat. Whatever losses we sustain, or hardships we go through, for Christ’s sake, and in love to him, he will take care that they shall be made up to us one way or other. They that seek the Lord, shall not long want any good thing, Ps. xxxiv. 10. Observe with what sympathy Christ saith (v. 3), If I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way, for hunger. Christ knows and considers our frame; and he is for the body, if we glorify him, verily we shall be fed. He considered that many of them came from afar, and had a great way home. When we see multitudes attending upon the word preached, it is comfortable to think that Christ knows whence they all come, though we do not. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, Rev. ii. 13. Christ would by no means have them go home fasting, for it is not his manner to send those empty way from him, that in a right manner attend on him.

4. The doubts of Christians are sometimes made to work for the magnifying of the power of Christ. The disciples could not imagine whence so many men should be satisfied with bread here in the wilderness, v. 4. That therefore must needs be wonderful, and appear so much the more so, which the disciples looked upon as impossible.

5. Christ’s time to act for the relief of his people, is, when things are brought to the last extremity; when they were ready to faint, Christ provided for them. That he might not invite them to follow him for the loaves, he did not supply them but when they were utterly reduced, and then he sent them away.

6. The bounty of Christ is inexhaustible, and, to evidence that, Christ repeated this miracle, to show that he is still the same for the succour and supply of his people that attend upon him. His favours are renewed, as our wants and necessities are. In the former miracle, Christ used all the bread he had, which was five loaves, and fed all the guests he had, which were five thousand, and so he did now; though he might have said, “If five loaves would feed five thousand, four may feed four thousand;” he took all the seven loaves, and fed with them the four thousand; for he would teach us to take things as they are, and accommodate ourselves to them; to use what we have, and make the best of that which is. Here it was, as in the dispensing of manna, He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.

7. In our Father’s house, in our Master’s house, there is bread enough, and to spare; there is a fulness in Christ, which he communicates to all that passes through his hands; so that from it we receive, and grace for grace, John i. 16. Those need not fear wanting, that have Christ to live upon.

8. It is good for those that follow Christ, to keep together; these followers of Christ continued in a body, four thousand of them together, and Christ fed them all. Christ’s sheep must abide by the flock, and go forth by their footsteps, and verily they shall be fed.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Had nothing to eat ( ). Genitive absolute and plural because a collective substantive. Not having what to eat (deliberative subjunctive retained in indirect question). The repetition of a nature miracle of feeding four thousand in Decapolis disturbs some modern critics who cannot imagine how Jesus could or would perform another miracle elsewhere so similar to the feeding of the five thousand up near Bethsaida Julias. But both Mark and Matthew give both miracles, distinguish the words for baskets (, ), and both make Jesus later refer to both incidents and use these two words with the same distinction (Mark 8:19; Matt 16:9). Surely it is easier to conceive that Jesus wrought two such miracles than to hold that Mark and Matthew have made such a jumble of the whole business.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

THE FOUR THOUSAND FED, V. 1-9

1) “In those days the multitude being very great,” (en ekeinais tais hemerais palin pollou ochlou onto) Again in those days, the crowd being very great,” perhaps larger than the “much people” of Mar 6:34. Neither where nor when this great crowd was is not indicated. What is clear is that the ministry of Jesus drew many after Him for various reasons.

2) “And having nothing to eat,” (kai me echonton ti phagosin) “And not having anything that they might eat,” for bodily strength while also needing the bread of life, Mar 6:34-38; Joh 6:48-51; Joh 6:58.

3) “Jesus called His disciples unto Him,” (proskalesame mathetas) “Jesus calling to the disciples,” or calling the disciples to Him, who seem already to have forgotten His former miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, Mar 8:18-21, Mar 6:38-44.

4) “And saith unto them,” (legei autois) “Says privately to them,” Mat 15:32.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Mar. 8:1. The multitude being very great.The MS. authority is pretty evenly divided between as above, and , there being again a great multitude. The latter seems preferable on the whole, being found nowhere else in the New Testament, nor yet in LXX.

Mar. 8:3. For divers, etc.And some of them are (or, are come) from afar. Our Lords words: not an addition by the Evangelist.

Mar. 8:8. Broken meat.Fragments, as in chap. Mar. 6:43. Baskets.Not the little wicker-baskets of chap. Mar. 6:43, but panniers of sufficient size and strength to hold a man (Act. 9:25).

Mar. 8:9. We may note the following points of difference between this feeding and the former (chap. Mar. 6:35-44).

1. On this occasion the people had been with our Lord upwards of three days, a circumstance not mentioned before.
2. Seven loaves are now distributed and a few fishes; then, five loaves and two fishes.
3. Five thousand were fed then; four thousand now.
4. Seven large rope-baskets are employed here to hold the fragments; twelve small wicker-baskets there.

5. The more excitable inhabitants of the coast-villages of the north would have taken and made Him a king (Joh. 6:15); whereas the men of Decapolis and the eastern shores permit Him to depart without any demonstration.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mar. 8:1-9

(PARALLEL: Mat. 15:32-39.)

The feeding of the four thousand.It could hardly have been without some special reason that the miracle should have been also worked on another occasion by our Lord with scarcely any variation of detail, or that in each case the miracle should have been recorded with so very great attention to detail.

I. The compassion of Jesus Christ is the origin and source of help.

1. He had compassion on mankind as, looking down from heaven, He saw the whole human race, a vast multitude of souls, helpless, in the wilderness of sin, starving, away from all supplies of spiritual food, with death before them; and having compassion on them, He came from heaven to earth to bring them the bread of life.
2. He sees the multitude to-day, and has compassion on us; and so He sends to us His Church, by and through the ministry of which He gives us all the means of grace.
3. And remember this, that Jesus our Lord, looking upon the multitude now as of old, looks at us not in the mass, but one by one. He sees me; He knows my needs; He has compassion on me.

II. Our Lord draws out from the disciples a declaration of their own inability to meet the difficulty and to supply the needs of the multitude.And it was then, when they had realised the difficulty, when they had come to see their own insufficiency, that our Lord worked the miracle. And is it not just so with us and the difficulties of life? Whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? The question is a natural one It is also an admission of entire helplessness, and it is often the first step to obtaining help.

III. He makes them see that, after all, they have something through which help is to be obtained, and that they must do what they can.That God helps those who help themselves is a saying which is true in material as in spiritual matters; and we very often forget that God helps us through those very things which we already possess, and which we overlook as insufficient for our needs. The world around seems hard and cold; there seems no chance of help. It is well at such times to put to ourselves the question, How many loaves have ye? Then, if we think, we find that, after all, we have somethinglife, health, strength, intelligence, opportunities of one kind or another; and these gifts of God already given to us, if used diligently according to His laws, will, under His blessing, prove more than sufficient for our need. So, also, in spiritual matters. There are times when the temptations and the trials of life, when old habits of evil, the downward tendencies so often yielded to, seem altogether too great for us to overcomeand they are too great for us to overcome in our own strength; and though we would thankfully overcome if we could, yet it all seems so hopeless; we so fully realise our own weakness that we are tempted to give it all up as hopeless. Ah! then listen to the Saviours searching question, How many loaves have ye? Have you nothing already given you that may help? No strength? No grace? Look well and see.

1. The gift of baptismal graceand therein the germ of all graces.
2. The sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit, given you in confirmationthe spirit of wisdom, and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and true godliness and holy fear.
3. The Holy Communion.
4. All the means of grace. The Word of God. Opportunities of public worship.
5. The power of repentance.
6. The gift of prayer.
7. The ministry of the Church. If we will but use these gifts faithfully, then by Gods blessing they will more than suffice for all the wants of our souls, and we shall be more than conquerors in that battle that seemed so hopeless.

IV. His was the power that was to make this small amount of food more than enough to satisfy the needs of this vast multitude; but before He exercised that power He commanded them to sit down. There is here a lesson of the utmost value to us all in this busy, energetic age. We need more repose of mind and character, more quiet, steady, humble work of all kinds. Jesus commands us, as He did the multitude of old, to sit down on the ground, if we would receive His gifts aright and benefit by them. They are to be received in an orderly, quiet, composed, and humble spirit. The life most free from feverish excitement is the life that profits most by His gifts. In the spiritual life, above all, there must be not only energetic activity, but also the quiet sitting down and waiting humbly for Gods blessing. Sit down before you say your prayers, if you would really have them answered. Recall your thoughts, be patient and quiet and humble, try to remember to whom you are about to speak, and what it is you are going to ask, what you really need. Sit down before your acts of public worship. Let there be more restfulness about your worship, more repose of thought, more concentration of thought on what you are about to do. Sit down, above all, before each Communion. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1. Let me calmly, honestly, and thoughtfully look into my past life, especially since my last Communion.
2. Let me see where I am and what I Amos
3. Let me try my best to see my sins as they really are, and as they are recorded in Gods Book.
4. Let me sit down and truly repent of past sins, and make my humble confession to Almighty God, honestly purposing amendment of life.

V. Gods gifts, whether temporal or spiritual, are never to be wasted.He gives, indeed, with a splendid liberality, but He gives that His gifts may be used and not wasted. Waste not, want not, applies to the matters of the soul quite as truly as it does to those of the body. Gather up, then, the fragments of time that may yet remain to you, and make the most of them, living daily nearer God. Gather up the fragments of the opportunities of showing sympathy and kindness and winning the hearts of others. Gather up the fragments that yet remain to you of all the opportunities of helping others by precept or example or moral support. Gather up all the fragments of the grace given you. Store it up for use; by use it grows and increases; by use grace is turned into virtue.Dean W. C. Ingram.

Christs presence in ordinances.If we are following Christ, we may not doubt His protection; we may not think (however dark our prospect) that His support and comfort will be withdrawn; but, on the contrary, we shall find that means are at hand (though overlooked for a time) which, with His blessing, will suffice for our wants. If we are following in the flock of Christ, and do not, by our sin or our distrust, forfeit our privilege, we shall find indeed that the Lord is our Shepherd, and therefore we can lack nothing; and we have His assurance that He will be with us, to support, protect, and save, even unto the end of the world.

I. There is much in the Church at the present day which resembles the position of those who upon this occasion followed our Lord into the wilderness.

1. First, inwardly, in the thoughts and feelings of their minds, there is the same strong tendency in the present generation of Christians to walk by sight, not by faith. They see themselves surrounded by sin on every side, and they fail to discern the presence of Christ among them. They are following Christ, it is true; they are hearing His Word in public and at home; they are hungering for the bread of life; yet when they think of the position of Christs Church on earth they are ready to ask, Whence can a man, etc. The answer to this is ready. The bread is within our reach, if we will take our eyes off from man and fix them upon God; if we regard the Church as the institution not of man but of God, if we avail ourselves of her sacraments and other ordinances in faith, all, men, women, and children, will be filled, and there will be more than enough.
2. Yet men in general do not receive the blessing; they are starving for the bread of life, and cannot find it. Why? Because they have no faith in the ordinance which is to convey it. If they fail to discern the presence of Christ in any ordinance of the Church, no blessing can reasonably be expected. Thus in respect to public prayer our Lord has promised, Where two or three are gathered together, etc. Is it reasonable to suppose that a person who, after such plain declarations, fails to discern Christs presence in the worship of the Church should receive a blessing from it? Again, with regard to the Holy Communion, the necessity is admitted of feeding upon Christ and eating the bread of life. But do men seek this food when it is to be had in the Blessed Sacrament? And do they believe that it is Christ on whom they feed? So again, if after our Lords plain words, Suffer little children to come to Me, and forbid them not, we neglect to bring them to that sacrament by which they are made members of Christs Church, can we wonder if they are not blessed? or if, notwithstanding His plain declaration, He that believeth, and is baptised, shall be saved, we yet consider that the child is not by baptism regenerate, and thus in state of salvation,if we prefer thus to walk by sight, and not by faith, can we wonder if we suffer? Again, if after the express assertion of St. Peter, Baptism doth now save usnot the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God, no care is taken to train up those who have been baptised in the paths of righteousness; if we fail to discharge the obligation which it entailed upon us, to bring up those children as no longer our own, but Christs, bought with His own blood and resigned to Him, only that they are lent us back for a time; if we fail to discern the presence of Christ as it were leading His youthful converts by the hand, and on the contrary distract their attention or suffer them to wander away from Him,can we be surprised that they should run into grievous sin, and that the Word of God should seem to fail?

II. What is the course which all Christians whose eyes are open to their position ought to pursue?

1. How was it of old? See Psa. 107:4-6. Now, as then, if we pray in the faith, we shall receive; if we trustfully stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, if we believe that He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, our faith will be confirmed, our grace increased, and a new light will break in upon us. We shall see that, however dark the prospect, however seemingly impossible that good should come from it, yet to doubt is sinful; Christ will ever be true to His own ordinance.

2. The Christian who has been tried will admit that the cares and sorrows of life (the very rocks and thorns of his wilderness) are productive of good: losses and poverty will keep his soul humble, dead to the world, sober; so will mean or low station; reproach will exercise his patience; pain and bodily affliction, though for the present not joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterwards yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.
3. Every Christian will admit that he has at times received support and consolation from the prayers and the advice of his brethren in the Lord. The conversation of the pious, their consolation in time of trouble, their advice and support in cases of difficulty, and their piety and earnestness at other times, are admitted to afford a degree of peace and happiness; they are admitted to be channels through which God is sending us support, and we feel the good they have done us, and are thankful for it.

III. The consequence of our failing to recognise Christs presence in His ordinances is very apparent.

1. We perceive it in the want of reverence too often manifested in the house of God, or in unfrequent attendance therein the listless prayer, the faint praise, the wandering thought, the neglected Communion, or the carelessness with which the altar is approached.
2. We perceive it in the neglected training of Christian children, who are seldom regarded as regenerateas the lambs of Christs flock, led by Him and blessed by Him, unless through our indifference Satan is permitted to obtain the advantage over them.
3. We perceive it in the evil life of youths who, though children of godly parents, through the error of those parents in not regarding the Churchs ordinances as the means of grace, have become mere hypocrites in religion, and oftentimes are bringing down their parents grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.
4. We perceive it in the neglect of confirmation, or the careless receiving of that holy rite.
5. We perceive it in unhappy marriages, or the breach of the marriage vow.
6. We perceive it in the relapse into sin of those who, when they had thought themselves dying, made to the priest the most earnest professions of repentance.C. C. Spencer.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar. 8:2. Waiting on Christ.

1. If we have real spiritual hunger, we shall not soon weary of waiting on Christ.
2. Christ will take good care of those who are earnestly following Him.
3. Christ watches just as lovingly over our physical needs as over the welfare of the soul.

Christs compassion.How confidently, then, may the believer reckon upon the compassion of his Lord! How should the knowledge of it lead him to cast all his care upon Him. In every circumstance of his life Jesus feels for him, and is watching over him, and is ordering all things for his good. Only let faith be in active exercise, and realise this truth. Distrust will only cause us to err.H. Caddell.

Mar. 8:3. Christs knowledge of human nature.Why did these people not faint now? Simply because there was something to absorb their thoughts now, and thus make them forgetful of their hunger. We have travelled before now with a companion, and have been charmed by his personality and utterances. We became almost unconscious of time or space. Then the hour came when we had to say Good-bye, and to walk home without the inspiration of his presence. Oh, how weak and wearied we then felt! Everything told us that we had exhausted our body under the continuous strain. But we did not realise all that while our friend was near. Now Christ, who knows our nature, knew all this. Oh, we rejoice to know that Jesus enters into these little details of human experience, that His pity covers all possibilities of failure arising from the weakness of our flesh or aught else!D. Davies.

Mar. 8:4. Forgetfulness of former mercies.Do we act more consistently even now, with all our increase of light and of spiritual experience? Is it not too often true of us, even now, that, though we have heard with our ears and have ourselves witnessed the noble and merciful works which God has done, we still cry with only a faltering faith, Oh, Lord, arise, help us and deliver us? It is so with regard to His providential dealings; it is so with regard to His gifts of grace. Each new difficulty appears too great for us; at each recurring necessity we feel as if we should be overpowered by Satan and by the many perplexities which surround us. We all have need to pray for that ripeness of faith and that clearness of spiritual discernment which would enable us under sudden dangers to rely undoubtingly upon Him who has so often saved us, and in the midst of temptations to rest with confidence upon that Divine grace the power of which has so often been displayed to ourselves and others, and which never faileth those who trust to it.

Mar. 8:6-7. The law of increase.It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone (Deu. 8:3). The true bread is Christ, who was given to us at baptism, that He might live in us and bring forth fruit. On this grace we depend for all good. Would we have Him to increase, we must note and imitate His action in this miracle.

1. He had faith in His own Divine power. So have we in grace. Did we look at difficulties, our hearts would fail. We must look only to Him; believe that He has called us; believe that He gives us power to obey.

2. He used ordinary means: so we; no special calls needed; in the midst of daily life we may become perfect. For example, there are duty, temptations, sacrifices, trials.

3. He gave thanks: so let us even for small mercies; we must not let blessings ravel out.

4. Liberality toward others. Grace is meant to be used. If its fire has really kindled in our hearts, we must diffuse the warmth. But the very act of imparting blessing brings an increase to ourselves (Pro. 11:25; Job. 42:10).A. G. Jackson.

No waste in Gods work.When God interrupts the ordinary course of His providence, it is not for the purpose of surprising and astounding mens minds, but in order to bring about His own designs. Hence it is that we never see any waste either of energy or material in His works. And thus does He proceed in supplying the wants of His people. He does it so as to make it plainly appear that the supply is Gods work, and yet not so as to be altogether out of the course of natural things.H. Caddell.

Our wants Christs care.Jesus created a supply out of what the disciples had, and not out of nothing. In like manner, if His people daily follow Him in faith, if this is the first and prominent object of their lives, and if, in subordination to this, they are diligent and laborious in their callings in life, and seek His blessing on all their earnings, He will take care that they never want. His hand, though unseen, except by the eye of faith, shall break and bless their daily meal. They shall ever have enough. And the secret of it will be that Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith presides also over all their temporal concerns, makes their wants His care, becomes a daily guest at their table, and draws out to the extent of their wants the slender meal which, by His blessing, their faithful diligence has already provided.Ibid.

Christ will not fail us in the hour of need.If we follow the Lord into the wilderness, if for His sake we are content to give up much which the world holds valuable, to forego some of its lawful pleasures, if in His service we forget to make provision for the flesh, He will not fail us in our hour of necessity, but will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory, feed our souls with the hidden manna of His sweetness, and give us such temporal blessings as may best minister to our eternal good.S. W. Skeffington.

Mar. 8:8. Religious frugality.There is a wide difference between a penurious spirit and a spirit of religious frugality. The former grudges what is used in order that it may hoard up the more for itself. The latter unites a large hospitality with a due sense of responsibility to God in the use of His bountiful gifts. The former is mere covetousness; the latter is wise and godly prudence.H. Caddell.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8

Mar. 8:2. Compassion for the needy.King Oswald of Northumbria accompanied the monk Aidan in his long missionary journeys as interpreter. One day, as he feasted with the monk by his side, the thane, or noble of his war-band, whom he had set to give alms to the poor at his gate, told him of a multitude that still waited fasting without. The king at once bade the untasted meat before him be carried to the poor, and his silver dish be divided piecemeal among them. Aidan seized the royal hand and blessed it. May this hand, he cried, never grow old!

Mar. 8:4. From whence?That question may be asked of us. Who can do this? Not the cleverest or most powerful man living. The man of science can do much. He can open the fields of sky to our gaze with a telescope, and shew us other worlds than ours. He can make steam his slave, and compel it to bear the ship from one side of the world to the other. He can seize upon electricity and make it carry a message at his bidding. But the greatest man of science cannot make an ear of corn grow, nor an apple blossom swell into fruit. Kings can make laws to take away life, but they cannot give life, nor cause it to rain upon the earth, nor make the fields bring forth their increase. From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread? From whence? From heaven. And the one Man who can do this is the Man Christ Jesus, the God Christ Jesus.H. J. Wilmot Buxton.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

3. FEEDING THE FOUR THOUSAND. 8:1-10

TEXT 8:1-10

In those days, when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and some of them are come from far. And his disciples answered him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? and they said, Seven, And he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. And they had a few small fishes: and having blessed them, he commanded to set these also before them, And they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets. And they were about four thousand: and he sent them away. And straightway he entered into the boat with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 8:1-10

364.

Where did the feeding of the four thousand take place?

365.

For how many days had some in the multitude been without food? What does this indicate as to interest in what Jesus was teaching?

366.

Please read the record of the feeding of the five thousand and show at least three contrasts in the comparison of the two incidents.

367.

Note the use of the term fasting in Mar. 8:3. Why worry about them?

368.

Why refer to the district of Decapolis as a desert place.

369.

Does the reply of the disciples in Mar. 8:4 indicate any knowledge of a previous multiplying of loaves? Please read the context carefully.

370.

Did the apostles know what Jesus was going to do before He did it? i.e. with the loaves and the people?

371.

Just what type of bread did they have?

372.

What order did Jesus give to the multitude?

373.

Was it the prayer of thanks for the loaves and fish that resulted in the multiplying of them in the hands of Jesus?

374.

Just how many small flat loaves would it take to feed 4,000? How many small fish?please estimate.

375.

Consider the fact that all ate until they were filled not just a little, but until they were filled. What does this mean to you?

376.

Why gather up the fragments?

377.

Were there actually more than 4,000 fed? Explain.

378.

Had Jesus arrived in a boat? Where was the miracle performed? Cf. Mar. 7:31; Mat. 15:32-38.

COMMENT

TIMESummer A.D. 29.
PLACEIn Decapolis.

PARALLEL ACCOUNTSMat. 15:32-38.

OUTLINE1. The occasion for the miracle, Mar. 8:1. 2. The need for the miracle, Mar. 8:2-3. 3. The disciples and the miracle, Mar. 8:4-5. 4. Preparation for the miracle, Mar. 8:6 a. 5. The miracle, Mar. 8:6 b, Mar. 8:7. 6. The results of the miracle, Mar. 8:8-10.

ANALYSIS

THE OCCASION FOR THE MIRACLE, Mar. 8:1.

In the days of Jesus time in Decapolis.

A great multitude had gathered.

They had nothing to eat.

II. THE NEED FOR THE MIRACLE, Mar. 8:2-3.

Three days without food.

If sent home they would faint on the way.

III.

THE DISCIPLES AND THE MIRACLE, Mar. 8:4-5.

How shall such a multitude be filled?

We have seven loaves.

IV.

PREPARATION FOR THE MIRACLE, Mar. 8:6 a.

Sit down in anticipation of eating.

Gave thanks for the loaves.

THE MIRACLE, Mar. 8:6 b, Mar. 8:7.

By power of His own will he created enough loaves for the multitude.

The apostles were the waiters.

Also blessed and created fish for the multitude.

VI.

THE RESULTS OF THE MIRACLE, Mar. 8:8-10.

They ate and were filled.

Seven large baskets of fragments gathered.

They were dismissed.

Jesus and His disciples departed in a boat for Dalmanutha.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

THE OCCASION FOR THE MIRACLE.

Mar. 8:1. In those days the multitude being very great, etc. We now come to what is called The Second Miracle of the loaves. From the fact that we have two miracles performed almost under the same circumstances, and in the same manner, and the accompanying details very much resembling one another in both cases, we cannot but gather that we have here a peculiar phase of Christs love and power presented to us, and by its repetition commended very urgently to our notice, so that we should be very anxious to realize all that is taught us in these two accounts. It would seem at first sight impossible to do more than repeat what has been before remarked on the two miracles, as related in St. Matthew, and on the first one which has already been fully described in Mark, but it is not so. We have yet many fragments to gather up if nothing is to be lost. In the first place, then, the Lord here takes the initiative.

II.

THE NEED FOR THE MIRACLE.

Mar. 8:2-3. I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, etc. In the former miracle He felt equal compassion for the multitude, but did not express it. The disciples urge upon Him to send them away, and then He, as it were, invites them to suggest some exercise of the mighty power which they had so repeatedly seen put forth by Him. But they can suggest nothing except what is natural, that they should be dismissed to take care of themselves. Now the Lord Himself begins: I have compassion on the multitude, they have been with me three days. If I send them to their own houses, they will faint by the way, etc. Here was the hint given that they should ask Him to do as He had done just before, but apparently not a thought of the former mighty work presented itself. They seem to have altogether forgotten it.

III.

THE DISCIPLES AND THE MIRACLE.

Mar. 8:4. And his disciples answered him, From whence, etc. We marvel at (must not the word be said?) this stupidity, but is it not natural? This surprise arises out of our ignorance of mans heart, of our own hearts, and of the deep root of unbelief therein. It is ever more thus in times of difficulty and distress. All former deliverances are in danger of being forgotten, the mighty interpositions of Gods hand in former passages of mens lives fall out of their memories. Each new difficulty appears insurmountable, as one from which there is no extrication; at each recurring necessity it seems as though the wonders of Gods grace are exhausted, and have come to an end. God may have diverted the Red Sea for Israel, yet no sooner are they on the other side than, because there are no waters to drink, they murmur against Moses, and count that they must perish through thirst (Exo. 17:1-7), crying Is the Lord amongst us or not? Or, to adduce a still nearer parallel, once already the Lord had covered the camp with quails (Exo. 16:13), yet for all this, even Moses himself cannot believe that He will provide flesh for all that multitude. (Trench)

But the backwardness of the Apostles to believe in Christs readiness to feed the multitudes miraculously, is in strong contrast with their readiness to believe in His powers of healing. They had but a short time before urged the Lord to grant the request of the Syrophenician woman, when He seemed unwilling. May it not, in part, have arisen from the infrequency of this sort of miracle? As Theophylact says, He did not always work miracles for the feeding of the multitude, lest they should follow Him for the sake of food.

And may there not be also something typical, something prophetical, about it? Do not many true disciples of the Lord in these days, who thankfully acknowledge the Lords power to cleanse and heal, seem to have their eyes closed to the supernatural or eucharistic feeding, of which this miracle is so remarkable an adumbration?
Again, do we not learn from this miracle how Christ will exercise acts of special providence to help and succour those who are following Him? Is there any life of a poor humble Christian which does not contain some account of interpositions almost supernatural in favour of those who have given up all to follow Him? Dean Hook, in a lecture on this very miracle, gives a striking one: There was an individual who gave up a profitable employment, acting under advice, and not from the mere caprice of his own judgment, because he thought, taking his temptations into account, he could not follow it without peril to his soul, And after many reverses he was reduced to such a state of distress, that the last morsel in the house had been consumed, and he had not bread to give his children, His faith did not, however, forsake him; and when his distress was at the height, he received a visit from one who called to pay him a debt he had never hoped to recover, but the payment of which enabled him to support his family until he again obtained employment. And he adds, Many a similar tale can our poorer brethren tell.

Mar. 8:5. And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? etc. This question was not for information. He knew well how many they had, but he asked it that there should be no mistake about the miraculous nature of the feeding. There were two more loaves and a somewhat smaller multitude than on the former occasion, but this does not, in the smallest degree, affect the character of the mighty work.

IV.

PREPARATION FOR THE MIRACLE.

Mar. 8:6. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground, etc. From the fact that it is expressly mentioned in the account of the former miracle, that there was much grass in the place, and that they sat by companies on the green grass, it has been argued with much probability that this second miracle took place at a much later time in the year, when the grass had been dried up by the scorching rays of the sun.

And gave thanks. We have before noticed the symbolical character of this giving thanks as foreshadowing the Eucharistic Benediction; but we learn also from it a more homely lesson, how that for all food, whenever received, thanks should be rendered, and we also learn how we ought to be thankful for all means and opportunities of doing good. The thanks of the Lord would be tendered to His father not only in anticipation of the actual food soon to be so. marvellously provided, but for the opportunity of showing forth the Divine glory and power, and also of relieving the wants of so many who were following Him for a good purpose.
And gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples, etc. From the circumstantiality with which these details are given in each of the four accounts, it is clear that there is some particular lesson which the Lord and His Spirit would have us draw from this. That lesson seems to be that the true feeding in the Church of Christ is not that each man should

take for himself, but that all that can be called food is to be given through ministerial intervention.
V.

THE MIRACLE.

Mar. 8:7. And they had a few small fishes . . . seven baskets . . . sent them away. From the mention of a few small fishes, it seems evident that the disciples gave all their provisions of every kind for the sustentation of the multitude; but notwithstanding this they were not in want, for a much larger quantity of fragments or broken pieces was taken up than in the case of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand: the word here used signifying hampers or panniers, rather than baskets. The same word is used to denote the basket in which St. Paul was let down from the walls of Damascus (2Co. 11:33).

VI.

THE RESULTS OF THE MIRACLE.

Mar. 8:10. And straightway he entered into a ship . . . parts of Dalmanutha. Dr. Thomson, in The Land and the Book, thinks that he can identify this place with a certain Dalhamia, about half-way down on the western side of the Lake. It is about two miles south of El Medjet, which has been supposed to be the site of the ancient Magdala (or Magadan) (Mat. 15:39). (M.F. Sadler)

FACT QUESTIONS 8:1-10

417.

What difference would it make if we did feel the two accounts of feeding the multitudes were actually two versions of the same event?

418.

Please show at least three distinct differences in the two records.

419.

Why did the disciples ask the question of Mar. 8:4? Please attempt an answer.

420.

Jesus did not ask the disciples to give them to eat, (as he did before)What does this mean?

421.

At what point in the events did the miracle occur?

422.

Which baskets were the largestthe ones here or the ones in the feeding of the 5,000?

423.

What type of miracle occurred here?

424.

Locate Dalmanutha on the map.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

SUMMARY 7:248:13

This section contains an account of three more remarkable miraclesthe expulsion of a demon from the Gentile womans daughter; the restoration of speech and hearing to the deaf stammerer; and the feeding of four thousand men with seven barley loaves and a few small fishes. By these the divine power of Jesus is once more exhibited. The section also exhibits the tenderness of his compassion in his dealing with the Gentile woman and the hungry multitude, and his judicial indignation against hypocrisy in his conversation with the Pharisees. These are attributes of character which, though they do not prove their possessor to have been superhuman, are necessary to that perfection of character which must be found in the Son of God.McGarvey.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

VIII.

(1) In those days.See Notes on Mat. 15:32-38

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 8

COMPASSION AND CHALLENGE ( Mar 8:1-10 )

8:1-10 In those days, when there was again a great crowd, and when they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have stayed with me now for three days, and they have nothing to eat. If I send them away to their homes still fasting, they will faint on the road; and some of them have come from a long distance.” His disciples answered him, “Where could anyone get bread to satisfy them in a desert place like this?” He asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and gave thanks for them and broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they set them before the crowd, and they had a few small fishes. So he blessed them and told them to set them before them too. So they ate until they were completely satisfied. They gathered up what remained over of the broken pieces–seven baskets. There were about four thousand people there. So he sent them away, and immediately he embarked on the boat with his disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

There are two things closely intertwined in this incident.

(i) There is the compassion of Jesus. Over and over again we see Jesus moved with compassion for men. The most amazing thing about him is his sheer considerateness. Now considerateness is a virtue which never forgets the details of life. Jesus looked at the crowd; they had been with him for three days; and he remembered that they had a long walk home. He whose task it was to bring the splendour and the majesty of the truth and love of God to men might have had a mind above thinking of what was going to happen to his congregation on their walk home. But Jesus was not like that. Confront Jesus with a lost soul or a tired body and his first instinct was to help.

It is all too true that the first instinct of too many people is not to help. I met a man once at a conference and was discussing with him the dangers of a certain stretch of road on the way to the town where we were. “Yes,” he said. “It’s a right bad bit of road. I saw a crash on it as I drove here today.” “Did you stop and help?” I asked. “Not me,” he said, “I wasn’t going to be held up by getting mixed up in a thing like that.” It is human to want to avoid the trouble of giving help; it is divine to be moved with such compassion and pity that we are compelled to help.

(ii) There is the challenge of Jesus. When Jesus had pity on the crowd and wished to give them something to eat, the disciples immediately pointed out the practical difficulty that they were in a desert place and that there was nowhere within miles where any food could be got. At once Jesus flashed the question back at them, “What have you got wherewith you may help?” Compassion became a challenge. In effect Jesus was saying, “Don’t try to push the responsibility for helping on to someone else. Don’t say that you would help if you had only something to give. Don’t say that in these circumstances to help is impossible. Take what you have and give it and see what happens.”

One of the most joyous of all Jewish feasts is the Feast of Purim. It falls on the 14th March and commemorates the deliverance of which the Book of Esther tells. Above all it is a time of giving gifts; and one of its regulations is that, no matter how poor a man is, he must seek out someone poorer than himself and give him a gift. Jesus has no time for the spirit which waits until all the circumstances are perfect before it thinks of helping. Jesus says, “If you see someone in trouble, help him with what you have. You never know what you may do.”

There are two interesting things in the background of this story.

The first is this. This incident happened on the far side of the Sea of Galilee in the district called the Decapolis. Why did this tremendous 4,000 crowd assemble? There is no doubt that the healing of the deaf man with the impediment in his speech would help to arouse interest and to collect the crowd.

But one commentator has made a most interesting suggestion. In Mar 5:1-20, we have already read how Jesus cured the Gerasene demoniac. That incident also happened in the Decapolis. Its result was that they urged Jesus to go away. But the cured demoniac wished to follow Jesus, and Jesus sent him back to his own people to tell them what great things the Lord had done for him. Is it just possible that part of this great crowd was due to the missionary activity of the healed demoniac? Have we got here a glimpse of what the witness of one man can do for Christ? Were there people in the crowd that day who came to Christ and found their souls because a man had told them what Christ had done for him? John Bunyan tells how he owed his conversion to the fact that he heard three or four old women talking, as they sat in the sun, “about a new birth, the work of God in their hearts.” They were talking of what God had done for them. It may well be that there were many that day in that crowd in Decapolis who were there because they had heard a man telling what Jesus Christ had done for him.

The second thing is this. It is odd that the word for basket is different in this story from the word used in the similar story in Mar 6:1-56. In Mar 6:44, the word for basket is kophinos ( G2894) , which describes the basket in which the Jew carried his food, a basket narrow at the top and wider at the foot, and rather like a water pot. The word used here is sphuris ( G4711) , which describes a basket like a hamper, a frail is the technical term; it was in that kind of basket that Paul was let down over the wall of Damascus ( Act 9:25); and it describes the basket which the Gentiles used. This incident happened in the Decapolis, which was on the far side of the lake and had a large Gentile population. Is it possible that we are to see in the feeding of the multitude in Mar 6:1-56 the coming of the bread of God to the Jews, and in this incident the coming of the bread of God to the Gentiles? When we put these two stories together, is there somewhere at the back of them the suggestion and the forecast and the symbol that Jesus came to satisfy the hunger of Jew and Gentile alike, that in him, in truth, was the God who opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing?

THE BLINDNESS WHICH DESIRES A SIGN ( Mar 8:11-13 )

8:11-13 The Pharisees came out and began to ask him questions. They were looking for a sign from heaven, and they were trying to test him. He sighed in his spirit and said to them, “Why does this generation look for a sign? This is the truth I tell you–no sign will be given to this generation.” He sent them away and he again embarked on the boat, and went away to the other side.

The whole tendency of the age in which Jesus lived was to look for God in the abnormal. It was believed that when the Messiah came the most startling things would happen. Before we reach the end of this chapter we shall examine more closely, and in detail, the kind of signs which were expected. We may note just now that when false Messiahs arose, as they frequently did, they lured the people to follow them by promising astonishing signs. They would promise, for instance, to cleave the waters of the Jordan in two and leave a pathway through it, or they would promise, with a word, to make the city watts fall down.

It was a sign like that that the Pharisees were demanding. They wished to see some shattering event blazing across the horizon, defying the laws of nature and astonishing men. To Jesus such a demand was not due to the desire to see the hand of God; it was due to the fact that they were blind to his hand. To Jesus the whole world was full of signs; the corn in the field, the leaven in the loaf, the scarlet anemones on the hillside all spoke to him of God. He did not think that God had to break in from outside the world; he knew that God was already in the world for anyone who had eyes to see. The sign of the truly religious man is not that he comes to Church to find God but that he finds God everywhere, not that he makes a great deal of sacred places but that he sanctifies common places.

That is what the poets knew and felt, and that is why they were poets. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”

Thomas Edward Brown wrote:

“A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

Rose plot,

Fringed pool,

Fern’s grot–

The veriest school

Of peace; and yet the fool

Contends that God is not–

Not God! In gardens! when the eve is cool?

Nay, but I have a sign;

‘Tis very sure God walks in mine.”

And still another poet wrote:

“One asked a sign from God; and day by day

The sun arose in pearl; in scarlet set;

Each night the stars appeared in bright array;

Each morn the thirsty grass with dew was wet;

The corn failed not its harvest, nor the vine

And yet he saw no sign!”

From him who has eyes to see and a heart to understand, the daily miracle of night and day and the daily splendour of all common things are sign enough from God.

THE FAILURE TO LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE ( Mar 8:14-21 )

8:14-21 They had forgotten to bring loaves, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Look to it! Beware of the evil influence of the Pharisees and of the evil influence of Herod!” They kept discussing the situation among themselves, and saying, “We have no loaves.” Jesus knew what they were saying. “Why,” he said, “do you keep talking about the fact that you have no loaves? Do you not yet see and understand? Is your mind completely obtuse? Do you not see although you have eyes? Do you not hear although you have ears? Do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves and gave them to the five thousand how many basketsful of broken pieces did you take up?” “Twelve,” they said to him. “When I broke the seven loaves among the four thousand how many basketsful of broken pieces did you take up?” “Seven,” they said to him. So he said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

This passage sheds a very vivid light on the minds of the disciples. They were crossing over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and they had forgotten to bring bread with them. We will best get the meaning of this passage if we connect it closely with what goes before. Jesus was thinking of the demand of Pharisees for a sign and also thinking of Herod’s terrified reaction to himself. “Beware,” he said, to translate it literally, “of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” To the Jew leaven was the symbol of evil. Leaven was a piece of dough kept over from a previous baking and fermented. To the Jew fermentation was identified with putrefaction and therefore leaven stood for evil.

Sometimes the Jew used the word leaven much as we would use the term original sin, or the natural evil of human nature. Rabbi Alexander said, “It is revealed before thee that our will is to do thy will. And what hinders? The leaven that is in the dough and slavery to the kingdoms of the world. May it be thy will to deliver us from their hand.” it was, so to speak, the taint of human nature, original sin, the corrupting leaven which kept man from doing the will of God. So when Jesus said this, he was saying, “Be on your guard against the evil influence of the Pharisees and of Herod. Don’t you go the same way that the Pharisees and Herod have already gone.”

What is the point? What possible connection is there between the Pharisees and Herod? The Pharisees had just asked for a sign. For a Jew–we shall see this more fully shortly–nothing was easier than to think of the Messiah in terms of wonders and conquests and miraculous happenings and nationalistic triumphs and political supremacy. Herod had tried to build up happiness through the gaining of power and wealth and influence and prestige. In one sense, for both the Pharisees and Herod the Kingdom of God was an earthly Kingdom; it was based on earthly power and greatness, and on the victories that force could win. It was as if Jesus by this detached hint was already preparing the disciples for something very soon to come. It was as if he was saying, “Maybe soon it will dawn on you that I am God’s Anointed One, the Messiah. When that thought does come don’t think in terms of earthly power and glory as the Pharisees and Herod do.” Of the true meaning at the moment he said nothing. That grim revelation was still to come.

In point of fact this hint of Jesus passed clean over the disciples’ heads. They could think of nothing but the fact that they had forgotten to bring loaves, and that, unless something happened, they would go hungry. Jesus saw their preoccupation with bread. It may well be that he asked his questions, not with anger, but with a smile, like one who tries to lead a slow child to see a self-evident truth. He reminded them that twice he had satisfied the hunger of huge crowds with food enough and to spare. It is as if he said, “Why all the worry? Don’t you remember what happened before? Hasn’t experience taught you that you don’t need to worry about things like that if you are with me?”

The odd fact is that we learn only half the lessons of experience. Too often experience fills us with pessimism, teaches us what we cannot do, teaches us to view life with a kind of resigned hopelessness. But there are other experiences. Sorrow came–and we came through it still erect. Temptation came–and somehow we did not fall. Illness took us–and somehow we recovered. A problem seemed insoluble–and somehow it was solved. We were at our wits’ end–and somehow we went on. We reached the breaking point–and somehow we did not break. We, too, are blind. If we would only read the lessons of experience aright, it would teach us not the pessimism of the things that cannot be, but the hope which stands amazed that God has brought us thus far in safety and in certainty and the confidence that God can bring us through anything that may happen.

A BLIND MAN LEARNS TO SEE ( Mar 8:22-26 )

8:22-26 They came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to him and asked him to touch him. He took the blind man’s hand and took him outside the village. He spat into his eyes and laid his hands on him, and asked him, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see men, but I see them walking looking like trees.” Again he laid his hands on his eyes. He gazed intently, and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. He sent him away to his home. “Do not,” he said, “even enter into the village.”

Blindness was, and still is, one of the great curses of the East. It was caused partly by ophthalmia and partly by the pitiless glare of the sun. It was greatly aggravated by the fact that people knew nothing of hygiene and of cleanliness. It was common to see a person with matter-encrusted eyes on which the flies persistently settled. Naturally this carried the infection far and wide, and blindness was a scourge.

Only Mark tells us this story, and yet there are certain extremely interesting things in it.

(i) Again we see the unique considerateness of Jesus. He took the blind man out of the crowd and out of the village that he might be alone with him. Why? Think about it. This man was blind and apparently had been born blind. If he had been suddenly given back his sight amidst a crowd, there would have flashed upon his newly-seeing eyes hundreds of people and things, and dazzling colours, so that he would have been completely bewildered. Jesus knew it would be far better if he could be taken to a place where the thrill of seeing would break less suddenly upon him.

Every great doctor and every great teacher has one outstanding characteristic. The great doctor is able to enter into the very mind and heart of his patient; he understands his fears and his hopes; he literally sympathises–suffers–with him. The great teacher enters into the very mind of his scholar. He sees his problems, his difficulties, his stumbling-blocks. That is why Jesus was so supremely great. He could enter into the mind and heart of the people whom he sought to help. He had the gift of considerateness, because he could think with their thoughts and feel with their feelings. God grant to us this Christlike gift.

(ii) Jesus used methods that the man could understand. The ancient world believed in the healing power of spittle. The belief is not so strange when we remember that it is a first instinct to put a cut or burned finger into our mouth to ease the pain. Of course the blind man knew of this and Jesus used a method of curing him which he could understand. Jesus was wise. He did not begin with words and methods which were far above the heads of simple folk. He spoke to them and acted on them in a way that simple minds could grasp and understand. There have been times when unintelligibility has been accounted a virtue and a sign of greatness. Jesus had the still greater greatness–the greatness which a simple mind could grasp.

(iii) In one thing this miracle is unique–it is the only miracle which can be said to have happened gradually. Usually Jesus’ miracles happened suddenly and completely. In this miracle the blind man’s sight came back in stages.

There is symbolic truth here. No man sees all God’s truth all at once. One of the dangers of a certain type of evangelism is that it encourages the idea that when a man has taken his decision for Christ he is a full-grown Christian. One of the dangers of Church membership is that it can be presented in such a way as to imply that when a person becomes a pledged member of the Church he has come to the end of the road. So far from that being the case the decision and the pledge of membership are the beginning of the road. They are the discovery of the riches of Christ which are inexhaustible, and if a man lived a hundred, or a thousand, or a million years, he would still have to go on growing in grace, and learning more and more about the infinite wonder and beauty of Jesus Christ. F. W. H. Myers, in his poem Saint Paul, makes Paul say:

“Let no man think that sudden in a minute

All is accomplished and the work is done–

Though with thine earliest dawn thou shouldst begin it

Scarce were it ended in thy setting sun.”

It is gloriously true that sudden conversion is a gracious possibility, but it is equally true that every day a man should be re-converted. With all God’s grace and glory before him he can go on learning for a life time and still need eternity to know as he is known.

THE GREAT DISCOVERY ( Mar 8:27-30 )

8:27-30 Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the road he asked his disciples a question. “Who,” he said to them, “do men say that I am?” They said to him, “Some say, John the Baptizer; others say, Elijah; others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “You–who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are God’s Anointed One.” And he insisted that they should tell no man about him.

Caesarea Philippi was outside Galilee altogether. It was not in the territory of Herod, but in the territory of Philip. It was a town with an amazing history. In the oldest days it was called Balinas, for it had once been a great centre of the worship of Baal. To this day it is called Banias, which is a form of Panias. It is so called because up on the hillside there was a cavern which was said to be the birthplace of the Greek God, Pan, the god of nature. From a cave in the hillside gushed forth a stream which was held to be the source of the River Jordan. Farther up on the hillside rose a gleaming temple of white marble which Philip had built to the godhead of Caesar, the Roman Emperor, the ruler of the world, who was regarded as a god.

It is an amazing thing that it was here of all places that Peter saw in a homeless Galilaean carpenter the Son of God. The ancient religion of Palestine was in the air, and the memories of Baal clustered around. The gods of classical Greece brooded over the place, and no doubt men heard the pipes of Pan and caught a glimpse of the woodland nymphs. The Jordan would bring back to memory episode after episode in the history of Israel and the conquest of the land. And clear in the eastern sun gleamed and glinted the marble of the holy place which reminded all men that Caesar was a god. There, of all places, as it were against the background of all religions and all history, Peter discovered that a wandering teacher from Nazareth, who was heading for a cross, was the Son of God. There is hardly anything in all the gospel story which shows the sheer force of the personality of Jesus as does this incident. It comes in the very middle of Mark’s gospel and it does so designedly. for it comes at the gospel’s peak moment. In one way at least this moment was the crisis of Jesus’ life. Whatever his disciples might be thinking, he knew for certain that ahead lay an inescapable cross. Things could not go on much longer. The opposition was gathering itself to strike. The problem confronting Jesus was this–had he had any effect at all? Had he achieved anything? Or, to put it another way, had anyone discovered who he really was? If he had lived and taught and moved amongst men and no one had glimpsed God in him, then all his work had gone for nothing. There was only one way he could leave a message with men and that was to write it on some man’s heart.

So, in this moment, Jesus put all things to the test. He asked his disciples what men were saying about him, and he heard from them the popular rumours and reports. Then came a breathless silence and he put the question which meant so much, “Who do you say that I am?” And suddenly Peter realized what he had always known deep down in his heart. This was the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God. And with that answer Jesus knew that he had not failed.

Now we come to a question which has been half-put and half-answered more than once before, but which now must be answered in detail or the whole gospel story is not fully intelligible. No sooner had Peter made this discovery than Jesus told him he must tell no man of it. Why? Because, first and foremost, Jesus had to teach Peter and the others what Messiahship really meant. To understand the task that Jesus had in hand and to understand the real meaning of this necessity, we have to enquire at some length what the Messianic ideas of the time of Jesus really were.

The Jewish Ideas Of The Messiah

Throughout all their existence the Jews never forgot that they were in a very special sense God’s chosen people. Because of that, they naturally looked to a very special place in the world. In the early days they looked forward to achieving that position by what we might call natural means. They always regarded the greatest days in their history as the days of David; and they dreamed of a day when there would arise another king of David’s line, a king who would make them great in righteousness and in power. ( Isa 9:7; Isa 11:1; Jer 22:4; Jer 23:5; Jer 30:9.)

But as time went on it came to be pitilessly clear that this dreamed-of greatness would never be achieved by natural means. The ten tribes were carried off to Assyria and lost forever. The Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and carried the Jews away captive. Then came the Persians as their masters; then the Greeks; then the Romans. So far from knowing anything like dominion, for centuries the Jews never even knew what it was to be completely free and independent.

So another line of thought grew up. It is true that the idea of a great king of David’s line never entirely vanished and was always intertwined in some way with their thought; but more and more they began to dream of a day when God would intervene in history and achieve by supernatural means that which natural means could never achieve. They looked for divine power to do what human power was helpless to do.

In between the Testaments were written a whole flood of books which were dreams and forecasts of this new age and the intervention of God. As a class they are called Apocalypses. The word literally means unveilings. These books were meant to be unveilings of the future. It is to them that we must turn to find out what the Jews believed in the time of Jesus about the Messiah and the work of the Messiah and the new age. It is against their dreams that we must set the dream of Jesus.

In these books certain basic ideas occur. We follow here the classification of these ideas given by Schurer, who wrote A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ.

(i) Before the Messiah came there would be a time of terrible tribulation. There would be a Messianic travail. It would be the birth-pangs of a new age. Every conceivable terror would burst upon the world; every standard of honour and decency would be torn down; the world would become a physical and moral chaos.

“And honour shall be turned into shame,

And strength humiliated into contempt,

And probity destroyed,

And beauty shall become ugliness…

And envy shall rise in those who had not thought

aught of themselves,

And passion shall seize him that is peaceful,

And many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many,

And they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood,

And in the end they shall perish together with them.”

(2Baruch 27.)

There would be, “quakings of places, tumult of peoples, schemings of nations, confusion of leaders, disquietude of princes.” (4 Ezr 9:3.)

“From heaven shall fall fiery words down to the earth. Lights

shall come, bright and great, flashing into the midst of men; and

earth, the universal mother, shall shake in these days at the hand

of the Eternal. And the fishes of the sea and the beasts of the

earth and the countless tribes of flying things and all the souls

of men and every sea shall shudder at the presence of the Eternal

and there shall be panic. And the towering mountain peaks and the

hills of the giants he shall rend, and the murky abyss shall be

visible to all. And the high ravines in the lofty mountains shall

be full of dead bodies and rocks shall flow with blood and each

torrent shall flood the plain…. And God shall judge all with war

and sword, and there shall be brimstone from heaven, yea stones

and rain and hail incessant and grievous. And death shall be upon

the four-footed beasts…. Yea the land itself shall drink of the

blood of the perishing and beasts shall eat their fill of flesh.”

(The Sibylline Oracles 3:363ff.)

The Mishnah enumerates as signs that the coming of the Messiah is near,

“That arrogance increases, ambition shoots up, that the vine

yields fruit yet wine is dear. The government turns to heresy.

There is no instruction. the synagogue is devoted to lewdness.

Galilee is destroyed, Gablan laid waste. The inhabitants of a

district go from city to city without finding compassion. The

wisdom of the learned is hated, the godly despised, truth is

absent. Boys insult old men, old men stand in the presence of

children. The son depreciates the father, the daughter rebels

against the mother, the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law.

A man’s enemies are his house-fellows.”

The time which preceded the coming of the Messiah was to be a time when the world was torn in pieces and every bond relaxed. The physical and the moral order would collapse.

(ii) Into this chaos there would come Elijah as the forerunner and herald of the Messiah. He was to heal the breaches and bring order into the chaos to prepare the way for the Messiah. in particular he was to mend disputes. In fact the Jewish oral law laid it down that money and property whose ownership was disputed, or anything found whose owner was unknown, must wait “till Elijah comes.” When Elijah came the Messiah would not be far behind.

(iii) Then there would enter the Messiah. The word Messiah and the word Christ mean the same thing. Messiah is the Hebrew and Christ is the Greek for the Anointed One. A king was made king by anointing and the Messiah was God’s Anointed King. It is important to remember that Christ is not a name; it is a title. Sometimes the Messiah was thought of as a king of David’s line, but more often he was thought of as a great, super-human figure crashing into history to remake the world and in the end to vindicate God’s people.

(iv) The nations would ally themselves and gather themselves together against the champion of God.

“The kings of the nations shall throw themselves against this

land bringing retribution on themselves. They shall seek to

ravage the shrine of the mighty God and of the noblest men

whensoever they come to the land. In a ring round the city the

accursed kings shall place each one his throne with his infidel

people by him. And then with a mighty voice God shall speak unto

all the undisciplined, empty-minded people and judgment shall

come upon them from the mighty God, and all shall perish at the

hand of the Eternal.” (Sibylline Oracles 3: 363-372.)

“It shall be that when all the nations hear his (the Messiah’s)

voice, every man shall leave his own land and the warfare they

have one against the other, and an innumerable multitude shall be

gathered together desiring to fight against him.”

(4Ezra 13:33-35.)

(v) The result would be the total destruction of these hostile powers. Philo said that the Messiah would “take the field and make war and destroy great and populous nations.”

“He shall reprove them for their ungodliness,

Rebuke them for their unrighteousness,

Reproach them to their faces with their treacheries–

And when he has rebuked them he shall destroy them.”

(4Ezra 12:32-33.)

“And it shall come to pass in those days that none shall be saved,

Either by gold or by silver,

And none shall be able to escape.

And there shall be no iron for war,

Nor shall one clothe oneself with a breastplate.

Bronze shall be of no service,

And tin shall not be esteemed,

And lead shall not be desired.

And all things shall be destroyed from the surface of the earth.”

(Enoch5 2:7-9.)

The Messiah will be the most destructive conqueror in history, smashing his enemies into utter extinction.

(vi) There would follow the renovation of Jerusalem. Sometimes this was thought of as the purification of the existing city. More often it was thought of as the coming down of the new Jerusalem from heaven. The old house was to be folded up and carried away, and in the new one, “All the pillars were new and the ornaments larger than those of the first.” (Enoch 90:28-29.)

(vii) The Jews who were dispersed all over the world would be gathered into the city of the new Jerusalem. To this day the Jewish daily prayer includes the petition, “Lift up a banner to gather our dispersed and assemble us from the four end?, of the earth.” The eleventh of the Psalms of Solomon has a noble picture of that return.

“Blow ye in Zion on the trumpet to summon the saints,

Cause ye to be heard in Jerusalem the voice of him that

bringeth good tidings;

For God hath had pity on Israel in visiting them.

Stand on the height, O Jerusalem, and behold thy children,

From the East and the West, gathered together by the Lord,

From the North they come in the gladness of their God,

From the isles afar off God hath gathered them.

High mountains hath he abased into a plain for them;

The hills fled at their entrance.

The woods gave them shelter as they passed by;

Every sweet-smelling tree God caused to spring up for them,

That Israel might pass by in the visitation of the glory of

their God.

Put on, O Jerusalem, thy glorious garments;

Make ready thy holy robe;

For God hath spoken good for Israel forever and ever,

Let the Lord do what he hath spoken concerning Israel and

Jerusalem;

Let the Lord raise up Israel by his glorious name.

The mercy of the Lord be upon Israel forever and ever.”

It can easily be seen how Jewish this new world was to be. The nationalistic element is dominant all the time.

(viii) Palestine would be the centre of the world and the rest of the world subject to it. All the nations would be subdued.

Sometimes it was thought of as a peaceful subjugation.

“And all the isles and the cities shall say, How doth the

Eternal love those men! For all things work in sympathy with them

and help them…. Come let us all fall upon the earth and

supplicate the eternal King, the mighty, everlasting God. Let us

make procession to his Temple, for he is the sole Potentate.”

(Sibylline Oracles 3:690ff.)

More often the fate of the Gentiles was utter destruction at which Israel would exult and rejoice.

“And he will appear to punish the Gentiles,

And he will destroy all their idols.

Then, thou, O Israel, shalt be happy.

And thou shalt mount upon the necks and the wings of the eagle

(i.e., Rome, the eagle, is to be destroyed)

And they shall be ended and God will exalt thee.

“And thou shalt look from on high

And see thine enemies in Gehenna,

And thou shalt recognize them and rejoice.”

(Assumption of Moses 10:8-10.)

It was a grim picture. Israel would rejoice to see her enemies broken and in hell. Even the dead Israelites were to be raised up to share in the new world.

(ix) Finally, there would come the new age of peace and goodness which would last forever.

These are the Messianic ideas which were in the minds of men when Jesus came. They were violent, nationalistic, destructive, vengeful. True, they ended in the perfect reign of God, but they came to it through a bath of blood and a career of conquest. Think of Jesus set against a background like that. No wonder he had to re-educate his disciples in the meaning of Messiahship; and no wonder they crucified him in the end as a heretic. There was no room for a cross and there was little room for suffering love in a picture like that.

THE TEMPTER SPEAKS IN THE VOICE OF A FRIEND ( Mar 8:31-33 )

8:31-33 He began to teach them that it was necessary that the Son of Man should suffer many things, and should be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and rise again after three days. He kept telling them this plainly. And Peter caught him and began to rebuke him. He turned round; he looked at his disciples; and he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan,” he said. “These are not God’s thoughts but men’s.”

It is against the background of what we have just seen of the common conception of the Messiah that we must read this. When Jesus connected Messiahship with suffering and death, he was making statements that were to the disciples both incredible and incomprehensible. All their lives they had thought of the Messiah in terms of irresistible conquest, and they were now being presented with an idea which staggered them. That is why Peter so violently protested. To him the whole thing was impossible.

Why did Jesus so sternly rebuke Peter? Because he was putting into words the very temptations which were assailing Jesus. Jesus did not want to die. He knew that he had powers which he could use for conquest. At this moment he was refighting the battle of temptations in the wilderness. This was the devil tempting him again to fall down and worship him, to take his way instead of God’s way.

It is a strange thing, and sometimes a terrible thing, that the tempter sometimes speaks to us in the voice of a well-meaning friend. We may have decided on a course which is the right course but which will inevitably bring trouble, loss, unpopularity, sacrifice. And some well-meaning friend tries with the best intentions in the world, to stop us. I knew a man who decided to take a course which would almost inevitably land him in trouble. A friend came to him and tried to dissuade him. “Remember,” said the friend, “that you have a wife and a family. You can’t do this.” It is quite possible for someone to love us so much that he wants us to avoid trouble and to play safe.

In Gareth and Lynette Tennyson tells the story of the youngest son of Lot and Bellicent. He has seen the vision and he wishes to become one of Arthur’s knights. Bellicent, his mother, does not wish to let him go.

“Hast thou no pity on my loneliness?” she asks. His father, Lot, is old and “lies like a log and all but smouldered out.” Both his brothers are already at Arthur’s court. “Stay, my best son,” she says, “ye are yet more boy than man.” If he stays she will arrange the hunt to keep him happy in the chase and find some princess to be his bride. The boy has had the vision, and, one by one the mother, who loves him dearly, produces reasons, excellent reasons, why he should stay at home. Someone who loves him speaks with the tempter’s voice, all unaware that she is doing it. But Gareth answers,

“O Mother,

How can ye keep me tethered to you–Shame.

Man am I grown, a man’s work must I do.

Follow the deer? Follow the Christ, the King,

Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King–

Else, wherefore born?”

So Gareth went when the vision called.

The tempter can make no more terrible attack than in the voice of those who love us and who think they seek only our good. That is what happened to Jesus that day; that is why he answered so sternly. Not even the pleading voice of love must silence for us the imperious voice of God.

THE WAY OF THE DISCIPLE ( Mar 8:34-35 )

8:34-35 He called the crowd to him, together with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and let him take up his cross, and let him follow me.”

This part of Mark’s gospel is so near the heart and centre of the Christian faith that we must take it almost sentence by sentence. If each day a man could go out with only one of these sentences locked in his heart and dominating his life, it would be far more than enough to be going on with.

Two things stand out here even at first sight.

(i) There is the almost startling honesty of Jesus. No one could ever say that he was induced to follow Jesus by false pretences. Jesus never tried to bribe men by the offer of an easy way. He did not offer men peace; he offered them glory. To tell a man he must be ready to take up a cross was to tell him he must be ready to be regarded as a criminal and to die.

The honesty of great leaders has always been one of their characteristics. In the days of the Second World War, when Sir Winston Churchill took over the leadership of the country, all that he offered men was “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Garibaldi, the great Italian patriot, appealed for recruits in these terms: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country in his heart, and not with his lips only, follow me.” “Soldiers, all our efforts against superior forces have been unavailing. I have nothing to offer you but hunger and thirst, hardship and death; but I call on all who love their country to join with me.”

Jesus never sought to lure men to him by the offer of an easy way; he sought to challenge them, to waken the sleeping chivalry in their souls, by the offer of a way than which none could be higher and harder. He came not to make life easy but to make men great.

(ii) There is the fact that Jesus never called on men to do or face anything which he was not prepared to do and face himself. That indeed is the characteristic of the leader whom men will follow.

When Alexander the Great set out in pursuit of Darius, he made one of the wonder marches of history. In eleven days he marched his men thirty-three hundred furlongs. They were very nearly giving up, mainly because of thirst, for there was no water. Plutarch relates the story. “While they were in this distress, it happened that some Macedonians who had fetched water in skins upon their mules from a river they had found out came about noon to the place where Alexander was, and seeing him almost choked with thirst, presently fined an helmet and offered it to him. He asked them to whom they were carrying the water; they told him to their children, adding, that if his life were but saved, it was no matter for them, they should be well enough able to repair that loss, though they all perished. Then he took the helmet into his hands, and looking round about, when he saw all those who were near him stretching their heads out and looking earnestly after the drink, he returned it again with thanks without tasting a drop of it. ‘For,’ he said, ‘if I alone should drink, the rest would be out of heart.’ The soldiers no sooner took notice of his temperance and magnanimity upon this occasion, but they, one and all, cried out to him to lead them forward boldly, and began whipping on their horses. For while they had such a king they said they defied both weariness and thirst, and looked upon themselves to be little less than immortal.” It was easy to follow a leader who never demanded from his men what he would not endure himself.

There was a famous Roman general, Quintus Fabius Cunctator. He was discussing with his staff how to take a difficult position. Someone suggested a certain course of action. “It will only cost the lives of a few men,” this counsellor said. Fabius looked at him. “Are you,” he said, “willing to be one of the few?”

Jesus was not the kind of leader who sat remote and played with the lives of men like expendable pawns. What he demanded that they should face, he, too, was ready to face. Jesus had a right to call on us to take up a cross, for he himself first bore one.

(iii) Jesus said of the man who would be his disciple, “Let him deny himself.” We will understand the meaning of this demand best if we take it very simply and literally. “Let him say no to himself.” If a man will follow Jesus Christ he must ever say no to himself and yes to Christ. He must say no to his own natural love of ease and comfort. He must say no to every course of action based on self-seeking and self-will. He must say no to the instincts and the desires which prompt him to touch and taste and handle the forbidden things. He must unhesitatingly say yes to the voice and the command of Jesus Christ. He must be able to say with Paul that it is no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him. He lives no longer to follow his own will, but to follow the will of Christ, and in that service he finds his perfect freedom.

FINDING LIFE BY LOSING LIFE ( Mar 8:36 )

8:36 Whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel shall save it.

There are certain things which are lost by being kept and saved by being used. Any talent that a man possesses is like that. If he uses it, it will develop into something still greater. If he refuses to use it he will in the end lose it. Supremely so, life is like that.

History is full of examples of men, who by throwing away their lives, gained life eternal. Late in the fourth century, there was in the East a monk called Telemachus. He had determined to leave the world and to live all alone in prayer and meditation and fasting, and so to save his soul. In his lonely life he sought nothing but contact with God. But somehow he felt there was something wrong. One day as he rose from his knees, it suddenly dawned upon him that his life was based, not on a self-less, but on a selfish love of God. It came to him that if he was to serve God he must serve men, that the desert was no place for a Christian to live, that the cities were full of sin and therefore full of need.

He determined to bid farewell to the desert and set out to the greatest city in the world, Rome, at the other side of the world. He begged his way across lands and seas. By this time Rome was officially Christian. He arrived at a time when Stilicho, the Roman general, had gained a mighty victory over the Goths. To Stilicho was granted a Roman triumph. There was this difference from the old days–now it was to the Christian churches the crowds poured and not to the heathen temples. There were the processions and the celebrations and Stilicho rode in triumph through the streets, with the young Emperor Honorius by his side.

But one thing had lingered on into Christian Rome. There was still the arena; there were still the gladiatorial games. Nowadays Christians were no longer thrown to the lions; but still those captured in war had to fight and kill each other to make a Roman holiday for the populace. Still men roared with blood lust as the gladiators fought.

Telemachus found his way to the arena. There were eighty-thousand people there. The chariot races were ending; and there was a tenseness in the crowd as the gladiators prepared to fight. Into the arena they came with their greeting. “Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!” The fight was on and Telemachus was appalled. Men for whom Christ had died were killing each other to amuse an allegedly Christian populace. He leapt the barrier. He was in between the gladiators, and for a moment they stopped. “Let the games go on,” roared the crowd. They pushed the old man aside; he was still in his hermit’s robes. Again he carne between them. The crowd began to hurl stones at him; they urged the gladiators to kill him and get him out of the way. The commander of the games gave an order; a gladiator’s sword rose and flashed; and Telemachus lay dead.

Suddenly the crowd were silent. They were suddenly shocked that a holy man should have been killed in such a way. Suddenly there was a mass realization of what this killing really was. The games ended abruptly that day–and they never began again. Telemachus, by dying, had ended them. As Gibbon said of him, “His death was more useful to mankind than his life.” By losing his life he had done more than ever he could have done by husbanding it out in lonely devotion in the desert.

God gave us life to spend and not to keep. If we live carefully, always thinking first of our own profit, ease, comfort, security, if our sole aim is to make life as long and as trouble-free as possible, if we will make no effort except for ourselves, we are losing life all the time. But if we spend life for others, if we forget health and time and wealth and comfort in our desire to do something for Jesus and for the men for whom Jesus died, we are winning life all the time.

What would have happened to the world if doctors and scientists and inventors had not been prepared to risk experiments often on their own bodies? What would have happened to life if everyone had wished for nothing but to remain comfortably at home, and there had been no such person as an explorer or a pioneer? What would happen if every mother refused to take the risk of bearing a child? What would happen if all men spent all they had upon themselves?

The very essence of life is in risking life and spending life, not in saving it and hoarding it. True, it is the way of weariness, of exhaustion, of giving to the uttermost–but it is better any day to burn out than to rust out, for that is the way to happiness and the way to God.

THE SUPREME VALUE IN LIFE ( Mar 8:37 )

8:37 What profit is it for a man to gain the whole world and to forfeit his life? For what is a man to give in exchange for his life?

It is quite possible for a man in one sense to make a huge success of life and in another sense to be living a life that is not worth living. The real question Jesus asks is, “Where do you put your values in life?” It is possible for a man to put his values on the wrong things and to discover it too late.

(i) A man may sacrifice honour for profit. He may desire material things and not be over-particular how he gets them. The world is full of temptations towards profitable dishonesty. George Macdonald tells in one of his books about a draper who always used his thumb to make the measure just a little short. “He took from his soul,” he said, “and put it in his siller-bag.” The real question, the question which sooner or later will have to be answered is, “How does life’s balance sheet look in the sight of God?” God is the auditor whom, in the end, all men must face.

(ii) A man may sacrifice principle for popularity. It may happen that the easy-going, agreeable, pliable man will save himself a lot of trouble. It may happen that the man inflexibly devoted to principle will find himself disliked. Shakespeare paints the picture of Wolsey, the great Cardinal, who served Henry the Eighth with all the ingenuity and wit he possessed.

“Had I but serv’d my God with half the zeal

I serv’d my king, he would not in mine age

Have left me naked to mine enemies.”

The real question, the question every man in the end will have to face, is not, “What did men think of this?” but, “What does God think of it?” It is not the verdict of public opinion but the verdict of God that settles destiny.

(iii) A man may sacrifice the lasting things for the cheap things. It is always easier to have a cheap success. An author may sacrifice that which would be really great for the cheap success of a moment. A musician may produce ephemeral trifles when he might be producing something real and lasting. A man may choose a job which will bring him more money and more comfort, and turn his back on one where he could render more service to his fellow-men. A man may spend his life in little things and let the big things go. A woman may prefer a life of pleasure and of so-called freedom to the service of her home and the upbringing of a family.

But life has a way of revealing the true values and condemning the false as the years pass on. A cheap thing never lasts.

(iv) We may sum it all up by saying that a man may sacrifice eternity for the moment. We would be saved from all kinds of mistakes if we always looked at things in the light of eternity. Many a thing is pleasant for the moment but ruinous in the long run. The test of eternity, the test of seeking to see the thing as God sees it, is the realest test of all.

The man who sees things as God sees them will never spend his life on the things that lose his soul.

WHEN THE KING COMES INTO HIS OWN ( Mar 8:38 ; Mar 9:1 )

8:38 “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he used to say to them, “This is the truth I tell you–there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste of death until they shall see the Kingdom of God coming with power.”

One thing leaps out from this passage–the confidence of Jesus. He has just been speaking of his death; he has no doubt that the Cross stands ahead of him; but nonetheless he is absolutely sure that in the end there will be triumph.

The first part of the passage states a simple truth. When the King comes into his Kingdom he will be loyal to those who have been loyal to him. No man can expect to dodge all the trouble of some great undertaking and then reap all the benefit of it. No man can expect to refuse service in some campaign and then share in the decorations when it is brought to a successful conclusion. Jesus is saying, “In a difficult and hostile world Christianity is up against it these days. If a man is ashamed under such conditions to show that he is a Christian, if he is afraid to show what side he is on, he cannot expect to gain a place of honour when the Kingdom comes.”

The last part of this passage has caused much serious thought. Jesus says that many who are standing there will not die until they see the Kingdom coming with power. What worries some people is that they take this as a reference to the Second Coming; but if it is, Jesus was mistaken, because he did not return in power and glory in the lifetime of those who were there.

But this is not a reference to the Second Coming at all. Consider the situation. At the moment Jesus had only once been outside Palestine, and on that occasion he was just over the border in Tyre and Sidon. Only a very few men in a very small country had ever heard of him. Palestine was only about 120 miles from north to south and about 40 miles from east to west; her total population was 4,000,000 or thereby. To speak in terms of world conquest when he had scarcely ever been outside such a small country was strange. To make matters worse, even in that small country, he had so provoked the enmity of the orthodox leaders and of those in whose hands lay power, that it was quite certain that he could hope for nothing other than death as a heretic and an outlaw. In face of a situation like that there must have been many who felt despairingly that Christianity had no possible future, that in a short time it would be wiped out completely and eliminated from the world. Humanly speaking, these pessimists were right.

Now consider what did happen. Scarcely more than thirty years later, Christianity had swept through Asia Minor; Antioch had become a great Christian church. It had penetrated to Egypt; the Christians were strong in Alexandria. It had crossed the sea and come to Rome and swept through Greece. Christianity had spread like an unstoppable tide throughout the world. It was astonishingly true that in the lifetime of many there, against all expectations, Christianity had come with power. So far from being mistaken, Jesus was absolutely right.

The amazing thing is that Jesus never knew despair. In face of the dullness of the minds of men, in face of the opposition, in face of crucifixion and of death, he never doubted his final triumph–because he never doubted God. He was always certain that what is impossible with man is completely possible with him.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

69. THE FEEDING THE FOUR THOUSAND, Mar 8:1-9 .

(See notes on Mat 15:32-38.)

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘In those days, when there was a great crowd and there was nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and says to them.’

The gathering of the great crowd is explicable in terms of the spreading of the news of the healing of the deaf and dumb man (Mar 7:36), and probable subsequent healings which would inevitably follow His growing reputation, possibly enhanced by the witness and remarkable change in the ex-demoniac described in Mar 5:20. However the connection is loose and we need not think that the one incident immediately followed the other, although the one is certainly the final consequence of the other, and what followed from it. Mark clearly intends us to see that this was also was in Decapolis. (Furthermore this is supported by the fact that in Mar 8:10 they cross to Dalmanutha and in Mar 8:22 return to Decapolis).

‘There was nothing to eat.’ The crowd had been with Him for three days and had run out of food. So Jesus turned to His disciples. He saw it as their responsibility to meet the needs of the people as He had done previously (Mar 6:37).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Feeding of Four Thousand Men (8:1-10).

In the light of Jesus’ experience with the Syro-Phoenician woman this feeding is of huge significance and tremendous importance. It was not just a repetition of the feeding of the five thousand (Mar 6:30-44) but an important indication that Jesus was now aware that the bread of life should even now be made available to Gentiles. He felt it necessary to extend His blessing, offered previously only to Israel, to the Gentiles before His ministry was complete. The woman had received His crumbs, now these people in Gentile territory were to receive bread in abundance.

Apart from superficial similarities that arise simply from the fact of feeding a crowd – the crowd gathered, the sitting down, bread and fish (staple diets), the blessing, the distribution of the food and the gathering of the fragments, all of which would necessarily be repeated in any such incident, the details are in fact very different.

Here Jesus initiated the feeding, in chapter 6 it was at His disciples’ suggestion. Here they had been there three days and had run out of food, in chapter 6 it was the same day and they had assembled hurriedly and had no food. Here He has compassion on them because they have no food (symbolically the Gentiles did not have ‘the word’), there He was concerned because they were as sheep without a shepherd, (a typical Old Testament picture of Israel). Here the question was, ‘From where can food be obtained?’ There the suggestion was that the crowd be sent away. Here there were seven loaves, there there were five. Here there were a few small fish, there there were two. Here there are seven baskets gathered up, there there were twelve, and the baskets are of a different type. In the detail the account is different in almost every way.

As mentioned previously the numbers themselves are significant. Whereas five, the covenant number, and twelve, the number of the twelve tribes, had pointed to Israel, here four, the world number, and seven the universal number of divine completeness and perfection, point to the whole world. Furthermore in chapter 6 the bread was gathered up in identifiable Jewish baskets, here in ‘universal’ baskets.

Analysis.

a In those days, when there was a great crowd and there was nothing to eat, He called His disciples to Him and says to them (Mar 8:1).

b “I have compassion on the crowd because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat, and if I send them away fasting to their home they will faint in the way, and some of them are come from far” (Mar 8:2-3).

c And His disciples answered Him, “From where will one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?” (Mar 8:4).

d And He asked, “How many loaves have you?” And they said, “Seven” (Mar 8:5).

e And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground (Mar 8:6 a).

d And He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks He broke and gave to His disciples to set before them (Mar 8:6 b).

c And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them He commanded to set these also before them” (Mar 8:6 c-7).

b And they ate and were filled, and they took up of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets (Mar 8:8).

a And they were about four thousand, and He sent them away (Mar 8:9).

Note that in ‘a’ there was a great crowd, and in the parallel they were about four thousand. In ‘b’ He has compassion on them because they have no food, and in the parallel they all ate and were filled. In ‘c’ the disciples ask how they can fill the men with bread, and in the parallel they do so. In ‘d’ there are seven loaves, and in the parallel Jesus offers the seven loaves to the crowd. Centrally in ‘e’ Jesus was in control.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

SECTION 3. Jesus’ Ministry Throughout Galilee and In The Surrounding Regions (4:35-9:32).

After the initial opening up of the story of Jesus with its continual emphasis on His unique authority, Who He was and what He had come to do (Mar 4:1-3), and the series of parables which have indicated how the Kingly Rule of God was to expand (Mar 4:1-34), Mark now indicates how this expansion continued to occur through the ministry of Jesus in Galilee and the surrounding regions. At the same time he continues to expand on the glory and authority of Jesus Christ Himself as revealed in His activities. This last which lead up to the disciples’ recognition that He is the Messiah (Mar 8:29-30), in His subsequently being revealed in glory on a mountain in the presence of Peter, James and John (Mar 9:2-8), and in Jesus reinterpretation of His Messiahship in terms of the suffering Son of Man (Mar 8:31; Mar 9:9; Mar 9:12; Mar 9:30-32).

The emphasis on the suffering Son of Man will be the final emphasis of this section (Mar 9:30-32), and must therefore be seen as one of its primary aims. In view of the power and authority that He constantly revealed, it must have seemed totally contradictory. But Mark makes quite clear that it was so. In the midst of His powerful activity Jesus constantly made clear that He had come to die.

Meanwhile Mark totally ignores any ministry of Jesus in Judaea, together with His regular visits to Jerusalem for the feasts (as described by John). These would undoubtedly have taken place. No pious Galilean Jew would have failed over a period of time to make regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the different feasts. But Mark rather wants the concentration on His ministry to be seen as taking place in Galilee, with Jerusalem seen as the place which will reject and crucify Him. He is thus concerned to present a full picture of the glory of Christ, while facing his readers and hearers up to the fact that it will finally result in suffering and death, although always as leading on to His resurrection.

Analysis of 4:35-9:32.

Jesus leaves the regions around Capernaum (Mar 4:35).

a Sailing across the sea of Galilee alone with His disciples Jesus stills a mighty storm with His powerful word, while His disciples reveal their unbelief and ask, ‘Who is this?’ (Mar 4:35-41).

b He reveals His power over unclean spirits by healing a demoniac and commands the healed man to ‘go and tell’ (Mar 5:1-20).

c He reveals His power over uncleanness by healing a woman who is constantly losing life sustaining blood, thus making her ritually ‘unclean’, but above all over death by raising Jairus’ daughter. It is a manifestation of His glory to the three who have come apart with him to witness His glory and there are also two other witnesses to His glory (the child’s father and mother) (Mar 5:21-43).

d His own townsfolk do not know Who He is. He reveals His powerful words and mighty works so that His own townsfolk reveal their unbelief and ask ‘Where did this man get all this?’ (Mar 6:1-6 a).

e He sends out His disciples to teach and with authority over unclean spirits, and they reveal their faith and are successful (Mar 6:6-13).

f Herod executes John the Baptist, and offers his head on a dish, revealing the ways and the type of ‘food’ of the kingly rule of man on earth, while fearing his resurrection (Mar 6:14-29).

g The disciples return from their mission telling Him of the signs that they have accomplished and are called aside to be alone with Jesus. They are fulfilling the ministry that should have been the Pharisees had they but believed (Mar 6:30-32).

h Jesus feeds five thousand with five loaves and two fish, revealing the provision of heavenly food in the Kingly Rule of God on earth (Mar 6:33-44).

i Jesus walks to His disciples on the water, and they cry out in their unbelief and reveal their failure to hear and speak clearly because their hearts are hardened and they do not understand. They are spiritually deaf (Mar 6:45-52).

j The people gather to Him and He heals all who come to Him (Mar 6:53-56).

k Jesus challenges the Pharisees and Scribes with the fact that they pay more heed to tradition than to the word of God, and points out to the crowds that it is not outward things that defile a man but what is within the inner man (Mar 7:1-22).

j The Syro-phoenician woman comes to Him and He heals her stricken son (Mar 7:24-30).

i He heals the deaf and speech impaired man, a picture of the need of the disciples, and of Israel (Mar 7:31-37).

h He feeds the four thousand in Gentile territory and gives them bread from God’s table (Mar 8:1-10).

g The Pharisees reveal what is within them by seeking a sign, upsetting Jesus deeply and He declares that no sign will be given, which reveals why their ministry is barren so that they can have no part in His work (Mar 8:11-13).

f Jesus tells His disciples to beware of the leavened bread (the teaching) of the Pharisees and of Herod (or of the Herodians), and to hear and understand (Mar 8:14-21).

e The blind man’s eyes are gradually opened (Mar 8:22-26).

d The disciples do recognise Who Jesus is and learn that He must suffer. (They have learned from where He had ‘got all this’) (Mar 8:27 to Mar 9:1).

c Jesus is transfigured in such a way that His glory is revealed before the chosen three. The three come apart with Jesus and two other witnesses (Moses and Elijah) bear witness to His glory (Mar 9:2-13).

b The demon possessed boy is remarkably healed (Mar 9:14-29).

a The disciples are alone with Jesus and learn that spiritual storms lay ahead for Him and for themselves, receiving the fuller revelation of Who He is (Mar 9:30-32).

Jesus returns to Capernaum (Mar 9:33 a).

Note firstly how this whole section is sandwiched within visits to Capernaum, which had become a kind of headquarters for Jesus and His disciples. All therefore that takes place in this section radiates out from Capernaum. The section begins in ‘a’ with Jesus’ power revealed over nature in the stilling of the storm, while in the parallel Jesus tells His disciples of the ‘storm’ that yet awaits Him in the future to which He must submit. Nature He can control, but man must be allowed to perform his evil will to the utmost if mankind are to be saved. In ‘b’ He heals the demoniac, and in the parallel He heals the demon possessed boy. Both are extreme cases of possession. In ‘c’ He takes Peter, James and John apart and, in the presence of two witnesses (the girl’s father and mother), raises a young girl from the dead, revealing that He is the Lord of life, and in the parallel He takes Peter, James and John apart and is transfigured before them in the presence of two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, revealing that He is the Lord of glory. In both cases what has been seen is not to be spread abroad. In ‘d’ Jesus’ own townsfolk fail to recognise Him and ask ‘Where did this man get all this?’. while in the parallel His disciples do recognise Him and recognise where His power does come from, it is of God. In ‘e’ He sends out His disciples to teach and to have authority over unclean spirits, and they reveal their faith and their growing awareness, and are successful, and in the parallel we have the picture of the blind man whose eyes are gradually opened, a picture of what is happening to the disciples (it comes before the incident where the eyes of the disciples are known to have been opened when they confess His Messiahship). In ‘f’ Herod executes John the Baptist, and offers his head on a dish, revealing the ways and the type of ‘food’ offered under the kingly rule of man on earth, while in the parallel Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of Herod. In ‘g’ the disciples return from their mission telling Jesus of the signs that they have accomplished and are called aside to be alone with Jesus, while in the parallel the Pharisees are vainly looking for signs and He leaves them. In ‘h’ Jesus feeds five thousand Jewish believers with five loaves and two fish, revealing the provision of heavenly food in the Kingly Rule of God on earth, and in the parallel He feeds four thousand Jewish and Gentile believers with seven loaves and some fish, revealing the same. In ‘i’ Jesus walks to His disciples on the water, and in their unbelief they cry out and reveal their failure to hear and speak clearly, a result of the fact that their hearts are hardened so that they do not understand. They are spiritually deaf. And in the parallel a man who is deaf and stammering in his speech is healed. In ‘j’ the people gather to Him and He heals all who come to Him, and in the parallel the Syro-phoenician, typical of the Gentiles, comes to Him and He heals her daughter. Centrally in ‘k’ Jesus challenges the Pharisees and Scribes with the fact that they pay more heed to tradition than to the word of God, and points out to the crowds that it is not outward things that defile a man. It is what is within the inner man.

This larger section is divided up into smaller subsections of which the first is Mar 4:35 to Mar 6:6 a.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus begins To Reach Out To Gentiles (7:1-8:21).

At this stage in His ministry Jesus begins to reach out further afield, for from this point on He spends much time preaching in territory which is mainly Gentile, although still containing many Jews. He prepares His disciples for it by His words to the Scribes and Pharisees, and then to the people, on what is truly essential, and then moves on to Tyre and Sidon where a Syro-phoenician woman’s simple faith brings home the right of Gentiles to partake of God’s table. The result is that He begins a campaign in Gentile territory. While this may partly have been due to pressures in Galilee, it is a clear expansion of His ministry.

Analysis of 7:1-8:21.

a Jesus challenges the Pharisees and Scribes with the fact that they pay more heed to tradition than to the word of God (Mar 7:1-13).

b He points out to the crowds that it is what is within the inner man that defiles a man (Mar 7:14-22).

c Jesus gives the Syro-phoenician woman bread from God’s table and heals her stricken son (Mar 7:24-30).

d He heals the deaf and speech impaired man, a picture of the need of Israel (Mar 7:31-37).

c He feeds the four thousand in Gentile territory and gives them bread from God’s table (Mar 8:1-10).

b The Pharisees reveal what is within them by seeking a sign, upsetting Jesus deeply (Mar 8:11-13).

a Jesus tells His disciples to beware of the leavened bread (the teaching) of the Pharisees and of Herod (or of the Herodians), and to hear and understand (Mar 8:14-21).

Note that in ‘a’ Jesus exposes the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, while in the parallel He warns His disciples to beware of it. In ‘b’ He points out that it is what comes from within that defiles a man, and in the parallel we have an example of this in the sign-seeking Pharisees. In ‘c’ Jesus gives the Syro-phoenician woman ‘bread from God’s table’, and in the parallel He gives bread from God’s table to four thousand who gather in Gentile territory. Centrally in ‘d’ He heals a man who is deaf and speech impaired, a picture of the failure of Israel, and of the world, which He is now here to remedy.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Ministers in Gentile Territory – the Syro-phoenician Woman – the Feeding of Four Thousand Men (7:23-8:26).

Having made His point strongly Jesus now moved to Gentile territory and seemingly remained there until Mar 8:10, where after a brief visit to Galilee He again returned to Decapolis. But first he moved to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. Then from the borders of Tyre He travelled through Sidon down to the Sea of Galilee ‘through the midst of the borders of Decapolis’. All this was Gentile territory. There would seem to have been a specific intention of avoiding Galilee.

Various reasons have been suggested for this. Firstly that He was avoiding Herod’s threatening, secondly that He was removing Himself from the attacks of the Rabbis, thirdly that He was seeking privacy, possibly so that He could concentrate on teaching His disciples, and fourthly that He wanted to move on into other regions with His message. The first is never even hinted at and is unlikely as a main reason because Jesus’ only reference to Herod’s later intentions against Him were answered with quiet defiance (Luk 13:32). At this stage Herod still thought of Him as John the Baptiser returned from the dead and probably wanted to keep well clear of Him. The second is also unlikely as a main reason as nothing is suggested of further intentions to kill Him and He was not afraid of their criticisms. The third, seeking privacy, is one stated reason (Mar 7:24), although there is no specific indication that at that point He was concentrating on teaching His disciples. The fourth is very possible, although interestingly His preaching there is not mentioned but assumed (Mar 8:1). All four factors may have contributed to His decision with the last probably being finally the main factor, especially after the incident with the Syro-phoenician woman.

But we must also bear in mind that it may be Mark himself who is intending to bring this out. That what we have here was rather an impression that Mark was seeking to convey as he illustrates the expansion of Jesus’ ministry, that Jesus’ words and logic had now opened the way to His ministry in Gentile territory, rather than that He was avoiding Galilee.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand ( Mat 15:32-39 ) Mar 8:1-10 gives us the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand men besides women and children.

Mar 8:6 Comments – Jesus disciples People. This delegated authority from Jesus to the disciples to the people illustrates the authority that Jesus gave to the twelve apostles in order to ministry to the people.

Mar 8:7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.

Mar 8:7 Comments – Jesus prayed before they ate the feast.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Preaching Ministry of Jesus Christ Mar 1:14 to Mar 13:37 describes the preaching ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as well as the miracles that accompanying the proclamation of the Gospel. His public ministry can be divided into sections that reflect God’s divine plan of redemption being fulfilled in Jesus’s life.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Indoctrination – The Preaching of Jesus Christ in Galilee Mar 1:14 to Mar 4:34

2. Divine Service Training the Twelve in Galilee Mar 4:35 to Mar 6:13

3. Perseverance: Preaching against Man’s Traditions Mar 6:14 to Mar 7:23

4. Perseverance – Beyond Galilee Mar 7:24 to Mar 9:50

5. Glorification – In Route to and in Jerusalem Mar 10:1 to Mar 13:37

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Narrative When we examine the miracles that Jesus performed for the people we see the persistence and determination of the Syro-Phoenician to receive her miracle. We see how some people from Decapolis begged Jesus to heal a deaf mute. We see how Jesus laid hands upon a blind man twice before his sight was fully restored. He also taught the people on the subject of taking up their cross and following Him, which refers to a lifestyle of perseverance.

When we examine Jesus’ ministry to His disciples, we find Him warning them about the doctrine of the Pharisees making their faith weak. We see how they could not cast out a demon because they had not persisted in a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. We also see Jesus rebuking Peter for his speaking again the purpose and plans of Christ’s death on Calvary.

Jesus Asks People not to Make Him Known – It is interesting to note how many times in this narrative material Jesus attempts to conceal Himself by asking others to not make Him known (Mar 7:24; Mar 7:36; Mar 8:26; Mar 8:30; Mar 9:9; Mar 9:30).

Outline – Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Faith of the Syro-Phoenician Woman Mar 7:24-30

2. Jesus Heals a Deaf Mute Mar 7:31-37

3. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand Mar 8:1-10

4. The Pharisees Seek a Sign Mar 8:11-13

5. Jesus Warns His Disciples of the Pharisees Mar 8:14-21

6. Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida Mar 8:22-26

7. Peter’s Great Confession at Caesarea Philippi Mar 8:27-30

8. Jesus’ 1 st Prediction of His Death Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1

9. Jesus On the Mount of Transfiguration Mar 9:2-13

10. Jesus Heals the Epileptic Boy Mar 9:14-29

11. Jesus’ 2 nd Prediction of His Death Mar 9:30-32

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Perseverance: Preaching and Offences In Mar 7:24 to Mar 9:50 the emphasis moves from indoctrination to perseverance, where Jesus teaches His disciples the need to continue in the lifestyle of preaching and healing.

Outline: Here is a proposed outline:

1. Narrative Mar 7:24 to Mar 9:32

2. Sermon – Jesus Preaches on Humility and Offenses Mar 9:33-50

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Feeding Four Thousand Men.

The great need of the people:

v. 1. In those days, the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them,

v. 2. I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat;

v. 3. and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way; for divers of them came from far.

Jesus was still in the region of the Decapolis, where He had healed the deaf-mute. It may have been due partly to the excitement over this miracle, partly to the preliminary work of the former demoniac, that the multitudes from these cities and their vicinity that swarmed to Jesus were continually on the increase. Again, as on previous occasions, much people was present. Some of them may have provided lunch for a day or two, but just now they had nothing to eat; they were in actual need of food. Jesus had not been idle during these days. Discourses on the kingdom of God alternated with miracles of mercy. The people had remained during all this time; in this case they were from the border country which was predominantly heathen, whereas in the former case He had had Galileans to deal with. There were always some hearts that were opened to the Gospel, and thus the compassion of Christ was not without reward.

But here was an emergency which threatened to become serious. Jesus determined to test His disciples, as once before, to see if they now had sufficient trust in His almighty power to help. Calling them to Him, He lays the situation before them. He had the deepest compassion on the people, since their perseverance and eagerness to hear and see Him had brought them into this unpleasant plight. The sympathy of the Redeemer had been enlisted, His heart went out to them, for He knew if He should dismiss them without food, many of them would be utterly exhausted and suffer severely with excessive fatigue, many of them having come from some distance. “See what a kind Christ we have, who cares also that He may preserve our disgraceful body. Here hope may revive and a person, through these words of Christ, be consoled, as He says: They lie there and wait for Me, even to the third day, so I must also give them enough. There you see that all who diligently adhere to the Word of God are fed by God Himself; for that is the manner and power of faith, which flows from the Word of God alone. Therefore, dear friends, let us finally begin to believe; for only unbelief is the cause of all sin and vice that are now spreading in all stations. Why is it that there are everywhere so many foolish women and scoundrels, also so many land-swindlers, thieves, robbers, usurers, murderers, and sellers of incumbencies? All this follows unbelief. For such people judge only according to human reason; but reason judges according to that which it sees; and what it cannot see it does not like to understand; therefore, since it does not place its trust in God by faith, it must despair in itself, and thus produce knaves and scoundrels. Note: Thus it goes where the people let their reason reign instead of faith. Such counseling and talking with the disciples is done in the first place for this reason, that the heart and the thoughts be revealed. For it cannot remain hidden and lie secret in His heart that He has compassion on the people, but it must be brought to the light of day that it may be seen and heard, and we learn to believe that we have the same Christ that is cordially concerned about our distress, also that of the body, and who always shows the words: I have compassion on the multitude, which are written in His heart with living letters, also in deed and in work. And He would also like to have us know this and hear the Word of the Gospel in such a way as though He were still talking to us in this hour and every day, whenever we feel our trouble, yea, long before we begin to complain concerning it. For He still is and will ever remain the same Christ, and He has the same heart, thoughts, and words toward us, that He was and had at that time, and neither yesterday nor ever has He changed, nor will He become a different Christ today or tomorrow. Thus there stands here a picture or board on which the depth of His heart is painted, for He is a faithful, merciful Lord, whom the knowledge of our trouble affects deeply, and He looks more deeply into it than we dare to pray or bring before Him. Woe upon the disgrace of our disagreeable unbelief, that we hear and see these things and yet find it so difficult to trust in Him!”

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Mar 8:1, Mar 8:2

The opening words of the first verse seem to imply that our Lord remained for some time on this, the north-east, side of the Sea of Galilee. The multitude being very great. The word here rendered “very great” is , a word not to be found anywhere else in the New Testament. But according to the best authorities, the true reading is ; so that the words would run, when there was again a great multitude. It has been supposed with some reason that, as an old ecclesiastical Lection began with this chapter, this may have led to the substitution of for , in order to make the Lection more complete in itself, avoiding this reference to the context. In the original Greek construction the word , in the singular, is disintegrated in the next clause by a passage into the plural ( ). This is properly marked in the Revised Version by the words, a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat. Our Lord has compassion on them. He desires not only to heal the sick, but to feed the hungry. We may here notice the burning zeal of the multitude. They were so intent upon hearing Christ, that they forgot to provide themselves with the necessaries of life. They continued with him for three days and had nothing to eat. Whatever small supplies they might have Brought with them at first were now exhausted; and still they remained, “esteeming his words to be more than their necessary food.” Our Lord on his part was so. full of zeal for their good, that during all that time, with little interval, he had been preaching to them, denying himself rest, refreshment, and sleep. So true were those words of his, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

Mar 8:3

For divers of them came from far. These words, as they stand in the Authorized Version, might be supposed to be an observation thrown in by the evangelist himself. But the correct rendering of , is not “came,” but have come, or rather, are come and instead of at the beginning of the clause, the more correct reading is . This change makes the clause almost of necessity to be a part of our Lord’s own words going before. It was not until the third day that our Lord interposed with a miracle, when the people were absolutely without food, and would therefore feel more sensibly the blessing as well as the greatness of the miracle. Their extremity was his opportunity.

Mar 8:4

Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? St. Matthew (Mat 15:33) gives the question thus: “Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place, as to fill so great a multitude?” The disciples, measuring the difficulty by human reason, thought that it was impossible to find so many loaves in the desert. But Christ in this necessity, when human resources fail, supplies Divine; and meanwhile the disciples’ estimate of the impossibility illustrates the grandeur of the miracle.

Mar 8:5

The seven loaves and the few small fishes appear to have been the modest provision for our Lord and his disciples. As he often retired into the desert, they were no doubt accustomed to carry small supplies about with them, though poor and scanty. In the former miracle of the multiplying of the loaves (Mar 6:35), we find that their stock consisted of five loaves and two fishes. It was, of course, just as easy for our Lord to multiply the smaller quantity as the larger. But he chose so to order it that the original quantity of food, as well as the number requiring to be fed, should in each case be different, in order that it might be evident that they were different occasions, although the miracles were of the same kind.

Mar 8:6

And he commandeth the multitude to sit down ()literally, to reclineon the ground ( ); not the green grass, as before. It was a different season of the year. “He gave thanks.” In this expression is included the recognition of the Divine power to enable him to work the miracle. Christ indeed, as God, was able of his own will and by his own power to multiply the loaves. But as man he gave thanks. And yet, as Dr. Westcott excellently remarks, “The thanksgiving was not for any uncertain or unexpected gift. It was rather a proclamation of his fellowship with God. So that the true nature of prayer in the case of our blessed Lord was the conscious realization of the Divine will, and not a petition for that which was contingent.” And having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples ( ). Observe the aorist and the imperfect. The giving was a continual act, till all were filled.

Mar 8:8

And they did eat, and were filled (). Wycliffe renders it, “were fulfilled;” according to the original meaning of “to fulfill,” namely, “to fill full.” And they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven basketsas many as there were loaves. In the record of the other similar miracle, the number of baskets corresponded to the number of the disciples. Here, as in the former miracle, far more food remained after all were fed than the original supply on which our Lord exercised his miraculous power; for each basket would contain much more than one loaf. The Greek word here rendered “basket” () is a different word from that used for “basket” in the record of the other miracle (Mar 6:43). There it is . The was a hand-basket of stout wicker-work. The was a much larger basket, made of a more flexible material, perhaps “rushes,” like our “frail.” It was by means of such a basket, called in Act 9:25 , but in 2Co 11:33, that St. Paul was let down through a window at Damascus. This supplies another evidence, if it were needed, that these two recorded miracles took place on different occasions. Cornelius a Lapido mentions an opinion that the was double the size of the , a large basket carried by two.

Mar 8:10

He entered into a ship ( )literally, into the boat; probably the same boat which he had ordered to be in attendance upon him (Mat 3:9)and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. (Mat 15:39) has “the coasts of Magdala;” more properly, “the borders of Magaden.” This place was in all probability about the middle of the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, where now stand the ruins of the village of El-Mejdel.

Mar 8:11

And the Pharisees came forthSt. Matthew (Mat 16:1) says that the Sadducees came with themand began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. They had already asked for a sign from heaven (Mat 12:38); but now this miracle gives them occasion to ask again. For when they saw how greatly it was extolled by the multitudes who had benefited by it, it was easy for them to urge that it was an earthly sign, and might have been wrought by him who is called “the God of this world;” and so they insinuated that he had wrought this miracle as well as his other miracles by the power of Satan. Therefore they seek a sign from heaven, that he who dwells in heaven might thus bear witness that he came from God, and that his doctrine was Divine; the Pharisees probably meant that if he did this they would believe in him as the Messiah, and lead the people to the same faith. The Sadducees, who were practically atheists, thought that no sign could be given from heaven by God, seeing that in their opinion it was doubtful whether there was any God to give it.

Mar 8:12

He sighed deeply in his spirit () Another graphic touch of this evangelist; such as he had learnt in all probability from St. Peter. The word occurs nowhere but here. It is the outcome of grief and indignation, in which, however, grief predominates. There shall no sign be given unto this generation ( ). This is a Hebrew idiom, based upon a form of taking an oath which prevailed amongst the Jews. The full form would be, “God do so and so to me, if so and so.” Hence the hypothetical part of the clause came to be used alone, expressing a very strong form of denial or refusal.

Mar 8:13

And he left them, and again embarking for departed to the other side. Again and again our Lord crossed this sea, that he might instruct the Galileans dwelling on either side; in fulfillment of Isa 9:1, “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,… by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

Mar 8:14

And they had forgotten ()literally, they forgotto take bread (); loaves. The conversation which follows took place on the boat while they were crossing. The passage would take perhaps six hours. And it was during that time that they would want food; for when they reached the port, they would find it in abundance.

Mar 8:15

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. St. Matthew (Mat 15:6) says, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees;” thus St. Mark identifies the leaven of the Sadducees with that of Herod. “Leaven” here means “doctrine.” They were not to beware of this, so far as the Pharisees rightly taught and explained the Law of Moses; but only so far as they corrupted that Law by their own vain traditions, contrary to the Law of God, St. Luke (Luk 12:11) calls this leaven “hypocrisy;” because the Pharisees only regarded outward ceremonies, and neglected the inward sanctification of the Spirit. St. Jerome says, “This is the leaven of which the Apostle speaks where he says, ‘A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.’ Marcion and Valentinus and all heretics have had this kind of leaven, which is on every account to be avoided. Leaven has this property, that, however small it may be in quantity, it spreads its influence rapidly through the mass. And so if only a little spark of heretical doctrine be admitted into the soul, speedily a great flame arises, and envelopes the whole man.”

Mar 8:16

According to the most approved readings, this verse should be read thus: And they reasoned one with another, saying, We have no bread. There is something very artless and simple in this narrative. Our Lord speaks of” leaven;” and the mention of this word reminds the disciples that they had forgotten to bring bread with them in the boat; and fearing lest Christ should direct them, according to his wont, to land on some desert shore, they were in some anxiety how they might obtain what they would need; and so they disputed among themselves; one, it may be, throwing the blame upon another.

Mar 8:17

And when Jesus knew it ( )literally and far more correctly, and Jesus perceiving ithe saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Jesus perceived the direction in which their thoughts were moving, by the power of his divinity. It is as though he said, “Why reason ye because ye have no bread, as though I was referring to natural things, and speaking concerning bread for the body, and wishing you to be anxious about that; as though I could not provide that for you, if nccessary, just as easily here on the sea as I did just now in the desert?” Dr. John Lightfoot says, “The rule of the Jews was very strict as to the kind of leaven that was to be used; and the disciples supposed that our Lord was alluding to this when he cautioned them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” Perhaps they also thought that our Lord was conveying a silent reproof to them for not having brought a sufficient supply of bread with them. The whole incident, while it shows their transparent simplicity of character, exhibits also their dulness of apprehension.

Mar 8:19, Mar 8:20

Here St. Mark is as careful as St. Matthew to mention the details of the two miracles, even to the reference to the two kinds of baskets in which the fragments were gathered up. They had a distinct recollection of the facts, but they had failed to catch their spiritual import.

Mar 8:21

How is it that ye do not understand? A better reading here is instead of ). Therefore the words should run, Do ye not yet understand? It is as though our Lord said, “You ought to have perceived, both from my words and from my actions, that I was not speaking concerning earthly leaven or earthly bread, but concerning spiritual doctrine.” St. Matthew here (Mat 16:12) is careful to tell us that this reproof of Christ quickened their intellects, and forced them to understand.

Mar 8:22

This miracle is recorded by St. Mark alone. And he cometh to Bethsaida. A better reading is for , they come unto Bethsaida. Which Beth-saida? It seems most probable that it was Bethsaida Julias. This Bethsaida was in the tetrarchy of Philip, who improved and adorned it, and named it Julias, in honor of the emperor’s daughter Julia. A reference to Verse 27 seems to make it quite clear that it must have been this Bethsaida, and not the Galilean Bethsaida on the other side of the lake. It is not surprising that there should have been, adjoining this great lake, more than one place called Beth-saida, i.e. the “place of fish.” And they bring a blind man unto him, and besought ()literally, beseechhim to touch him. St. Mark is fond of the graphic present. There is here, as at Mar 7:32, something almost like dictating the mode of cure. They seem to have imagined that the healing virtue could not go forth from Christ except by actual contact.

Mar 8:23.

And he took ()literally, took hold ofthe blind man by the hand, and led himthis is the rendering of ; but a great weight of manuscript authority points to as the better reading, brought himout of the village ( ). This Bethsaida was a village; but Philip had raised it to the rank of a city (), though it still seems to have retained its old appellation. Our Lord “led” or “brought” the blind man out of Beth-saida, for the same reason that he led the deaf and dumb man (Mar 7:33) away from the multitude:

(1) for the sake of prayer, that he might collect his mind, and unite himself more closely to God, and pray more intently and earnestly;

(2) that he might shun vain-glory and human praise, and teach us to shun it also. And when he had spit on his eyesthis act had a mystical meaning; it was the instrument by which his Deity operatedand laid his hands upon him, he asked him, Seest thou aught?

Here were three acts

(1) the spitting,

(2) the laying of the hands on him,

(3) the questioning of him.

We gather from Mar 8:25 that our Lord’s hands were applied to the blind man’s eyes. From the analogy of the miracle in the last chapter (Mar 7:33), we may perhaps infer that our Lord touched the man’s eyes with saliva on his finger, and that the hands were withdrawn before he asked him if he saw aught.

Mar 8:24

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. He looked ups natural action. He instinctively looked in the direction of the source of light. The words in the Greek of the next clause are as follows: : I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking; that is, “I see something confusedly and obscurely, not clearly; for I see what I think must be men, and yet so dimly that they look to me like trees, only that I know that men move from their places, whereas trees do not.” The word “walking” refers to the men, and not to the trees, as is evident from the Greek. This man, as yet partially blind, saw men as in shadow, magnified by the mist, looking much larger than they really were.

Mar 8:25

Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes, and made him look upthis is the Authorized Version rendering of : but the better authenticated reading is simply , and he looked steadfastlyand was restored, and saw all things clearly. Now, here it pleased our Lord, not suddenly, but by degrees, to give perfect sight to this blind man. And this he did

(1) that he might give examples of different kinds of miracles, showing that” there are differences of operations,” and that he, as sovereign Lord, was not absolutely tied to any one particular method of working; and

(2) that he might administer his power in increasing measures, as the faith of the recipient waxed stronger; that so he might gradually kindle greater hope and desire in him. It may be that the spiritual condition of this blind man was one which specially needed this gradual method of treatment. Our Lord was a wise and skillful Physician. At first he healed him in part, as one who imperfectly believed; that he who as yet saw little with a little sight, might believe more perfectly, and so be healed at last more perfectly; and thus by this miracle Christ teaches us that for the most part the unbeliever and the sinner is by degrees illuminated by God, so as to advance step by step in the knowledge and worship of God. “By this miracle,” says Bede, “Christ teaches us how great is the spiritual blindness of man, which only by degrees, and by successive stages, can come to the light of Divine knowledge.” The experiences of this blind man in gradually recovering his eyesight show as in a parable the stages of the spiritual change from absolute darkness to glimmering light, and thence to bright and clear vision. Cornelius a Lapide says, “We see an example of this in children and scholars, who must be taught and instructed by degrees. Otherwise, if the master, impatient of delay and labour, seeks to deliver all things to them at once, he will overwhelm their mind and their memory, so that they will take in nothing; as wine, when it is poured into a narrow-necked vessel, if you attempt to pour in the whole at once, scarcely any will enter, but almost all is wasted.” A Lapide adds the well-known Italian proverb, “Piano, piano, siva lontano.”

Mar 8:26

This verse, according to the best reading, runs thus: And he sent him away to his home, saying, Do not even enter into the village. It thus appears that Bethsaida was not the home of this blind man. He might naturally have wished to exhibit himself in Bethsaida, where many must have known him, and to have sung the praises of his great Benefactor. But this was far from what Christ wished. He wished to be in seclusion. He had no desire to excite more than could be helped the idle curiosity of the multitude. His miracles were for the sake of his doctrine, and not his doctrine for the sake of his miracles. The whole character of his administration was retiring and gentle. “My doctrine shall distil as the dew.” “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any hear his voice in the streets.”

Mar 8:27, Mar 8:28

And Jesus went forth, and his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. This verse seems to corroborate the view that the Bethsaida just referred to was Bethsaida Julias. Caesarea Philippi lies at the roots of Libanus. Cornelius a Lapide says that it was originally celled Dan, the place where two little streams united, namely, Jeor and Daniel These two streamlets so united make the Jordan, whence the name Jeer-Dan, or Jordan. But since Pan, the God of shepherds, was better known to the Gentiles than Dan, a Hebrew tribe, it was hence called by them “Paneas.’ It is celled Bahias at the present day. It lay at the extreme north, as Beersheba lay at the extreme south. Hence the phrase, “from Dan even to Beersheba.” On this account many neighboring Gentiles, especially the Phoenicians, flocked to this city, as is frequently the case with border towns. And so Christ visited this neighborhood, not only because it presented favorable opportunities to him for teaching Jews and Gentiles alike, but also that he might speak more freely than he could have done in Judaea concerning a Messiah, whom the Jews expected as their king. in Judaea itself, and especially in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, it would have been perilous to speak on such a subject; for the scribes would at once have accused him to the Roman power that he was seeking the kingdom. The student who wishes for further information respecting the site of Caesarea Philippi may consult with advantage Stanley’s ‘Sinai and Palestine’ (ch. 11., “The Lake of Merom and the sources of the Jordan” ). A more familiar derivation of the Jordan than that given by A Lapide is that of the “descender,” from Jarad, “to descend.” Our Lord went from Bethsaida Julias directly northwards towards Paneas, named by Philip the Tetrach Caesarea Philippi, to distinguish it from the other Caesarea in Samaria on the Mediterranean coast. It will be observed that he went into the villages of Caesarea Philippi, avoiding the city itself. In the way thither he asked his disciples,… Who do men say that I am? This incident is mentioned also by St. Matthew and St. Luke. St. Luke (Luk 9:18) says that he was alone praying, his disciples being doubtless not far off. According to this evangelist, our Lord says, “Who do the multitudes say that I am? “thus distinguishing them more particularly from his own disciples. The common people among the Jews knew that not long after the Babylonish Captivity the gift of prophecy had ceased amongst their nation. So they thought that Christ was not a new Prophet, but one of the old. They could not but see in him the renewal of the powers of the old prophets, their miracles and their teaching; but there were very few of them who believed that he was the Messiah. The great body of them were offended at his poverty and humility; for they thought that Messiah would appear amongst them with royal state as a temporal king. So that when some said, moved it might be by the sight of his miracles, “This is that Prophet that should come into the world,” they did but give utterance to a momentary and fugitive feeling, and not a firm or abiding conviction. The mass of mankind are fickle, easily led to change their opinions. Perhaps some of the Jewish multitude thought that the soul of one of the ancient prophets had entered into Christ, according to the Pythagorean notion of the transmigration of souls; or perhaps they thought that one of the old prophets had risen again in the person of Jesus. For though the Sadducees denied a resurrection, the great body of the Jews believed in it. Some thought that Christ was John the Baptist, because he resembled the Baptist in age (there was only six months difference in ago between them), as he also resembled him in holiness and in fervor of preaching. It was but a short time before, that John the Baptist had been put to death by Herod. His character and actions were fresh in their memories; and Herod himself had given currency to the idea that the Baptist had risen again in the person of our Lord. Then there was Elijah. Some thought that our Lord was Elijah, because it was known that Elijah had not died, and because there was an expectation, founded on Malachi’s prophecy (Mal 4:5), that he would return. They thought, therefore, that Elijah had returned, and that our Lord was Elijah.

Mar 8:29

By this second putting of the question, our Lord warned his disciples that they who had been better instructed ought to think greater things of him than these. It was necessary that he should show them that these current opinions and floating notions were far below his real claims. Therefore he says with emphasis, But who say ye that I am?ye, my disciples, who, being always with me, have seen me do far greater things than they; ye, who have listened to my teaching, confirmed as it has been by those miracles; ye, who yourselves also have been enabled to work many miracles in my name;who say ye that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. St. Peter here spoke as the mouthpiece of the rest. The suddenness and terseness of the answer is eminently characteristic of St. Peter. In St. Matthew’s narrative it is given a little more in full, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But the strength of the answer really lies in St. Mark’s words, “Thou art the Christ,” that is, the promised Messiah. What, however, St. Mark does omit heroa circumstance not to be passed without noticeis the great blessing pronounced by our Lord upon St. Peter (Mat 16:17-19) as the reward of his confession. The explanation of this omission is to be found in the fact that this Gospel is really for the most part St. Peter’s Gospel, recorded by St. Mark. It has already been observed, that, as far as it is possible to do so, considering Peter’s prominent position amongst the other apostles, he retires into the background. It was necessary that it should be recorded that he made the good confession of our Lord as the Messiah; but beyond this the evangelist suppresses all mention of the distinction subsequently conferred upon him, although the rebuke which he afterwards received is recorded in full. It is, moreover, a significant circumstance (noticed in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary’) that this Gospel was written at Rome, and in the first instance for Roman readers.

Mar 8:30

And he charged them ()a strong word, implying almost rebuke, he strictly charged themthat they should tell no man of him. Why was this? There were many reasons for this reticence. The state of parties in Palestine was most inexpedient for such a disclosure at that time. Those who were favorable to his cause would have wanted at once to take him by force and make him a king. In fact, some of them made no secret of their intentions (Joh 6:15). Those, on the other hand, who were opposed to him were only watching their opportunity to destroy him. Moreover, his own disciples had yet many things to learn; and besides all this, faith in his Godhead would be easier when his death should have been followed by his glorious resurrection and ascension.

Mar 8:31

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, etc. In St. Matthew’s narrative he says (Mat 16:21), “From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples,” etc.from the time, that is, of this great confession; from the time when he had openly acknowledged to his disciples the truth of his essential Divinity; from that time he began to instruct them as to his passion and his death. There are two great principles of faith, namely,

(1) the Divinity and the humanity of Christ, and

(2) his cross and passion, whereby he has redeemed the world.

And it was necessary that the disciples should be thus instructed in his amazing dignity as the Son of God, lest, when they saw him put to death, they might doubt as to his Godhead. And after three days rise again. St. Matthew and St. Luke say, “on the third day”the day of his death counting for one, and the day of his resurrection for another, with one clear day intervening.

Mar 8:32

And he spake the saying openly (); literally, without reserve. This sudden announcement excited St. Peter. It was a new and startling communication. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. The word indicates that he “took hold of him,” to lead him apart, as though to have the opportunity of warning him with the greater familiarity and secrecy. So say St. Chrysostom and others. Peter would not have his own confession of Christ thus evacuated, as it were; nor does he think it possible that the Son of God could be slain. So he takes him apart, lest he should seem to reprove him in the presence of the other disciples; and then he says (Mat 16:22), “Mercy on thee, Lord ( ): this shall never be unto thee.”

Mar 8:33

But he turning about, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter. The words indicate a sudden movement ( ), accompanied by a keen searching look at his disciples. Then he singles out Peter, and addresses to him, in their presence, the severe rebuke, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not ( )literally, thou mindest notthe things of God, but the things of men. The form of words is the same as that used by our Lord to Satan himself, when he was tempted by him in the wilderness. It reminded him of that great conflict. The visions of worldly glory again floated before him. The crown without the cross was again held out to him. This explains his language. Peter was indeed rebuked; but the rebuke was aimed through him at the arch adversary who was addressing him through Peter. Here is the striking significance of his “turning about.” Peter was for the moment doing the tempter’s work, and in “turning about” our Lord was again putting Satan behind him.

Mar 8:34

He called unto him the multitude with his disciples. This shows that there was an interval between what had just taken place and what is now recorded. Our Lord now, without any further special reference to St. Peter, delivers a lesson of universal application; although, no doubt, he had Peter in his mind. If any man would ( ) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. This self-denial ought to extend to everything, even to life itself, which we ought to be willing to resign, if need be, for the sake of Christ. Take up his cross. It is as though he said, “Let him take up his cross, as I have borne my cross, that I might be the standard-bearer and Leader of all cross–bearersI, who carried the cross on which I was to be crucified to the mount of Calvary.” St. Luke (Luk 9:23) adds the words ( ), “daily:” “let him take up his cross daily;” thus showing that “every day,” and often “at every hour,” something occurs which it becomes us to bear patiently and bravely, and so on continually through our whole life. He takes up his cross who is crucified to the world. But he to whom the world is crucified follows his crucified Lord. This cross assumes various forms; such as persecution and martyrdom, affliction and sorrow of whatever kind, appointed by God; temptations of Satan, permitted by God for our trial, to increase our humility and virtue, and to make brighter our crown.

Mar 8:35

Because the cross is sharp and afflicting, our Lord animates his followers to bear it by the thought of its great and everlasting rewards. The meaning of the verse is this: he who by trying to shun the cross and to escape self-denial would save his life here, will lose it hereafter. But he who loses his life here for the sake of Christ, either by dying in his cause or by denying and mortifying his lusts out of love for him, he in the life to come shall find his life in the bosom of Christ and in eternal joy.

Mar 8:36

What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (); literally, forfeit his life (). The word in the Greek, originally meaning simply “breath,” as the sign of life, is of very comprehensive import, embracing not merely “the breath of life,” but also the “soul,” or immortal part of man, as distinguished from his mortal body, also the mind or understanding, as the organ of thought. “Life” seems here to be the best English synonym, as being, like the Greek , the more comprehensive term.

Mar 8:37

In exchange () for his life. The Greek term here means an “equivalent,” “a compensation.” The” life,” in its largest sense and meaning, defies all comparison, surpasses all value. It has been bought and redeemed with the precious blood of Christ; therefore the whole world would be a poor price for the soul of one man.

Mar 8:38

Our Lord here looks onward to the day of judgment. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me. “Whosoever:” the word includes all, whatever their position or circumstances may be. “Shall be ashamed of me;” that is, shall deny my faith, or blush to confess me here. Of him shall the Son of man be ashamed; that is, Christ will despise him, when he shall appear with power and great glory, in that sublime majesty which he gained by his death upon the cross. In this adulterous and sinful generation. It adds to the disgrace of being ashamed of Christ that the shame is manifested in the presence of the base and the worthless; and therefore our Lord exhibits the contrast between the mean and contemptible people in the presence of whom men are ashamed of him here, and the magnificent assemblage in whose presence he will be ashamed of them hereafter. The cross of Christ appeared to the great body of mankind to be shameful and contemptible. To the Jews it was a stumbling-block, and to the Greek’s foolishness. Hence vast numbers, whether through shame or fear, did not dare to confess it, and still less to preach it. And therefore it is that St. Paul says (Rom 1:16), “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.”

HOMILETICS

Mar 8:1-10

The Giver of bread.

That the miracle of feeding the multitude should be repeated, and that two evangelists should record both events, is a testimony to the generous and considerate kindness of the Saviour, and to the instructive nature of the sign. We discern in this narrative an illustration

I. CHRIST‘S ATTRACTIVE MINISTRY. A great multitude followed him to listen to his teaching, and were so absorbed in his words as to neglect attention to their bodily wants. Far from home, and without a supply of food, they hungered. Eating of the spiritual bread, they were satisfied in their souls. But they had bodily wants also.

II. CHRIST‘S CONSIDERATE COMPASSION. A man himself, Jesus was touched with a feeling of human infirmities. He had known hunger. The people had come from far; they had remained in the neighborhood where he was for three days; their little stock of provisions was exhausted, and, should he send them away fasting, many might faint upon the road. All this Jesus thought of, and his sympathy was aroused. He had compassion, not only upon their souls, but upon their bodies.

III. CHRIST‘S USE OF ORDINARY HUMAN RESOURCES AND MEANS. Jesus might doubtless have created bread of stones, as the tempter had once challenged him to do. But he chose to use what provisions were at hand, and to make the few loaves and fishes which the disciples held as a reserve of food, the basis, so to speak, of his miraculous action. The Lord does not despise, or dispense with, human means or human agencies. As on this occasion he directed his disciples to distribute the bread they had, so ever does he use his people and their powers and possessions as means of good to their fellow-men.

IV. CHRIST‘S DEVOUTNESS IN THANKSGIVING. Being himself the Son of the Father, he yet, in the name of the dependent children, acknowledged the bounty and beneficence of the Giver of all.

V. CHRIST‘S MIRACULOUS POWER. We are not told how it came to pass, but it is recorded that the four thousand found the slender provision sufficient for all their wants. When the Saviour provides, there is always enough and more than enough for all.

VI. CHRIST‘S FRUGALITY AND ECONOMY. The Lord was liberal, but not lavish. There was no waste in his arrangements. The broken pieces that remained were gathered, and doubtless saved and used. Because he miraculously supplied what was needed, it did not follow that he would suffer anything to be wasted and lost.

Mar 8:4

Whence shall man’s soul be fed?

God’s creatures are altogether and for ever dependent upon him. It is not now and then only that our Creator and Lord interposes upon our behalf, to supply our wants and to relieve our distresses. There are times when we specially recognize, and occasions when we specially feel, his care. But his bounty and watchfulness are, in fact, unceasing. “In him we live, and move, and have our being;” “He openeth his hand, and satisfieth the desires of every living thing.” Bread for the body, and bread for the soul, alike are `from him. Our daily bread is his daily gift, and our daily remembrancer of him the Giver. In most cases the provision is so regular, by reason of fruitful seasons, by which he fills us with joy and gladness, that men take the gifts of his providence as a matter of course, and are (in instances) only now and then reminded of their dependence when he withholds his bounties. Our souls equally wait upon him, and to them he also giveth “their portion in due season.” The sinless beings above doubtless receive from him abundant spiritual good, in an unceasing stream. If our human spirits are not constantly and of course enriched by his Spirit, it is not that his loving-kindness is little or intermittent; it is because our sin prevents us from receiving what is, to believing, lowly, and obedient natures, ever accessible. There is, accordingly, something altogether special in the supply provided for the deep and everlasting needs of human spirits. The unfallen angels, by reason of their purity, have constant fellowship with God, and doubtless are daily fed from his presence, and drink of the stream of his life. But wepoor, sinful children of menneed to be dealt with in a way Divine wisdom alone can devise, to suit the emergency of our position. The plenty of the Divine granary must be brought to our perishing souls by a heavenly interposition and grace. It is in Christ Jesus, the Son of the Eternal Father, that the bread of God becomes the bread of man. Needy, and therefore longing for spiritual food; sinful, and therefore unable to obtain and partake of such food, except in the way Infinite wisdom and grace may open up to us,we are in a pitiable case until the beneficent Father sends unto us a heavenly and all-sufficient supply. No fellow-creature can give what our circumstances demand and our nature craves; no fellow-creature can satisfy the necessities of one suppliant, far less those of the unnumbered race of humanity. “From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?”

I. This language suggests THE CRY OF THeE SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY FOR BREAD, Man cannot “live by bread alone.” Unless he change his nature, or blunt its urgencies, and stifle its voice, it calls aloud for God.

“Far and wide, though all unknowing,

Pants for thee each mortal breast;

Human tears for thee are flowing,

Human hearts in thee would rest.”

Oftentimes do men try to misinterpret this utterance, to persuade themselves that it is not God they want; that they are as the brutes, to which due fodder and litter and shelter suffice for satisfaction and enjoyment. When one looks upon the vain endeavours of misguided, self-deluded men, one cannot help crying aloud, in the memorable language of the Hebrew prophet, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?” There is a deep-seated longing, a recurring appetite, which prompts all men in whom is any spiritual vitality at all to look for more than earth, than man, can give. We ask for truth, for without truthand especially truth concerning Godis no satisfaction possible to the created soul. “Oh that I knew where I might find him!”him, my Maker, Lord, and Judge; that I might know why he has made me, why he has stationed me here on earth, what is the purpose of his wisdom concerning me! Mock me not with dust and stones, but give me bread indeed, even the true knowledge of God! And as conscience assures each child of man that, if this God whom he fain would know take any interest in him, he cannot but remark his disobedience and his errors, the heart within calls aloud for the favor and acceptance of the great King. “How shall a man be just with God?” “Wherewithal shall I come into his presence? Will he “lift the light of his countenance” upon me, and be gracious to me? Must my sins be a barrier between me and my God; or can he, will he, overturn and cast them away, and admit me to his grace and fellowship and peace? Turning his regard inward upon himself, and perceiving his own helplessness in the struggle which is not to be avoided, the poor and feeble child of man asks for strength. How shall I gain strength for duty in times of weakness and temptation? How realize the intention of the Creator concerning me, that I shall enter into the conflict, sustain its toils, brave its dangers, and come forth victorious? And when the day of suffering and the night of sorrow come, can the human soul find comfort in the lessons of human philosophy, in the balm of human sympathy? Alas! these cannot suffice. Nor can aught truly soothe and effectually succor the weak and weary, the sad and lonely, the bereaved and dying, save the hand which fashioned the soul and made it susceptible to anguishthe heart that, by a Divine sympathy and consolation, heals the wounds that it permits. And when “heart and flesh fail,” who but the Creator and Saviour can prove “the Strength of the heart, and its Portion for evermore” ? No human plummet can fathom the river all must cross, no human hand uphold the feeble, trembling feet amidst the dark, cold waters. Be sure of this: as long as man retains a nature higher than that of brutes that perish, so long as his heart is subject to grief, his life is surrounded by trouble, his nature prone to sin; so long he will ever and anon cry out for supernatural succor and comfort, and call upon his God. Spiritual hunger is no fancy of the sentimental, no artificial demand of the leisurely and cultivated. It is a facta fact which is not to be denied, and without considering which, our view of our human nature and our knowledge of ourselves must needs be incomplete and delusive. Bread for his soul man will ask for, and, unless he have it, he will hunger, pine, and perish!

II. This language suggests THE SILENCE OF THE WILDERNESS TO THIS APPEAL. Out beyond the Lake of Tiberius, away from towns and villages, in the solitudes of the green hillsides, how was the want of the multitude to be supplied? Blades of grass were not ears of corn, stones were not bread. “Here in the wilderness” was no answer to the demand of the hungeringnone! The wilderness could only leave those to perish who trusted to its tender mercies. An emblem of the world’s powerlessness to meet the case of our spiritually dependent and hungering race! The world is the scene of our trial and proving, the occasion of our manifold temptations. Of what use is it to look to it for sympathy, succor, strength, and salvation? It cannot satisfy you, search and prove it how you may. Is that rich and luscious fruit that hangs from yonder bough? Alas! it is the apple of the Dead Sea, dust and ashes between the teeth. Is that a lake of sweet, pellucid waters which gleams in the glowing sun in yonder hollow? Alas! it is the mirage of the desert, which mocks the thirsty travelers, offering them sand for water. So with the pretences of the world to satisfy the hungering soul. These pretences are vanity and delusion. Equally vain to help, though more honest, is the world, when its response is otherwise. It sometimes acknowledges its utter powerlessness: none to help, none to pity, none to deliver and to save I Whilst some who reject and despise the message of religion abandon themselves to selfish and worldly aims, and seek to still the voice of conscience and to repress the aspirations of the soul in the pursuits of pleasure, pelf, or power, there are others in whose breasts is no peace and no hope. They cry aloud in the wilderness; but no answer comes to them, save the mocking echoes from the hard, dead rock. No truth, no law, no grace, no hope, no heaven, no God! Such is their interpretation of the echoes of the desert. And we cannot wonder that, incredulous of every higher, better message, they abandon themselves to doubt, despondency, despair. From this cheerless and desolate prospect, let us turn to facts fitted to gladden every depressed and anxious heart.

III. The language suggests to us THE DIVINE PROVISION OF THE BREAD OF LIFE. When the disciples of Jesus asked him this question, “Whence shall one be able to satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?” they must have been thinking of their own inability. For they could not have forgotten how, not far from this very spot and not long since, their Master had fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes. If they had been there without him, they might have been as helpless as they were when the father of the lunatic boy brought his son into their presence, and entreated their compassion and aid. But the Lord Jesus was himself the answer to this inquiry. He had but to bless the bread, and distribute it by the hands of the disciples, and, for even so vast a multitude, there was “bread enough and to spare.” Thousands were fed when Jesus was the Master of the feast. No miracles were more evidently and decisively than these of feeding the thousands, parables concerning Christ himself. St. John has recorded the discourse which our Saviour uttered in Capernaum, in which Jesus asserted his own mission and office and power. “My Father,” said he, “giveth you the true Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” In this language our Divine Lord evidently referred to that marvellous incident in the history of Israel when the wants of the people were supplied by daily provision of manna in the wilderness. More especially he brought before the minds of his hearers the great fact that the supply of human wants is due to the grace and interposition of God himself. Bread does not come to us from the wilderness, but it comes to us in the wilderness; and it is the Father above who sends itnone but he! Obviously, the figurative language in which Christ describes himself appeals to our best, purest, most sacred feelings. God is the Father, who will not leave his children without bread. He cares for his spiritual family, considers their wants, hears their cry, and in his wisdom and love secures for them all that he sees to be for their good. Our Lord Jesus Christ is himself the Divine provision for the needs of men. “He that eateth the flesh, and drinketh the blood of Christ, has life eternal.” For it must be borne in mind that the heavenly Father who has given us his Son, has in him virtually given us all the resources of his boundless compassion and grace. “He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Do our hearts cry aloud for spiritual truth? God gives us this in Christ, who is himself the Truththe revelation of the Father’s mind and will. The heart that finds “ImmanuelGod with us,” finds God himselffor Christ is “the brightness of the Father’s glory”reads the writing of God’s own hand, hears the utterances of Truth Divine. “He that hath seen me,” says Christ, “hath seen the Father.” Is our heart restless until assured of the forgiveness and the favor of our God? Hungry for the smile of Heaven, does it turn heavenward a wistful gaze? God in Christ gives us this first great necessity of the sinful soul. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, but he came at the same time to assure the penitent of pardonthe purchase of his precious blood. What bread is to the hungry, that is pardon to the contrite, humbled, suppliant transgressor. And this is the gift of Christ, who came with “power on earth to forgive sins.” Do we feet an inner craving for a strength which we do not find within ourselvesfor a power which shall uphold us in the labour and the conflict of this earthly life? Not only to know the will of God but to do itthis is the want of man’s soul. Power to do this is bread to his hungering nature. Do you not, indeed, when you best know yourselves, feel that truly to live you must have strength to live to God? And who but God himself can impart this strength? It is given in Jesus. Eat of this bread, and labour shall be sweet and work welcome. His meat and drink was to do the will of him who sent him, and to finish his work. And in his people is “the mind of Christ.” Does not the sorrowful i and tempted soulthe soul oppressed by the infirmities of the flesh and the ills of lifehunger for a consolation not to be found from the wilderness? Who of us has not felt this, in seasons of grief and anxiety? Surely, God knows the heart which he has fashioned; he reads its laments, he witnesses its struggles, he comprehends its fears. It was to allay our anxiety, to assuage our griefs, that Jesus dwelt on earth, wept our tears, tasted the bitterness of our death; that he might be a “High Priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” As long as “man is born to sorrow,” so long shall the “Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,” be the dearest Friend the heart can know. Jesus is a “brother born for adversity.”

“But what to those who find? Ah! This

Nor tongue nor pen can show;

The love of Jesus, what it is

None but his loved ones know,”

IV. This language suggests THE SATISFACTION FOUND BY THOSE WHO PARTAKE OF THIS SPIRITUAL FOOD. We read in the Gospel that, when the great Lord of nature and of men miraculously supplied the wants of the hungering crowds,” they did all eat, and were filled.” In this they prefigured all who, in every land and age, should feed by faith upon the Son of God. Of him it may truly be said, “He filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Three remarks may be made upon the power of the Lord Jesus to appease the spiritual hunger and to supply the spiritual wants of men. He is sufficient for each, sufficient for all, sufficient for evermore. Each soul, however drawn or driven to Christdriven by the desperation of want, or drawn by the excellence and abundance of the Divine supplyfinds in him all that he himself has promised. To believe, to trust, to love, to follow Christ,this is to appropriate him, to prove and learn his Divine sufficiency. “He that cometh to me,” says Jesus,” shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” The same faith which first reveals Christ to the soul, and stays its hunger, is the means of attaching the soul to Christ and the means by which the soul finds in him all the fullness of God. For he of God is made unto his people “wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption.” The bounty of the Lord Jesus is unrestricted. As the vast multitude of his auditors were fed by his beneficenceas men, women, and children all ate and had enough, so that basketsful of fragments were taken upso throughout this wide world its teeming and varied populations are all destined to find in him the Saviour of mankind. “I,” said he, “if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Untold myriads have feasted at the table of Christ, and none have risen hungry and dissatisfied. Still have the ministers of his grace the privilege of announcing to the starving children of men, “‘ Yet there is room.’ Come ye in, that the guests may be many and the tables filled. ‘Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.'” Still further to enhance the conception of the preciousness of the great salvation, let it be remembered that it is an unfailing, an everlasting, an imperishable satisfaction which is to be found in Jesus Christ. He that eats of earthly bread and drinks of earthly streams hungers and thirsts again; but he who, by Divine mercy, feeds on heavenly food and drinks of the living water hungers and thirsts no more. For him is provided a perpetual feast, an immortal satisfaction and content. Generation succeeds generation, and age follows age. The experience of humanity is prolonged from century to century. Opportunity is given to every system, to every creed, to every philosophy, to deal with the deep and spiritual necessities of mankind. As one attempt of human wisdom succeeds another, and as each fails in its turn, we hear in our soul within us the cry arise, suggested by human effort and by human powerlessness, “From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?” There is no answer. None has been given; none can be given. Happy are we who hear a voice, Divine alike in sweetness and authority, rising above the plaint of the hungry, or breaking the silence of the baffled and the helpless, and uttering forth the welcome declaration of pity and of love, “I am the Bread of life” ! And happier still if, convinced of the sincerity and the power of this Divine and compassionate Benefactor, prompted by our human need, and guided by the Spirit of God, we respond, in faith and gratitude and poise, “Lord, evermore give us this Bread’!

Mar 8:11-13

Signs.

This was not an isolated case of the demands on the part of the Jewish leaders that Jesus should work some miracle which they might receive as a sign from heaven. And it was not only during our Saviour’s ministry that they preferred such a request. For Paul had occasion long afterwards to complain of the Jews that they “required a sign,” and were dissatisfied with the doctrines and with the evidences of Christianity.

I. THE REQUEST OF THE PHARISEES. These men made a point of seeing Jesus, and seem, on this as on other occasions, to have come as a deputation from his adversaries.

1. What was it they asked? Not an ordinary miracle, for such Jesus had already repeatedly and publicly performed. It was a sign, not from himself, but from heaven. Any wonder he might work they would attribute to magic or to Beelzebub. But, such was their profession, if he would furnish them with some splendid celestial portentif he would give bread from heaven or stay the sun in its coursethen they would be convinced of his Messiahship.

2. Why did they ask such a sign? They were tempting, testing himputting him to the proof. Had he complied with their wish, they would have seen in him the Messiah they wantedone prepared probably to wield supernatural power for personal aggrandizement and for political dominion. Should he refuse, they would be confirmed in their rejection of his claims.

II. THE REFUSAL OF CHRIST. Observe:

1. The feeling with which he refused. “He sighed deeply in his spirit.” Had they come asking for healing, relief, assistance, he would have joyfully complied; but it grieved him to the heart that they should come thus. And he read in their conduct the sign of a widespread carnality, unspirituality, and unbelief.

2. He disapproved of the spirit in which the request had been made. He was not only pained by it, he censured and condemned it. They who came, came to carp and criticize, and confirm themselves in their unbelief.

3. He had already given evidence enough to justify the faith of such as were candid and open to conviction. He had wrought miracles so many and of such a kind as might assure the thoughtful and spiritually susceptible that he was from God.

4. He knew that what they asked for, if granted, would not convince them. The deficiency was not in him; it was in themselves. The principle was applicable, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets,” etc.

5. There was one great sign yet to be given, in God’s timea sign that should surpass all granted in the olden days; a sign that should leave all unbelievers without excusehis resurrection from the dead.

Mar 8:14-21

Misunderstanding.

The evangelists have left untold much which we would fain know, and they have recorded some things which our unwisdom would have dispensed with. The incident here recorded seems trivial, and the conversation arising upon it commonplace. Yet it was not without a purpose that two evangelists were directed to preserve this passage in our Lord’s ordinary life.

I. THE WARNING WHICH THE DISCIPLES MISUNDERSTOOD. Christ’s ministry of teaching seems to have been one long protest against the current doctrines and practices of the religious leaders of the time. The Pharisees were very generally formalists, and the Herodians secularists, and against both tendencies our Divine Lord’s opposition was unceasing and uncompromising. Using figurative language, Jesus cautioned his disciples against the leaven, i.e. the influence, of such errors as were characteristic of these religious schools. Although they were so much in his society and so attached to his ministry, they were not deemed by the Master beyond the need of this wise and faithful admonition.

II. THE CONSTRUCTION WHICH THEY PUT UPON HIS WORDS. The word “leaven” reminded them of bread, and the thought of bread reminded them of their negligence in not having made proper provision for their journey. But their misunderstanding was scarcely due to their oversight; it was rather the consequence of their own slowness of mind to take in their Master’s manner of speech. We do not trace impatience, but we do trace a certain dissatisfaction and reproachfulness, in the Lord’s language: “Do yo not yet perceive, neither understand?” How often has Christ occasion thus to expostulate with his too unspiritual and inappreciative disciples! We often take Christ’s words too literally, without that discernment and sympathy which a wise and gracious Master expects from his scholars.

III. THE CONSIDERATIONS BY WHICH CHRIST REPROVED THEIR MISUNDERSTANDING.

1. They should have known him better than so to misapprehend him. Where were their eyes, their ears, their heart? Had they been susceptible and active, surely a truer, a loftier judgment would have been formed of the Christ, the Son of God. In this case they would not have supposed that he was troubling himself or them with such a trifle as now excited their concern.

2. They should have better remembered the past, especially the occasions upon which the Lord had supplied the wants of multitudes in the exercise of his omnipotence. Such a recollection would have saved them from the misapprehension into which they had fallen.

APPLICATION. Christ’s words are to be understood in the light of his nature and his works. To understand what Christ says we must think of him aright, and we must study his teaching in the light of the wonderful deeds which he has performed for the relief and the salvation of mankind. It is want of sympathy and of remembrance which often leads to misunderstanding. He that will do the Divine will shall know of the doctrine.

Mar 8:22-26

Sight for the blind.

Every form of human privation, suffering, and infirmity which came under the notice of Christ elicited his compassion and his healing mercy, and every such disorder was treated by him as a symptom of the moral malady which afflicts mankind. The diversity of his miracles of healing may serve to represent his power and willingness to restore our sinful humanity, afflicted with many and various ills, to spiritual soundness and health. In this miracle we observe

I. A SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS OF HUMANITY. The blind man of Bethsaida may not have been born blind; but his sightless state was well known, and excited the commiseration of his neighbors and acquaintances, who led him to the great Healer and Enlightener of men, that he might touch and cure him. He is an emblem of this humanity, darkened in understanding, incapable of discerning truth, blind to moral beauty, to heavenly glory.

II. A SYMBOL OF SALVATION BY DIVINE CONTACT. Jesus treated this man in a way appropriate to his condition and infirmity. He appealed to the sense of touch, for there was no sense of sight to which to appeal. He led the blind man by the hand, took him apart, spat on his eyes, laid his hands upon him. All this was to make the patient feel that the Divine Physician was there, was interested in him, was working for his cure. It was to reveal his own presence and to call forth the sufferer’s faith. And there is no salvation for any by merely hearing or reading about Jesus Christ. The spiritually blind cannot experience his illuminating power except by coming to him in faith. If he enter the heart, reveal his truth and love and power, come into immediate contact with the springs of the spiritual nature and life, then the mind, before insensible to the light of Heaven, begins to appreciate the great realities of beingthe nature, the character, the will, of a holy God and Father.

III. A SYMBOL OF THE PROGRESSIVE CHARACTER OF SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT. The most noticeable feature of this miracle is the way in which the cure was wroughtgradually and progressively. Why Jesus did not effect the result at once does not appear. It may have been to teach us how difficult and slow is the process of human illumination, even by the gospel and the Spirit of God. As at first the man saw human figures, which appeared like trees, hut moved, so that even his half-recovered vision judged them men; so those to whom the light of the gospel first comes often discern but dimly those spiritual facts and relations which time and experience and Divine teaching will render more vivid and distinct. It is not to be expected that young Christians or recent converts shall understand all such truth as is comparatively clear to the mature and instructed. God’s ways herein are like his ways in other departments of his government; order and progression are characteristics of his reign.

IV. A SYMBOL OF THE POWER OF CHRIST TO EFFECT COMPLETE ILLUMINATION. After the further application of the wonder-working hands of Jesus, it is recorded that the blind man “was restored, and saw all things clearly.” So in God’s light we shall see light. He hath “shined into our hearts.” We shall “see God.” The vision shall brighten here; and it shall be more than bright-it shall he glorioushereafter.

HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR

Mar 8:1-15

Mar 8:11-13

Seeking for a sign.

Christ knew at once what this meant. He “knew what was in man,” and refused to commit himself to the pretended inquirers. We have a more difficult course to pursue.

I. THE CHARACTER OF THE DEMAND DEPENDS UPON CIRCUMSTANCES. It may be made in an honest, inquiring spirit, or in order to injure religion. In the former case too much consideration can hardly be given to it, as it is the indispensable preliminary to rational conviction, and the gospel offers evidence for its claims. The spirit in which the inquiry is made may be determined by:

1. The character of those who inquire. Bad men may be genuine inquirers, but it is well to know their antecedents. Christ could read the underlying design of the Jews. It may reasonably be expected that inquirers should give some proof of their sincerity, especially if already furnished with many evidences.

2. The kind of sign asked for. Here it was “a sign from heaven,” i.e. differing from the miracles and previous manifestations of Christ. This implied that they were insufficient, and indirectly pronounced judgment upon the previous words and works of Christ. A question may sometimes reveal a more thorough scepticism than a dogmatic denial. Whilst apparent liberty is given as to what particular sign might be produced, there is really a tone of dictation and unseemly assumption.

II. SUCH A DEMAND EXPOSES THE REPRESENTATIVES OF CHRISTIANITY TO STRONG TEMPTATION. They are invited to criticize God’s methods of revelation, and to despise the “means of grace.” A position full of unbelief and presumption may insensibly be assumed, such as that of Moses at the rock: “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (Num 20:10). They may be induced to attempt to “force the hand” of God. The crime of such a proceeding could only be equalled by its folly. As if those who are insensible to the cross of Christ could be converted by a thunderbolt or a merely supernatural spectacle! It is for Christ’s servants in times of popular excitement to preach the old truths, and to appeal to every man’s God. The improbability of sensationalism producing belief is a growing one. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead” (Luk 16:31). So we may now add, “If they believe not One who has risen from the dead, neither will they believe, though he were to be manifested to them in heaven itself.”

III. EVEN WERE IT DESIRED IT WOULD BE REFUSED. “This generation” represents all who ask in a similar spirit.

1. Because the. evidence for Christianity is spiritual, not carnal; moral, and not material.

2. Because the patent, outstanding facts of the gospel are sufficient:

(1) For the conversion of sinners; and

(2) for the confirmation and edifying of saints.

3. Because it is part of the punishment appointed to such inquirers that they shall ask and not receive, and seek and not find.

4. Because it may become a means of turning attention back to the evidence that has been despised or ignored. It is high time our philosophical inquirers began to inquire why their researches have produced no fruits in evidence or conviction as yet. Why is it that whilst the evidence for the gospel is at least equal to that for any other matters of history, it is yet disbelieved when they are accepted? Is not the reason a moral rather than an intellectual one?M.

Mar 8:14-21

The leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.

The parabolic habit of mind of Christ was essential to the setting forth of Divine truth to the comprehension of men; but as yet the persons who might have been expected to understand his teaching most thoroughly, were continually mistaking it. Whilst their Master discoursed of heavenly things, the thoughts of the disciples were upon the earth. There is nothing so reveals the moral and spiritual distance of persons from one another as the difference in their habits of mind.

I. HOW TOO GREAT A REGARD FOR OUTWARD THINGS BETRAYS ITSELF.

1. In over-anxiety. The disciples had by inadvertency omitted to take in a supply of bread ere leaving the shore, and their minds were full of trouble. They began to forecast the inconvenience to which it might expose them. Over-carefulness is a common feature of worldly character. It arises from too great self-dependence and too little faith in God. A certain, moderate attention to earthly wants is a duty, and will be bestowed by every well-regulated mind; but there are limits to be observed. “Be not anxious for your life,” etc. (Mat 6:25). It is a great aim of the spiritual life to be free from this bondage to minute worries and cares.

2. In failure to attend to or understand Divine things. The disciples were so taken up with this little matter that they utterly failed to perceive Christ’s meaning, when he warned them against the Pharisees and Herodians. That they should be so was also a proof that they had forgotten the teaching of the two miracles of the loaves and fishes. For this Christ reproved them. His cross-questioning elicited the fact that the details of these miracles were still recollected; but the spiritual lessons had been completely lost. So to speak, these spiritual tours de force had been thrown away upon them. How hard a race has the Divine life with earthly concern and anxiety in the soul! There is a littleness in such habits of thought that effectually prevents the great ideas of the Divine kingdom from entering the mind. Herein is to be found the explanation of the failure of many services and sermons, which in themselves may have been faithful and devout enough: the hearers are occupied with worldly cares. “The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mar 4:19).

II. THE DANGER TO WHICH IT EXPOSES.

1. Christ, referring to the doctrine of the Pharisees and Herodians, warned against that conception of the Messiah, as one who was to be an earthly king, establishing a temporal dominion, which the leaders of Judaism held. The state of mind of the disciples was eminently favorable to such a view. In them it was only a tendency, in the Pharisees a fixed point of view; and thus the latter wholly missed the spiritual element in the Saviour’s teaching. They were filled with visions of national restoration and individual aggrandizement; and failing to receive encouragement from Christ in these, “they were offended in him,” and began to seek his destruction. The same danger still haunts the Church of Christ, the absolutely spiritual nature of the Divine kingdom having been one of the most slowly developed of Christian doctrines.

2. The power and the insidiousness of this point of view are suggested by the figure of “leaven.” Leaven works slowly, but a very little affects a large amount. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” To minds already prepared by habit and tendency in that direction, it would be a comparatively easy thing to adopt the worldly interpretation of prophecy given forth by the Pharisees. Indeed, if they were only let alone, the “leaven” was already within them, and would assuredly develop into the same fundamental heresy. To think thus of Christ and his kingdom is “to come short of it,” to our own hurt and ruin; “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom 14:17).M.

Mar 8:21

“Do ye not understand?”

The last of a series of surprised, sorrowful, and indignant questions on the part of Christ.

I. SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING WAS A RESULT TO BE LOOKED FOR FROM CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE.

1. From the teaching of Scripture. It unfolds the will of God, and reveals his mind and character. It is the record of the spiritual history of man in the past. The lives of the Old Testament saints and the history of God’s chosen people were intended to acquaint us with the principles of the Divine kingdom, and the purpose of God’s dealings with men. “Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (1Co 10:11). “These are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Joh 20:31).

2. From personal experience. In the case of the disciples, the teaching, example, and miracles of Christ were intended to reveal the merciful and loving purpose of God to redeem the world. This was to be

(1) the basis of a personal faith;

(2) a principle for interpreting the circumstances of life;

(3) an influence for delivering and elevating the human spirit.

The consistent lesson of Christ’s worksespecially of his crowning miracle of the loaveswas that men were to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all needful things of the earthly life would be added. Instead of being lost in anxious deliberations and “reasonings” about ways and means, the true disciple was to look steadfastly to the great end.

III. THE LACK OF IT IN HIS DISCIPLES DISAPPOINTED CHRIST. He was astonished and pained at their hardness of heart. The works specially intended to produce faith and understanding had hitherto failed of their legitimate result. We seem to detect in his tone:

1. Wounded feeling. He had yearned for spiritual companionship and co-operation. It was ever his desire to draw his disciples into a closer fellowship; but they were discovered to be unfit and unworthy of the privilege. It is as if, too, he was indignant that the honor and love of his Father should be suspected.

2. Apprehension. They were in a dangerous spiritual condition, ready to be the prey of every passing temptation. It was as if the foreboding, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luk 18:8), had already flitted across his spirit.

III. IT IS AN ACQUIREMENT TO BE DILIGENTLY CULTIVATED.

1. How? By remembrance. The dealings of God with others are plainly set forth in Scripture; but every Christian has a special history of his own in which God has revealed himself. None of the incidents of that personal history should be forgotten. Let him remember all the way by which the Father has led him, the gracious interpositions and revelations that have marked it, etc. By meditation. These circumstances are to be pondered and studied, that their inward meaning may be discovered. Above all, we ought to consider “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us” (l Joh 3:1).

2. Why? Because

(1) it is essential to the usefulness and happiness of the Christian;

(2) it may be increased. In some it can hardly be said to exist at all. Yet if there be faith as a grain of mustard seed it will grow, where diligence and prayerfulness are exercised. Of even those very men Christ at last declared, “No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known unto you” (Joh 15:15). “He that doeth the will shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.”M.

Mar 8:22-26

Restoring the blind to sight.

Illustration of Christ’s

I. WISDOM. He rebuked a vulgar curiosity, and perhaps baffled a Pharisaic intrigue. His privacy, so needful for bodily rest and spiritual preparation for the great conflict he felt to be impending, was thus preserved; and the course of teaching and working upon which he had entered was not seriously disturbed. The subject of the miracle was himself preserved from undue excitement with its attendant dangers. And shall we not suppose that a deeper and more spiritual understanding may have arisen between the Saviour and the recipient of his mercy during those solemn and deeply moving experiences which preceded his recovery? His deep, unbroken attention was secured as he felt the Saviour’s touch and listened to his voice. By leading him away he tested and exercised his faith. By emphasizing the stages of recovery he made it clear to the man himself that it was no accidental occurrence, but a deliberate cure. And in the means usedso evidently inadequate to produce such a resulthe showed how supernatural the power that was being exercised. The questions asked encouraged the man to put forth his own power as he received it, and thus to co-operate in the curative process. The final injunction to silence and home-going present the incident as a deep personal experience in the mind of the man, and as an evangelic message to those who were most likely to receive it in simplicity and gratitude.

II. MERCY. Although the shadow of death was falling upon the soul of Jesus, he was full of the instinct and will to save. There is scarcely any appreciable pause in his work; and retirement is not inactivity, but quieter, deeper, and more continuous, because more naturally prompted, action. Each case of distress as it arises receives his deliberate and careful attention. His diagnosis of the blind man’s state must have been perfect. It was impaired original power that had to be restored, and the treatment corresponded to this fact. The interest of the Saviour in the case is as great as that of the saved. The sinister ends of those who brought the blind man, or watched to see what would be done, did not prevent him showing the mercy required. When the bodily cure had been completed, the spiritual welfare of the recovered one was carefully provided for. The aim is complete salvation in every sense of the word. What Christ does he will do perfectly.

III. JUDGMENT. Unworthy men were debarred from seeing the wonders of his saving power. They might have perverted the privilege to an evil end, and so injured themselves and the cause of Christ; so they were shut out. It is a fearful sentence against a place or a person when the spectacle of the Lord’s saving grace is denied, and the things that make for peace are hidden from view.M.

Mar 8:22-26

The Saviour’s method in dealing with individual souls.

I. ISOLATES FROM DISTURBING INFLUENCES. The gossips and scheming politicians of the town of Bethsaida. Notoriety. The sense of importance. By his dealings with the sinner in conviction and repentance, he spiritually removes him to his own retirement. He is first brought to be with Christ, that by-and-by he may be in him.

II. HE ENCOURAGES AND CONFIRMS FAITH. By leading the blind man away, although as yet a stranger to him. By personal contact and operation, and by kindly words, the inner free-will and power of the patient were evoked. The means and the gradual working out of the cure were a demonstration of the Power by whom the miracle was wrought. The gradual realization of spiritual power in those being saved is a crucial evidence of Divine grace, and encourages belief in the ultimate accomplishment of a complete salvation.

III. HE EXACTS IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE. This was the highest exercise of a spiritual kind he had demanded. It was but a phase of the faith already called forth”the obedience of faith.” Having won the trust and confidence of his people, he proves and perfects that by directing the fulfillment of duties the reason for which may not be apparent. It is sufficient that he has commanded. The first use of the restored vision is to avoid those upon whom he had formerly dependeda hard task! The life Christ’s people are bidden to lead may not commend itself to their judgment or desire, but it is best for their spiritual interests; and if Christ is to be a complete Saviour, he must be an absolute and unquestioned Lord.M.

Mar 8:22-26

Curing spiritual blindness.

I. DELIVERANCE FROM BLIND GUIDES.

II. TRANSFER OF CONFIDENCE TO THE TRUE GUIDE.

III. REVELATION OF THE INVISIBLE POWER OF GOD.

IV. EXERCISING THE SOUL‘S NEWLY ACQUIRED POWERS OF SPIRITUAL VISION,

V. GIVING SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE.M.

Mar 8:27-30

Peter’s good confession.

The scene of this is worth notice. It lay to the northward of Bethsaida, amongst the villages in the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi. This town, on the site of the ancient Paneas (now Bahias), was built by the tetrarch Philip in honor of Tiberius Caesar, and is to be distinguished from the Caesarea of the southern Mediterranean seaboard of Palestine. The country was magnificent; wild, wooded, and mountainous, and dominated by the royal castle of Subeibeh. Here, too, was the chief fountain-head of the Jordan. It was a region where the utmost seclusion could be enjoyed, pending the great things which were to take place in the near future. Immediately behind the disciples were the great works which had occasioned such universal wonder and speculation concerning their Master; and they were in a position of comparative leisure and quietude duly to recall and meditate upon them. No better opportunity had hitherto presented itself for the crowning question of Jesus,” Whom say ye that l am? “

I. THE IDENTIFICATION WAS DISTINGUISHED FROM SEVERAL ALREADY CURRENT. So marvellous was the career of Jesus, that all ideas of explaining on ordinary grounds had to be abandoned. In the popular mind the only personages corresponding to Jesus, save John the Baptist, were those of ancient Jewish history, the heroic ages of the theocracy. All were agreed that in him there was a revival or reappearance of the religious spirit of the best days of Israel.

1. The knowledge of these opinions rendered the judgment of the disciples highly conscious and deliberate, and therefore of great critical importance. Each of them, as it came to their ears, would doubtlessly be considered and weighed. The popular guesses would be compared with the full and complete experience of Jesus and his work, which they alone possessed, and one by one rejected. But they would serve to awaken their critical attention and their spiritual discernmentconstitute, in fact, a sort of ascending scale according to which to adjust their own thoughts.

2. The certainty to which they had arrived, notwithstanding the variety of opinions of which they were aware, proves how overwhelming the evidence must have been upon which they based their conclusion. There is no hesitation in Peter’s answer. And as spokesman of the twelve he utters their unanimous conviction. How much previous examination and interchange of views does that imply?

II. How was THIS CONCLUSION ARRIVED AT?

1. Not from unscientific guessing. From their peculiar circumstances this was impossible.

2. Not from information furnished by Jesus himself. There is no trace of hinting or suggesting on the part of the Master. His withdrawal from that course of policy which might have enabled him to take advantage of popular influence was against the idea of his being the Messiah of the people’s dreams. It was in spite of his mysterious behavior, therefore, and in complete absence of any information furnished by himself, that they formed their opinion.

3. It was by a twofold process, viz.:

(1) Induction from their experience of his character and works. For this they were peculiarly fitted; and the searching training of the Master led them gradually but surely to make it. And they were well versed in Scripture.

(2) Inspiration of God. Elsewhere (Mat 16:17) we read the declaration, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” These two sources of information were not mutually exclusive, but mutually supplementary and confirmatory, as in every Christian mind to-day. Indeed, in a larger view of evidence the spiritual intuitionthe most truly moral evidence of the conscienceis but an element of the general moral evidence upon which the induction is based. It is the conscience which is the ultimate judge of all spiritual questions the ordinary understanding cannot completely or satisfactorily settle.

III. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ITS ATTAINMENT.

1. It was but a recognition of certain correspondences between Jesus and the Messiah spoken of in Scripture. There was certainty and intelligent perception, so far as their knowledge went. But the full conception of his personality and work was reserved for the future. They knew that it was he of whom the prophets spoke, but about himself in his deeper nature and the spirituality, etc., of his workin short, of what he wasthey were not fully aware.

2. What they did arrive at altered their entire relation to him. A new, vague authority attached henceforth to him, and the future was full of a keen expectancy and interest. It gave a new meaning to every word and action proceeding from him, and prepared them for the special training and teaching which they had to receive as his apostles; just as the principle attained by induction of many facts, when its light is turned back upon them interprets them, and we see them as we could not before.M.

Mar 8:29, Mar 8:32, Mar 8:33

Peter’s self-contradiction.

I. WHEREIN IT CONSISTED.

1. In identifying Jesus with the Messiah and yet deprecating his sufferings. That Messiah should suffer was abundantly declared by the prophets. His death was the greatest testimony he could give to the righteousness of God. A comfortable, earthly, prosperous king could never occupy the spiritual position of the Christ; moral influence, the essential feature of the latter’s reign, would be entirely wanting. To the thorough student of prophecy and contemporary life, Messiahship “connoted” suffering, not as an accidental but necessary qualification.

2. In identifying Jesus with the Messiah and yet assuming such an attitude and tone towards him. The utmost reverence and submission were not only due to his Lord, but would have been voluntarily rendered had he understood what was meant by his own declaration. In such a case he would never have presumed to dictate or chide.

II. TO WHAT IT WAS DUE.

1. Insufficient realization of what he knew. He had divined the true dignity of his Master, but what it involved was not yet felt. The doctrine is often correct when the sense of obligation it ought to produce is not awakened. A great spiritual truth may be perceived and adopted long ere its relations to practical life are recognized; just as a principle in mechanics or a law of nature. Deeper spiritual experience and more sympathetic agreement with Christ in his desire to abolish sin were needed ere this could take place.

2. Impulse and thoughtlessness. This was his temperament. He was a man of impulse and affection, rather than of calm, spiritual intuition, or careful, painstaking reflection. It was due to his forward and impulsive temperament that he generally spoke for the others, and was so confident respecting himself in the future. Christianity owes much to such spirits, but they have to be kept in check by more sober thinkers, and disciplined by the lessons of providence.

3. Worldly conceptions of the kingdom of God. Had he entertained purer and more spiritual hopes respecting his Master’s work, the mischief of his impulsiveness might have been minimized, although it would still have been a source of danger. But with such habitual materialism of aim and desire (common to him with the others) he was constantly committing mistakes, and ready to compromise the cause of Christ. “This world has many Peters, who wish to be wiser than Christ, and to prescribe to him what it is needful to do” (Hofmeister). We ought riot to be too severe with Peter whilst we ourselves lean so much for the guidance of the Church to merely human wisdom, and set our own affections for particular persons, or for ourselves, above the well-being of the race; and estimate that well-being not from a spiritual but from a material standpoint.M.

Mar 8:31-33

The Christ foretelling his own career.

I. HOW UNIQUE AND MARVELLOUS THE PREDICTION! It is a clear, consistent, even symmetrical scheme; as exquisitely balanced and progressively developed as any tragedy of Aeschylus or Euripides. A person who could ideally mark out such a future for himself could not have been mere man. The gospel challenges investigation because of the originality and Divine moral elevation of its conception. And by such statements as this it proves how closely the Old and New Testaments are interwoven, and sympathetically and ideally correspondent.

II. IT DEMONSTRATED THAT HIS SUFFERING AND DEATH MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE HIGHEST SENSE VOLUNTARY. He was still at a point where the future was in great degree within his own power. That he clearly knew what lay before him in the event of his continuing steadfast proved that his will was absolutely, divinely free. There were several alternatives within easy reach: these, comprehensively, he put from him in spurning Peter’s interference. It is no fate that is blindly shaping out the destiny of a powerless victim; the necessity is a moral and spiritual one, consequent upon motives and aim deliberately preferred.

III. ONLY THE HIGHEST MORAL END COULD JUSTIFY SUCH CONDUCT. To suppose that earthly aims or selfish objects could have determined such a career is a palpable absurdity. Christ is, therefore, through all time, the type of noble self-sacrifice. But it is only spiritual motives and principles that can so inspire. And conscience justifies the sacrifice upon such grounds alone. Whilst we may be incapable of it ourselves, we feel, nevertheless, that it is not madness, but the fulfillment of the great end of our being, and its highest blessedness. If it be but fairly and fully regarded, it furnishes its own justification, and constitutes a judgment bar before which all so-called religious acts and schemes must stand or fall.

IV. BY MAKING THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CHRIST:

1. Tested the loyalty of his disciples.

2. Vindicated and revealed his own pure, unalterable spiritual resolution.

3. Furnished them with a support for faith and enthusiastic sympathy.M.

Mar 8:32, Mar 8:33

Covert temptation.

This scene has, of course, certain features connected with it which cannot be imitated by ordinary persons, or by mere men. Christ exercised a Divine insight and authority. But there are certain principles illustrated. We see

I. HOW IT PRESENTS ITSELF.

1. Under the guise of friendship. The love may be real in the individuals who are the instruments of temptation, but their knowledge is not sufficient, or their moral character not so, high as it should be. Many of the most terrible moral trials of life owe their power to this circumstance.

2. With great assumption of reasonableness. In Peter there was a domineering, “superior” tone. He spoke as one who knew the world, and the impracticableness of his Master’s ideas. But even where this is absent there may be a latent contempt for religious aims, and an unconscious appeal to the utilitarian standards of conduct. With many persons the test of reasonableness in moral action is the immediate advantage of those immediately concerned, or the most directly pleasant course of procedure, or the attainment of some recognized worldly object.

II. HOW IT IS TO BE DETECTED.

1. By the aid of the Divine Spirit. There are necessarily many occasions for moral decision in which it would be impossible to assign reasons for the steps taken, because these are not clearly discerned; yet there may be moral certainty. It is the Spirit of God that is to guide us in such cases.

2. By comparing spiritual things with spiritual, e.g.:

(1) In moral questions we should distrust proposals which too readily fall in with our own desire for ease, or a pleasant life, or worldly advantage. It is not usual for great duties so to approve themselves.

(2) Suggestions are to be rejected which stand in the way of personal consecration, or interfere with moral duties and Divine impulses.

III. How IT IS TO BE OVERCOME.

1. By distinguishing between the agent or instrument and the inspirer. It was a painful thing for Christ to do, but he did not shrink from denouncing the spirit to which the suggestion was due, and the evil one who had used Peter as his tool. This detection, whether it be declared or not, is a great part of the victory.

2. With promptitude and decision. Christ turned his back upon the tempter. There must be no dallying or temporizing. Upon every moment that follows discovery of evil an eternity hangs.

3. By casting one‘s self upon the Spirit of God. In prayer: “Deliver us from the evil one.” In abiding union and voluntary submission: “Not my will, but thine, be done.” “Minding” the things of God, and having the whole attention and affection absorbed by them.M.

Verses 8:34-9:1

The Master’s summons to his disciples.

Like a commander addressing his soldiers. Full of clear vision and resolve.

I. THE AIM. It is the overcoming of spiritual error and Satanic influence, and the establishment of the kingdom of God.

II. THE CONDITIONS OF ITS ATTAINMENT. (Mar 9:34.) These are open to all. The multitude is addressed equally with the disciples. There appears to have been a disposition in many to join themselves to his fortunes. He therefore lays down the terms of his service, so that none may enter it without knowledge of its nature.

1. Self-denial.

2. Cross-bearing. Not quite identical with the preceding, although involving it. “A Christian,” says Luther, “is a Crucian” (Morison). “His cross,” each having some personal and peculiar grief, sorrow, death, through which he has to pass. This cross he is to take up voluntarily, and to carry, long ere it shall have to bear him.

3. Obedience and imitation. There can be no self-assertion or private end to be sought by individual believers. “The footsteps of Jesus.” It is a cross even as the Master has to be crucified. The same spirit and plan of moral life must be shown. He is our law and our example.

II. INCENTIVES. (Verses 8:35-9:1.)

1. Christ‘s example and inspiration. He says not “Go,” but “Come.” He goes before, and shows the way.

2. The endeavor to save the lower “self” will expose to certain destruction the higher “self;” and The sacrifice of the lower “self” and its earthly condition, of satisfaction will be the salvation of the higher “self.” “Life,” or “soul,” is used here ambiguously. A moral truism; a paradox to the worldly mind. “It is in self-denial that we first gain our true selves, recovering our personality again” (Lange).

3. The value of this higher life cannot be computed. All objective property is useless without that which is the subjective condition of its possession. Righteousness is that which makes individuality and the spiritual nature precious, and imparts the highest value to existence. Every man has to weigh the “world” against his “soul.”

4. Recognition of Christ on earth is the condition of his recognition of us hereafter. It is not merely that we are “not to be ashamed;” we are to “glory” in him. The recognitions, the “well done” of Heaven, the highest reward. Even here the great triumphs of truth confer honor upon those who have striven for them.

5. The triumphs of the kingdom of God are not long deferred. Some of Christ’s hearers lived to see the overthrow of Jerusalem and the universal diffusion of the gospel. The spiritual vision is purified to discern the progress of truth in the world. Those victories which Christian morals and spirituality have already won within the experience of living Christians are an ample and abundant reward.M.

Mar 8:38

Ashamed of Jesus and his words.

This warning is evidently called forth by the unholy presumption of Peter, and the wavering of the disciples divined by the penetrating spirit of Christ. He rebukes the spirit of false shame as a heinous offense against himself and his cause.

I. JESUS AND HIS WORDS AN OCCASION OF FALSE SHAME. The penalty attaching to unreal or unjustifiable feelings is that, sooner or later, they commit their subject to some egregious folly or inexcusable sin. This is a result of natural law.

1. Why should men be ashamed of Jesus? That they can ever be justified in such shame is, of course, impossible. But there are reasons that, human nature being what it is, explain the phenomenon.

(1) Their opposition to the spirit and conduct of the world. Fashion, custom, perverted and corrupted religion, the general principles upon which worldly men conduct their affairs, are alike condemned by the gospel. The wisdom, authority, and influence of the world are therefore arrayed against its teachings. The methods of the Divine life are in contradiction to those of the ordinary life of men. It involves humiliation and self-sacrifice. Christ, as the embodiment and central principle of this, is therefore “rejected and despised.”

(2) The objects and aims of Christ’s teaching seemed so remote, and so unsupported by the external evidences to which men are wont to appeal. What sign was there of a coming “kingdom,” other than those with which they were already familiar? Never had wickedness appeared so secure and influential, or religion at such a discount. The same causes are at work in all ages; and to-day there are many evidences of the same spirit.

2. How does this shame manifest itself? In shrinking from open discipleship. Bringing an eclectic spirit to the teachings of the gospel. Making compromises with fashion, selfish principles, or demoralizing amusements and pursuits, etc.

3. What renders such conduct peculiarly heinous? The weakness of the cause of Christ, and the power and reputation of its enemies. Sin had never so lifted itself up against God. It was “a wicked and adulterous generation,” and was to crown its apostasy by crucifying the Son of man. At such a critical time every individual had an influence that might affect the issue of the conflict, and gratitude and honor urged him to exercise it. Unbelief was at the root of the shame which many felt.

II. JESUS AND HIS WORDS JUDGING FALSE SHAME.

1. By the fulfilments of prediction. The destruction of Jerusalem, the sign of the inauguration of the kingdom of God, was at hand. Some of those addressed were to live to see it. And as in major historic events, so in minor ones. Every success attending Christian effort, every verification of Christian doctrine in experience, is a judgment of the unbelief which is ashamed of the gospel.

2. By exclusion from the blessedness and glory of Christ‘s advent. Just when such men have begun to see how unfounded their suspicions and doubts, and how real are the promises of Christ, they are unable to partake of them. They have no fellowships with the redeemed and glorified, are out of place and covered with confusion because of their guilt and folly. A personal element adds poignancy to their shame; they are openly repudiated by him whom all adore and glorify. A simple but terrible and inevitable retaliation, due not to vengeance, but to spiritual laws. The exposure will be overwhelming and absolute.M.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

Mar 8:8

Christ’s beneficence and economy.

I. CHRIST‘S BENEFICENCE,

1. It embraces all human wants. He came to save from sin, but he also delivered men from its manifold effects. The dead were raised, the sick were cured, the hungry were fed. Herein signs were shown of the coming of that heavenly state in which the redeemed hunger no more, and wherein there shall be no more pain. The Church should seek to deal with human necessities as broadly as her Lord didoverlooking neither the temporal nor the spiritual.

2. It was not exercised as we should have expected. John the Baptist, “the friend of the Bridegroom,” was not delivered from death, yet this crowd of men and women, who were so undeserving, were relieved from the pangs of hunger. He is kind to the unthankful and to the unworthy.

3. It was free from ostentation and from pride, A plainer, cheaper meal could scarcely have been given than this, of barley loaves and fish. The absence of luxury on this and on other occasions during our Lord’s ministry is a rebuke to our self-indulgence. “Feed me with food convenient for me.” As ostentation was avoided, so also was pride. Our Lord did not look dawn with contempt upon the pitifully small provision offered by the disciples”seven loaves” and “a few small fishes.” He did not put these aside and create afresh, as he might have done; but although he needed not to take the loaves, he did take them. Use to the utmost what God has already given you. Do the best you can with what you have. As you use any gift, it will increase as the loaves did which the disciples carried to the multitude.

4. It was accompanied by devout acknowledgment of God. Jesus gave thanks” over this labourer’s dinner. God’s presence will make the eating of common loaves a sacrament to us. Let us thankfully receive his gifts, and in his name distribute them, that our beneficence may be a humble copy of our Lord’s.

II. CHRIST‘S ECONOMY. On this occasion, as on that near Bethsaida, the evangelists tell us that the apostles gathered up the remnants of the feast; and, judging from Joh 6:12, we may be sure that on both occasions they were obeying their Lord’s command. In God’s gifts to man there is no waste, except where our ignorance and carelessness misuse them. The leaves of a tree are not mere ornaments, as was once imagined, but are means of nourishment; and when they fall and are driven by the wind into secret resting-places, they still enrich the soil. Not a drop of rain is wasted, fall where it may. Every year we are learning more and more that what was squandered as refuse from factories and sewers was meant by God for use. Science is following in the footsteps of these disciples of Christ.

1. Economy is needed in regard to the use of our daily food. This wealthy nation is peculiarly wasteful. Servants use extravagantly anything of which there seems plenty. Artisans are prodigal in expenditure when wages are good. The middle classes and the upper classes are increasingly luxurious. All this was rebuked when Jesus taught his disciples that, although he could multiply food so easily, they were humbly and patiently to take up the fragments.

2. Economy is called for in the use of all God‘s gifts. Physical strength we should husband, and not squander. In seeking wealth or honor, many a man lives to repent his disobedience to this law. The whole life is God’s. We have no right to force into a few years what he meant to occupy its whole length, but are called upon to work thoughtfully and lawfully. There is a great waste of mental strength also going on amongst us. Some books and papers occupy the mind only to debase it. In education we ought to seek for ourselves and others well-trained and well-developed powers, so that nothing may be wanting to our complete manhood when we lay ourselves as living sacrifices on God’s altar. Spiritual sensibility, also, is wasted when it evaporates in temporary excitement. The engines which make most noise are those which are doing nothing. When steam is up it must be used. So when feeling is aroused it must be turned into activity.

3. Economy is the more requisite when gifts are diminishing. At the end of an abundant feast little was left, yet even about it the Lord Jesus was concerned. Gather up what is left of former religious teaching, which is too often lost; of good resolutions, which have been broken again and again; of old beliefs, which have been shattered, and must be rearranged; of good reputation, although so little is left; of opportunities for Christian service, which may appear slight and casual, but fairly used will multiply and grow.A.R.

Mar 8:22-25

The blind man of Bethsaida.

The variety of method adopted by our Lord in his acts of healing finds a striking illustration in the contrast presented between the cure of this blind man and that of Bartimaeus. The sight of the latter was instantaneously and perfectly restored, but it was otherwise with the former. If, as we believe, Christ’s miracles were symbols of spiritual experiences, we must expect variety in these also; and we see them in the contrast existing between the sudden transformation of a profligate, and the religious life of one who from a child has known the Scriptures, and loved the things that are excellent. For the further elucidation of such truth, consider

I. THE SUBJECT OF THIS MIRACULOUS CURE.

1. He was a blind man. Although light blazed around him, to him it was as darkness, and objects which appeared to others real and near were unperceived by him. Hence we often, and properly, speak of “moral blindness” or “spiritual blindness,” by which we mean, that he who suffers that privation is incapable of discerning the moral or spiritual truths which are obvious to others. And the faculty which he lacks is something distinct from, although not independent of, mental perception. In other words, a man must have brains to understand spiritual truth; but he needs something morea faculty of soul, to which St. Paul alludes when he says, “Spiritual things are spiritually discerned;” “The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not.”

2. He was brought by his friends to the Lord. Unlike him, they could see. They knew better than he did what he lost by his blindness. They could find their way to the place where Jesus was, and see his face. Another blind man could not have led him thither. It becomes parents, teachers, and friends, who are rejoicing in God’s light, to bring others by pleading and by prayer to Jesus’ feet.

3. He was willing to confide in the unseen Saviour. When Jesus took him by the hand, he did not withdraw it. In this wonderful Stranger, of whom he had heard so much, he had implicit confidence. His touch meant a blessing. How often, by our wilfulness and unbelief, we lose what by trustful waiting we might receive!

II. THE METHOD OF THIS MIRACULOUS CURE.

1. Jesus led him apart. He wished to have him alone. Separation, secrecy, solitude, often precede the reception of blessing from Christ. He takes us away from the multitude by illness, in worship, etc.

2. Jesus gave him glimmerings of light. He saw slightly and indistinctly. His companions, who had been left at a little distance, appeared to him to be moving, but seemed vague, large, formless, like trees waving in the wind. Perhaps this cure was gradually wrought because the man’s faith was weak, and the slight change already experienced would strengthen his expectation, and make him ready for a fuller blessing. It is at least a beautiful type of the gradual illumination of the soul with light. Lydia was an example of this.

3. Jesus by repeated touch gave him perfect sight (Mar 8:25). He leaves nothing incomplete. He is “the Author and the Finisher of faith.” The imperfect vision of earth will be followed by the perfect vision of heaven.A.R.

Mar 8:34-38

The worldling and the Christian: a contrast.

Our Lord had just foretold his own sufferings, and now he goes on to speak of his requirementthat his disciples should be willing to follow him in the way of the cross. Soon they would be involved in persecution and trials, which they would be unprepared to meet unless they had wholly surrendered themselves to him. He never hid from his disciples what it would cost them to follow him. Again and again, when there were signs of defection on the part of the people, he gave the twelve an opportunity of leaving him if they wished to do so (Joh 6:67). Only whole-hearted service is acceptable to our Lord. It seems strange that his definite announcements of his sufferings, death, and resurrection should have been so imperfectly understood by his disciples. This can only be accounted for by the fact that they often took figurative language literally (Mat 16:1; Joh 4:33; Joh 11:12), and literal language figuratively (Mat 15:15-17; Joh 6:70). In this passage some of the distinguishing points between a worldling and a Christian are suggested, and by them we may test ourselves.

I. THE ONE FOLLOWS THE WORLD, THE OTHER FOLLOWS CHRIST. Our Lord speaks here of following him, i.e. doing what he did, going where he went, etc. In any doubtful sphere let us fairly and frankly ask ourselvesWould the Lord be here? He did not confine himself to the synagogue or to the temple, but dwelt in the home at Nazareth, worked at the carpenter’s bench, sat at the wedding feast, went out on the lake with the fishermen, etc. In our innocent enjoyments and ordinary work we may still be following him. Suggest occasions on which there is a distinct choice between the worldly and the Christ-like.

II. THE ONE INDULGES HIMSELF, THE OTHER DENIES HIMSELF. A complete surrender of will is called for if we would truly serve Christ. Whenever his will points in one way and our inclination points in another, we must deny ourselves. This is an indispensable condition of following. The true denier of self is the true confessor of Christ. Wishes, tastes, and appetites must be restrained and (where obedience to the Lord requires it) denied by a Christian.

III. THE ONE CARES FOR WHAT IS OUTWARD, THE OTHER FOR WHAT IS INWARD. Many desire to “gain the world,” and in the attempt use selfish and sinful means, such as the Lord spurned when they were offered to him (Mat 4:9). But what seems to us to be “gain” we must learn to “count loss for Christ” (Php 3:7, Php 3:8). His disciples cannot be content with the outward show of happiness. Character to them is far more important than circumstances. If the world be gained, nothing is gained; if the soul be lost, everything is lost.

IV. THE ONE SEEKS EASE, THE OTHER RISKS THE LOSS OF IT. We want a test of the different courses which are sometimes presented for our choice. Speaking broadly, two are possible to us, and our use of the one as of the other proclaims what manner of men we are. The worldling asks, “Which is the pleasantest and easiest thing to do?” the Christian asks, “Which is the right thing?” and will choose that, whatever its issues.

V. THE ONE FINDS DEATH A LOSS, THE OTHER A GAIN. Our life reaches far beyond things seen. Death is the grave of earthly pleasures, but it is the gateway of heavenly joys.

VI. THE ONE WILL BE ASHAMED, AND THE OTHER EXALTED, IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. Christ speaks here of his coming again, “in the glory of his Father,” as his Representative in judgment and as the Founder of a new heaven and earth, in which righteousness will dwell. Around him will be “the holy angels”those servants of God who rejoice over the penitent (Luk 15:10), who minister to the saints (Heb 1:14), and who will finally execute the judgments of the Lord (Mat 13:41). Then he who knows us altogether will separate us, according to his unerring judgment of our characters. All will awake, “some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”A.R.

HOMILIES BY R. GREEN

Mar 8:1-21

A sign from heaven.

“There was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat.” Again Jesus had “compassion.” Again are the disciples perplexed. “Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?” Speedily, of “seven loaves” and “a few small fishes” “about four thousand men, beside women and children, did eat and were filled,” and “broken pieces remained over” to the extent of “seven baskets.” Jesus left the miracle to give its own teachingsthe great work to sink down into their hearts, while that he sought relief and rest, entering into the boat and coming “into the borders of Magadan.” Perversely, the Pharisees, now joined by the Sadducees, came tempting him, putting him to the proof, “seeking of him a sign from heaven.” They knew not that he had already put them to the proof by the signs already wrought, which, had they had eyes to see, would have led them to believe. He had, without words, proved that the veil was on their hearts. Had they been children of truth, how soon would they have acknowledged the truth! But now, with words, he would carry home to their hearts a conviction of their blindness in presence of spiritual things. “A sign from heaven,” would ye? Quick are ye to discern the signs in the reddened sky of the morning or evening. See ye no red “signs of the times?” Do the passing clouds of heaven foretoken storm or calm? and do not the passing incidents of earth in the political or the social sphere, or the sphere of the individual life? Look around. Was it ever so seen in Israel as it is now seen? Your fathers did eat manna in the desertis it not so now? Are not the words of the prophets finding their exact fulfillment in these hours? Are not “signs” abundant in the healed ones and in the wonderful words? Would ye have “blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke” ? Would ye have the sun “turned into darkness the moon into blood” ? Verily the sun shall be darkened; verily the sign of blood shall be in the heavens and upon you. Alas! having eyes they saw not, and having ears they heard not. Then “deeply” from the heart of compassion and sorrow a sigh arose mingling with his words of astonishment and inquiry, “Why doth this generation seek a sign?” followed by the stern condemnation, “There shall no sign” such as they desire “be given;” though God’s own sign”the sign “will not be wanting, nor be unseen by the watchers. Why will men “seek a sign?” Why “cannot” men “discern the signs”even those which are always the peculiar and appropriate “signs of the times” ? The questions admit of one reply, for that age and this, and for every age. The answer is found

I. In the prevalent spirit of unbelief. The strange closing of the eyes and shutting of the ears and hardening of the heart. And if the light abound the closed eye cannot see, and if the air be filled with angel-songs, or the voice of the Teacher lade the air with heavenly truth, the closed car admits it not. And though the hand of the Lord be present, the hardened heart receives not its impress. It is unmoved, untouched.

II. But why do not men believe? Is it that they cannot or that they will not believe? Alas! both. Some cannot because they have not been solely or sufficiently attentive to the Word, from the hearing of which cometh faith, or for a time they labour under the soul-hindering perplexity which some unresolved sceptical difficulty has involved them in. But these, being seekers of the faith, “shall find.” They must be patient; for with our partial views of things we cannot suddenly quadrate all our truth with every suggested opinion, or point out the fallacy of that opinion. But some will not believe. In a foolish, even stupidyea, wickedresistance of evidence, they shut out the force of conviction; while others are hindered, being “slow of heart to believe,” and therefore “foolish men.”

III. Moral conditions affect the power of faith. Jesus showed this when he said, “How can ye believe which receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not?” And the self-seeking and world-loving, the evil and the sensual, the disobedient, and all who have “refused to have God in their knowledge,” must gain both an indisposition and an inaptitude of mind to receive God’s testimony in that spirit of faith which implies faithfulness to the truth when known. These are the “wicked and adulterous” to whom “no” special “sign shall be given;” for, refusing the many signs that are around, they will not be “persuaded, if one rise from the dead.” But to all one! “sign” shall “be given””a sign which is spoken against,” but which remains ever the one “sign” in heaven and in earth and in all “times,” “the sign of Jonah the prophet.”G.

Mar 8:14-21

Leaven.

After the great miracle of the feeding of the four thousand, Jesus “entered into a boat with his disciples, and came.”for rest, probably”into the parts of Dalmanutha. And they forgot to take bread.” Had not emphasis been laid on their forgetfulness, we might have supposed they had been led to think “one loaf” enough; for if the Master could feed four thousand with seven loaves, surely he could feed twelve men with one! These men were yet but children in understanding, and Jesus, their watchful Guardian, therefore warns them against the spirit of the men who had recently made the strange demand from him for signs”the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod,” “the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Strangely enough, they think the reference is to “leaven of bread,” which must find an explanation in the engrossment of their minds by the astounding miracle they had witnessed. And yet they see not the thing signified. Jesus, by a brief teaching on the two bread-miracles, draws them away from the “leaven of bread” to “the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducecs.” Is this a lesson for all time? Was the leaven of Herod wholly put out of the house with his name? Do Sadducecism and Pharisaism still linger amongst men; and are the disciples of Jesus still exposed to their corrupting influence? It is but too true that these questions must be answered by one affirmative. Herod is described as “a frivolous, voluptuous, unprincipled man.” His name symbolizes a morally vile life. Readers of the Gospels know well what the word “Pharisee” stands for”the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The Sadducees, though less prominent, are not wholly unknown. Their rejection of great truths on no higher authority than their own opinion points at once to the dangerous tampering with revealed truths. These two rivals as schools were one in the evilness of their teaching so aptly alliterated as “unbelieving hypocrisy and hypocritical unbelief.” They stood in united opposition to the Lord’s Christ. Thus is the Church for all ages warned against evils that threaten the entire strength and the very existence of the life of the Spirit. Those evils are

I. HEATHENISH SELF–INDULGENCE. Faith grows not in a heart given over to self-indulgence. “The Author and Perfecter of our faith” has made demand, in unmistakable terms, of all who would be his disciples: “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Evil self-indulgence saps the strength of all faith. The highest evidence of the truth and authority of Christ’s teaching is given to the obedient. “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from myself.” Evilness of life puts men out of harmony with the truth; and as all disobedience is a denial of authority, it disposes men to desire that its authority may be questioned: while the continuous acknowledgment of the authority of the truth makes disobedience the more guilty. These “hold down the truth in unrighteousness.” This spirit will support the second evil, namely

II. SADDUCEAN SCEPTICISM. If scepticism were a true spirit of inquiry, or even that sensibility of faith that longs to know, and is eager to defend itself from deceit, it were a healthy guard against childish credulity. But if it become a proud self-sufficiency, a resolute resistance and despisal of truths that are apprehended only by faithtruths which by their very nature do not admit of scientific demonstration, or of truths that do not harmonize with preconceived notionsit then stands in the way of all holy and healthy influence from the highest truths that could reach the heart. It is the opposite of the hearing ear, of the childlike teachableness, There is a faith which is wrought in the heart by the truth’s own testimonythe belief that “cometh of hearing,” the hearing that is hearkening. But yet another danger lies in the path of the followers of Christ. It is

III. HYPOCRITICAL PRETENTIOUSNESS. Here the truth is acknowledged, but neither the heart nor the life is true to it. It is unfaithfulness, deceit, hypocrisy. It is the vice against which the severest words that escaped the lips of Christ were directed. A “double-minded man is unstable,” but a double-faced man is utterly unworthy. He is open to all seductions; he may become the tool of all evil, and all the time hiding the filthiness of his evil heart in a show of righteousness whose deceitfulness reduces it to the lowest grade of evil. Of this leaven all disciples from the earliest hour have been in danger. Even a little may be “hid” in the heart “till all is leavened.'” To how many of the disciples may it be said to-day, “Do ye not understand? G.

Mar 8:22-26

The gradual healing of the blind man.

In each of the many cases of healing there were, doubtless, peculiarities of incident of great interest to the healed, if not to us. But of only a few have we the details. Perhaps where we have them they have their more important relation to us than to the subjects of the healing themselves. In this case, as in others, the compassion of friends is called into play. “They bring to him a blind man, and beseech him to touch him.” Not without service to us all is this little feature preserved. How may we who have proved his power to heal learn here the duty, the propriety, the encouragement to bring to Jesus, by kindly, leading hands, those who see not their way to him. Gently Jesus took the hand of the blind man in his, and led him away from the crowd, “out of the village”itself a judgment to this Bethsaida. But oh, how beauteous a pictureJesus leading the blind! This is itself a homily. Singular to us appear the actions of Christ, both here and elsewhere. But why did he “spit on his eyes” ? That he should work gradually and through the medium of outward signs was very becoming, if only to identify himself with the miracle. But who shall tell the thoughts they stirred in the hearts of the healed, for every one of whom Jesus cared! There was no need of spittle even to loosen the gummed eyelids, though such loosening may have been necessary, and needed no wasting of power by the doing it miraculously. Nor was there any absolute need of the touch of the hand; no, nor even at any time of the word. His will was enough. But he who chose to use his word or his touch or his breath here identifies himself with the miracle by the spittle. The progressive character of the work stands in contrast to the somewhat hasty “touch him.” As there is no mention of faith (so generally commended where found) on the part of the blind man, it may have been but small, if there were any. Perhaps this may afford some reason why the healing was not instantaneous. It may have responded to the growing faith of the recipienta seeing far more important even than beholding men and trees. Would no virtue come from the touch of that leading hand? Were no words spoken to awaken faith? Was there a Lydian spirit in the man “whose” eyes “the Lord’ so gently “opened” ? We may not know. But to us the miracle is a type of many healings in our suffering, blind world, where faith and hope have need to be roused into activity by some measure of healingsome sign. And it may be that here the full trust of that half-hoping heart was gained by the very lingering of the light on the threshold of those half-opened eyes.

“For thou wouldst have us linger still

Upon the verge of good or ill,

That on thy guiding hand unseen

Our undivided hearts may lean.”

Certainly we may learn, in the midst of the variety of the Lord’s ways of working:

1. That it may please him to use many means to accomplish that which by a word, a touch, a lookor withouthe could instantly effect.

2. That it may equally please him to detain hope till it is made strong by tried faiththe faith that is as severely tried by time as by fire.

3. That it may as truly please him to draw out the heart’s love by its sense of dependence upon him. So is it by all those slow but beautiful processes of nature, which are the Lord’s hands for ministering to us bread and wine.

4. And most assuredly may we learn not to despise the Lord’s work while it is in process. For what seems to us to be but imperfectness of work or tardiness of method, may be his kind and gentle and instructive way of leading us to see things in their perfectnesseven “all things clearly.”G.

Mar 8:27-30

The confession of Peter.

The brief record of St. Mark leads us to turn to the fuller statements of St. Matthew. Jesus tests the faith of his disciples “as they were able” to bear it. First, “in the way he asked, Who do men say that I am?” What is the general opinion? Then, more closely,” But who say ye that I am?” It was a day of testing. There had been a general blindness. Immediately before he had occasion to say, “O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have no bread? Do ye not yet perceive?” But there was amongst them one discerning spirit; and he who “knew all men” saw the elevation of character, the quick perception, the sympathetic, sensitive soul. “Who say ye?” “Simon”of whom it had been early said, “Thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter),” which is by interpretation, “Rock,” or” Stone””Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is enough. Here is one who, seeing, can see the true character of the Sent of God; not a mere teacher, or rabbi, but the Hope of Israelthe long looked-for Christ, “the Son of the Blessed.” The wise Master-builder stood ready to lay the firm foundation-stones of his enduring Church”a spiritual house,” built up of “living stones;” and in this first confessor, the first to acknowledge his exalted person and high office, in this man who is a rock, Jesus discerns the suitable stone to lay first on the prepared earth. “Thou,” of whom it was once said, “Thou shalt be,” now “art, Peter: and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Not upon Peter’s mere confession; not upon Peter apart from his confession; nor, indeed, upon Peter alone. For the Church of Jesus is not a column, a pillar, of stones. But of those “twelve foundations,” of what afterwards was seen by one of them in be a city, and on which are the “twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb,” this was the first to be. laid. Or of that “household of God,” which is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief Comer-stone,” this stone gained the honorable position of being laid immediately next to the comer. The house is spiritual, the stones are spiritual, the total idea is spiritualevery stone is a “living stone.” Here is no dead body of rubbish; but spiritually discerning men, who, like Peter, can discern and confess The Lord’s Christ. There need be no hesitation in acknowledging the high position assigned to Peterthe prince, the very primate of the apostlesby his Lord and ours. An immeasurable gulf lies between this and the assumption of the exclusive authority of Peter by Rome. Yea, though the improbability of Peter’s ever having visited Rome were exchanged for a certainty that he both visited the city and founded its Church, yet would that claim be baseless. Nor does the putting into his hands “the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” with which, by God’s good grace, he opened the gates of the kingdom to Jews and Gentiles, which work, done on earth, was truly confirmed in heaven, give Rome the slightest warrant for her assumption,

I. The first great lesson for every Peter obviously isTO SEEK A PENETRATIVE DISCERNMENT OF JESUS AS THE, CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. The beholding Jesus, the Son of Mary, as the common eye may, is a primary step. A life so pure, so beneficent, so exalted, justly claims the attention of all. It stands pre-eminently above all It is out of the common category. But this is not the perfect view. There is more hidden in the word “Christ;” and this demands a fuller insight. Some, like Nicodcmus, acknowledge him to be “a Teacher come from God.” But in their view he is only one of many; with whom Homer, and Shakespeare, and Dante and a thousand others rank as sent of God, and filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and all knowledge, like a Bezaleel of old, to work in all manner of work for the building up of an outer temple of God. But he stands alone in Peter’s judgment, and in that of all who are “blessed” like Peter, in that the truth is revealed to them not by” flesh and blood,” but by the “Father which is in heaven.” But even this falls short of the final term: “Thou art the Son of the living God.” “God of God, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;” he “being the Effulgence of his glory, and the very Image of his substance.” Yet let every discerning one acknowledge, “no one knoweth the Son save the Father.”

II. A second lesson is for every one who sooth the Son as he is revealed of the Father, To CONFESS HIM IN PRESENCE OF THE WORLD‘S ERROR, SELF–SEEKING, CONFUSION, AND SIN. This each, who having seen Jesus has seen the Father in him, is called to do. And thus shall the kingdom of heaven be opened more and more. Thus shall the great Church be extended, whose inviolable security is pledged to every one who, in the spirit of Peter, can hear and receive the assuring words, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”G.

Verse 31-ch. 9:1

Discipleship.

Having elicited Peter’s noble confession, Jesus puts the disciples to further proof by declaring that “the Son of man”his own lowly title, contrasting so strangely with Peter’s wordmust “suffer,” “and be rejected,” “and be killed,” “and after three days rise again.” And this was said in no enigmatical or hidden way, but “openly.” Whereupon the weaker side of Peter’s character obtruded itself: he “took him and began to rebuke him.” The Messianic hopes which had been expressed by the confession, and confirmed by the Lord’s testimony to that confession, were contradicted, if not dashed to the ground, by the suggestion of a suffering and conquered Christ. “This shall never be unto thee.” Now does Peter need correction. The strong word of which shows how good and bad may mingle in our present imperfectness. The great proto-confessor denies his Lord by denying the true spirit to Christ, and by opposing his earthly to the heavenly method of conquest”the things of men” to “the things of God.” In the yet imperfect heart, though, indeed, taught of God, this would be a prevailing of the “gates of Hades.” Therefore we must say, “Be it far from thee, Lord.” In presence of the disciples, for their instruction, as for Peter’s correction, the Lord utters his displeasure in the strongest termsterms quite sufficient to prevent any boasting on account of the previous honorable distinction. “Get thee behind me, Satan.” So near the words spoken “to the evil one,” “Get thee hence, Satan.” One only word is needed to add to this by way of explication, “Thou art a stumbling-block to me;” and another word by way of application, “For thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.” Is it so, then, that “the things of men” stand in direct contradiction to “the things of God” ? That which is purely “of men” do; and all that is not “of God” is of the adversary, “Satan,” and must be silenced. That silencing is effected by words which have ever since appeared as in letters of fire Over the gate of entrance to discipleship. And “the multitude” is “called” together to hear them. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” How simple, yet how comprehensive! how easy, and yet how difficult, is this tri-unity of duty! In its simplest presentation it is:

1. A thorough, complete, continuous, self-denial.

2. A patient endurance.

3. A diligent obedience.

“With men this is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

I. It was not only during the early struggles of the Church of Christ, or merely in its conflict with the and-Christian world, that the disciple must needs “deny himself.” It is the groundwork of all discipleship, and finds its necessity in the natural revulsion from the duties, the restraints, and the discipline of the gospel. That it should be more needful to urge the necessity for a total self-abnegation in the midst of an unfriendly, antagonistic worldly power, is obvious. But a spirit of self-indulgence is wholly removed from the idea of the disciple of Jesus. The habitual refusal to hearken to the appeals of the sinful self when those appeals contradict the voice of conscience, the inward echo of Christ’s outward voice, is a rule allowing of no relaxation, even under the most favorable religious influences. The true idea of the disciple suggests the absolute, unconditional self-surrenderthe whole life laid at the feet of the Master.

II. The subsequent words point to a buying of the life at the expense of the life. A paradox designed to awaken thought, and that finds its solution in the dual character of life. The outward and visible, the inward and spiritual; the life temporal, and the life eternal. In Jesus’ view a man might suffer, be rejected of men, be killed, and yet truly “save his life” and “find it;” while, on the other hand, a man might save his life from the toils, the sacrifices, the self-inflictions and self-denials which discipleship would require, from the cruelties of men, from the death which human hands could inflict, and yet “lose his life”lose life in the truest, highest, best, and therefore only real sense. Jesus saw that, so far from losing all, a man might gain allall the world could give himthe “whole world” itself; yet all this might be at the forfeiture of the life. And if he forfeit his life, “what shall a man give in exchange for” it again? Once forfeited, it is forfeited for ever. There is no possibility of returning to regain it. Well were it, therefore, for his disciples to carry a cross daily, a symbol of dying to self, to sin, and the world, and in the patient endurance of that self-inflicted death to find the true lifethe life in Christ, the life in the region of righteousness, and the pledge of a being “raised up” to life everlasting. Before the words were formulated, the disciples of Jesus attained the high estate, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me: and,” with a reaching far and forward, “that life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith.”

III. It was in this spirit of unflagging obedienceeven to a hard, self-restraining, self-denying, and self-crucifying rulethat the disciple was, with his far-reaching and fore-reaching vision, to “live in faith,” anticipating the time when “the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and render unto every man according to his deeds.” After these hard sayings with which Jesus had shaken the hearts of the disciples, and proclaimed to the “great multitude” the severity of his rule, he comfortingly assures them of the nearness of his kingdom, by declaring “some of them” should “in no wise taste of death” till they had seen it “come with power.”G.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON

Mar 8:1-10

Compassion for the many,

I. CHRIST‘S COMPASSION FOR THE MANY CONTRASTED WITH THE NARROW HEARTS OF THE DISCIPLES.

1. Narrow hearts often are caused by narrow means. Alas! grinding poverty makes even naturally kind hearts indifferent to others’ sufferings. Where there is “little to earn and many to keep,” this will be so. There are circumstances in which the whole kindly current of the man’s being is frozen, and he becomes utterly egotistic.

2. The Divine heart is of boundless compassion. All those ancient pictures of God as unwearied and unworn after all his creative activity, may be used of his redemptive activity. There is no exhausting the Divine intelligence, no draining the resources of the Divine heart.

II. CHRIST‘S ACTION ON THIS OCCASION A PARABLE OF THE CALL OF THE GENTILES. The present feeding of the multitude differs from the former; the numbers given are different. Again, the present work was done after a long journey in heathen lands. “The one miracle was chiefly, if not entirely, for Jews; the other chiefly, if not entirely, for Gentiles. The feeding of the five thousand was an exceptional miracle, which Jesus had refused to repeat on behalf of Jews. It was therefore quite natural that the apostles should not at once receive the intimation of Jesus respecting what he was willing to do for the multitude. They spoke only of their own inability to supply the wants of the people; but they did not forget what he had done a few weeks before. There were only a few miraculous cures for the Gentiles, while those for the Jews were innumerable; and it might therefore be doubted if Jesus would now do for Gentiles what he had only once done for Jews” (J. H. Godwin). The Divine compassion and love exceed our noblest and largest thoughts, and are extended alike to all peoples.J.

Mar 8:11-21

Craving for signs.

I. WHENCE THE CRAVING SPRINGS. “The Jews seek after a sign.” It is the spirit we nowadays term “sensationalism.” It is a natural desire for a certain pleasure of the mind. Fixed ideas, a sameness of mental representations, wearies and saddens the mind. Hence the craving for amusement, which gives change to the perpetual march past of the same old thoughts. The feeling is natural enough. The Jews, who had no science in our sense, and did not live in an interesting age like ours, wanted signs and wonders to amuse. We can understand the feeling, and allow it to be natural, but at the same time not religious.

II. CHRIST REFUSES TO FOSTER SENSATIONALISM.

1. The form of denial and refusal is very strong and emphatic indeed. (Mar 8:12.) Signs will be given to those who are ready to profit by them, not to gratify idle curiosity. How severely does Christ discountenance “sensationalism” in connection with his religion! He will have as little noise, as little rumor, finger-pointing, gaping of vacant crowd, as possible. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”

2. Besides, an express warning is given: against “the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.” This means much the same as the Pharisees and Sadducees, apparently. The political Herodians were many of them Sadducees. Again, the Pharisees and Sadducees had a certain common basis of teaching. Both were at once in opposition to Jesus and the aims of his kingdom. The Pharisees, strongly conservative of Judaism, would disparage Jesus and his works. The other party would object to any “kingdom of heaven,” acknowledging only the Roman empire. The “leaven” means both the teaching and the spirit of it (cf. Mat 16:12; Luk 12:1).

III. THE UNSPIRITUAL MIND CONSTANTLY MISUNDERSTOOD HIM. The disciples stuck at the word “leaven”leaven-loaves. “We forgot to bring provisions with us!” The error was double. They caught at the sound instead of the sense. And they showed forgetfulness of the miracle they had so recently witnessed. “How is it that you do not consider?” Christ is just as much misunderstood to-day as he was then. We forget the spirit of Christianity; we blunder over its meaning. He says to us to-day, “How is it that you do not consider?” “Moral evidence is most profitable and proper for religious truth. Lower proof is desired when higher is disregarded and despised. Forgetfulness of the past occasions needless anxiety for the future” (J. H. Godwin).J.

Mar 8:22-26

The blind man.

I. “THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST AWAKENS FAITH IN THOSE WHO ARE BROUGHT TO HIM BY THE FAITH OF OTHERS.”

II. “BENEFITS ARE RECEIVED ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF FAITH IN HIM” (J. H. Godwin).J.

Mar 8:27-30

Jesus the Messiah.

I. SOME MISTAKEN IDENTIFICATIONS OF JESUS. John Baptist; Elijah; a prophet; Jeremiah, according to Matthew. There was some truth here. They recognized the prophetic inspiration and power of Jesus. Truth in feeling, error in thought; Jesus was the greatest of the prophets, not reproducing his predecessors, but going beyond them. God hath spoken by his Son (Heb 1:1-14.).

II. A TRUE IDENTIFICATION. Peter’s, “Thou art the Messiah,” i.e. the Anointed of God (cf. Mat 16:13-20). The Messiah includes Prophet, Priest, and King within his person and functions.

III. THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE IDENTIFICATION BY JESUS.

1. It is implicitly accepted here, as explicitly in Mat 16:1-28 :Jesus claims to be Prince and Saviour of his people and mankind.

2. Yet it must not be made known. Probably the statement, “The Prophet Jesus is the Messiah,” noised abroad, would have produced a false impression. When by his death all hopes of an earthly kingdom had been destroyed, it would not be so. “Only with a knowledge of his character would the statement at any time be beneficial; and from this it would receive the best and surest confirmation” (J. H. Godwin).J.

Mar 8:31-38

Unwelcome prophecies.

I. PLAIN TRUTHS SELDOM WELCOME. He now spoke of suffering, rejection, even murder, at the hands of a conspiracy. The veil was drawn aside; at last it was seen what the Messiahship of Jesus meant. The same thing had before been expressed parabolically (Joh 2:19; Joh 3:14; Joh 6:51).

II. THE FLATTERY OF FRIENDSHIP. The honest-hearted Peter is endeared to us. He is so human; his feelings always on the right side, his intelligence often confused. How true his heart here! how wrong his thought! Suffering and death seem an evil to him, as to most of us. Not so to Christ. The mere suggestion that the real is to be preferred to the ideal, mere life to duty, self-interest to the kingdom of God, he spurns from him as the suggestion of a dark spirit.

III. SELF–RENUNCIATION. “Let him renounce himself!” says Christ to the recruit for his army, the would-be citizen of his kingdom. Deep words: the meaning behind them it requires a life to learn.

1. The resolve of egotism must end in failure. To determine to save one’s life is to cast it away; to cast away one’s life for the sake of the ideal is to save it. Christianity is the kingdom of the ideal.

2. In the spiritual sphere there is no real loss. Life is one, and is not “in the abundance of the things possessed.” It cannot be “priced,” nor bartered away. It is the man’s very self.

3. To disavow our ideal is to incur eternal shame. There are the ideals of comfort, of luxury; the ideals of society; the ideals of God, of the spirit. We must take our choice. We may make a choice of the lower which shall exclude the higher, or of the higher which shall include all of worth an the lower. There is no other rule than “Seek first the kingdom of God!” If we i are ashamed to be true to our ideal, the time will come when we shall be put to shame in the presence of it. To disavow greatness when it comes to us under the guise of obsCurity, this is to ensure our being disavowed of greatness when it appears in its true and heavenly glory.J.

HOMILIES BY J.J. GIVEN

Mar 8:1-21

Parallel passage: Mt 15:30-16:12.

The Feeding of the for thousand

1. The feeding of the four thousand.

2. The sign sought by the Pharisees.

3. The leaven of the Pharisees.

I. OMISSION. Having pretty fully considered the feeding of the five thousand recorded in the sixth chapter, and its relation to the feeding of the four thousand narrated in the above section of this eighth chapter, we waive further notice of this subject, as the two miracles are in fact twin miracles, having much in common, and many circumstances so similar that, as we saw, some erroneously identified them. We may add, however, that on the former occasion the northern villagers would have made Jesus a king; the dwellers on the eastern shores make no demonstration. Further, the five thousand were fed after the return of the twelve; the four thousand after our Lord’s return from the borders of Tyre and Sidon. In the former case, the disciples went away by sea and Christ retired to the mountain, but met them again at the fourth watch, as he walked upon the waters. On the present occasion the multitude had been with Jesus three days, and afterwards he departed with the disciples in the ship.

II. THE PHARISEES. At this juncture they had made common cause with their bitter opponents, the Sadducees; both together made a combined and desperate attack on our Lord. He seems to have avoided Bethsaida and Capernaum, which were further north, and to have landed near Magdala, now El-Mejdel, in the neighborhood and about three miles to the north of which was Dalmanutha, on purpose, it would seem, to escape from those inveterate enemies who appear to have made Capernaum or Bethsaida their head-quarters. Consequently they were under the necessity of coming in quest of him; for they “came forth, and began to question with him.” Their ostensible object on this occasion was to seek of him a sign from heaven, but their real design was, in all likelihood, to entrap him. They were insincere as well as sceptical; and, had the sought-for sign been granted, it would not have overcome their deeply rooted prejudices and hypocritical pretences. The conduct of these wretched men was suicidal. Their curiosity craved a sign; their unbelief unfitted them for its performance, as also for its proper perception had it been performed. Besides, had there not been many signs? Had not a multitude of the angelic host celebrated Christ’s birth on the plains of Bethlehem? Had there not been the reception by Simeon, and the response of Anna at his presentation in the temple? Had not the star appeared in the East? Had not the Magi followed its guidance to worship the infant Saviour and to present their gifts? Had not an audible voice from heaven acknowledged him at his baptism, it did as on two subsequent occasions? Had not the Spirit, in visible, dove-like form, descended upon him? Thus in the temple two pious Jews expressed their grateful acknowledgments and recorded their joy, confessing their Lord. Soon after, Gentile Magi, men of scientific knowledge and literary pursuits, came from a far-off Eastern land to pay their homage. Here we have at once Hebrew piety and Gentile philosophy uniting to do honor to the infant Saviour, and bow in humility at his feet. Here, too, we have male and femalethat Godly old man Simeon and that holy, aged woman Anna representing their respective sexes in owning his Messiahship. So afterwards, on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the crowd that went before and the crowd that followed after had cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” the children in the temple responded, saying in the selfsame strain, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Old and young, male and female, Gentile and Jew, thus unite their tribute to that Saviour whose mercy they need, whose grace they share, by whose work they are benefited, and in whose salvation they participate. But not so these captious, sceptical, false-hearted, and malignant Pharisees. On three other occasions we read of a sign being demandedafter the cleansing of the temple, the journey through the corn-fields, the feeding of the five thousand; so also on the occasion mentioned here. What was the nature of the sign for which they clamoured? The signs they sought were marvels of a garish kindappearances in the sky, such as manna coming down from heaven, as they themselves intimated in Joh 6:1-71.; or the standing still of the sun and moon, or the sudden descent of thunder and hail, or some change of the atmosphere, as Theophylact suggests; or the calling down of fire and rain, or the receding of the sun’s shadow on the dial, or some great, overmastering, and stupendous miracle. “They thought,” says Theophylact, “he could not perform a sign from heaven, as one who in league with Beelzebub could only perform signs on earth.” But had they not seen even greater signs than these? And, had they been favored with the signs of their own choosing, would they have been satisfied? There is no reason to believe they would. Our Lord, however, never gratified an idle curiosity, nor wrought a miracle to create wonder, but usually to supply some want or relieve some necessity.

III. THE DISCIPLES‘ WANT OF SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT. Our Lord, as we have seen, had to contend with the hostility of the Pharisees, their stubborn disbelief and ensnaring captiousness. In view of these, and of the subtilty of the temptation which claimed a miracle to prove his Messiahship, as also perhaps of the crisis that was hurrying on, there welled up from the depths of his heart that sigh of mingled patience and pity. But he had more to contend with than Pharisaic opposition and disbelief; he had the perverseness of his own disciples. If he had the stolid stubbornness of the Pharisees to encounter on the one hand, he had the stupidity of his own disciples to oppose on the other. On the one side there was sullen scepticism, on the other sad slowness of heart; on the one malignant frowardness, on the other wayward misconception. How often is the disciple of Christ similarly situated! He meets with open enmity on the part of Godless, Christless men, while unaccountably he finds obstacles thrown in his way by the professed friends of truth. If foes are bitter in their opposition, friends sometimes fail to render the expected and much-needed supportoften, however, more from want of thought than want of will. But when distressed and depressed, what by fightings without and fears within, we have the example of our Lord to encourage us and keep us from desponding. If such things were done in a green tree, what may we not expect to be done in a dry?

IV. MEANING OF THE WARNING AGAINST THE LEAVEN. Our Lord broke off his interview with these hypocritical Pharisees abruptly, and re-embarked rather hurriedly. He abandoned them in their unbelief, renouncing and rejecting them as impracticable malignants. The disciples, whose duty it was to provide for their own and Master’s wants, had somehow overlooked or neglected the duty that thus devolved on them. Either, owing to their hasty re-embarkation, they had forgotten ( being used in a pluperfect sense) to provide bread before startinga strange oversight after having collected seven large baskets () full of fragments; or, after landing, and when they had come to the other side, they forgot ( having the ordinary past signification of the aorist) to take bread for their land-journey further, though they had had only one loaf with them in the ship. Our Lord, as usual, improving the occasion, and intending to guard his disciples from the subtle, insinuating errors and example of the Pharisees, warned them against their plausible but pernicious teaching, and in doing so he employed terms, as was his custom, suggested by recent occurrences. “Take heed, beware,” he said, “of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod;” or, as Meyer understands the word (), “Take heed, turn your eyes away from the leaven of the Pharisees, and from the leaven of Herod;” or, as St. Matthew has it, from “the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” so that Herod, from his Sadduceeism, may here, by way of eminence, represent that sect. Leaven, with the single exception of the parable of the leaven, is always used for evil of some sort, especially evil secretly working and silently diffusing itself; and hence, in preparation for the Passover, leaven was to be purged out of all the households of the Hebrews. Accordingly the leaven of the Pharisees, if used here in a specific and not in a generic sense, may he taken to denote hypocrisy, while the leaven of the Sadducees may signify misbelief, and that of Herod worldliness; and as the Sadducean creed allows full scope to worldly pleasures and pursuits, and because of their many points of contact, the two latter may coincide or change places; while the whole three are animated by one and the same spirit of opposition to God and true religion. Our Lord here warned his disciples against all doctrine, practice, or teaching of like character under the name of leaven. His disciples, in their low, grovelling notions, and through their slowness of spiritual apprehension, understood him to speak of bread in the literal sense, and of bread baked with leaven got from the Pharisees on landing. They supposed that the Saviour was warning them against anything of that kind that might corrupt them. How different the Master and the disciples! The latter allowed their thoughts to be too much engrossed with the bread that perisheth; the former had his mind occupied with the bread that endureth unto eternal life, and warned them against any teaching or any practice that might interfere with their possessing it. No wonder our Lord was somewhat sharp in his rebuke of their spiritual dulness, for, having eyes for the physical part of the miracles, they failed to see their spiritual import. They had eyesight only for the outward shell, but did not perceive the kernel. Hence it is that he inquires, Having ears, hear ye not?” and again, “How is it that ye do not understand?”

V. EXEGETICAL NOTE ON CERTAIN WORDS AND PHRASES IN THE PRECEDING SECTIONS.

1. The clause, “They have now been with me three days,” is literally, There are now three days to them remaining with me. To the original expression thus exactly rendered has been cited the following parallel from the ‘Philoctetes’ of Sophocles : “It was now the second day to me sailing.”

2. Instead of of St. Matthew, we have here in St. Mark , which is slightly different in sense, meaning, “In circumstances consequent on or connected with being in a desert.”

3. In Verse 12 the received text reads , which yields a very suitable sense, namely, seeks a sign in addition to those already given. The critical editors, Lachmann, Tisehendorf, and Tregelles, however, read the simpler verb .

4. In this same verse there is a Hebraistic form of strong abjuration. The clause in our English Version is, “There shall no sign be given;” so also the Syriac has simply “not;” but the strict rendering is, “If a sign shall be given,” which, resolved according to the idiom of the original, is,” May I not live if a sign shall be given,” or “God do so to me and more if a sign shall be given.”

5. So also in the same verse, “he brake,” that is, at once, because the verb is the aorist tense; and “kept giving,” as the verb is imperfect.

6. The two participles meaning respectively “having given thanks” and “blessed” amount to nearly the same thing, and set us an example suitable, seemly, and seasonable of thanking God and asking his blessing when we partake of our daily food; in other words, of conforming to the time-honored practice of saying “grace,” as it is called, before meals, by which we thankfully acknowledge the Giver, and ask his blessing on and with the gift.J.J.G.

Mar 8:22-26

The healing of a blind man at Bethsaida.

I. SEVERAL MIRACLES OF A SIMILAR KIND. The miracle here recorded was performed at Bethsaida Julias, or the northern Bethsaida, on the route from the north-east shore of the lake to Caesarea Philippi. It is related by St. Mark alone. The peculiarity of this miracle of restoring sight to the blind is the circumstance of its being wrought at twice; that is to say, the cure was progressive or gradual. In the ninth chapter of St. John’s Gospel we have the account of a like miracle of opening the eyes of a blind man; but one peculiarity of the miracle there recorded consists in the fact that the man on whom the miracle was performed had been born blind. There is again the opening of the eyes of two blind men near Jericho, recorded in St. Matthew (20.), one of whom only is mentioned by St. Mark (10.) and by St. Luke (18.), and called by the patronymic Bartimaeus, or the son of Timaeus. There is also the record of another similar miracle in the ninth chapter of St. Matthew, when our Lord, after putting their faith to the test, cured two blind men in the house whither they had followed him. Besides these specially recorded cases, we have several references of a general kind to our Lord’s healing of the blind. The great number of instances of this kind is accounted for by the fact that blindness is a disease much more common in the East than in the lands of the West, while several causes have been assigned for that prevalence, such as the small particles of dust and sand impinging on the eye, and persons sleeping in the open air at night.

II. THE CONDITION OF THIS MAN. This man was blind, but, as we shall see, he had not been born blindhe was not blind from birth. He had become blind from accident or disease. At all events, he was destitute of that most valuable sense, the sense of sight. He had been long a stranger to the beauties of nature. “The light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to see the sun;” but that sun, that light, those beauties, those bright colors, those lovely forms that appear in the heaven above, in the earth beneath, in the waters round the earthall, all had long been to him a blank. He was in that state which Milton, in the days of his blindness, so poetically and pathetically deplores

“Thus with the year
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of ev’n or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer’s rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud instead and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the!cheerful ways of men
Cut off! and, for the book of knowledge fair.
Presented with a universal blank
Of nature’s works, to me expunged and rased,
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.”

We know not whether this blind man had wife or child. It is probable he had; and, if so, when he rose in the morning his wife ministered unto him, his children clung to his knees and kissed him while he blessed them. They led him forth to the street or elsewhere out of doors. He could feel them, but could not behold them. Their smiles, their tears, their bright eyes, and sweet faces were to him unknown and by him unseen. All the region round Bethsaida was charmingthe glancing waters of the lake, the lovely flowers of the Galilean hills, were a sight worth seeing; but what were all these to this blind man? The district might as well have been dark and dismal, bleak and black; at any rate, a blank, a night without moon or star, midnight with its darkness visible, even “darkness that might be felt.”

III. PECULIARITY IN THE MODE OF CURE. Here the peculiarity is twofold:

1. Jesus took him by the hand and led him out of the town.

2. The cure was effected progressively, or at twice. What reason can we assign for the former peculiarity? Why did he conduct him outside the town? Several reasons have been assigned. Some say that our Lord thereby meant to intimate the unworthiness, through unbelief, of the inhabitants of this town, or rather village (), and his consequent dissatisfaction with them; this, of course, is a mere conjecture. Others suppose, with more apparent reason, that, as the process of cure in this case was more than usually protracted, our Lord led the man out of the town in order to be free from interruption or any obstruction on the part of the crowd, just as in the preceding chapter he is said to have taken the deaf mute aside from the multitude. Bengel, with his usual ingenuity, conjectures the cause to be the Saviour’s intention that, when the blind recovered sight, his eyes might rest on the more cheerful aspect of the sky and of the works of God in naturethat is, in the countrythan of the works of man in the town. The thought is a beautiful one, but only the product of a fertile imagination. Of two remaining reasons, which have been suggested with considerable plausibility, one is the avoidance of witnesses on account of the somewhat disagreeable application of spittle, or saliva, to the person of the invalid, exactly as in the case of the deaf mute already referred to; and the other is that our Lord, by varying the mode of cure, “sometimes doing more, sometimes less, and sometimes nothing,” signified his freedom from any fixed form of gesture or manipulation. Some, again, reject with regard to the saliva all these, holding that our Lord meant to graft the supernatural on the natural, the saliva being an ordinary medical application in such cases. We are rather inclined to adopt the view of variation, for the purpose of proving independence of any specific or stereotyped mode in such miraculous performance. With respect to the progressiveness of the cure a similar diversity of opinion prevails. Theophylact attributes it to the imperfect faith of the blind man himself, and of those who brought him to the Saviour; others imagine that on a sudden recovery of sight the man would have been unable to distinguish objects from each other. But to this latter, which proceeds on the assumption of his being born blind, it is sufficient to reply

(1) that this man had not been born blind, as is implied in the word he was restored to or reinstated in his once normal condition; and

(2) he was able to discriminate trees from men, so that he must have seen both before this blindness supervened. Before Berkeley’s time visual distance was traced to an original law of our constitution, and considered an original perception; but the bishop proved, as is very generally admitted, that our information on this subject of the distance of objects is acquired by experience and association; while, if we judge of the distance of objects solely from the visible impressions on the retina, we fall into great mistakes. The case, too, of Cheselden, who had been born blind, appeared to confirm the theory of Berkeley, for when couched he at first had no correct notions of distances, but supposed all objects to touch and to be in close contact with the eye. It was gradually he corrected his visible by his tangible impressions, and gained a correct understanding of the situation of the objects that surrounded him, as well as of their shape and size. Had the blind man in this passage been thus born blind, we could readily concede the necessity of a gradual operationfirst to get his eyes opened, and secondly to gain correct notions of the objects about him. No gradual miracle of this sort was required in the case of this man, because he had originally possessed the sense of sight and lost it. The true cause appears to be either an evidence on the part of the Saviour that he is not tied down to any particular mode of operation, but manifests his mercy in divers manners, according to his sovereign good pleasure; or, if this theory be not accepted, the cause may be assigned to the symbolic nature of the miracle, as exhibiting the gradual recovery of spiritual eyesight, the removal of spiritual blindness being, for the most part and with some rare exceptions, gradual and progressive.

IV. EXPLANATION OF TERMS WITH DIFFERENCES OF READING.

1. Our Lord led the blind man out, having taken him by the hand, which is a very expressive action, for it is a guide which the blind, whether physically or spiritually, so much need; and this is just the kind of guide here mentioneda Divine and therefore infallible Guide. This guidance is expressed in the received text by , though some critical editors prefer , equivalent to “conveyed out;” while in both the phrase “out of” is strongly expressed by the preposition in composition with the verb and the separate .

2. The reading of the common text is properly rendered, “I see men as trees, walking;” that is to say, he saw men, but so indistinctly and at first apparently motionless, that they seemed more like trees; but then he saw them walking, and so discriminated them from trees. The expression is rather abrupt, but most accurate in describing the three stages indicated. The reading of the critical editions is different, and is rightly represented by the following rendering:”I behold men, because as trees I see [them] walking.” Even according to this reading the expression is abrupt, as significant of sudden and joyful surprise; as if he said, “I see men not much differing in shape and form from trees; but I know they are men, and not trees, for I see them in motion.”

3. Succeeding this is the expression, he “made him look up,” not “see again”a signification of the word quite admissible, yet not in accord with the sense here; but for this whole phrase Tischendorf Tregelles and Alford read , “he saw clearly,” that very instant (aorist); then, after restoration, he saw all things or all persons plainlyrather, continued looking on (, imperfect, instead of , aorist) all things with clear vision.

4. The word , from , at a distance, and , equivalent to “bright light,” “radiance,” and in the plural “beams of the sun,” signifies generally “far-shining” or “far-seen;” but here, from shining in the distance, “far-sightedly,” “clearly,” “plainly.”

5. An important distinction is made between and in this passage, the latter being the organ of sight, and as such used by prose-writers, the former or more poetic word being here the sense or inner power of seeing; and so the latter is the instrument employed by the former.

V. The spitting and the application of the hands denote, according to Theophylact, word and work; they rather denotethe former the virtue proceeding from the Saviour, which restored the extinct sense of sight, the latter the rectification of the organ. Just as in the case of the person born blind, who was couched for blindness, the recovery here also was gradual; so with the spiritually blind we proceed gradually from one degree of light to another, from grace to grace, and from strength to strength. When the spiritually blind recover sight, they discern many things before shrouded in darkness, but not all things, nor even those many things with perfect clearness, or in their correct relations or relative proportions. We need the hand of Jesus to touch our eyes many a time before our spiritual eyesight is perfected; that sight, by the gentle touch of our loving, living Saviour, goes on improving till our dying day. We are in the hand of our Saviour just as this blind man; and as he led him forth, fully restored his sight, and sent him away frown his old associations, so we must give ourselves up to his guidance, depend on him entirely for full restoration of sight and other spiritual powers, turn our back on old sinful courses or companions, and go with our Lord whithersoever he leads us. The following! context exemplifies the gradual recovery of spiritual sight in those who identified Jesus with John, or Elias, or a prophet, and in the disciples who acknowledged him to be the Christ. The former had a glimmering of the truth; the latter saw its full-orbed clearness. The former only saw “men like trees, walking;” the latter saw it in this particular with perfect plainness.J.J.G.

Mar 8:27-34

Parallel passages: Mat 16:13-24; Luk 9:18-23.

Christ’s prediction of his death and rebuke of Peter.

This section will be considered in connection with a like prediction in the following (ninth) chapter of this Gospel.J.J.G.

Mar 8:35-38

Parallel passages: Mat 16:25-27; Luk 9:24– 26.

Secular profit and spiritual loss.

I. A CURIOUS CALCULATION. These verses present themselves in the light of an arithmetical calculation regarding profit and lossa calculation as important as it is curious. In this calculation the soul is on one side, and the world on the other; secular matters on the one hand, spiritual concerns on the other. A calculation of this sort involves a difficulty, for there is no common standard to which we can bring things so different in their nature. There is no common measure by which we can simplify their comparison, and so better gauge their real relative proportions. They have no common factor; they stand prime to each other. But perhaps it were better to regard these verses as an allusion, not so much to a bare arithmetical calculation, as to a practical mercantile reckoning. It is customary with merchants and others, at some particular period of the year, to look into their books and see how they stand with the world, and how the world stands with themto balance their accounts, ascertaining their profits and determining their losses. Now, the course thus pursued in secular may with still greater advantage be adopted in spiritual concerns, while the adoption of some such course seems suggested by the inquiry, “What shall it profit a man?”

II. SUPPOSED PROFIT. The supposed profit is here set forth to the greatest advantage. The supposed gain is the very maximumthe greatest possible. It is, in fact, much greater than any man has ever reached. That any one individual should gain the whole world is quite improbablenay, it is almost, if not altogether, impossible. No man has ever gained so much, no man is ever likely to do so; no man nowadays ever dreams of such a thing. We read, indeed, of one in ancient times that made an approximation to it. We are informed that Alexander the Great subjected the surrounding hostile tribes to the arms of Macedon; conquered the provinces of Asia Minor, deciding the empire of all Asia in three great battles at Granicus, Issus, and Arbela; received the submission of Italian, Scythian, Kelt, and Iberian ambassadors; penetrated to the furthest limit northward, and overthrew the Scythians on the banks of the Jaxartis; pushed his victories far eastward, even to the Hyphasis or Sutlej; founded cities and planted colonies in the Punjab. And when at that point his progress was checked by the murmuring of his troops, and he was obliged to retreat to the Hydaspes or Jhelum, he built a fleet, sailed down the Indus to its mouth, and there, standing in view of the Indian Ocean,’ and feeling he had arrived at the limit of his career, tears filled his eyes, and he wept because his victories were at an end, and there was no more for him to subdue”no other world,” say the old historians, “for him to conquer.” But, if we examine the matter with any degree of accuracy, we shall find that this bold adventurer overran only a few countries of the then known world, and but a very inconsiderable portion of those immense continents and many islands which modern geographical discovery has added to the present huge dimensions of the globe. We have all heard of another in modern times who grasped at the scepter of universal empire, who rose rapidly from a lieutenant of artillery to captain, and from captain to colonel, and from colonel to general of division. Soon he became first consul for ten years, then for life, and afterwards ascended the imperial throne. The empire of France he increased by one-third; but what was that to the high-vaulting ambition of Napoleon? He must needs reign supreme and without a rival in Europe, and in prosecution of that gigantic scheme of conquest he actually added to his empire Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Hanover, the Hanse towns. He seized on Spain and Portugal, and set his kinsmen on foreign thrones. He sought Russia, but above all he sighed for England. He pounced on Egypt; thence, as the most potent point of attack, he fixed his eye on India. India once gained, the world, he thought, would be laid subject at his feet, and he its one and sole possesser. This, doubtless, would have been the result of its successful invasion. But the tide of fortune ceased to flow. To his failure in Spain succeeded his retreat from Moscow, next his defeat at Leipzig, then his banishment to Elba, and, last of all, his final and fearful overthrow on the plains of Waterloo. No. one individual has ever yet attained to the possession of the world; no one has advanced beyond a distant approximation to it. But let us for a moment fancy the supposition, to have become an accomplished fact. Let us suppose the wide empire of earth in the hands of one man; let us take for granted that the possession of the worldthe whole worldis realized by a single individual; let us imagine all the benefits of that vast dominionits conveniences and comforts, its riches and honors, its pleasures, praises, and profits, all at the command of one man.

III. THE DURATION OF SUCH PROFIT BRIEF. What then would be the continuance of such? Why, he would find it impossible to retain it for any considerable length of time. We cannot calculate with certainty on the continuance of any worldly possession during the whole of life; we cannot reckon on its lasting for even a few years of that life in advance; and, even if we could, we are not sure of life itself fur a single moment. “Life is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away;’ “There is but a step between us and death;” “This night the soul may be required.” There is no permanence of possession upon earth; there is no fixity of tenure here below. The heirloom handed down from father to son, and again from son to father, shall pass into strangers’ hands. The hereditary estate, secure it as you may by deeds and settlements, will soon, notwithstanding all your caution, change proprietorship. The baronial residence will in time become a ruin grey, round which the ivy twines. Truly as well as eloquently has the poet said

“The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve.”

Our most cherished possessions must soon revert to others. It matters not how firmly we hold them; three, or fraud, or casualty, or imprudence, or disease, or deathone or other of these will wrench them from our reluctant grasp; and the question may be asked of us, as of the fool in the Gospel, “Then whose shall these things be?” If, then, we possessed the whole world, every instant we lived in it we should run the risk of losing it or leaving it, of being taken from it or having it snatched from us, of being compelled to give up the possession either by the open violence of enemies or the treacherous avarice of friends, by folly on our part or dishonesty on that of others, by some sudden reverse of fortune or by some sad dispensation of providence.

IV. THE ENJOYMENT OF IT IMPOSSIBLE. Further, if we had the whole world in actual possession, and were able to retain it in inalienable and never-failing proprietorship, still we could not enjoy it all. With all the progress of modern times, with all the advances of science, with all the forward strides of this nineteenth century, with all that geological research and chemical analysis and botanical skill have discovered, there are still many plants and many substances of which we know. not the nature, or at least have not yet learned the use. So long as the properties of any object remain unknown, it is manifest that that object itself cannot be enjoyed. And even if we knew all the qualities of every fowl of heaven, of every fish of the sea, of every plant that grows on the surface and of every mineral that is buried in the bowels of the earth, yet what use could any one individual make of them all? What a small portion of them would meet all the real necessities of life! How few of them would suffice for man’s limited powers of enjoyment! How few of them would supply a substantial answer to that wide question, “What shall I eat, or what shall I drink, or wherewithal shall I be clothed?” If the cattle on a thousand hills were ours, if all the mineral wealth of the world were our own, if earth and all its store of gold and silver and precious stones were at our feet, if earth with all its fruits and flowers, its animal and vegetable productions, were at our disposal, what could one individual, possessing limited powers and capacities, do with them all? How could he enjoy them? Where would he store them that they might be safe? What, in a word, would they really profit him? Ah! how forcibly is the whole expressed in the simple lines!

“Man needs but little here below,
Nor needs that little long.”

V. THE UNSATISFACTORY NATURE OF IT. The world, if we possessed it all, and could retain it always, and enjoy it fully, would not satisfy us. We all know the possibility of being as much or more disappointed in a thing, as inconvenienced by being disappointed of it. Hope has its pleasures, and they are frequently as great, sometimes far greater than those of enjoyment. The poet, when he wrote of “the pleasures of hope,” knew well that hope was one main source of human enjoyment. But in the supposed possession of the whole world that source of enjoyment would be cut off, as in that case man would have nothing to hope for. The distance, that lent its enchantment to the view, would be annihilated; desire would still be unsatisfied, and yet hope would be at an end. Besides, where is the rich man who is perfectly satisfied with his wealth, and who feels that it is a sufficient source of happiness? Where is the man of pleasure who can truly say that his pleasures have been without alloy? Where the ambitious aspirant who is not in feverish dread of the fickleness of popular favor? Where the heart that has not yearned for more than earth can furnish? Who has not felt that “aching void” which “the world can never fill” ? It is not in the increase of riches, nor in the accession of honors, nor in any augmentation of creature enjoyments, that true satisfaction is to be found: the wealth of this world cannot purchase it; the pleasures of sense and sin cannot procure it; honors bestowed by fellow-creatures cannot confer it. Nor yet do we mean to decry the importance of temporal things. We know that they can minister much to man; they can add to our convenience and comfort; they can furnish their quota to our enjoyment; they can supply enlarged means of usefulness; they can contribute to the decency and dignity of life; they can shield us from the distresses, and difficulties, and discomforts of poverty. But we deny altogether that they can prevent or remove the vanity and vexation of spirit that are inseparably associated with all worldly things. In the midst of all that this world can furnish men have been heard to cry out, if not in Words, at least in the sentiments of the patriarch, “I would not live alway.” When this is the way with the prosperous worldling, often too has the child of God, amid the perplexities of life, cause to repeat the saying

“I would not live alway; I ask not to stay
Where storm after storm rises dark o’er the way.
The few fleeting mornings that dawn on us here
Are enough for life’s sorrows, enough for its cheer.
“Whowho would live alway, away from his God;
Away from you heaven, that blissful abode,
Where rivers of pleasure flow o’er the bright plains,
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns?”

VI. SPIRITUAL LOSS.

1. Practical bearing of all this. What, it may be asked, is the practical lesson from all this? It is to lead us to God as the end, and to Christ as the way to the Father; to show us the value of salvation, the importance of eternal things; to make us alive to the things of God; and, above all, to impress on us the worth of the soul and spiritual life. We have seen that if a man could possess the whole world he might still be unhappyay, perfectly miserable; fears harassing him, conscience tormenting him, afflictions overwhelming him, death overtaking him, and his worldly all departing from him amid “the swellings of Jordan.” But in general men stop far short of what has been thus supposed. They are willing to lose the soul for infinitely less than the world: at all events, a small thing takes the place of all the World to the sinner, and is made the means of his losing the soul. Thus, to the drunkard, the indulgence of his passion for strong drink is the horizon that bounds the world of his happiness and of his hopes; while to gain his object he submits to the loss of his soul. So with the licentious; the gratification of their low lust is all the world to them, and to it they sacrifice the soul. “Avoid,” says the apostle, “youthful lusts, that war against the soul.” So with the ambitious; the attainment of the object on which their heart is set is their world of gratification, and, for the sake of it, they will not only run the risk of losing the soul, but rush upon sure destruction. We might enumerate many and various classes of sinnersthe horse-racer, the gamester, the blasphemer, the liar, the murdererall ruining their own soul for the sake of questionable pleasures; at all events, pleasures that last but for a season, and that perish in the using. With sinners of every grade the indulgence of sin is their world of gratification, their all of wretched happiness, for which they are every day throwing away their chances of salvation and deliberately damning their own soul. Oh, what fearful folly! What unspeakable madness! Oh, may we not with propriety appeal to that sinful man, to whatever category or class his sin belongs, and with all the earnestness of our nature plead with him to spare his own soul? Should we not urge him, with all the powers of persuasion we can possibly command, to part with his vice at once and fur ever, rather than plunge his soul into a hell of eternal misery?

2. Exegetical note.

(1) The word is not will “of future time, but will “connected with choice or purpose.” It is correctly-rendered “would” in the Revised Version. The word is also distinguished from , which expresses a wishmere willingness or inclination. Homer employs the latter for the former in the case of the gods, for with them wish is will. Thus the meaning is, “Whosoever may will [or choose] to save his life; “while in the next clause it is taken for granted that no one, of his own free will and choice, would desire to lose it, and therefore the expression is different, being literally, Whosoever shall (as a matter of fact) destroy () his life.

(2) The word is the bond of union between the body and the spirit in the triple trichotomy of “body, soul, and spirit” (1Th 5:23). Viewed in connection with the body, it is the natural or animal life, but in its relation to the spirit it is the spiritual or higher life. Thus in one sense it is less than what we understand by soul, and in another sense it is more, comprehending not only the immortal life of the soul, but the never-ending life of soul and body when reunited.

(3) denotes forfeiture, and so it is correctly rendered in the Revised Version “forfeit;” while (from the roots , instead of, and , another) denotes one thing given in exchange for another, and so an equivalent or ransom, the idea being that if a man have lost, by way of mulct or forfeiture, his life or soul, what ransom will he be able to give in order to buy it back or redeem it? The expression in St. Luke is, “What is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and destroy himself” or “suffer forfeit?”

3. A celebrated choice. The fabled choice of Hercules has at least a useful moral. Two ladies of gigantic stature-one graceful and modest, with raiment white as snow, the other florid and affected; the former called Virtue, the latter Pleasure, though self-named Happiness, approached the youthful hero. The latter promised him the possession of all pleasures, and that his path in life would be strewed with flowers, if he chose to follow her, reminding him at the same time that the path of virtue was tedious and thorny; the former promised to make his name glorious to posterity, and introduce him at death into the society of the Gods, reminding him that the pleasures of the senses are the enjoyments of the brute, and that true pleasure springs from virtuous conduct. The hero, as the fable goes, did not long hesitate, but, giving his hand to Virtue, bade her be his guide, saying, “Lead on, and I will follow you.”

VII. THE VALUE OF THE SOUL, OR EVERLASTING LIFE.

1. Value of the soul variously estimated. We may estimate the value of the soul in several ways; we may enumerate four of these as the most obvious. We may estimate it by the infinite price paid for it, by the immensity of its capacities, by its intrinsic worth, and by the immortality of its being.

2. The price paid. The price paid for the soul was a precious ransom price, “for the redemption of the soul is precious.” That price was not “corruptible things, as silver and gold,” but “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” In him we have “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” On account of the soul Christ died; on account of the soul the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, is at work; on account of the soul the Word of God is given, the gospel is preached, and “the arm of the Lord revealed.” Thus, from the pains God takes to save the soul, from the power the Spirit exerts to sanctify the soul, from the efforts Satan makes to destroy the soul, as well as from the blood which Christ shed to redeem the soul, we may infer the value of the human soul, and consequently infer the exceeding greatness of its loss.

3. Its intrinsic worth. Again, we think of its intrinsic worth. It is a scintillation of Deity; it is the breath of the Almighty; it is the candle of the Lord in man. “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” It was at its creation the image of its Maker as well as the masterpiece of his workmanship; it was stamped with the likeness of the Eternal. And though the superscription is sadly defaced by sin, it is an infinite spirit still, and the direct offspring of the Father of spirits.

4. Its immense capacities. When we reflect on its great capacities, we bethink ourselves of its capability of suffering, which is immense. No pain or’ body is to be compared with the unspeakable anguish of the soul. There is, on the other hand, no pleasure of bodily organization to be compared with the intensely thrilling joyousness of the soul, when it delights itself in God, or meditates on his Word and works, or soars aloft in high and holy contemplation. Even a worldly poet, speaking of the happiness of thought, says, “I have oft been happy thinking.” Besides, there is its wonderful power of development. The little that the lower animals possess is soon perfected; instinct flows in at once. The mind of man con-rains in itself the elements of almost unlimited improvement. As long as life lasts, accessions may be made to our knowledge, additions made to our attainments, new discoveries made in science, fresh advances in art. Better still, it is the very prerogative of the soul, as it is the very purpose for which its powers were bestowed, to glorify God on earth and be glorified with him in heaven, to enjoy him both here and hereafter, to see him and serve him, to hold converse with angels and glorified spirits, to have fellowship with Father, Son, and Spirit, to drink deep of the fountain of grace and love that wells up beside the throne of the Eternal.

5. The immortality of its being. Add to all this the immortality of its being. It is an immortal spirit; it is a flame that can never be extinguished; it is a light that can never be put out; it is unseen, but eternal. The babe that is only a span tong has a soul that will outlive this world. In the bosom of that babe, as it sleeps in the cradle, or hangs on the breast, is a soul that will last longer than sun and moon endure. When the elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the earth shall be burnt up, and the heavens rolled together like a crumpled scroll, that soul shall survive, and remain unhurt amid “the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.” Not so the body.

6. The shroud of Saladin. Who has not heard, or rather read, of that famous Asiatic warrior, Saladin? After subjugating Egypt, establishing himself as Sultan of Egypt and Syria, taking towns without number, and retaking Jerusalem itself from the hands of the Crusaders, this Moslem hero of the Third Crusade, and beau-ideal of mediaeval chivalry, had at length to yield to a still mightier conqueror. A few moments before he breathed his last, he ordered a herald to suspend on the point of a lance the shroud in which he was to be buried, and to cry as he raised it,” Look, here is all that Saladin the Great, the conqueror, the emperor, bears away with him of all his glory.” Thus all the honors and riches of this world, all bodily pleasures and gratifications, all earthly greatness, are reduced by death to the shroud and the winding-sheet; but the soul, immortal in its nature, and secure in its existence, “smiles at the drawn dagger “or other implement of death. From all these considerations may be inferred the immeasurable loss of the soul; for

“What is the thing of greatest price,

The whole creation round?

That which was lost in Paradise,

That which in Christ is found.

“The soul of man, Jehovah’s breath,

It keeps two Worlds in strife;

Hell works beneath its work of death,

Heaven stoops to give it life.”

7. The full force of the question. What, then, we may repeat, shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole worldand yet all! the gain any man can expect is infinitely less than thatand lose his own soul or higher heavenly life? What shall it profit him, if he shall make a little sordid gain, but lose his soul? What shall it profit him, if he shall indulge some degrading passion, and thereby lose his soul? What shall it profit him, if he gratify some vile lust, and by it lose his soul? What shall it profit him, if he swallow a few more intoxicating draughts, and in the end lose his soul? What shall it profit him, if he gratify a few more lusts of the flesh, and lose his own soul? What shall it profit him, if he enjoy a little longer the society of evil companions, or even the smile and favour of the great ones of the earth, and lose his soul ? What will it profit him, if he have a few more pleasures of any kindpleasures that last so short a space, and satisfy so very little while they do lastand in lieu of them lose his own soul 9 Who is not, on due reflection, prepared to answer any such questions with the strongest negative? The angels in heaven, and the spirits of the just made perfect that are already there, if asked the same question, would declare, in tones of loudest earnestness and solemn emphasis, “Nothing, nothing!” Lost souls in hell, if malice prevented not, would assert the same. God the Father, who sent his Son to save the soul; God the Son, who suffered on the cross to redeem it; God the Spirit, who came to sanctify it; the Almighty undivided Three in One, would answer their own question in this passage by a negative that neither man nor angel, fallen nor unfallen, would gainsay, and that would wake an echo both in heaven above and in earth or hell beneath.

VIII. EXTENT OF THE LOSS.

1. This is an entire loss. The loss in question is an entire and unqualified loss. When Francis I. lost the important battle of Pavia, he described it by saying, “We have lost all but honour.” And thus, though the disaster was overwhelming and the loss exceeding great, yet there was one qualifying circumstancethe preservation of honour intact and unsullied. Not so with the loss of the soul: there is nothing to qualify it, nothing to mitigate it. It is the loss of losses, the death of deathsa catastrophe unequalled in extent, and unparalleled in its amount through all the universe of God.

2. A loss without compensation. The loss of the soul is a loss for which there is no compensation. The great fire of London consumed six hundred streets, thirteen thousand dwellings, and ninety churches, and destroyed property to the amount of seven and a half millions of pounds sterling. Yet that calamity was in some sort changed into a blessing; for the rebuilding of the city, in a superior style of architecture, and with more regard to sanitary arrangements, banished for ever the fearful plague which had previously made such havoc in that populous place. There is, besides, a well-known compensatory principle in the providence of God, so that, when a man loses his sight, the sense of hearing becomes more acute, and the perception of sounds more exact and accurate. The deaf mute, again, is said to have the sense of sight quickened; while the man both blind and dumb gains a more exquisite sense of touch. But the loss of the soul is a calamity for which there is nothing to compensate, and which nothing can countervail so as to make amends for it.

3. The loss is irreparable. Other losses may be repaired. The friend you love as your own soul may take an umbrage; he may misunderstand you, or you may be misrepresented to him;

“Angry words will soon step in,
To spread the breach that words begin.”

But let a proper explanation be given, and his friendship may be regained; or, if he continue obstinate, other and even better friends may supply his place. You may lose your health; you may be like the poor woman who had suffered so much from, and expended so much on, physicians without any improvement; but, under the blessing of Providence on the skill of yet another physician and the use of proper medicines, or by the intervention of the great Physician apart from any means, or when all means have failed, you may regain that inestimable blessing. You may lose your property, like Job when his cattle were lost, and when his children had perished, and want had come in like an armed man; yet, by years of patient industry and steady perseverance, under the Divine blessing, you may, like that same patriarch, gain double of all you lost. But oh! there is no reparation for the loss of the soul; that loss can never be retrieved, and can never be recalled. When Sir Isaac Newton had lost some most important and complicated calculations, the result of years of patient thought and investigation, by the burning of his papers, the loss to him was immense; and yet, with patience equal to his genius, he could say to the favourite animal that caused it, “Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the labour thou hast cost me!” But what is the loss even of years of patient philosophic investigation and profound mathematical research compared with the loss of a human soul, capable of conducting, in some degree, similar investigations, and of repeating and repairing, in case of loss, those investigations?

4. “Cast away.” This is the expression in the parallel passage of St. Luke. Though it may serve in exposition, it is not quite exact. The word has rather the signification of having incurred a forfeiture; but, in sooth, a fearful forfeiturea forfeiture that involves the fate of being cast away into that “blackness of darkness,” unrelieved by any starlight of hope or sunshine of promise, and where no rainbow of mercy ever spans the sky. The heathen, without any proper notion of a future state, shrank from the death of the body, because they were then deprived for ever of the light of day. “There is a magnificent fullness of life,” says Bulwer, “in those children of the beautiful Hellas. They ever bid a last lingering and half-reluctant farewell to the sun. The orb which animated their temperate sky, which ripened their fertile fields, in which they saw the type of eternal youth, of surpassing beauty and incarnate poetryhuman in its associations, yet divine in its natureis equally beloved and equally to be mourned by the maiden tenderness of the heroine or the sullen majesty of the hero. The sun was to them a familiar friend. The terror of the nether world lay in the thought that its fields are sunless.” Oh, what shall we, to whom futurity has been revealed, then say of the second death, when the lost soul is cast away, through a fatal forfeiture of the light of heaven, into that sunless region where the “blackness of darkness” ever reigns, where it is consigned to the companionship of devils and the damned, where it sinks deeper and deeper into the bottomless abyss of misery,” where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”?J.J.G.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Mar 8:1-10 . See on Mat 15:32-39 .

. . .] An unessential difference from Matthew, but still a difference.

. ] when very many people were there . The presence of such a crowd is intelligible enough after the miraculous cure that has just been related (in opposition to Holtzmann, p. 85). On , equivalent to , comp. Mar 15:40 ; Joh 7:39 ; Dorvill. Charit. p. 600. On , only found in this place in the N. T., see Wetstein. Comp. Plato, Legg. vii. p. 819 A ( ), Polit. p. 291 A; Lucian, Herm. 61.

Mar 8:2 . In the nominative , Hilgenfeld finds an indication of dependence on Mat 15:32 . Why not the converse?

Mar 8:3 . . . .] information peculiar to Mark concerning the previous . , but still belonging to the words of Jesus : hence (Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 744), have come ; not: had come (Luther).

Mar 8:4 . ] With surprise the disciples thus ask, as on the desert surface ( ) there is no place whence loaves for their satisfaction were to be obtained.

Mar 8:7 . Mark (it is otherwise in Matthew) narrates in this place (otherwise at Mar 6:41 ) two separate actions in respect of the loaves and the fishes.

According to the reading: (see the critical remarks), we must translate: and after He had blessed them, He bade set these also before them .

With the small fishes thus, according to Mark, Jesus performs a special consecration (comp. on Mat 14:19 ), as to which, however, in . there is nothing to be found of itself higher than in . (Lange: “the pre-celebration of the glorious success”). The thanksgiving of Jesus was a prayer of praise (comp. 1Co 14:16 ). On , with accusative of the object, comp. Luk 9:16 , 1Co 10:16 , in the sense, namely, of uttering over the object a prayer of praise ( ), blessing it.

Mar 8:8 . . . ., remains left over in pieces seven baskets. The definition of measure is added, according to the Greek usage, in the form of an apposition; Khner, II. p. 117.

Mar 8:10 . , named nowhere else, was doubtless (comp. Mat 15:39 ) a village or hamlet on the western side of the lake, in the neighbourhood of Magdala (or else Magada; see on Mat 15:39 ). See Robinson, III. p. 530 f. Ewald, indeed, Gesch. Chr. p. 376 (comp. Lightfoot), conjectures that in Dalmanutha we have the Galilean pronunciation of the name of the town , where, according to the Mishna, many Jews dwelt. But comp. on Mat 15:39 . The present village Delhemija (Robinson, III. p. 514, 530) lies too far to the south, immediately above the influx of the Hieromax, eastward from the Jordan.

The specification of a better-known place in Matthew betrays itself as later; although Baur thinks, that by such variations Mark probably only wished to give himself a semblance of being independent.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

5. The Miraculous Feeding of Four Thousand. Mar 8:1-9

(Parallel: Mat 15:32-39.)

1In those days the multitude being very great,1 and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me2 three days, and have nothing to eat; 3And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6And he commanded3 the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.4 8So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven baskets. 9And they that had eaten5 were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See on the parallels in Matthew.Marks second miraculous feeding, with the following events, stands in the same connection as Matthews with the mountain travels of our Lord. There is not in the slightest particular a difference between Matthew and Mark. The representations of the second feeding are more than ordinarily alike in both: the beginning and the end, especially, are essentially the same.

Mar 8:7. And he blessed and commanded to set them also.The Evangelist distinguishes the thanksgiving over the fish as a particular act, with the word , while concerning the bread he used . Both acts of devotion are to be regarded as benedictions of the food. But the prayer of praise () is related to the prayer of thanksgiving, as praise is related to thanks: it is the same thing carried to its higher pitch. That the thanksgiving becomes here blessing, characterizes the second act of the feeding, the festival anticipatory of the great feast; and it is all the more sublime as being pronounced over the . The following Romanist distinction (Reischl) is without foundation: Thanksgiving (eucharist) Jesus presents as man (and High-Priest) to the Father; but He Himself, as Lord and God, distributes the blessing of omnipotence.

Mar 8:8. Seven baskets.Comp. the explanations on Matthew.

Mar 8:9. About four thousand men.Matthew adds: besides women and children.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See on the parallel passage in Matthew.The divine side of the second miraculous feeding is presented all the more expressly and clearly by the circumstance, that in the present instance the multitudes of the people were more alien, the scene of it was a place more desolate and remote from human habitation, the excitement of the people more intense; not to mention that Christ had just returned from an extended and fatiguing journey. As it respects the human side of the miracle, and its relation to the measure of faith, we cannot fail to observe the circumstance that a more abundant provision of food is made for a smaller number of the fed. As it regards the difference between the fragments gathered up in the two miracles respectively, we have to notice the distinction between and : the former seem to have been vessels of larger capacity.

2. Starke: means such a feeling of compassion as not only moves the mind, but causes a physical emotionthe rush of blood, yearning of the bowels, &c.likewise. The word is used several times concerning our Saviour by the three Evangelists. The greater the love of Jesus was, the more susceptible was His sacred humanity of sympathy.

3. The first miraculous feeding took place when the malignity of Herod occasioned the Lords departure from Galilee; the second, after He had retired from Galilee before the hierarchical and pharisaic party. Both times, as driven away, and as a refugee, He took upon Himself, forgetting His own sorrow, the needs of all the people.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See on Matthew.Christs compassion towards the people was a compassion for their want of bread.The Lords resting-place after long travelling.Christ does not let His people depart without food.Where Christ is in the midst, the multitude never go away unfed.The rebuke contained in the example of the people, who waited on Christ three days, though they had nothing given them to eat.The impotence of the disciples, and the Lords provident care.Christs thanksgiving becomes blessing, whilst the provision is diminishing.Christs royal law for the table.The second miraculous feeding seemingly less, but in fact more, wonderful than the first. 1. Seemingly less; there was more provision, and a smaller number. 2. Really greater: a. in regard to the Lord (returning from long journey and much labor); b. in regard to the despondency of the disciples; c. in regard to the foreign elements of which the mass of this mountain-people was made up (probably in part Gentiles).Wells are made, as by the Lord, so by the pilgrims of Zion, passing through the valley of banishment, Psalms 84The Lords heavenly peace in His earthly need: He is Himself as a refugee in great straits, and yet feeds with compassion a host of thousands. 1. The peace of God in the forgetfulness of His own distress. 2. The self-renouncing love of others in this forgetfulness.To-day He gives the people a feast; to-morrow all sorrows await Him.

Starke:True brotherly love does not look so much at the worthiness of the person as at his need and misery.Believers may sometimes fall, even though Jesus be near, into temporal difficulties and need; but they do not and cannot come to harm or perish, Rom 8:35-39.The Lord knows our need earlier and better than our complaints can tell Him.Osiander:How different from these people are some Christians amongst us, who can scarcely tarry one hour with Christs servants, hearing the divine word!Preachers should care not only for the souls, but also for the bodies, of their hearers.Nova Bibl. Tub.:When we truly love Jesus, we think little of the length or hardship of the way; we care nothing for want and weariness; but wait with Him, and prefer the kingdom of God to all other things.Our unbelieving heart hangs on the means, and will believe nothing that it does not see, Mat 6:25-30.We should thank God for everything, even for our scanty provision; He is bound to us for nothing.(The breaking of bread.) When God puts anything into our hands, we should not keep it unbroken for ourselves alone, but break and dispense abundantly to others.Canstein:Preachers should dispense the food of Gods word among the people; but they should give to the multitude nothing which God has not first put in their mouth and in their heart.The meek shall eat and be satisfied, Psa 22:26.The gifts of God satisfy the heart.In every fragment there is Gods blessing: therefore it is right to gather up the fragments.With God it is all the same whether there be little or much.Schleiermacher:He kept them near Him, and distributed spiritual gifts; nor did He remember their earthly need until He had found that they were filled with desires that extended much further. And this is the divine order, in this connection, between the spiritual and the temporal. All earthly things, so far as they go beyond necessity, have value only so far as they are connected with the spiritual.

Heubner:Perseverance in hearing the word of God.The design of Providence in letting us encounter earthly need.Have we sought diligently, and first of all, heavenly things?Trust in God when the season of scarcity comes.The prevenient providence of God, and His anticipating care.The Christians attention to his neighbors need.God can bring help by small means.Giving is better than receiving.Christs miracle as a figure of the miracle of divine sustentation.Jesus as Householder.The Christian householder after the pattern of Jesus: 1. Watchfulness, and attention to all needs; 2. love and sympathy for the distress of each; 3. trust in God when the question is, Whence shall we get? (Do the best: God will do the rest in His own way); 4. spiritual care of all who belong to Him.How our partaking of food may be sanctified.Rambach:How may the Christian give God His honor in the enjoyment of his daily food?Marheineke:The Christian should always see a higher significance in the means of his daily sustentation.Harms:Instruction concerning table-worship.Dietsch:The miracle in our nourishment.Huffell:The divine blessing on our food.Mehliss:The glorifying of God in the care of His creatures.Reinhard:The connection between the necessity of nourishment in order to the sustentation of our bodies, and the growth and nourishment of our souls.Valerius Herberger:How should the guests at Gods table comport themselves?Heubner:Jesus the peoples holy Friend.Burk:Jesus Christ supplies all our need out of His riches in glory.Stier:The miraculous blessing of Gods power, as shown, 1. in the domain of nature, and 2. in the kingdom of grace.Ulber:The meal blessed by prayer.The compassionate heart of Jesus moaning over all our misery.Couard:Reproof of the prevalent complaint over hard times.Reinhard:Christian benevolence at a time of general need.Bauer:When Christs blessing rests on anything, it becomes infinitely more than it was in the hands of men.

Footnotes:

[1]Mar 8:1.Instead of , B., D., G., L., M., ., [Vulgate, Coptic, Gothic, Lachmann, Tischendorf,] read .The is probably an explanatory interpolation.

[2]Mar 8:2. is wanting in B., D., [Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer.]

[3]Mar 8:6.B., D., L., ., [Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer:] .

[4]Mar 8:7. . B., L., ., [Meyer.]

[5]Mar 8:9. wanting in B., L., ., [Tischendorf, Meyer;] following Mar 6:44.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS.

CHRIST is here described in feeding the people by a miracle. He giveth Sight to a blind man, and sweetly discourseth with his disciples.

IN days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, (2) I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: (3) And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. (4) And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? (5) And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. (6) And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. (7) And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. (8) So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. (9) And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

In addition to the observations made on those miracles of JESUS feeding the multitude, see Mat 15:32 ; Mar 6:35 . I would here only detain the Reader, to remark how unceasingly that compassion of JESUS is still exercised, now in the day of his power; in feeding his redeemed spiritually here, in grace, and above, in glory. Let the Reader turn to the beautiful and interesting account which is given of his Church in glory, where CHRIST leads them to fountains of living water. Rev 7:17 . And when, he hath beheld, by faith, the Church above, let him look to the Church below, and see no less how Jesus still feeds them with, his grace. He is himself the living bread and the living water. Joh 6:51 ; Joh 4:14 . and as he promised): so his redeemed find; all, who are fed by him, feel such fulness, that they hunger no more, neither thirst any more, after the empty, unsatisfying things, of time and sense; but find CHRIST’s flesh to be meat indeed, and his blood to be drink indeed. Reader! shall we not both say, LORD! evermore give us this bread! LORD! evermore give us this water, that we thirst not, neither go elsewhere to draw. Joh 6:34 ; Joh 4:15 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Compassion of the Christ

Mar 8:1-2

So spake the Christ; so wrote the Holy Spirit; short, simple words, ‘I have compassion’; pregnant with strength and with comfort for the toiling and heaving crowds of each succeeding age. There was nothing attractive then, even as there is nothing attractive now, in an eastern crowd. The motive power of the miracle was the eternal love of God manifest in the flesh.

I. Observe how Christ takes the disciples into His confidence. Then, as now, He demanded with a tender urgency the sympathy of His people.

Observe the tender, condescending attention to detail; hour by hour the little store gradually failing; the perplexity creeping over them as to the future. ‘They have nothing to eat; they have been with Me three days; I have compassion.’

Very feeble is the faith; very poor oh, there is such comfort in that! very poor is the response of those earth-bound disciples. ‘Whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?’

Gently He strengthens their faith; patiently the great Teacher develops their slowly dawning intelligence. He will not dispense with their help. He will not deprive them of the new teaching that they will gain from co-operating with His Divine wisdom. He will not deny to Himself, in His great heart of love, the joy of their cooperation. ‘How many loaves have ye? Go and see!’

II. It was not a mere passing emotion by which the heart of Jesus was stirred in that desert place. You find the same compassion all through His life on earth. In the forty days after His resurrection you find it still the same. He is ‘the same’ in the Acts of the Apostles. When St. Paul was in great perplexity the Lord stood by him and strengthened him.

III. Do you feel that if only you were good if only you had done right all your life, if only you had loved God as you ought to have loved Him that then you could look up to Jesus Christ, and ask Him to have compassion upon you?

Do you understand this: that when Christ died on the Cross, it was God and Man Who was there; and that all your life was known to Him, even then? What has surprised you in your failures does not surprise Him. What weighs down your spirit has weighed on the Spirit of Jesus of Nazareth all through the long ages. He has borne your griefs and carried your sorrows; from the beginning your sins were all present to Him. But He says, ‘I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee’. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’

Bishop Howard Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 38.

References. VIII. 1, 2. H. M. Butler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 94. VIII. 1-9. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 293. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 105. VIII. 1-10. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 307. VIII. 1-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2761. VIII. 2. B. Wilberforce, Feeling After Him, p. 94. W. Boyd Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 65. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 58. E. S. Talbot, ‘Considerateness,’ Sermons, 1828-93.

Mar 8:4

See Keble’s lines on ‘The Seventh Sunday after Trinity’.

The multiplication of readers is the multiplication of loaves. On the day when Christ created that symbol, He caught a glimpse of printing. His miracle is this marvel. Here is a book; with it I will feed five thousand souls, a hundred thousand souls, a million souls all humanity. In the action of Christ bringing forth the loaves, there is Gutenberg bringing forth books. One sower heralds the other.

Victor Hugo.

Bread in the Wilderness

Mar 8:4

The question of the disciples is one which we often ask, at least in spirit, when we contrast our work with what may seem the nobler work of others, our circumstances with the more favourable circumstances in which they are placed.

I. From Whence can a Man Satisfy these Men with Bread Here in the Wilderness? It appears to us to be impossible to fulfil Christ’s commands. The very nature of our work is against us. We would labour much if we might choose our own field, but here the return is uncertain and at best scanty. Whatever lies before us, poor and mean and trivial as it may seem, is the work of God. We dare not weigh in our earthly balance the issues of life. Fame, honour, reputation, eminence are only reflections, or too often shadows, of worth and heroism. Great and small are terms relative to our little world. We can labour honestly and heartily though we know not to what end. When David kept his few sheep in the wilderness he was gaining strength to rule over Israel.

II. From Whence can a Man Satisfy these Men with Bread Here in the Wilderness? Our situation, we think, is peculiarly difficult. The tone of our surroundings is uncongenial to devotion. Temptations are many and powerful. There is no quarter to which we can look for immediate help. If it were otherwise we too should be changed. And yet shall we allow that right has no inalienable power: that truth and purity are mere accidents of outward things. It was in the wilderness that Christ revealed Himself as the supporter of His fainting people. Let us not doubt The sense of our need is the condition of God’s help.

III. For let us not be mistaken. If the wilderness is to be crowned for us with the beauty of Eden; if our difficulties and trials are to be changed into blessings, we must first be found waiting upon Christ. He will not remove our wants, but He will satisfy them. He will not take away our temptations, but He will give us strength to conquer them. He will bless the little which we offer Him, and so it will overflow with a rich increase.

B. F. Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 280.

References. VIII. 4. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. ii. p. 100. R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 173. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii No. 1885.

The Veiling From Man of Divine Energy

Mar 8:6

I. Such was Christ’s method of distributing the bread among a starving multitude. From a physical point of view it must have been highly satisfactory to them they were hungry. But from a religious point of view it was perhaps a little disconcerting. I think they would have liked better to have been served by His own hand.

II. From a Christian standpoint one is disposed to ask, If Jesus had ‘compassion on the multitude,’ why did He consult the disciples at all? They certainly had very little compassion; they did all they could to damp His benevolence. Why make use of such miserable agents, such retarding agents? These could only carry His bequest in wagons; He could have borne it Himself on wings. Why did he not use the wings? Why commit an errand so momentous into hands so sluggish when His own hand was burning to fulfil the deed?

III. It was because, great as was His compassion for the multitude, He had a compassion greater still for His own disciples. It was sad the multitude should be hungry; it was sadder still that His followers should be blunted to that hunger. We all know that the Divine mercy could at any time take a short road to the land of Canaan could send showers of manna in a moment and banish want at a word. That would be compassion on the multitude, but not compassion on me. The multitude would have the broken bread; but I should lose the breaking of the bread the greater blessing of the two.

G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 284.

References. VIII. 8. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 214. VIII. 11, 12. R. Duckworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 209.

The Spontaneity of True Charity

Mar 8:12

I. The Pharisees had asked Christ for a sign from heaven that is to say, a sign from the sky. It was as if they had said, ‘We see a great deal of bodily healing by your hand. Yet, after all, there is nothing supernatural in bodily healing. We all know that mind has influence over body that faith can strengthen the physical, that hope can aid health, that love can cure lassitude, that novelty can divert from nerves. All this happens quite naturally. But let us see you arrest a star, let us behold you turn the course of a planet, let us witness you bringing the rain after drought or the sunshine after rain, and then we shall believe in you.’

II. Now, where lay the sting of this to Jesus; what was there in it that made Him sigh in spirit? Was it because men doubted His power to work a sign in heaven? No; it was because they attributed His benevolence to the desire of working a sign upon earth. Such an imputation would make any philanthropist sigh. Imagine a child meeting with an accident when a doctor was passing and that the doctor offered his services. Imagine that the next morning a paragraph appeared in the newspapers stating that he offered his help with a view to manifest his medical skill. Would not this physician feel that he had been misrepresented in character and depreciated in the moral scale.

III. That is an exact parallel. When Jesus saw an accident in the streets of life He offered His services; but He did not offer His services as a proof of His Messianic skill. He offered them because He could not help it He brought succour, not to show that He was master of Divine power, but because the sorrows of human nature mastered Him. He was never more passive than in His acts of healing. Our calamities overwhelmed Him. His charities taught a lesson, but He did not bestow them to teach a lesson. He bestowed them to ease His own pain. Cana’s poverty made Him uncomfortable. Bethany’s grief bowed Him. The leper’s fate lacerated Him. The demoniac’s cry disturbed Him. The task of the toilers tired Him. The burdens of the worldly wearied Him. The pain of Dives’s thirst parched Him. The remorse of Magdalene marred His visage. He gave because He must.

G. Matheson, Messaged of Hope, p. 226.

References. VIII. 12-25. J. Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 110. VIII. 13-21. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 105.

On Memory

Mar 8:14

Memory is man’s link with the past, with his own past and with the past of the world. Further, it is one of the great factors of character. It is our past history which makes us what we are, and every incident as it occurs, before it slips into the past, has a distinct influence on us. It is like the little stroke of the sculptor’s chisel on the statue, the little touch of the painter’s brush on the canvas. It helps or mars the general effect.

I. All this shows the importance of educating the memory, for all our faculties should be enlisted in the service of Christ, and memory is not always on Christ’s side. It is sometimes in active mutiny against Him. How, then, may we best train the memory?

1. One of the best ways of training the memory is to learn good things by heart.

2. But in this, as in all else that concerns the spiritual life, you can have no better aid than prayer. Offer this prayer every morning of your life: ‘Grant, I beseech Thee, Lord, that I may forget what I ought to forget, and remember what I ought to remember’. Does this seem to you too small a thing to pray about? It is not small, for is it not memory that gives half their strength to promptings of evil books read which have given us evil suggestions, words spoken which we had better never have heard?

3. That you may forget what you ought to forget! Yes. This is one of the ways in which our memory most needs training. What not to remember!

Forget all injuries, slights, and grounds of offence, all unkindness done to us or hasty words. In nine cases out of ten we have provoked the injury ourselves, magnified the slight, taken offence where none was intended. In such cases forgetfulness is a duty.

4. There is One who remembers. God knows everything, sees everything, and forgets nothing. Our idea of Godhead involves of necessity a wakeful and unerring memory.

5. Forget, also, any unkind story you may have heard about others. If you remember it, you may be tempted to repeat it; even if you refrain from this, the memory is apt to prejudice you against the person, perhaps quite unfairly.

II. Then the second half of the prayer: ‘That I may remember what I ought to remember’.

Have you ever reflected on the extraordinary difference it would make in the world’s happiness if every one remembered the right thing at the right time? What terrible mischief is sometimes caused by a simple act of forgetfulness!

Pray to remember others. Think how what you say and do will affect them.

III. ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’

C. H. Butcher, The Sound of a Voice that is Still, p. 154.

References. VIII. 15. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 135. VIII. 17, 18. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark I.-VIII. p. 302.

Mar 8:18

Vision is essentially personal and individual, involving selection and interpretation…. All our knowledge is affected by our personality, and this really makes it knowledge. The naked reflection of a mirror is not knowledge.

F. J. A. Hort.

‘With rich munificence,’ says Carlyle of Mirabeau, ‘in a most bespectacled, logic-chopping generation, nature has gifted this man with an eye.’

References. VIII. 18. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark I.-VIII. p. 310. VIII. 19-21. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi. No. 1822. VIII. 22-25. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark I.-VIII. p. 318. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 701; vol. xlviii. No. 2761. VIII. 22-26. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 268. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 256. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Ministry of Our Lord, p. 296. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. 1. No. 2892. VIII. 23. W. P. Balfern, Lessons from Jesus, p. 115. VIII. 27. W. Watson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 113. VIII. 27-29. S. D. McConnell, A Year’s Sermons, p. 94. VIII. 27; IX. 1. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark I.-VIII. p. 330.

The Grief That Implies Glory

Mar 8:31

I. ‘He began to teach them.’ It was indeed the beginning of a new lesson for humanity. The old lesson for humanity had been that a ‘Son of Man’ must suffer nothing that the higher the life the more exempt should it be from pain. That belief was embedded deep in the heart both of Gentile and Jew. The Gentile deified massive strength strength on which the woes of the world could make no impression and which was incapable of tears. The Jew exalted the sons of the morning the men who basked in fortune’s radiant smile; he deemed that the most dowered must be to God the dearest.

II. Christianity began to paint a fresh ideal of humanity an opposite ideal. It said that the test of a man’s height was not his inability, but his capacity, to feel. ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things.’ It is not merely that He may, but that He must. Suffering is involved in the fact that He is the Son of Man that He is at the top of the hill. If He were lower down, He would be protected. The very elevation of His person has put Him in collision with the full sweep of the blast and the full coldness of the air. Remember, that was the very source of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness.

III. And though He stands at the top, the principle is in measure true for those who are climbing. There is a suffering which the good alone can know. There is a furnace which is only heated for the man of God, a den of lions which only awaits the holy. Not every eye can weep over Jerusalem that is a Divine gift of tears. Men said of Jesus, ‘Let God deliver Him if He delighted in Him!’ if He is good, why is He so burdened! Had He been less good He would have been less burdened. His purity made His pain; His tenderness made His tears; His selflessness made His sorrow; His righteousness made Him restless; His lustre made Him lonely; His kindness made Him kinless; His crown made His cross. It was because He was the Son of Man He had not where to lay His head.

G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 11.

Reference. VIII. 33. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 267.

Mar 8:34

Compare the following passage from Samuel Rutherford’s letters, which curiously resembles the tone of the Theologia Germanica. ‘Oh that I were free of that idol which they call myself; and that Christ were for myself; and myself a decourted cypher, and a denied and forsworn thing! But that proud thing, myself will not play, except it ride up side by side with Christ, or rather have place before Him…. Oh, but we have much need to be ransomed and redeemed by Christ from that master-tyrant, that cruel and lawless lord, myself. Nay, when I am seeking Christ, and am out of myself, I have the third part of a squint eye upon that vain, vain thing, myself, myself, and something of mine own.

‘O blessed are they that can deny themselves, and put Christ in the room of themselves! Oh, would to the Lord that I had not a myself but Christ; nor a my lust but Christ; nor a my ease but Christ; nor a my honour but Christ!’

Mar 8:34

People who saw only the weaker side of his studies in religion were apt to think of him as diluting Christianity with a kind of sentiment, half philosophic and half poetic. Yet what we find here is that the things most quoted from the Gospels are the things most uniquely and sternly Christian. Those tremendous sayings, which so few of us dare really face, Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; whosoever taketh not up his cross, and cometh after Me, he cannot be My disciple, are just the texts that he set down to have before him again and again. Fortnightly Review, 1903, p. 462, on ‘Matthew Arnold’s Notebooks’.

References. VIII. 34. C. Parsons Reichel, Sermons, p. 294. W. J. Butler, The Oxford Sermon Library, Sermons for Working Men, p. 177. W. Scott Page, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 45. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 197. VIII. 35. E. H. Bickersteth, Thoughts in Past Years, p. 261. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 277. VIII. 35, 36. J. B. Lightfoot, Ordination Addresses, p. 271.

Mar 8:36

An arctic torpor seizes upon men. Although built of nerves, and set adrift in a stimulating world, they develop a tendency to go bodily to sleep; consciousness becomes engrossed among the reflex and mechanical parts of life, and soon loses both the will and the power to look higher considerations in the face. This is ruin; this is the last failure in life; this is temporal damnation, damnation on the spot and without the form of judgment What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself?

R. L. Stevenson, Lay Morals.

That Wrong is not only different from Right, but that it is in strict scientific terms infinitely different; even as the gaining of the whole world set against the losing of one’s own soul, or (as Johnson had it) a Heaven set against a Hell; that in all situations out of the Pit of Tophet, wherein a living man has stood or can stand, there is actually a Prize of quite infinite value placed within his reach, namely a Duty for him to do; this highest Gospel, which forms the basis and worth of all other gospels whatsoever, had been revealed to Samuel Johnson; the man had believed it, and laid it faithfully to heart.

Carlyle.

Profit and Loss

Mar 8:36

I shall place side by side the world and the soul, and shortly compare their respective value.

I. What then shall I say of the things of this world, which men appear to think so valuable money, houses, land, clothes, food, drink, learning, honours, titles, pleasures, and the like? I shall say two things. First, they are all really worthless: capable, no doubt, of being turned to a good use (every creature of God, says the Bible, is good if sanctified by the Word of God and prayer), but I mean this, that if you suppose they are in themselves able to make you really happy, you are woefully deceived.

Secondly, I say that all the things of the world are perishable.

II. Such is the world; and now what shall I say of the soul, which people appear to hold so cheap?

1. It is the most valuable part of man, because it is the part in which we differ from the brute creation. It is that wonderful principle by which God made a distinction between ourselves and the other works of His hand, for we read that ‘God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,’ and then what was the grand conclusion? ‘man became a living soul’. It was the soul for which Christ was content to take our nature on Him, and suffer death upon the cross.

2. It is eternal. The soul shall never perish, and when the earth and all that it contains are burning up, the soul shall enter upon a new state of existence, which shall never change, and that state shall be everlasting life or everlasting fire.

III. You wish to be saved. There are few that do not; but unfortunately men generally want to be saved in their own way, and not according to the Bible; they love the crown, although they will seldom take up the cross. You need not be in any uncertainty about it; you may soon know what your state is; it is all to be found in this little book; the marks, the signs, the tokens, the evidences are so clearly recorded, that he who runs may read. And what are they?

1. It is written here: ‘All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’; ‘There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not’. Do you know this?

2. Again it is written: ‘Except a man be bora again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’; ‘Ye must be born again’. Have you gone through that mighty change?

3. Again it is written: ‘He that believeth not shall be damned’. ‘Without faith it is impossible to please Him.’ Have you any of this faith?

4. Lastly, it is written: ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy’. ‘Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.’ What do you know of this holiness?

J. C. Ryle, The Christian Race, p. 231.

Mar 8:36

These words, spoken by Ignatius Loyola, had a deep influence on Francis Xavier. The two were walking one day in the gardens belonging to the University of Paris. ‘Francis’s thoughts were full of the applause his last lecture had gained him, in which he had even outdone himself. Ignatius was thinking of it too; and as they walked up and down they talked of learning and talents and of the glory which is earned by them,’ and then having proved to his companion, by the interest he showed, how fully he entered into his feelings, Ignatius said softly, as if half to himself, ‘But what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’

References. VIII. 36. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii. No. 92. VIII. 36, 37. C. Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 161. R. W. Dale, ibid. vol. l. 1896, p. 36. J. R. Wilkin, ibid. vol. liii. 1898, p. 252. N. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 259.

Mar 8:37

It is remarkable that notwithstanding the universal favour with which the New Testament is outwardly received, and even the bigotry with which it in defended, there is no hospitality shown to, then; is no appreciation of, the order of truth with which it deals. I know of no book that has so few readers. There is none so truly strange and heretical and unpopular. To Christians, no less than Greeks and Jews, it is foolishness and a stumb-ling-block. There are, indeed, some things in it which no man should read aloud more than once. Seek first the kingdom of heaven. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth. If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Think of this, Yankees!… Think of repeating these things to a New England audience!… Who, without cant, can read them aloud? Who, without cant, can hear them and not go out of the meeting-house? They never were read, they never were heard.

From Thoreau’s Week on the Concord.

References. IX. 1. A. T. Pierson, The Heights of the Gospel, p. 141. IX. 1-8. A. B. Davidson, Waiting Upon God, p. 139. IX. 2. A. G. Mortimer, The Church’s Lessons for the Christian Year, part ii. p. 277. W. Ernest Beet, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 396. IX. 2, 3. G. Campbell Morgan, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 365. IX. 2-8. C. S. Macfarland, ibid. vol. lxii. 1902, p. 39. IX. 2-13. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 1. IX. 2-29. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2454; vol. 1. No. 2881. IX. 6. George Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 174.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Feeding the Four Thousand

[An Analysis]

Mar 8

Here we have a special exemplification of the philanthropic spirit of Christ. In Christ, philanthropy was not a sentiment but a controlling power, not a dream but a fact Some of the more striking suggestions of this paragraph are these: (1) Two different methods of dealing with social problems, “send the multitude away;” that is one method, “give ye them to eat;” that is another. We often have the remedy at hand while we fruitlessly seek it afar off. No man knows the range of his resources. This applies to mind, money, influence, to all the aspects of life. A man’s resources, looked at from the outside, may be as a grain of mustard seed; but planted, used, put into right conditions, etc. The disciples took an insufficient view of their resources, taking the account from the various evangelists, they said, “We have five loaves, we have but five loaves, we have but five barley loaves; we have but two fishes, we have but two small fishes.” Lower and lower they sink in their representation of their resources, a picture of men who have no faith. The life that is in a man multiplies the resources that are outside. (2) The entire fulness of Christ in relation to all human need. He said, “Bring them hither to me.” Christ cared for the bodies of men; and his religion can never be unmindful of social, secular, commercial, and physical questions. The whole man came originally from God, and to the end of time the whole man must be profoundly interesting to God. All our resources must be taken to Christ if we would make them truly availing to the necessities of men. We hardly yet understand Christ’s relation to material questions. “Let the people praise thee…. Then shall the earth yield her increase.” Man loses no bread by praying over it. The principle may be extended no life spent in true devotion is wasted. If Christ “looked up to heaven” while using the things of earth, shall we use the things of earth as though there were no heaven? (3) The compatibility of carefulness with the greatest bounty, “They took up of the broken meat that remained seven baskets full.” God will not suffer loss. He makes use of every sunbeam now that fell upon the first morning of time, and the dew which glittered in Eden sparkles in the rainbow of to-day. God is the most exacting of economists.

Among the miscellaneous remarks suggested by this paragraph may be named: (1) Christ’s power in all the wildernesses of time. (2) The impossibility of loneliness or want in fellowship with Christ. (3) The union of religious exercises with daily engagements. (4) The Giver of earthly bread is also the Giver of heavenly bread. (5) The man who is prepared to give himself is prepared to give all lower property.

There need not be any difficulty in receiving this statement. If a man will closely examine himself he will find that in his own life there have been interpositions and deliverances, unexpected and thrilling manifestations of bounty which verify this narrative, and show that in every life the miraculous element is most positive and influential.

Look at the incident (1) As showing that trials may arise through following Christ. The multitude had nothing to eat! Whatever the motive of the outsiders for following Christ, they did follow him, and in following him they were exposed to inconvenience and trial. There is no trial now in following the Saviour. Show the pitifulness and absurdity of modern whining in this matter of suffering. Following Christ is now the most successful habit of society, outside following, not vital, spiritual, self-sacrificial following.

Look at the incident (2) As showing how the impossible may become the possible. From the standpoint of the disciples, etc. From the standpoint of Christ, etc. We should always have a view of our own, but should not always act upon it. Our own view should show us the vastness and solemnity of life; should show us also our personal incompetence to meet its great necessities. Looking at these two things we shall be humbled, humbled even to the point of despair. On the other hand, we should act on the view of Christ. We must connect ourselves with the supernatural, if we would really have dominion over all the wants and tumults of human life. God’s views are to be carried out in God’s strength. Now and again God sets us to do some great thing which startles us: it is so much out of proportion to our resources: we think God must have made a mistake! We often find ourselves uttering the tone of surprise in looking at unexpected demands upon our strength. This really does us good. It is well for a man to be startled out of himself, to be taken to the very limit of the possible, and to be told by God to throw himself over into the impossible. It was so, practically, in this case. Hear the startling word, Feed four thousand people with seven loaves and a few small fishes! This kind of demand in life does us good because it leads us to cast ourselves entirely upon the Infinite. Sometimes it is said by men in the kingdom of Christ, who have to deal with great and difficult questions, “We are bound to look at these things as business men:” in a very superficial sense this may be true, but as a rule of Christian enterprise it is a profound and most mischievous fallacy. The disciples looked at this question as business men! What was it that the disciples forgot? God! So with ourselves: we persist in ignoring the divine element.

Look at the incident (3) As showing how much superior is the man of ideas to the man of loaves. The man of loaves said, “It cannot be done;” the man of ideas said, “It must be done!” See how a man may be dwarfed by the material! The soul perishes in the absence of spiritual aspiration and communion. Don’t live in your business, live beyond it, and descend upon it from the highest spiritual elevation. Loaves are for one world; ideas are for the universe. Of necessity the material must limit the power and hope of its believers: on the other hand, the spiritual ever lures the mind to enterprises higher and higher. This holds good of purely intellectual energy, how much more of energy that is religious as well as intellectual!

Look at the incident (4) As showing that the spiritual vindicates itself from the charge of wastefulness. With such power to multiply loaves, why be so careful about fragments? The one is the counterpart of the other. The spiritual is not the waste, but the accumulation of power. The crumbs of one meal should be the germs of another. The most liberal was also the most economical. In the universe there is nothing wasted, though the bounty be so liberal, and the feast so long-continued.

10. And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

11. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

12. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

13. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

The multitude did not ask for a sign, yet one was given: the Pharisees specially desired a sign, and no sign was granted. Mere curiosity should never be gratified by the Christian interpreter. There is no real necessity in human life which will be left unsupplied by the Saviour, when an apparent want is not supplied by him, we may be assured that the want was apparent only, and by no means real. The text may be taken as the basis of a discourse upon the refusals of Christ We often speak of what he gave: we might speak also of what he withheld. The words of the Old Testament are applicable to Jesus Christ. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” The refusals of Jesus Christ were governed by three considerations: (1) Religious curiosity is not to be mistaken for religious necessity; (2) Religious confidence is not to be won by irreligious ostentation; (3) Religious appeals are not to be addressed to the eye, but to the heart. In applying, these points show what Christ gave in comparison with what Christ refused. He gave bread, sight, hearing, speech, health; he gave his life, yet he refused a sign!

Understand that in some cases not to give a sign is in reality to give the most solemn and dreadful of all signs!

14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.

15. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.

17. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?

18. Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

19. When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.

20. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.

21. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Christ gave the practical application of the refusal. This “beware” must be taken as the utterance aloud of the result of an unspoken process of reasoning. The address suggests three things: (1) That Christian thinking is to be conducted cautiously. Do not receive every suggestion that is offered. There is an enemy, beware of him! (2) That Christian thinking is not to be perverted by great names. The Pharisees and Herod! Socially, these were amongst the greatest names of the day. There are many great names now, such as priests, editors, leaders, etc. Look at the speech, not merely at the speaker. Doctrine, before men. (3) That Christian thinking is not to be degraded by liberalism and materialism. “It is because we have no bread.” This was paltry. Some men’s thinking is always downwards. They cannot understand figures of speech. Preachers should be careful, in condescension to general ignorance and occasional imbecility, to explain that when they say leaven they do not mean bread. It is most humiliating to give such explanations, but the Master gave them!

The 21st verse supplies a basis for a discourse upon the reproofs of Jesus Christ. There are reproofs which proceed (1) upon our forgetfulness of providences, Mar 8:19-20 ; (2) upon our bondage to the mere letter, leaven being mistaken for bread; (3) upon our abuse or non-use of faculties, “having eyes, see ye not? having ears, hear ye not?” There should be some difference between the eye of a beast and the eye of a man.

22. And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

23. And 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 upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

25. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

26. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

This paragraph may be regarded as showing three views of Christ’s work. (1) Christ’s work as a salvation. The restoring of sight was a point on the brilliant line, the end of which was the salvation of mankind; so was every miracle of healing. (2) Christ’s work as a process: the good work was not accomplished in this case, as in others, by a word, it was done gradually. It is so in spiritual enlightenment. All good men do not see God with equal quickness or equal clearness. (3) Christ’s work as a consummation: “He was restored, and saw every man clearly.” He will not leave his work until it be finished; if so be men beseech him to go on to be gracious.

It has been to some readers an occasion of surprise that Jesus Christ should not instantaneously have cured the blind man. We should, indeed, rejoice in the variety of Christ’s methods of working. His every method, to say nothing of his purpose, is full of mercy. His method is adapted to the cases which it treats. Some men could not bear instantaneousness. How many men have been ruined by sudden prosperity? Think, too, how obvious and manifold are the advantages of processes: how man is taught: how possibilities are revealed: how sympathy is excited: how dependence is encouraged: how patience is sanctified. It should, further, be understood that as a matter of fact instantaneousness is the exception, and not the rule of divine procedure: if, therefore, there is to be any surprise, it should be at the suddenness, and not at the slowness of Christ’s physical ministry.

27. And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Csarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

28. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

29. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

30. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

Another instance of a process as in opposition to a sudden result. The method of the inquiry, too, is a process: first, what do men say, and secondly, what do you say? The conversation may be taken in three points of view:

(1) Jesus Christ, the subject of universal inquiry. All men talk about him: he appears to all by the variety of his works and by the vitality of his teaching: as the Son of man he appeals to all men.

(2) Jesus Christ demanding a special testimony from his own followers. “But whom say ye that I am?” We are called to knowledge: we are called to profession: we are called to individuality of testimony. We are not to be content with taking part in common talk, and sheltering ourselves behind general opinion; having special privileges, we must have special judgments regarding Christ and his doctrine.

(3) Jesus Christ, revealed by his works rather than by verbal professions. See how the case might be paraphrased: “I have been with my disciples for a considerable period; they have known my spirit, and seen my manner of work: they have not been told in so many words who I am: my appeal has been conveyed through service and through doctrine: it is now time that they should have grown far enough in spiritual strength and spiritual discernment to know the mystery of my personality, I shall ask them therefore to declare my name and status.”

Regard this as the true method of disclosing every individuality. A teacher may say, “I am a very great man, therefore believe me:” it is beginning at the wrong end: let the doctrine produce its own effect: let the works be such as shall compel observers to inquire, What manner of man is this?

In the light of this suggestion, see the value of the charge that the disciples should tell no man of him. Men must be conquered by great deeds, not by great names: men must be trained to strength by thought, inference, comparison, and moral discrimination; not by sudden and startling displays of personal glory. God himself has adopted this method. His glory has ever been shown through his goodness, his name has been approached through the beauty and splendour of his works.

31. And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

The disciples needed to be specially prepared for this disclosure. See the infinite and gracious wisdom of the course: as soon as they are strengthened by a distinct acknowledgment of his divine personality, they are called to bear the revelation of his sacrificial character! No sooner does he fully acknowledge his glory than he stoops to the depth of his sacrificial humiliation! To have told of the rejection and killing first would have overpowered the disciples: therefore (and herein are the subtle signs of his Godhead) he prepared them for the shock by the splendour of the supreme revelation, I am the Christ! The personality gave value to the sacrifice, and at the same time gave an assurance that for once death would be made a servant rather than a master.

Regard this verse as showing (1) Christ’s foresight; (2) Christ’s preparedness for his work; (3) Christ’s dominion over events, “After three days rise again.”

32. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

33. But when he had turned about, and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Peter rebuked Christ, and Christ rebuked Peter, an altercation of more than mere words. It is charged with practical truths: (1) Man’s shortsightedness; (2) man’s sentiment exaggerated; (3) man’s audacity, to think he can help or save Christ!

On Christ’s side: (1) He rebukes the oldest; (2) he rebukes the wisest, it was Peter who said, “Thou art the Christ;” (3) he shows that men are only worthy of him in proportion as they enter into his spirit.

34. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

36. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

37. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him shall also the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels.

These words seem to mark an epoch in the Saviour’s teaching. The announcement has all the formality and solemnity of a new beginning. The principle had been the same from the first, but it had not been plainly stated in so many words. Henceforth there is to be no mistake. The “follower” is not the man in the crowd who can hardly give any account of himself; who is there because other people are there; he is the man who carries a cross, who rules over himself in Christ’s spirit, and takes the law of his life from Christ. At first, Christ said, “Follow me.” Now he says, “If you will follow me, take up your cross.” It is an enlargement in words, but there is no change of spirit. Still, it is beautiful to mark how the cross is introduced into the ministry of Jesus Christ. First of all he takes it himself, and then he says, You must do the same. This is following! Doing what Christ does, and doing it because of his example and command. Sometimes we find it extremely difficult to say the keyword of our meaning. Other words we can say easily enough, but how to get out the master-word that says everything at once! In Christ’s case that word was “Cross.” It has been a burden on his heart for many a day, and now he has spoken it out loudly. There are some words which if we do not say loudly, in high and hallowed excitement, we shall never say at all. The minister says words in public which he could never say in private; he speaks from the whirlwind what he could never say in a whisper.

The words in this paragraph, 34-38, are spoken with great energy, as if spoken in haste which never allowed the speaker to take breath. He had so much to say, and he said it every whit in one brief paragraph! See how much he spoke in that flashing moment:

(1) I am the leader of men, “whosoever will come after me.”

(2) My leadership is based upon the principle of self-sacrifice.

(3) This principle is of universal application, “Whosoever.”

(4) Though the principle is universal, the cross may be personal, “his cross:” what is a cross to one man may be no cross to another. Every man has his own cross: he may break it or carry it: he must carry it if he would follow me.

(5) The world says, “Save your life;” I say, “Lose it,” but mark the conditions, “for my sake and the gospel’s;” not suicide, but martyrdom; not recklessness, but courage.

(6) To lose the soul is to lose the world. To lose your eyes is to lose summer and beauty. To lose your hearing is to lose music and eloquence. To lose your soul is to lose all.

(7) There is a law of inversion operating in human affairs: one day I shall be ashamed of all who are now ashamed of me. I shall come in my glory, and in the glory of the Father. Strange conjunction of words, “Cross,” “Glory.”

In view of these words three things are clear: (1) That the application of Christianity to daily life is not easy; (2) that such application can only be made in the strength of him who demands it; (3) that whosoever makes such application will share the glory of the Son of man.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

SEASON OF RETIREMENT

PART I

Harmony, pages 76-89 and Mat 14:13-16:12 ; Mar 6:30-8:26 ; Luk 9:10-17 ; Joh 6:1-7:1 .

We now take up Part V of the Harmony, the general theme of which is “Season of Retirement into Districts Around Galilee.” The time is six months, i.e., from just before the Passover (Joh 6:4 ) to the Feast of Tabernacles. There are four of these retirements, found in sections 57, 61, 62, 63-67, respectively. The occasion of the first was twofold, (1) the hearing of the death of John the Baptist, and (2) the return of the twelve apostles for rest. The place of this retirement was Bethsaida Julias, which is referred to by Luke, as over against the Bethsaida mentioned by Mark, which was near Capernaum. The occasion of the second retirement was also twofold, (1) the fanaticism of the disciples in trying to make him king (Joh 6:15 ), and (2) the hostility of the Jewish rulers (Mat 15:1 ). The place of the second retirement was Phoenicia, about Tyre and Sidon. The occasion of the third retirement was the suspicion of Herod Antipas, who was a very wicked man and had much fear respecting Jesus and his great works. The place of this retirement was Decapolis. The occasion of the fourth retirement was continued Jewish hostilities, and the place was Caesarea Philippi, in the extreme northern part of Palestine on the east side of the Jordan. In every case he avoided Herod’s jurisdiction.

The first outstanding event of these retirements is the feeding of the five thousand, the account of which is prefaced by the report of the twelve apostles, who had just returned from their first missionary tour. This is a glowing account of their work and their teaching. The latter item of this report is unusual in a missionary report. Matthew says that Jesus withdrew to a desert place apart when he heard of the death of John the Baptist. In this desert place the multitudes thronged from the cities, and this excited the tender compassion of Jesus because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Mark says that he taught them many things. His work here continued until the day was far spent, upon which the disciples besought him to send the multitudes away to buy food. Here begins the beautiful story of “Feeding the Five Thousand,” which is told by all four of the evangelists and does not need to be repeated in this expression, but there are certain facts and lessons here that need to be emphasized. First, there is the test of his disciples as to what they were willing to undertake. Second, this furnished the occasion for the great discourse of Joh 6 on the Bread of Life. Third, it was the occasion of sloughing off unworthy disciples. Fourth, it supplied the physical wants of the people. Fifth, there is here a most excellent lesson on order in doing things. Sixth, Christ is presented here as the great wonder-worker in supplying the needs of his people.

Following this miracle is the incident of Jesus walking on the sea. After feeding the five thousand Jesus retired to the mountain to pray and sent the disciples back across the sea in a boat. A storm arose and they were distressed, but on the troubled sea they saw Jesus walking and they were afraid. Out from the storm of their distress came the voice of Jesus: “It is I; be not afraid.” What a lesson for us! Jesus walks on the troubled sea. But Peter, impulsive Peter, must put the matter to a test and he receives the command to try his strength in walking on the sea, but the wind and the waves disturb his faith and he sinks, only to be rescued by the hand divine. Our Lord rebukes his “little faith,” as he does the “little faith” of others in two other instances in this division of the Harmony, (viz., on pp. 88, 95).

This incident made a profound impression on the disciples. Matthew says, “They that were in the boat worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” Mark says, “They were sore amazed in themselves; for they understood not concerning the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” John says, “They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat.” There seems, at first sight, to be some discrepancy here, but these evangelists are speaking from different standpoints. Matthew seems to look at it from the standpoint of the effect in strengthening their faith in his divinity; John, from the standpoint of their scare when they first saw him, and Mark, from the standpoint of the preceding incident of “Feeding the Five Thousand.” Broadus says, “Mark (Mar 6:52 ) censures their astonishment at this miracle, for which the miracle of the loaves would have prepared them if their minds had not been stupid and dull. This language of Mark does not necessarily forbid the supposition that they were now convinced Jesus was divine; but it best falls in with the idea that they were at a lower standpoint.” They straightway landed at Gennesaret, according to Matthew and John, where the people came in great numbers to touch his garment that they might be healed. Mark’s description of this healing work of our Lord is most vivid, closing with the words, “as many as touched him were made whole.”

All this prepared the way for the great discourse of our Lord on the Bread of Life in Joh 6 (Harmony, pp. 81-82). This is a marvelously strong discourse on the spirituality of his kingdom. The introduction (Joh 6:22-25 ) explains the connection of this discourse with the miracle of the loaves and how the multitudes found Jesus after that event in Capernaum. In Joh 6:26-40 we have the first dialogue between them and Jesus in which Jesus reveals their purposes and exhorts them to seek the Bread of Life. Then they ask, “How?” and he explains that it is by accepting him whom the Father sent. Then they demand a sign, referring to the sign of the manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, upon which Jesus showed them the typical and spiritual import of the manna, explaining that it referred to him. In Joh 6:41-51 we have the second dialogue arising from their murmuring at his teaching, that he came down from heaven. Here he announced the great doctrine of God’s drawing in order to salvation, his relation to the Father and the nature of the salvation he brought as eternal, over against the perishable manna which their fathers ate in the wilderness. In Joh 6:52-59 we have the third dialogue arising from their strife among themselves about his teaching, in which Jesus shows them their utter hopelessness apart from him and his sacrifice. In Joh 6:60-65 we have the fourth dialogue, which was between Jesus and his disciples, growing out of their murmuring at his hard doctrine. Here he explains that the words which he had spoken were spiritual and life-giving, and then revealed the fact that one among them was an unbeliever. This he knew, says John, from the beginning. In Joh 6:66-71 we have the final effect of his discourse upon them, driving many of his disciples back, but confirming his immediate disciples in his divine mission as voiced by this first great confession of Peter: “We believe and know that thou art the Holy One of God.” But Jesus let them know that one of them was a devil. Note that this revelation of the betrayer was nearly a year before the revelation of Judas at the Passover supper (Joh 13 ), and shows that Jesus knew all the time that Judas would betray him. Note also that this discourse is progressive. Each dialogue brings a new revelation and the effect of this progress upon his audience is marked, finally driving them away from our Lord to walk with him no more, while the severity of the test brought forth from his disciples their strongest expression of faith in his divinity up to this time.

In section 60 (Mat 15:1-20 ; Mar 7:1-23 ; Joh 7:1 ) we have the account of another issue between Christ and the Pharisees at Capernaum. They sent an embassy to him from Jerusalem and asked why his disciples did not keep the tradition of the elders with regard to the washing of their hands, the full explanation of which is given by Mark and needs only a careful reading to be understood. To this Jesus responded with a charge of hypocrisy and quotes a prophecy of Isaiah which he applies to them. This prophecy has in it a double charge, (1) of emptiness, of heartlessness, in their service and (2) that they taught the doctrines and precepts of men. This applied to all their traditions, what a comment on the whole of the Jewish Talmud! Then he goes further and charges them with transgressing the commandment of God because of their tradition in respect to honoring parents. If they should say that their property was “Corban,” i.e., given to God, that exempted them, according to the Jewish tradition, which made void the word of God. Then he explained the fallacy of their tradition by showing that it was not what goes into a man that defiles him, but that defilement was an issue of the heart. But this offended the Pharisees, to which he replied to his disciples with the parable of the blind guides, which the disciples did not understand, as it applied to the matter under consideration. This called for a more elaborate explanation, that the heart and stomach of a man were vastly different and that sin issuing from the heart was the only true defilement of the man. Mark gives thirteen items in his list of sins coming out of the heart, and Matthew seven, but these are but illustrations of the principle that all sin issues from the heart.

Immediately following this issue with the authorities at Jerusalem, Jesus retired to the region of Tyre and Sidon, in the territory of Phoenicia, which is outside of the land of Israel. This retirement, as already explained, was caused by the fanaticism of his disciples in trying to make him king, and the hostility of the Jewish rulers. Phoenicia (see map) was located northwest of Palestine and contained two cities of importance Tyre and Sidon. It was in this territory and while on this retirement that Jesus healed the Syrophoenician, or Canaanitish woman’s daughter. The term “Canaanitish,” as used by Matthew, refers back to the time when the inhabitants of this section were called Canaanites. It is probable that the Jews continued to apply this name to the inhabitants of Phoenicia, though the after inhabitants may have been of later origin. To Matthew’s Jewish readers this word would show that she was a Gentile. (Broadus’ Commentary). But Mark says that she was a Greek, meaning a Gentile, and a Syrophoenician, meaning an inhabitant of the united countries of Syria and Phoenicia, a term used to distinguish this country from Libyphoenicia, or the Carthaginians. To Mark’s Gentile readers this name also would mean a Gentile. This country of Syria extended from the northern part of Palestine all the way up the Mediterranean coast to the headwaters of the Euphrates, following that river east to the great Syrian Desert, and thence south to the headwaters of the Jordan, including Antioch and Damascus, two cities well known to Bible history. This country has a vital connection with the Greeks. It was conquered by Alexander the Great, allotted to the Seleucids after his death, who built Antioch and ruled this country till it was taken by the Romans. This was in the fourth, third, and second centuries before Christ.

It was in this country Jesus sought retirement and rest for himself and disciples, but this rest was broken by the coming of the Syrophoenician woman to Jesus in behalf of her daughter. Jesus could not be hid because of his fame and his approachableness by those who were in distress. We find that, in every effort which he made at retirement, the people found him. So, this Canaanitish, Greek, Syrophoenician woman found him when he came into those parts. The facts of this case are as follows: This Syrophoenician woman had a little daughter who was grievsouly demonized. She heard of the presence of Jesus in those parts, came and besought him to cast forth the demon out of her. He made no answer. Then the disciples intervened and asked him to send her away, but he answered that he was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The woman personally renews her petition and begs for help, but Jesus tells her that it is not meet to give the children’s bread to the dogs. She answered that she would be satisfied with the crumbs, and this brought forth from the Saviour the highest commendation of her faith.

Now let us look at this picture again and see if we can find in it the lessons intended for us. First, let us look for the proofs of this woman’s faith. There are four of these: (1) Her address in which she calls him the Son of David; (2) she worshiped him; (3) she recognized Jewish priority; (4) her humility and importunity.

This scene was, perhaps, on the road and not in the house, which helps us to understand better some of the points in the story. The seeming indifference of Jesus was only to test and develop her faith. The intervention of the disciples was not to ask that she be dismissed without help, but, rather, to give her the blessing and let her go. Evidently the woman did not hear Christ’s reply to the disciples. Being in advance of the woman on the road, this conversation was not understood by her, which explains the next statement that “she came and worshiped him.” The statement of Jesus to the disciples that he was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel meant that he was unwilling to carry on a general ministry in Phoenicia, because his mission was to the Jews. The “crumb” idea here introduced by the woman and acted upon by Christ does not conflict with this idea of avoiding a general ministry in Phoenicia. This referred to the smaller blessing to a Gentile dog which would not take any of the children’s bread. She seems here to argue that Jesus is now away from the Jews and not feeding them. So a blessing in this isolated case would not interfere with the blessings for the Jews. The dogs here referred to were little dogs. The word in the Greek is diminutive and means the little house dogs allowed to run around in the house and under their master’s table. The woman was willing not only to be called a dog, but to be called a little dog and to have a little dog’s share of food. This incident is also an illustration of the scriptural teaching that we should pray for the salvation of others who are not even interested.

After the incident of the Syrophoenician woman Jesus hastened to return to the land of Israel. Going from the borders of Tyre and Sidon he passed through Sidon, thence across to the east side of the Jordan and down on the east side of the Sea of Galilee through the borders of Decapolis. This was intentional, to avoid the territory of Herod, who was suspicious of Jesus. As soon as he arrived they brought him a deaf and dumb man whom he healed, and charged not to tell it, but he published it the more, which resulted in their bringing the multitudes of the unfortunate to him for a blessing. He healed all of these and then fed four thousand, the circumstances and particulars of which are similar to the feeding of the five thousand.

Then, sending away the multitudes, he crossed over the Sea of Galilee to the borders of Magadan, where he was met again by the Pharisees demanding a sign, but sighing deeply in his spirit he rebuked them and left them, never to return to this part again to teach. This text illustrates the grieving of the Holy Spirit. On leaving here he went across the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida, where he tarried a short time on his way to Caesarea Philippi. When they arrived at Bethsaida the disciples were reminded by a little parable of Jesus that they had forgotten to take bread with them. This parable referred to the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which was their doctrine, but the disciples did not understand it and thought that he referred to their forgetting the bread. Then he issued a sharp rebuke to his disciples as follows: (1) for hardness of heart; (2) for dimness of perception; (3) for a torpid memory; (4) for lack of faith. Then they understood that he referred to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Does teaching, or doctrine, leaven? It seems to have leavened them. Does it make any difference what we believe? Certainly there is a moral quality of belief.

At Bethsaida was brought to him a blind man whom he carried out of the village. He healed him by the use of means; at least apparently, and gradually, thus illustrating the gradual perception of conversion. Then he sent him away and would not even permit him to go into the village. This case is very similar to the case of the deaf and dumb whom he healed in the borders of Decapolis. In each case he took the person out and healed him privately. In each case he also used means, apparently. Why this method in these two cases particularly? On the point of the “why” here we cannot be dogmatic. Perhaps it was to prevent excitement as far as possible by making it appear that he used means; that he was healing more in the natural way and thus avoid the excitement that usually followed his regular method.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the theme of Part V of the Harmony?

2. What was the time and what the time limits of this division?

3. How many retirements in this period and where are they found in the Harmony?

4. What was the occasion and place of each?

5. What was the first outstanding event of this period of retirements and how is it prefaced?

6. What, in order, are the events which led up to the feeding of the five thousand?

7. Tell the story of the feeding of the five thousand.

8. What are the lessons of this incident?

9. Give the story of Jesus walking on the sea and its lessons.

10. How do you harmonize Matthew, Mark, and John on this incident?

11. Where did they land and what incidents there?

12. What was the occasion and nature of the great discourse in Joh 6 ?

13. Give an analysis of this discourse, showing its introduction, its dialogues, the progress of the thought in these parts of the discourse, the progress of its effect on the enemy and its effect on the disciples of Jesus.

14. What issue raised between Christ and the Pharisees at Capernaum and how did Christ meet it?

13. Give an account of the progress of this issue and show the final outcome of it.

16. Bid Jesus ever leave the land of Israel? If so, why?

17. In what country were Tyre and Sidon?

18. State the geographical position of Phoenicia.

19. Explain the terms “Ganaanitiah,” “Greek,” and “Syrophoenician” as applied to the woman who approached Christ in these parts.

20. What is the extent of Syria?

21. What, briefly, was Syria’s connection with the Greeks, and how long since to this incident?

22. Why should Jesus desire to remain incognito here?

23. How was the rest broken?

24. Why could not Jesus be hid?

25. What are the facts of this case in their order?

26. What was the proofs of this woman’s faith?

27. Was this scene in the house or out doors?

28. Why did Jesus so act in this case?

29. Did his disciples ask that she be dismissed without help?

30. Why should Jesus avoid a general ministry in Phoenicia?

31. Explain how “crumbs” did not conflict with this idea.

32. What kind of dogs here referred to and what the import?

33. What is the lesson here on praying for others not interested?

34. Trace on the map the journey of Jesus from Tyre to the neighborhood of the Sea of Galilee. Why this course?

35. What were the events of his stay in this section?

36. Where did he go from there and what were the events at the next place?

37. Where then did he go, and what important lesson did he there teach his disciples and how?

38. What are the items of his rebuke here and what the importance of doctrine as here indicated?

39. Give the incident of the healing of the blind man here and its lessons.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him , and saith unto them,

Ver. 1. The multitude being very great ] Yet not so great as the five thousand before fed with fewer loaves and more leavings. To teach us, that God’s blessing, and not the quantity of meat, feeds and satisfies.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 10. ] FEEDING OF THE FOUR THOUSAND. Mat 15:32-39 . The accounts agree almost verbatim. Mark adds . . Mar 8:3 , and again omits . . . Mat 15:38 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 8:1-10 . Second feeding (Mat 15:32-39 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mar 8:1 . : a vague phrase, used only once again in this Gospel (Mar 1:9 , in reference to Jesus going from Nazareth to be baptised), indicating inability to assign to the following incident a precise historical place. Cf. Mat 3:1 for similar vague use of the expression. . . This well-attested reading is another indication of the evangelist’s helplessness as to historical connection: there being again a great crowd. Why? where? not indicated, and we are not entitled to assert that the scene of the event was Decapolis, and the occasion the healing of the deaf-mute. The story is in the air, and this is one of the facts that have to be reckoned with by defenders of the reality of the second feeding against those who maintain that it is only a literary duplicate of the first, due to the circumstance that the Petrine version of it differed in some particulars from that in the Logia of Matthew. On this subject I do not dogmatise, but I cannot pretend to be insensible to the difficulties connected with it. , a great crowd again . How often the crowd figures in the evangelic story! It is the one monotonous feature in narratives of thrilling interest.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mark Chapter 8

Mar 8:1-9 .

Mat 15:32-39 .

In the second miracle of the feeding of the multitude we have, of course, a repeated testimony to Christ as the Messiah, the Shepherd of Israel, viewed in the beneficence of His power. It was, indeed, no more than what is predicted of Him “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.” This was a very significant token to Israel.

In the case of other rulers there is a natural necessity in general that their people should contribute to their sustenance and grandeur; but the Messiah would be the source of nourishment to His subjects. This privilege appertained to and was revealed of Him alone. There never has been, never can be, any other ruler with such a sign attached to his person and with such a character belonging to his rule as this gracious source of supplies to His people. Elsewhere it was the fruit of rapine, robbing the distant to lavish on those at home. The Messiah will act out of His own almighty power and love to Israel. This is the plain meaning of Psa 132:15 . The force of Scripture has been greatly weakened through the bad habit of spiritualizing it; in point of fact, it is losing the interpretation of Scripture when we limit it to such applications. Undoubtedly, one is entitled to take the spirit of such a word as this, and one may see from it how Christ cares for those who believe in Him and that He now displays more than ever this characteristic goodness in His loving provision for their need.

But to the great mass of God’s children at present on the earth what idea does the promise of Psa 132 present? and what meaning except a passing exercise of compassionate power do they find in these miracles? It is evident that the Spirit of God attached great importance to the fact, for the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels is the feeding of the multitude – at least, the earlier case where the Lord fed the five thousand. This, then, remains true, that in these miracles the Lord was giving the twofold witness of His being the Messiah, competent and willing to carry out all that was most characteristic of Himself, and what no other prince or king could possibly effect, because even for his own State ordinarily dependent upon revenue derived from his lieges. But the Lord Jesus has this singular source and supply of grace in Him, and His kingdom will be marked by it, so that instead of His burdening Israel or draining the world of its wealth to sustain Him, the Lord Jesus Christ will even retain the place of the blessed and only Potentate even when the earth owns Him as King. It will be a day when all burdens shall be taken away and the earth yield her increase. No doubt man’s heart will be opened and “a multitude of camels shall cover Zion, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall publish the praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall serve thee; they shall come up with acceptance on Mine altar, and I will beautify the house of My magnificence. Who are these that come flying as a cloud, and as doves to their dovecotes? For the isles shall await Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of Jehovah thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, for He hath glorified thee. . . . The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the cypress-tree, pine-tree, and box-tree, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. . . . For bronze I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood bronze, and for stones iron; and I will make thine officers peace, and thy rulers righteousness.” (Isa 60:6-17 ) But the great distinguishing feature of the earthly kingdom of the Messiah as compared with all others will be this affluence of goodness when the Divine power undertakes all for man in the great day when the Lord’s victory over Satan is made good here below. The millennium will not be man brought into the eternal state, but as yet with a body liable to death. There will still be the possibility of evil in the world but the peculiar feature will be that, while the evil is not rooted out and sin is still in the nature of man, and the power of death may be used in particular cases as a judgment on flagrant sin, yet will the power of good by Christ, the great King, prevail over evil: not the struggle of evil with good, but the supremacy of blessing flowing from Jehovah-Messiah throughout the whole earth. If there were a single spot of the earth apart, a solitary nook of nature unvisited by the stream of blessing in “that day,” it would be, so far, the triumph of evil over good. We know from Rev 20 that, after the millennium, the nations will rebel. No beneficence on the part of the Lord, no feeding His poor with bread, will change the heart of fallen man – nay, nor will His displayed glory deter him from mad opposition. The sad proof will be patent that all who are not born of God in the millennium will furnish fresh fuel for Satan to kindle the last rebellion against the Lord; but fire will come down out of heaven and dispose of them judicially, caught in the very act. How overwhelming the evidence of man’s good-for-nothingness when glory dawns on the earth, just as much as the present evil age is proving man’s good-for-nothingness in despising or abusing grace! The Lord showed that there was no deficiency in power, even while He was here, for the purpose of displaying the power of His kingdom. He that could feed five thousand could have as easily fed five millions. He was pleased to use the commonest material on the spot; it was the Lord of all taking what was there, and so it will be in the millennium, the Lord making all things new – not absolutely, but in a measure, and the figure of the complete work which will close all.

The Christians who only think of heaven blot out the testimony of a vast range of Scripture, whereby the future scene is not merely rendered vague, but gravely falsified, and in the weightiest and most momentous traits, too. For the age to come will be for the most part unprecedented. The habit of thus making everything bend to the present moment is most injurious to our faith, because it dishonours Scripture. It springs from and feeds the spirit of infidelity perhaps as much as any other bias.

The next point I would desire to notice is the special teaching of the two miracles. Why are two facts given us so nearly of the same kind? Is there anything to be gleaned from the circumstances that on one occasion the Lord feeds five thousand, and twelve hand-baskets of fragments were taken up; and on the other, four thousand were fed, and seven hampers were taken up? There are those who are quick to say that such an inquiry is to be too curious, that it is indulging fancy if we attempt to gather a precise meaning; but I hope that few of my readers have such low thoughts of the word of God as to suppose that, besides the mere facts, we have not a display of Christ in moral principle or in a dispensational point of view in what is recorded of Him. We do need to weigh and prize the simplest incidents related, only do not confine Scripture to your horizon or mine. Let us value every fact, but do not let us despise any lesson God may convey thereby. Let us leave room for all He meant to be enjoyed. Little as we may any of us know, we know enough to stand for the truth that all Scripture is not only given by inspiration of God, but profitable; and it is the business of the Christian to beware of indulging in his favourite points or doctrines, and to seek spiritual understanding of all the word and revealed mind of God.

We may inquire, then, besides the confirmation of the Messiah’s place in earthly glory and His care for His people, what we have to learn from these miracles. Upon the earlier occasion the Lord gives us the feeding of the multitude first of all, and then His dismissing them and leaving the disciples, as far as His bodily presence is concerned, sending them, under a contrary wind, across a troubled sea, where they tack all night and make little or no progress, while He is upon a mountain in prayer to God. Is not this an evident picture of what has taken place since the Lord dismissed Israel, as it were, for a time, and left the disciples, as far as His bodily presence is concerned? He is above interceding. He has taken a new position altogether; and here are the disciples, during His absence on high, exposed to conflicting elements here below. What could more justly portray the actual dispensation – Israel dismissed after His testimony to them, the disciples as now left by our Lord in this stormy world, and Himself ever living to intercede for them? Moreover, when all seems to be vain, the Lord appears unexpectedly, goes on board along with them, and “immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” What could indicate, as a type, more clearly that, as the effect of the unbelief of Israel, He would leave this world to go on high, and take the place, not of king over the earth to supply His people’s necessities (for they, indeed, were not ready for Him), but of priestly advocate in heaven, till He descends and rejoins His tempest-tossed disciples, and brings in healing power and blessing everywhere? (cf. Mar 6:34-56 ). Along with this we see, in the earlier miracle, “twelve baskets.” This, I think, refers to the way in which man becomes prominent. He is made to be the means of carrying out the mind of the Lord. So it will be by-and-by.

But here in the story before us (chapter 8) of feeding the multitude, where we have the four thousand men fed and the seven baskets left, there is a notable difference. It has nothing to do with any figure of the Lord’s ways dispensationally. We see here the Lord taking care of a certain remnant of His people out of His own pure grace. It is not the testimony to the order of events from His rejection by Israel till His return in power and glory. He is the Messiah, of course; but it is the beneficent goodness of His heart that He is showing, spite of His rejection. The Lord will take up a remnant by-and-by in the last days, when the mass are apostates, and He will care for them and supply their need. Meanwhile, He turns to us of the Gentiles in His grace; and what lack we? But whether taken as an earthly or a heavenly remnant, the scene illustrates the fact and certainty of the Lord’s tender care of His people now that He has been rejected. There is no leaving them here; He is with His disciples all through.

“In those days, the crowd being again great,* and having nothing to eat, He called the disciples to Him.” Now it is not, as in the last, that the disciples come to Him, anxious about the multitude. It was His own doing out of His own loving thought. He said unto them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have stayed with Me already three days, and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them are come from far.” One gathers hence that the object of the scene is not to furnish a type of the ways of the Lord when He presented Himself to Israel and Israel would not have Him. Here it is simply His provision for the remnant of His people, for the poor that go after Him. They might have little perception of His glory, yet He cares for them. It is entirely a question of Christ’s goodness in this case, watching over them and providing for them, more than enough, though nothing would be lost. It was their wretchedness that appealed to His heart; and the Lord took the whole thing in hand Himself, though He privileged the disciples to be channels of His bounty.

*”Again great”: so Edd., following BDCLMN, etc., 1, 33, 69, Old Lat., Syrsin Arm. Goth. AEth. Memph. “Very great” has the support of AEFHK, later uncials, and most cursives, Syr. (exc. sin.).

“For”: as A, etc., Amiat., Syrpesch hcl. “And”: so Edd., with ABL, 1, 33, Memph. Syrsin.

Accordingly, even when the disciples ask Him, “Whence will one be able to satisfy these with bread here in a desert place?” He inquires, “How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.” The “seven” at the beginning and the end of this case refers, it would seem, not to the question of man’s instrumentality (for which “twelve” is the regular symbol in Scripture), but simply to the fulness of provision, scanty in man’s eyes, but complete in His eye of grace and power, as well as of that beyond the mere meeting of their present need. It is the Lord’s perfect care and compassion for His people. Not only did He satisfy them, but there is completeness stamped upon the whole transaction, to the praise of His goodness and power. “They ate and were satisfied, and they took up of the fragments that remained seven hampers. And they that had eaten* were about four thousand, and He sent them awaytid=37#bkm76- .

*[“They that had eaten”]: as ACN and later uncials, 1, 69 Latt. Syr. Arm. Goth. Edd. omit, with BL, 33, Memph.

Mar 8:10-13 .

Mat 15:39-16:4 .

“And immediately He went on board ship with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.”tid=37#bkm77- This is another point of distinction I wished to notice. On the former occasion He left His disciples and went alone; at this time He accompanies them. It has no reference to what is going on with the present dispensation, nor to His ascension in order to the exercise of priestly functions in heaven. What we here behold is the Lord’s perfect care for His people, and then His presence with the disciples, watching over them and guarding them in the midst of the difficulties of a perverse generation, superstitious or sceptical, but equally unbelieving before God. For the Pharisees came forth and began to argue with Him, “seeking from Him a sign from heaven.” This is most painful, for the fact of asking for the signs shows that they had no serious thought about, and no heart for, the remarkable miracles that had been wrought by the Lord. Yet they must have produced a deep and wide impression; for it was impossible that first five thousand men, beside women and children, and then four thousand, could be thus fed without the thing being noised abroad throughout the country. The question of the Pharisees, I presume, grew out of the speculation set afloat by the Lord’s having wrought these miracles. At any rate, they wanted a sign from One who had provided the greatest in quantity and quality before their eyes. Could they have given a more awful proof of man’s unbelief? A sign! Why, what had all the Lord’s ministry been? A sign from heaven! Why, the Lord was Himself the Bread of God which cometh down from heaven; and He had been showing what He was in the-fullness of His love to His people upon. the earth. It is the capricious, rebellious heart of man, discontented with all that God gives. If God gives the fullest earthly sign, according to His word, for an earthly people, they want a sign from heaven.

The Lord treats this demand with unwonted sharpness. He says, and “groaned in His spirit” as He says, “Why doth this generation seek a sign? Verily, I say unto you, a sign shall in no wise be given to this generation. And He left them, and, going again on board ship,* departed to the other side.” The Lord’s refusal is very striking to my own mind. We know that their demand was not from felt sense of need, nor from desire to have that need supplied; the Lord never refused such an appeal. It was not because they were miserable sinners, not because they drew too largely upon Him They were only changing the form of their unbelief, persistently and ingeniously perverse in refusing all that God’s wisdom presented. There was such a multitude and variety of signs as had never before been seen: there was the very substance of every sign in His own person; but there was neither eye to see, nor ear to hear, nor heart to receive, what God gives in Christ. He, therefore, abruptly turns from them, enters a ship, and departs to the other side. The truth is, the time for signs was nearly over. There had been abundance given; but it was never the way of God to multiply signs beyond the occasion for which they are introduced; because, although they may rouse persons at the beginning of a testimony from God, if continued afterwards, they would frustrate the moral object He has in view, if they would not lose their very character of signs. A miracle would cease to be a miracle if continually going on.

*[“The ship”]: as AE, etc., 33 Syrsin pesch hcl Arm. Memph. Goth. Edd. omit, with BCL and best copies of Vulgate.

Mar 8:14-21 .

Mat 16:5-12 .

But deeper than any such question was this fact the truth of God had been presented in every possible form, with all possible outward vouchers and tokens and seals, to awaken, arrest, and attract the chosen people. There was no lack of signs; it was faith they wanted. Accordingly, the Lord, when He goes to the other side, charges the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. The omission of the Sadducees is to be noticed in this place. Sadduceeism, no doubt, is a withering evil, but it is not the most dangerous. The leaven of the Pharisees, if not that of Herod also, may have a worse character and be a greater hindrance in the confession of Christ. For what is the leaven of the Pharisees? It is the cleaving to outward religious forms of any kind, which practically hide the Lord and His Christ. It is the effect of traditional influence, and may be orthodox in much; but it is religion – self – that is worshipped, rather than the true and living God known in His Son. The next is the leaven of Herod – that is, worldliness, the desire of what will give present reputation or keep up conformity to this world. These are two of the great perils Christians have to watch against. The disciples did not understand the Lord. They thought it was a question of loaves! “They reasoned with one another [saying],* [It is] because we have no bread.””‘ Sometimes we wonder at such stupidity in the disciples, but if we reflect on our own history, can we not discern our own dulness in understanding the Word of God, our own slowness in following and walking in His will?

*[“Saying”]: as ACLN and later copies, nearly all cursives, Syr. Arm. Memph. Goth. AEth. Edd. omit, after BD.

Alas! it is too true a picture of our own hitches and difficulties. It all arises from a want of perception of the truth, and grace, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this, again, is because we walk in such feeble self-judgment. It is our own undiscerned will that makes His mind in Scripture dark to us. If our eye were but single, if we walked in a spirit of lowly dependence, to do nothing but follow the Lord, we should find nine-tenths of our difficulties at an end. But we have an old as well as a new nature, which we do well to judge unsparingly. Through the mercy of God we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; but the old man seeks to intrude and get the upper hand, and so hinders the believer from following Christ simply and fully. This was at work among the disciples. They thought the Pharisees a respectable sort of people, and they were not prepared for their Master’s sweeping condemnation. There is no deliverance from any of these obstacles and snares but in Christ; and there is no possibility of practically walking in the power of Christ unless the flesh is judged. Our Lord rebukes the disciples very decidedly: “Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart [yet]* hardened?” It was really so. Our Lord all through treats it as an affair of the heart, and not as an intellectual mistake. It is important that we should accustom ourselves to judge things from their moral roots. If we pursue a wrong course, let us beware of excusing ourselves; if we do, we never get either profit by the way or victory in the end. We must discover that which caused the mistake. What was its source? What exposed us to it? Christ was not our only motive. I believe we never do a wrong thing where Christ is the one object before us. It is not that the flesh is not in us, but it is the Holy Ghost, and not the flesh, that has power in us where Christ is the single actuating spring of the heart. What is self-indulgence or the world’s esteem to a man who is filled with Christ? This is what the Apostle so earnestly sought for the Ephesian saints – “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” (Eph 3:17 .) It was not that they might merely have Christ as their Saviour, nor only even that they might obey Christ as their Lord, but that they might have Him dwelling in their hearts by faith. It is the soul occupied with Christ to the exclusion of other objects – Christ abiding as the treasure of the heart; and what power to discern and to act according to Christ where this is so! And what is the effect of an unjudged will? Children of light though we be,. light now in the Lord, yet the light is only in Him for us, and we see it not, if we think, or speak, or act far from the Lord practically. Thus it is we neither remember His ways nor understand Himselftid=37#bkm79- .

*[“Yet”]: as AX, etc., 69, Amiat. Syr. Edd. omit, with BCDL, etc., 1, 33, Memph.

Mar 8:22-26 .

The cure of the blind man of Bethsaida is not only a striking, but a sweetly instructive, lesson. Our Blessed Lord shows, if I may so say, all possible interest in the case, both before the miracle was wrought and in the mode of cure. “He took the blind man by the hand, and led him forth out of the villagetid=37#bkm80- ; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he beheld* anything.” He acts as one would who was deeply concerned, heartily entering into every detail. It is the only instance recorded in Mark of a gradual character; indeed, as far as I know, it is the great standing witness of distinct stages in curing blindness. We have in Joh 9 an illustrious miracle where sight was given, and not all at once, to the man blind from his birth. But there is a marked peculiarity in the case before us. The fact is that there are two things needful where a Person has not seen at all. One is the faculty of seeing, the other is the power of applying that faculty. Supposing a blind man had visual capacity conveyed to him, it does not follow that he could see thereon. He would not be able to measure distances or to judge with accuracy of the various objects before his eyes. In order to estimate aright any such object, the habit of seeing, comparing, etc., is indispensable. Not only is this true of other creatures, but of man also. We all acquire this gradually; but, growing up as it does from our infancy, it is apt to be overlooked. So true and important, however, is the practice of seeing that if a person who had never seen suddenly received his sight he would not be able at first to discern whether a thing were round or square by barely looking at it; and this though he might have been accustomed to judge of the very same things by the touch. It is a fact of much interest which seems to me to be intimated in the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida. Though the same conclusion was the deduction of human science scarce two hundred years ago, here you have it quietly assumed in the word of God these eighteen centuries.

*”If he beheld” (lit. beholds): as ADcorrLN, etc., nearly all cursives (1, 69), Amiat. Syr. Goth. Arm. Memph. Edd. “Dost thou behold?” with BCDpm, Memph.

“I shall here insert a problem of that very ingenious and studious promoter of real knowledge, the learned and worthy Mr. Molineaux, which he was pleased to send me in a letter some months since; it is this: Suppose a man born blind, and now an adult, and taught by his touch to distinguish between a cube and a sphere of the same metal, and nighly of the same bigness, so as to tell, when he felt the one and the other, which is the cube, which the sphere. Suppose, then, the cube and sphere placed on a table and the blind man be made to see: query, ‘Whether by his sight, before he touched them, he could now distinguish and tell which is the globe, which the cube?’ to which the acute and judicious proposer answers: ‘Not.’ For though he has the experience of how a globe, how a cube, affects his touch, yet he has not yet obtained the experience, that what affects his touch so or so, must affect his sight so or so; or that a protuberant angle in the cube, that pressed his hand unequally, shall appear to his eye as it does in the cube. I agree with this gentleman . . . in his answer to this his problem; I am of opinion that the blind man at first sight would not be able with certainty to say which was the globe, which the cube, whilst he only saw them; though he could unerringly name them by his touch, and certainly distinguish them by the difference of their figures felt. This I have set down, and leave with my reader, as an occasion for him to consider how much he may be beholden to experience, improvement, and acquired notions, where he thinks he had not the least use of or help from them: and the rather because this observing gentleman further adds, that having, upon the occasion of my book, proposed this to divers very ingenious men, he hardly ever met with one that at first gave the answer to it which he thinks true, till by hearing his reasons they were convinced.” (“Locke’s Works,” vol. i., p. 124, Exo 10 .)

First of all, the Lord took the man by the hand and led him out of the village; next, He applied to His eyes that which came from His own mouth, and put His hands upon him. For here He is all through the true servant. It is not enough that the task is done, but the manner of doing it must be that which should glorify God and win the heart of him who is healed. What consideration, what condescension, what taking of trouble, so to speak! A word had been enough. But the Servant-Son of God enters into the case fully, and asks the patient (though He only, He perfectly well, knew all about it) “if he beheld anything” (verse 23). Even in Joh 9 , where the eyes were anointed with a plaster of clay, and the blind man then went and washed in the pool of Siloam, the full cure followed immediately. In the case before us there was a special reason for dividing, not the miraculous remedy so much as the effect. The Lord was showing an exercise of Divine power, which at first sight seems to be not so striking as those more commonly healed by a word or a touch. The man looked up and said he beheld men, for he saw persons walking about, like trees. There is no little difference between a man and a tree, but he could not yet distinguish them (especially if, as I presume, born blind).* All was vague before him. He might, and no doubt did, in his blind estate readily discern between a tree and a man by a touch. But he had not yet learnt to apply his new-born vision, and the miracle purposely halved the cure. His mind could hardly confound the men who moved with trees, but his faculty of vision only showed that the two things were somewhat alike: they were as trees walking. It was all as yet confusion to him. There was naturally no aptitude in using with clearness the faculty he had just acquired.

*I do not think the comparison of men, indistinctly seen, with trees at all disproves his being born blind, as some infer.

“After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and he looked steadfastly*; and he was restored, and saw all things clearly.” “He hath done all things well.” As that is a saying peculiar to Mark, so it is everywhere a truth illustrated in it; and it is the great point we have brought out here. It was not only that He did what He did with unfailing energy, but the manner In which He wrought was no less admirable. “He hath done all things well.” Mar 7:37 ) And never was this more conspicuously shown than in the second application of the Lord’s hands to the half-opened eyes, by which the blind man of Bethsaida was made to see all men clearly. “And He sent him to his house, saying, Neither go into the village, nor tell it to any in the village.”

*”He looked steadfastly”: as Edd., after BCcorrD and a few cursives. “Made him look up”: so AN and later uncials, Syrsin.

Mar 8:27-29 .

Mat 16:13-16 ; Luk 9:18-20 .

Next (verse 27 et seq.) we have the good confession, not of the Lord before Pontius Pilate, but of Peter before the Lord, against an unbelieving generation. The Lord puts the question to His disciples: “Who do men say that I am? And they answered Him, saying,* John the Baptist; and others, Elias; but others, One of the prophets.” All was uncertainty, and that is all that man ever, and in spite of busy and laborious efforts, arrives at. The painful, toilsome searching of the creature into things too high for it only ends in perplexity and bitter disappointment. It leaves a man totally short of, and utterly in the dark about, that which, after all, is the only thing of prime importance. Some say one thing, some another; but who of all the sons of men does or can say the right thing?

*”Answered”: as AD, etc., all cursives, Lat. Syrhcl Arm. Goth. “Spoke”: so Edd., following BC, etc., Syrpesch Memph. AEth. “Him, saying”: these words T.R. omits, as AN, etc., I, Syr.

And He asked them,* But ye, who say ye that I am? And Peter answers and says to Him, Thou art the Christtid=37#bkm81- ff..” Now, we have not here, as in Matthew, the Lord pronouncing, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona.” How comes that? Neither have we here, as there, the Lord’s remarkable address to Peter: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My church.” Why is all this difference? Because Peter is represented as simply saying here, “Thou art the Christ.” Where it is added that he confessed the Lord to be “the Son of the living God,” there the special notice was also given that he was blessed, “For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.” A confession so singularly rich drew out the Saviour’s recognition of His Father’s grace to Simon Barjona. Thereon the Lord also exercises His rights, and gives him the new name of “Peter,” and adds, “Upon this rock I will build My Church.” He was the Son of the living God. If He had been only the Christ, the Messiah of Israel, it would not have been a sufficient basis for the Church. His Messianic dignity (in which He is also spoken of as Son of God, Psa 2 ) might have been a sufficient rock for Israel, as it was their faith and hope; but “the Son of the living God” was a revelation of His glory that went far beyond it. The moment you have the Lord known and confessed in this His highest glory, He for the first time begins to announce His building of His Church. That new edifice, which takes the place of Christ-rejecting Israel, is founded upon Him who is not only the Christ, but the Son of the living God. Accordingly, death and resurrection follow as that which not only determined Him to be the Son of God with power, but gives the Christian and the Church their proper character (2Co 5:15-19 ; Eph 1:2 ) It is upon this rock the Church is builded. What could show more clearly that the Church is an absolutely new thing? The attempt to make out this sense of the Church in the Old Testament times proves that the true nature of God’s present temple is unknown. The important thing is to see the points of distinction and contrast. Those who confound Jewish duties, and experience, and hopes with the revelation of our Lord when the people rejected Him with the fully developed display of Him in the New Testament, and the consequently new responsibilities and joys of the Christian, blot out, not all truth, but every feature that is essentially characteristic of the “one new man” (Eph 2 ), and take away what is specially incumbent on the Christian and the Church of God. This, if true, demonstrates the importance for our souls of taking heed to Scripture. There are those who are so steeped in human tradition and so unversed in the dispensational ways of God that to tell them the Church was part of the mystery hidden from ages and only revealed since Pentecost would be to their minds a revival of the monstrous and wicked error of the Manichees. But the word of God is none the less positive and perfectly plain about it. And Christian men would do well to search the Scriptures, and spare their reproaches, lest haply they be found to fight against God.

*”Asked them”: so Edd., with BCpmDL. “Saith to them”: as ACcorrN, etc., 1, 33, 69, Amiat. Goth. Arm. AEth.

Such, then, was the wide scope, answering to Peter’s high confession, in Matthew. The Spirit of God in Mark merely records a. part of that confession, and as He designedly leaves out the most peculiar portion of it (“the Son of the living God”), so we have only, and with equal design, our Lord’s answer in part. His being the Son of the living God, though owned, we have seen, was not, and could not be, set forth freely and fully until our Lord, by dying and rising again, put the seal, as it were, to this grand truth; and hence the Apostle Paul was the great witness of it. The first testimony that he renders in the synagogue after his conversion is, according to Act 9:20 , that Christ “is [not only made Lord, but] the Son of God.” Accordingly, also, he brings out the calling, and nature, and hopes of the Church of God in a way beyond all the others.

Mar 8:31 – Mar 9:1 .

Mat 16:21-28 ; Luk 9:22-27 .

But I would call your attention to the fact that, though here Peter only says, “Thou art the Christ,” our Lord charges them that they should tell no man this thing. This He does in all the three Synoptic Gospels. It is a point of instruction much to be heeded. For, first, He had asked them, “Who say ye that I am?” Then, after He had heard the confession of His person from Peter, He binds them to tell none about it. How comes this? It was too late. Full proofs had been vouchsafed. The time was past for presenting Him longer as the Jewish Messiahtid=37#bkm83- . It had been fully told the people; and who did they say He was? But now another thing is not before Him alone, but also set before the disciples – His friends. He is going away; He falls, therefore, back upon another glory that belongs to Him. Rejected as “David’s Son,” He is owned by faith as “the Son of the living God”; but He is also “the Son of man.” He was about to be humbled even unto death, and this could only be in His human nature; even He shall once more return to earth, as the Son of man, in His glory (cf. verse 31 with verse 38) “He charged them that they should tell no man about Him. And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and of the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise. again.” Thus He drops the title of “Christ,” and insists upon His place as Son of man as the suffering One first, and this from the heads of Israel. He should be killed, and after three days rise again. “And He spoke the saying openly.” He forbids them to make known His being the Messiah: that testimony was closed now. There was no good in talking about it; the Jews had refused Him, and would definitely, as the Messiah. He had given them every possible form and degree of testimony, and the effect was that they rejected Him, more especially their religious leaders, more and more bitterly and unbelievingly. The consequence would be His death, as He shows His disciples openly. As Son of man He was going to suffer, and as Son of man to be raised the third day, the real condition of His glory by-and-by. Accordingly, we shall find at the end of the chapter the coming again of the Son of man in glory, with His holy angels, when despisers and all unbelievers shall be made the objects of His shame: just recompense of being ashamed of Him and His words before He thus comes.

But there is another thing of vast moment to notice before we close. We have not only a proof of what man is, in the Jews, the most favoured of men; in the elders, and priests, and scribes, who only become the most active in the scorn and refusal of the Son of man; but His disciples relish not His shame. “And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. But He, turning round, and seeing His disciples, rebuked Peter, saying,* Get away behind Me, Satan, for thy mind is not on the things that are of God, but on the things that are of men.” What a solemn lesson, that the Lord should find it needful, at such a time, when, as Matthew shows, He pronounces Simon blessed, and puts special honour on him, to rebuke him thus sternly! How worthless is the fleshly mind even in the chief of the twelve Apostles! In rebuking Peter, because of his carnal dislike of the cross of Christ, He could say, “Get away behind me, Satan,” because it was flesh’s unbelief, selfishness, and presumption, and not the less because veiled under a pious form. He never said to a saint, Get thee hence, as He said to the devil when he arrogated the worship due to God (cf. Mat 4:10 ). What was it that so roused our Lord? The very snare to which we are all so exposed – the desire of saving self, the preference of an easy path to the cross. Is it not true that we naturally like to escape trial, shame, and rejection; that we shrink from the suffering which doing God’s will, if in such a world as this, must ever entail; that we prefer to have a quiet, respectable path in the earth – in short, the best of both worlds? How easily one may be ensnared into this! Peter could not understand why the Messiah should go through all this path of sorrow. Had we been there we might have said or thought yet worse. Peter’s remonstrance was not without strong human affection. He heartily loved the Saviour, too. But, unknown to himself, there was the unjudged spirit of the world. He could not bear that their Master should be so dishonoured and so suffer. There was some unbelief of human iniquity. Could the elders, chief priests, and scribes be so wicked, after all? Moreover, there was a want of understanding that there was no other way to deliver man – that this was the only means of glorifying God about man’s sin (Joh 13:31 ) Suffer the Lord must unto death, and this under God’s hand as well as man’s. There could be no salvation without it. And God forbid that we should glory save in the cross, whereby the world is crucified to us and we to the world. Let all know this, the people, the crowd, as well as the disciples: so said Jesus. “Whosoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Metid=37#bkm84- . For whosoever shall desire to save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’stid=37#bkm85- , shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? For what should* a man give in exchange for his soul? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man also be ashamed when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angelstid=37#bkm86- .ff.”

*”Saying”: as ADX, etc., 1, 33, 69, Old Lat., Syrhcl Goth. Arm. “And says”: Edd., with BCL, Memph.

In Luk 4:8 , “Get thee behind Me, for,” is a mere interpolation (B.T.).

The verse which opens chapter 9 clearly belongs to the discourse at the end of chapter 8. Our Lord’s promise was fulfilled on “the holy mount.” Some of those who stood as He spoke were permitted to see “the kingdom of God come in powertid=38#bkm88- .” The reference to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem is arbitrary and incongruous. The special form of the promise is worthy of note. In Matthew it is “the Son of man coming in His kingdom”; in Luke it is simply “the kingdom of God.” In the former the personal title of the Lord, as the rejected but glorious man, and so coming in His kingdom, is made prominent; in the latter it is the moral character, as usual, of that display which the chosen witnesses were privileged to behold – the kingdom of God, not of man. Mark, on the other hand, was led to speak of the kingdom of God coming in power. The same substantial truth appears in all; each presents it so as to suit the Divine design of the Gospels respectively. In our Gospel the Blessed Lord is ever the administrator in power of God’s kingdom, and even here, in giving expression to this promised sample of the kingdom, hides His glory as much as possible, though in truth He could not be hid.

*”Should”: so Edd., with BL, Memph. “Shall” is in ACD, all cursives, and Lat.

NOTES ON Mar 8 .

76 Mar 8:1-9 . – Cf, parallel in Matthew. Having had in chapter 6 the record of the feeding of five thousand men, we here meet with the description of another like work of power in behalf of four thousand persons. This time it is not JESUS in the character of Messiah among Israelites as such. The significance of numbers in Scripture is allowed more or less by even German writers (as Ewald); it is illustrated here by the difference between seven baskets as compared with twelve in the previous case, appropriate in a Jewish connection. Chapter 6 sets before us that which was dispensational; in chapter 8 we find the Lord acting as “Creator and Preserver of all mankind.” This was seen of old by Hilary amongst others (see Trench).

Modern critics, who never rest on their oars in the quest of novelties, find a “doublet” here. Menzies, amongst British writers, treats the two accounts as only different versions of the same incident. As in most other questions of criticism, our scholars, for the most part, are content to echo the Germans. Wernle (“Sources,” p. 66) offers the hypothesis that Mark “was told something of the kind twice over,” and will have it that “the similarity of the two accounts is disguised by the interposition of other stories.” B. Weiss, adhering to the distinction between them – which it requires only “eyes to see” (see below, note 79) – supposes that there were divergencies in the “Petrine tradition.” What a balanced English writer of the first rank says on the subject may be seen by consulting Sanday (“Outlines,” p. 123).

77 Mar 8:10 . – Dalmanutha: mentioned here alone in the Gospels. Its site being unknown, the place is marked conjecturally in Perthes’ Gotha map between Capernaum and Magdala.

78 Mar 8:14-16 . – Wellhausen, in loc., makes the odd confession: “I do not know whether is Greek.” It is perfectly good Greek, although of the Hellenistic type. This Semitic scholar is not as much at home in the New Testament Greek as in the Old Testament Hebrew.

79 Mar 8:19 f. – The baskets in the earlier miracle were (hand-baskets); in the second, (hampers). This closely accurate distinction has been often remarked, as by E. J. Holtzmann (“Manual Commentary,” p. 191). Some have supposed that it militates against the theory of essentially oral tradition (Burkitt, p. 35).

80 Mar 8:23 . – Why “out of the village”? Trench answers, that the man might be more receptive of deep and lasting impressions (“Miracles,” p. 376). For Bethsaida being the place, Greenleaf compares Mat 11:21 .

81 Mar 8:27-30 . – Cf., of course, parallels in Mat 16 and Luk 9 . This passage has been somewhat anticipated in note 30.

82 Mar 8:29 . – The literature now most in vogue ignores the impressions which must have been left on those disciples who had come to Christ in the first instance through John, by his testimony to Messiah (Joh 1:34-51 ). Difference of judgment as to the historical value of the fourth Gospel becomes vital. How is one to understand their alacrity in Mar 1:16-20 , which implies belief in some human testimony, but for John’s narrative? That belief has now ripened into conviction, issuing in confession, which is Divine (Schlottmann, p. 111).

Martineau (most original of the English school) held that the Lord never Himself claimed to be Messiah; that it was “a position made for Him and palmed upon Him by His followers” (“Seat of Authority,” p. 331 f.). Rville calls this “proving too much” (ii. 185). Harnack has sense enough to abstain from this negation (“What is Christianity?” p. 133); for the Berlin professor the entry into Jerusalem is decisive.

83 Mar 8:30 . – Another novelty, for which the author, however, has not succeeded in gaining much acceptance, is that of Wrede (“The Messiah Secret,” p. 114), that the Lord kept secret His Messianic claim as long as He was upon earth; that it began to be realised only after His resurrection (Act 2:30 ). As to this, any able to use it might consult the book of J. Weiss (p. 45).

The sceptical fads do not stop there. H. J. Holtzmann (on Mar 2:18 ) finds another “I” besides “the proper I,” because the Lord uses the third person. So Wellhausen (Introduction, p. 97). It is easy to understand the changed form of speech in the light of the transition from “the Christ” to the “Son of man,” especially as Sufferer (Mar 9:31 , Mar 10:33 ), explained in these Lectures. Cf. those on Matthew, pp. 352, 443.

84 Mar 8:34 . – Adeney well notes on , …, that the renunciation Christ looks for is not merely that of a besetting sin, but of self.

85 Mar 8:35 . – “For My sake and the Gospel’s” (Cf. Mar 10:29 ). It is only in this Gospel we find the words italicised. They illustrate Mark’s point of view, in which service is dominant. Not entering into this, Carpenter (p. 186) and Wellhausen can only suggest the influence of Pauline ideas on the form ultimately taken by Marks Gospel. The temptation to assimilate the other accounts seems not to have asserted itself in respect of these words. – As to alleged absence of claims of the SON from the Synoptic Gospels, see Mason, Cambridge Essays, p. 443.

86 Mar 8:38 . – Farrar shows from this that “Son of man” was not a synonym of “Messiah” (“Life of Christ,” p. 333). But he seems not to have apprehended its full significance.

87 Ibid. – None of Christ’s disciples are to be ashamed of His words – e.g., in Mar 9:48 , Mar 13:32 . All are exhorted by one of His Apostles to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jud 1:3 ), without regard to such restraint as suggested by Bishop Moorhouse’s “self-appointed champions of the faith” (“The Teaching of Christ”). Those so criticized may take courage from 1Co 16:15 : (“consecrated themselves”). Some of the official leaders act a very unworthy part at the present day.

As to exaltation of the Son of man, cf. 13: 26, 14: 62.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar 8:1-10

1In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, 2″I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” 4And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. 7They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. 8And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9About four thousand were there; and He sent them away. 10And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

Mar 8:1 “In those days” This account occurred in the mostly Gentile Decapolis area (cf. Mar 7:31).

“there was again a large crowd” This characterized Jesus’ ministry during this period.

Mar 8:2 “I feel compassion for the people” This term “compassion” comes from the Greek term for the lower organs of the body. (Liver, kidneys, bowels). In the OT the Jews assigned the seat of the emotions to the lower viscera.

Jesus loves people (cf. Mar 1:41; Mar 6:34; Mar 8:2; Mar 9:22; Mat 9:36; 14:41; Mat 15:32; Mat 18:27; Mat 20:34; Luk 7:13; Luk 10:33). These people had been rejected by rabbis all their lives. They swarmed to Jesus’ care.

“they have remained with Me now three days” This was an extended teaching time. The Jews counted days from evening twilight to evening twilight. Any part of a day was counted; therefore, this does not necessarily refer to three full, 24 hour days. They could not pull themselves away even to buy more food. They had now eaten all they had brought.

Mar 8:3 “if” This is a third class conditional sentence, which speaks of potential action. Jesus is not asserting that they are all on the point of physical collapse, but some are sick and weak and might faint.

“they will faint on the way” This fainting would be caused by lack of food. See Jdg 8:15 and Lam 2:19 in the Septuagint. They had used all the food they brought and had been fasting.

“some of them have come from a great distance” This shows how Jesus’ fame as a miracle worker had spread. Desperate people go anywhere, try anything for help!

Mar 8:4 “‘Where will anyone be able to find enough bread'” Even if they had the money there was still no place to purchase food. Jesus was testing the disciples’ faith in His provision! They failed again (cf. Mar 6:34-44).

Mar 8:6 “sit down” This refers to a reclining position, which implied get ready for food.

Mar 8:6-8 “bread. . .fish” This was the normal daily diet of the people of Palestine. This is so similar to Mar 6:34-44.

“gave thanks” This prayer of blessing over food acknowledges God’s daily care and provision (cf. Mat 6:11). Jews always prayed before eating.

“broke. . .served” This is an aorist followed by an imperfect tense. The miracle of multiplication occurred when Jesus broke the bread as in Mar 6:41.

Mar 8:8 “seven large baskets full of what was left over” This is a different word for basket from Mar 6:43. These baskets were very large (cf. Act 9:25). These remaining pieces were collected for later use. However, from Mar 8:14 we learn the disciples forgot and left them.

Mar 8:9 “About four thousand” Matthew 15:83 adds “men,” which means the crowd was larger. There were probably not a large number of women and children in this isolated area, but there were surely some.

Mar 8:10 “immediately” See note at Mar 1:10.

“the district of Dalmanutha” There are several variants in this phrase. The problem is that no place by this name was known in the Palestine of Jesus’ day. Therefore, scribes changed the place name to match Matthew’s “Magadan” (NKJV “Magdala”).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

In. Greek. en. App-104.

multitude = crowd, ae in Mar 7:33.

nothing = not (Greek. me. App-105) anything.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-10.] FEEDING OF THE FOUR THOUSAND. Mat 15:32-39. The accounts agree almost verbatim. Mark adds . . Mar 8:3, and again omits . . . Mat 15:38.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Let’s turn now in our Bibles to Mark’s gospel, chapter 8.

Now, Mark has already told us how that Jesus fed five thousand men beside the women and children with five loaves and two fish. Now we find a second miracle of the multiplying of the food in order to supply the needs of the people. It is interesting at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, when Satan was tempting Him, he said to Him because He was hungry after the forty day fast, “Why don’t You take these stones and make them into bread?” But Jesus would not use His miraculous power in order to take care of His own physical need. But when it came to the physical needs of others, He was then willing to use that miraculous power; never to satisfy His own flesh or His own need, but was willing to use it in order to satisfy the needs of others.

In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude ( Mar 8:1-2 ),

There again, we have that word related to Jesus Christ: compassion on the multitudes. Always, it seemed, when He saw the multitude of people, His heart was moved with compassion. Now, here He is compassionate because of their physical needs. It is interesting how considerate Jesus always is. Sometimes we become very insensitive to the needs of others, but never Jesus. He was always sensitive to the needs of the people. And He said,

I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and [they] have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers [many] of them came from far [long distances] ( Mar 8:2-3 ).

So He’s concerned for those people that have been with Him now for three days. And it’s interesting if you do attempt to fast, the third day seems to be one of the most difficult days of the fast as far as physical strength. Somehow, after the third, fourth, fifth day, your body changes. You begin to get a little stronger and you begin to loose that tremendous hunger. But the third day is sort of a difficult day if a person is determined to fast. And He realized that they’ve been there now for three days. Some of them had come from long distances. To send them home in this condition, they would become weakened; some of them would faint.

And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? [Where can we get enough bread to take care of their needs out here in this wilderness area?] And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, [and again, that word] and were filled [glutted, or stuffed, we might say today]: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away ( Mar 8:4-9 ).

So again, taking just a few loaves, a few fish, blessing them and feeding a large multitude of people; and then again, gathering more fragments at the end than what they started with.

In the feeding of the five thousand, when they gathered there the twelve baskets, the word for basket is a word that signified a typical basket that was used by the Jews. It is interesting; this particular word basket here is a typical word that is used for a basket that the Gentiles did use. Whatever significance that might have is a matter of speculation. Some have speculated that much of this crowd were Gentiles, and so these Gentile type of baskets were available to collect the fragments that remained. Where the feeding of the five thousand men beside women and children, was near Bethsaida, a Jewish city. He is actually now over the other side of the lake, more into Gentile territory. But they see in that the significance that Jesus is the bread of life, not to the Jews only, but now He is that bread of life also to the Gentiles. Because He is now feeding many Gentiles also miraculously with that bread of life.

And straightway [immediately] he entered into a ship with his disciples, and [they] came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him ( Mar 8:10-11 ).

Now, in those days the people were looking for the Messiah, and there were many men who came on the scene who declared themselves to be the Messiah. And quite often these men who came on the scene declaring to be the Messiah promised that they were going to do some spectacular feat. Some of them promised that they were going to divide the Jordan River and to stop its flow like happened in the days of Joshua. And others promised many types of supernatural feat that they were going to perform, like speak to the whole world simultaneously…on satellite TV and everybody would understand it in their own language. But these pretending Messiahs never did come through with their feat. But the Jews were looking for some supernatural, spectacular phenomena to happen at the hands of the Messiah in order that He might prove that He was the Messiah. So they asked Him for a sign from heaven. But it says they were tempting Him.

And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation ( Mar 8:12 ).

Another place and another gospel, it records that Jesus said unto them, “A wicked and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus did not perform miracles just to satisfy the curiosity of the crowd. The purpose of His miracles were always the helping of the helpless. He always used His power to minister to the needs of people. He did not use them to minister to His own needs. He did not use them just to make some spectacular display to draw attention, or the attention of people to Himself.

Herod had heard of Jesus and the miracles that He did and Herod wanted Jesus to perform a miracle for Him, like having some magician show you some fancy trick. But Jesus would not perform any miracles for Herod. He refused to perform miracles just to satisfy people’s curiosity for supernatural phenomena. And so here, as they were seeking a sign, He just said, “No sign is going to be given to this generation.”

Thomas, when the disciples told him that Jesus was risen from the dead, “We have seen Him,” he said, “I will not believe until I can take my finger and put it in His hand, or take my hand and put it in His side.” And so the disciples were gathered together and Thomas was with them. And Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst. And He said, “Okay, Thomas, go ahead. Put your finger in My hand. Put your hand in My side.” Now, when Jesus said that to Thomas, the first thing it indicated is that Jesus was there listening when Thomas said, “I’m going to believe until.” Though, they didn’t believe Him at that point, Jesus was right there with them. As He said, “Where two or three of you are gathered in My name, I’m going to be there in the midst.” And so, He was showing them, first of all, that He was in the midst of them when Thomas was expressing His doubts. And so, when He appeared, He said, “Thomas, okay, you wanted to do that? Go ahead, take your finger and put it in My hand. Take your hand and put it in My side.” “Oh, Lord,” he said, “my Lord and my God, I believe.” Jesus said, “Blessed are they who seeing, believe. But more blessed are they who believe without seeing.”

There are some people that are always looking for signs. I don’t know that that is always healthy. We read in the scriptures that there is a man who will be coming on the scene very soon, and he’s going to be showing all kinds of spectacular signs. And if a person’s faith is geared towards seeing some spectacular sign or miracle or whatever, they’re going to be in big trouble. Because when the anti-Christ comes, he’s going to come with all types of signs and wonders and lying miracles, and deceiving the people by the signs that he is able to perform. So, it is not a healthy thing to put your faith or trust in the signs that a person might be able to produce. It is important that you put your faith and your trust in the word of God, what God has said. And to believe God’s word, not requiring some supernatural sign before you believe.

And he left them, and entering into the ship again [he] departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and neither had they [any bread] in the ship with them more than one loaf [except for just maybe one loaf]. And he charged them saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, It is because we have no bread [Uh-oh, He knows we forgot to get bread]. And when Jesus knew it [realized what they were thinking], he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? [Why do you think that I said that, because you didn’t bring bread?] perceive ye not yet, neither understand? [Didn’t you understand?] Have ye your heart yet hardened? [ Is your heart still hardened?] Having eyes [to see], see ye not? and having ears [to hear], hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up [did you take up]? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? ( Mar 8:13-21 )

You know, if you’ve got one loaf, that’s all we need. You know I was talking about us getting hungry or needing to eat while we were on our way across. Leaven was always a symbol of evil. It was the starter that they would always save from the previous batch of dough that they had made. And it was like the sourdough that the old forty-niners used to use. They always had their starter. They always keep a part of the dough from the previous batch that had already been leavened. And when they would make a new batch of dough, they would stick in this little part from the old batch, their starter that would start their fermenting process in the new batch of dough. And it would permeate the whole batch of dough by this process of fermentation, or actually, it’s a method of petrification, or fermentation by which it permeates the whole loaf. And because just a little bit could permeate the whole loaf by this process of fermentation, it was, to the Jews, a very good symbol of evil, how just a little bit of evil tolerated can permeate throughout a whole system. And when Jesus said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, or the leaven of Herod,” He was talking about that evil of the Pharisees. That type of spirit that is able to permeate and infect others. Not talking about the fact that they had forgotten to take bread.

And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and [they] besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town ( Mar 8:22-23 );

Now, rather than performing this miracle in front of all of the people, Jesus, rather, took this blind man out of town.

And when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught [anything]. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking ( Mar 8:23-24 ).

In other words, he began to have some vision, but it was very blurry.

After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town ( Mar 8:25-26 ).

You just go home and don’t tell anybody. This is an interesting miracle, inasmuch as it is the only miracle recorded where there was a gradual healing. The first time Jesus laid His hands upon him, he was not completely healed, but he had a partial restoration of his sight. And it was only after Jesus laid His hands on him the second time that he had clear vision, and so it was a case of a gradual healing and the only one we have recorded in the ministry of Jesus.

There is much about healing that I do not understand. I basically don’t understand why it is that some people are healed and other people are not healed. If I were God granting healing, I feel that I would be more generous. And I would be more prone to heal those good worthy people, and there’s some of the people healed that I would never heal them. So it’s good that I’m not God, because I could really mess things up in a hurry. And soon, men would be coming on the basis of their goodness and their merit and their worth. And there would be no more grace; I could wipe grace out in a hurry. Because I definitely would give more by deservings than I would just grace.

I do believe in healing; I believe very strongly in healing. I believe there are all kinds of healing. I believe that there are gradual healings. Any healing process is divine, as far as I’m concerned. Even if the doctor has operated and removed the appendix or whatever and ties things off and sews things up, the doctor doesn’t cause that skin to come together and to knit and all. He stitches it, and he knows that there is a process by which those cells will join together and heal and scar over and will seal itself up. He doesn’t do that, he just knows the processes of healing that God has established. There’s an established process of divine healing within our bodies. And it’s nonetheless divine just because it is nature. Who created nature and the processes of nature?

There are some who object to divine healing, saying it’s all in a person’s mind anyhow. It was psychosomatic. Well, God help those poor critics. If a person has a psychosomatic illness and they come and are prayed for, and they are released from that psychological block and they are able to function properly, why knock it? I don’t know what was causing the problem in that individual. Maybe they did have a psychological block and they had just blocked out any vision, and it was purely a psychosomatic thing. So what? If they come and are prayed for and can see, why not just rejoice in what God has done? He has done a divine healing in their mind. If you don’t want to acknowledge it physically, at least it has gone on in their emotions and in their minds, and He’s done a healing of the scars or the wounds or whatever was there. And I’m willing to acknowledge that and praise God for it, and acknowledge it as divine healing.

I have seen miraculous healings; I have seen gradual healings. And I’ve seen people die. And I do not know why it is that some have gradual healings, some have miraculous healings, and some are not healed. I don’t know that. That isn’t in my realm or category to understand. And I frankly confess, I don’t understand. God oftentimes works in ways in which we do not expect Him to work. God often works in very natural ways, but nonetheless, a supernatural work of God.

In the early years of our ministry when we were struggling to keep alive, it was necessary many times to pray and trust God for the physical needs of the family. I mean, when, in the Lord’s Prayer it says, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we know what that is all about. So many days we had to pray for our daily bread, because we didn’t have the money to buy it. But we did have the promise of God. “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now, God did not always send someone to the door with an envelope and money in it. He did sometimes, but not always. God did not always send the money in the mail. Sometimes He did, but not always. God did not always send people to leave a basket or a bag of groceries on our front steps, but many times He did. But more often than not, God supplied our needs by someone calling up and saying, “Hey, Chuck, I need someone to help me today. Can you work for me today?” I’d say, “Yep!” And as I was on my way, I’d say, “Thank you, Lord, for providing for our needs.” And God so often provided for our needs by giving me an opportunity to work for someone for wages whereby we were able to buy the food for dinner. Many times Alpha Beta Market would call and they’d say, “We need a manager down in store eleven. Can you go down there this morning?” I’d say, “Sure,” and I’d take off and our needs would be supplied. Or the mortuary would call and say, “We’ve got a body we have to go out and pick up. Can you do it?” I’d say, “Sure,” and I’d get five bucks for every body I’d pick up. And I’d say, “Thank you, Lord. We’ve got food for dinner tonight.” God has a sense of humor, too. God does not always use supernatural methods, as we think of supernatural, to take care of us or our needs. Many times it is through very natural processes that God is working. But the important thing is that we learn to see the supernatural in the natural.

I feel sorry for that person who has lost the sight of God. I feel sorry for that person who can’t look at a flower and be in awe of God, to smell a rose and not be able to just worship God and the Creator. Now, I don’t think you should get all caught up in roses, and say, “Oh, God…” There is an irrational way of looking at nature; and the irrational way of looking at nature is looking at nature and worshipping nature. And saying, “Oh, that’s God; Mother Nature did this.” The rational man looks at nature and worships the God who has created the natural, the things of nature around him. That’s the rational way of looking at nature. Paul tells us of those who made the mistake of worshipping and serving the creature more than the creator. It’s always sad when a person is so near-sighted, he can only see the obvious and he worships, then, the obvious rather than God who has created those things.

So, here we have Jesus healing this man. And again, using spit, using unlikely methods. A guy comes and he’s blind, and he says, “Can You heal me?” And Jesus spits in his eyes. Now, another time, Jesus spit on the ground and made mud, and He put the mud in the guy’s eyes, and He said, “Now go down to the pool and wash the mud out,” and when he did, he was able to see. Again, I love it, because the Lord is not going to be confined to a pattern. How we would love to get God in a box. How men love to tell you exactly how God is going to work, and they put the limitations and the confines around God. “And God only works in this way, and only works in this dispensation, and only…” and they’re only trying to limit God. And unfortunately, many times they do limit God’s work in their own lives, as did the children of Israel because of their unbelief. As we are told in the Psalms, “And they limited the Holy One of Israel because of their unbelief.” But Jesus is using a variety of ways: healing instantly, here a gradual healing, sometimes touching, sometimes not touching, just saying a word, sometimes going to visit, sometimes just saying it and saying, “Go home, and you’ll find it’s done.” But not being confined to a pattern.

And Jesus went out ( Mar 8:27 ),

Now He’s at Bethsaida.

and his disciples [with him], into the towns of Caesarea Philippi ( Mar 8:27 ):

So, He’s leaving Bethsaida which is at the north end, the extreme north end of the Sea of Galilee, and now He is heading on up into upper Galilee, on into the area of Caesarea Philippi, which is clear on up at the end of the upper Galilee, right at the base of Mount Hermon. The name of it today is Banious, because when the Greeks came through, they built a shrine next to the cave from which the Jordan River used to gush forth. Now, after earthquakes and all, there was a change underground and the Jordan River comes forth a hundred feet below these caves almost. But it used to come out of these caves; so, they built this little shrine to the Greek god Pan, and the Greeks called it Panious. But the Arabs had difficulty pronouncing “p’s” and they said “Banious” for “Panious,” and so the name has come to be Banious now, of this area that was once Caesarea Philippi.

and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? ( Mar 8:27 )

Now the time has come when Jesus is going to reveal to the disciples His true identity. Up to now, He has not declared Himself to His disciples His true mission. They suspicion it, I’m sure, but He’s never really declared it to them. And He said, “Whom do men say that I am?”

And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elijah; and others [say], One of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ ( Mar 8:28-29 ).

Now, Christ is not a name; it is a title. It is the Greek for the Hebrew Messiah. And the word Messiah in Hebrew means the anointed one, and the word Christ in Greek means the anointed one. Now, it was customary in those days when a king was crowned to anoint that king with oil, to pour oil over his head in an anointing ceremony by which he was recognized and acknowledged now as the king. So, Jesus, using the title Christ or Messiah, was that signifying that He was anointed by God to be the King. And they were looking for that King to come anointed by God. “Thou art the Messiah, the Christ.”

And he charged them that they should tell no man of him ( Mar 8:30 ).

The time has not yet come to reveal Himself to the world. He’s revealing Himself now to His disciples, but He does not yet reveal Himself to the world.

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man ( Mar 8:31 )

And notice, He did not tell them about His crucifixion until after He told them who He was. It is because they had a totally different concept of the Messiah. They were following the commonly accepted concept of the Messiah, that the Messiah was going to establish God’s Kingdom, that the Jews were again going to reign over the earth, that He was going to overthrow the yoke of the Roman government and of their oppressors, and once again God’s kingdom was going to come to the earth through Israel, and they would rule over the earth again. And because that was the common concept of the Messiah, Jesus, as soon as Peter acknowledged, “Thou art the Messiah,” began to teach them that the Son of Man, which is a title of the Messiah given to Him in the prophets, especially in Daniel and in Ezekiel,

that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again ( Mar 8:31 ).

So, now He began to prepare them for the fact that He was not going to perform as they expected the Messiah to perform in immediately setting up the kingdom of God. “But I’m going to crucified; I have to be rejected.” The prophecy of Isaiah said, “He is despised and rejected of men.” That has to be fulfilled. Isaiah said, “He would be numbered with the transgressors in His death.” That had to be fulfilled. David, in the twenty-second Psalm, described His death by crucifixion that had to be fulfilled. And so, Jesus is telling them, “Look, it’s not what you think it’s going to be. I’m going to have to be rejected.” Daniel said, “But the Messiah will be cut off.” That had to be fulfilled. “And not receive the kingdom.” That had to come to pass. And so, He’s seeking to prepare them. “I’m going to be rejected; I’m going to be turned over into the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and they’re going to kill me. But after three days I will rise again.” Now, somehow when Jesus said, “They’re going to kill me,” this was so shocking to them, so far from their concept of the Messiah, that their brains just shut off and they didn’t hear the rest of what He said. They didn’t hear Him say, “I’m going to rise again the third day.” It was just so shocking when He said, “They’re going to kill me.” “Wooo! I-yi-yi-yiiii!” And they didn’t hear, “In three days I’m going to rise again.”

And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men ( Mar 8:32-33 ).

As Peter was rebuking the Lord for declaring that He was going to be crucified, that He was going to die. Peter was only expressing really his own personal feelings as a man who loved the Lord and didn’t want Him to talk about His death. But Jesus rebuked Peter really for lack of discernment; he doesn’t really understand the things of God, he only understands the things of man. If he understood the things of God, he would know that the Messiah would have to be cut off, that the Messiah would have to be slain, that the Messiah would have to rise again from the dead.

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me ( Mar 8:34 ).

The three requirements for discipleship: first of all, is to deny himself. How far this is from the world’s position today. The world today is saying, “You must assert yourself.” And they even have created now assertive classes, where you can learn how to assert yourself. You don’t have to take anything from anybody if you’ll just learn to assert yourself. And I understand the women are crowding to these classes, as if they needed it. Jesus said, “No, if you come after Me, you have to deny yourself.” Paul tells us, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, humbled Himself and took on the form of man” ( Php 2:5-7 ). Denied Himself, in order that He might be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He denied Himself that place with the Father in order that He might come down as a servant and die on the cross. “So if you’re going to come after Me,” Jesus said, “you too will have to deny yourself and take up your cross, and follow Me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it ( Mar 8:35 );

That person who is looking for life, doing everything he can to find life, its meaning, its purpose, and following his ambitions, his goals, seeking to save your life, you’ll lose it.

but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ( Mar 8:35-36 )

Now tonight, think for a moment of the greatest ambition that you have. If you could be…play that game for a moment. If you could be anything you wanted to be, if you could have anything you wanted to have, what would be the greatest ambition of your life? What would you choose? Now, if in achieving that goal you lost your own soul, would it be worth it? “What would it profit a man if he would gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul?” If you gained the whole world, how long do you think you could hold it? Now, someone said something to me the other day that absolutely astounded me; I’d never thought of it that way. And it just really blew my mind. This fellow said, “I just celebrated my sixtieth birthday, which means I have lived 1% of the time since Adam.” Man! That just shocked me to realize I’ve almost lived 1% of history, of the time of history since Adam. Man! What a shocking thought. So, if you gain the world, how long do you think you could hold it? How long could you enjoy it? A hundred years? Do you think you’re going to live to be a hundred years old? Do you think by the time you were ninety-eight you’d still enjoy it? You see, the Lord is talking about eternity now. “What would it profit a man if he would gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul?” That’s eternal. The gaining of the world is only for a short time. Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the children of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, because he knew that sin is always limited. That pleasure in sin has its definite time limitations. But that walk with God is forever, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? What will you take to trade for your soul? I am amazed at the things that people give in exchange for their souls. I’m disheartened. You know, they say the Indians over here were taken advantage of by the people coming from the Old World, by these early traders trading them these little baubles, glass beads, for expensive gold and silver artifacts. You think, “Oh, those poor Indians. They were taken advantage of by those white men coming in.” And they were, unfortunately. They traded those expensive golden artifacts for just beads. How foolish. Wait a minute. What are you trading your soul for? What kind of a deal is Satan offering you for your soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul? Some men, just for foolish pride; some men, for a few moments of pleasure. Satan is holding out these little baubles, and says, “Your soul, man, your soul.”

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels ( Mar 8:38 ).

Now, Jesus is saying, “Look, I’m going to die. I’m going to rise again.” And now He’s saying, “I’m going to come in the glory of the Father with the holy angels.” So, the Messiah is going to come in glory and power and establish the kingdom of God, but not this trip. This trip the Messiah is going to be rejected, turned over to the scribes and Pharisees, killed, but on the third day, rise again. “But I’m coming again one day in the glory and in the power of the Father with the holy angels.” “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Mar 8:1-4. In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness.

Why did they not ask their Master what he could do in such an emergency as that After so much experience of his power as they had already had, it is wonderful that they did not refer the matter to him, and say, Lord, thou canst feed the multitude; we beseech thee do it. But they did not act so wisely; instead, they began questioning about ways and means. From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

Mar 8:5-9. And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

Christ is the great Master of the art of multiplication. However small is the stock with which we begin, we have only to dedicate it all to him, and he will multiply and increase it until it will go far beyond our utmost expectations, and there will be more left after the feast is over than there was before it began. Bring your small talents, bring the little grace you have, to Christ, for he can so increase your store that you will never know any lack, but shall have all the greater abundance the greater the demand that is made upon that store. Had these four thousand people not been miraculously fed by Christ, the seven loaves and the few small fishes would have remained just as they were; but now that the four thousand have to be fed, the loaves and fishes are multiplied by Christ in a very extraordinary manner, so that, in the end, there is far more provision than they had at the beginning. Expect, beloved, to be enriched by your losses, to grow by that which looks as if it would crush you, and to become greater by that which threatens to annihilate you. Only put yourself into Christs hands, and he will make good use of you, and leave you better than you were before he used you as the means of helping and blessing others.

Mar 8:10-12. And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

Unbelief always pricked him to the heart, and greatly grieved him. When men trusted him, he delighted to exhibit his matchless grace; but when they caviled and questioned, his heart was heavy, and he turned away from them.

Mar 8:13. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

But, alas! even on board that little ship there was unbelief; and from the small and select circle of his own disciples he had fresh reason for sorrow from the same cause.

Mar 8:14-21. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Can we not learn from past experience? If the Lord has helped us before, is he not equally ready to help us again? What! when there are only a few of you disciples on board ship, do you begin to distrust your Lord because you have only one loaf, when he found enough food for five thousand and for four thousand out of a few scanty loaves? O ye unbelieving children of God, what infinite patience your gracious God has with you, though you so often and so shamefully doubt him! Do ye not remember? How is it that ye do not understand? Can it be that all your Lords lessons of love and deeds of kindness have taught you nothing? Do you still doubt him,-still distrust him? Has he delivered you in six troubles, and can you not trust him in the seventh? Has he kept you, by his grace, till you are seventy years of age, and can you not trust him for the few remaining years of your earthly pilgrimage? Oh, shame upon us that we are such dull scholars in the school of Christ!

Mar 8:22-26. And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And 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 upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

Your house is outside Bethsaida, so go round-about, and get home without going into the town; and if any of your neighbors call to see you, say nothing about me to them, for I wish to remain concealed for the present.

Mar 8:27. And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

It was Christs usual way, when he took a walk with his disciples, to beguile the time with holy conversation. It would be well if we always did the same. We might do much good, and we might get much good, if we made our Lord Jesus the theme of our talks by the way. It was an important question that he put to his disciples, Whom do men say that I am?

Mar 8:28-29. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

That is the main point. It matters little to you what other men say about me;-whether they are right, or wrong, may not concern you; but what is your own opinion? What do you know about me? Whom say ye that I am?

Mar 8:29. And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

Thou art the Messiah. We know, from Matthews Gospel, that it was this confession of which our Lord said to Peter, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, son of Jonas:-for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Mar 8:30. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

He wished, at that time, to remain in comparative retirement; he was not anxious that his miracles should be blazoned abroad. By-and-by, he was to die; and he preferred to derive his fame from his death rather than from his life, and to gather his honours from his cross rather than from his miracles.

He never bade any man to be silent about his death on the cross; but when honour was likely to come to him among men from his miracles, he frequently charged them that they should tell no man of him. That restriction is no longer in force; it was entirely abrogated after our Lords resurrection, when he said to his disciples, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Mar 8:1-9

3. CHRIST FEEDING THE FOUR THOUSAND

Mar 8:1-9

(Mat 15:32-38)

1 In those days, when there was again a great multitude,–Similar to that which had often gathered about him in Galilee, and especially the one he had previously fed not far distant on the northeastern shore of the lake.

and they had nothing to eat, he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them,–Having come unprovided, or having consumed what they had brought. He tells them of his sympathy for the multitude.

2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat:–The reason for his compassion is here given. Whether they had been without food three days is not clearly expressed. If they brought any food it was all consumed, and they were in a wilderness (verse 4) where no food could be bought and were in immediate need.

3 and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way;–Become exhausted, for want of food and by fatigue on their way home.

and some of them are come from far.–Come a long distance and they could not possibly reach their respective homes without perishing, unless they got food. Jesus by his power could as easily have preserved them from fainting without food as have created food by multiplying the loaves and fishes for their support.

4 And his disciples answered him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread–Where is the food to be had to satisfy their appetite? The disciples, it seems, did not reflect on the miracle which Christ had lately wrought for the relief of the five thousand.

here in a desert place?–The location is pointed out. The disciples were still babes in faith and knowledge, as is frequently illustrated. (Mar 7:18; Mar 9:10; Mar 9:28-29; Luk 24:27.) We find similar examples of weak faith among God’s people. The Israelites murmur immediately after their deliv-erance at the Red Sea (Exo 15:24; Exo 17:1-3); and Moses showed unbelief when God was about to feed Israel with flesh in the wilderness (Num 11:21-23).

5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.–“They had a few small fishes.” The disciples seem now to have suspected what Jesus was about to do, for they do not ask, as on the former occasion, “What are these among so many?” (Joh 6:9.) Jesus did not reprove the disciples for their forgetfulness of what he had so lately done in feeding the five thousand, but meekly asked what food they had.

6 And he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground:–Probably under the direction of the disciples, who, on the occasion of feeding the five thousand, arranged the people in companies by hundreds and fifties. (Mar 6:39-40.)

and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.–We should follow the example of Jesus and offer thanks for our daily meals before eating them. Here, as in the former miracle, the disciples distributed the food to the people.

7 And they had a few small fishes:–In addition to the seven loaves. This was all the food they had on hand.

and having blessed them, he commanded to set these also before them.–Jesus gave thanks for the fishes separately, thus showing the order in which the two kinds of food were served.

8 And they ate, and were filled:–Matthew says: “They all ate, and were filled.” All were abundantly satisfied. Not a partial but a full satisfaction.

and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets.–The fragments after the people were filled were more than they had at the first. Jesus ordered the gathering of the fragments that he might convince them, in the strongest manner, of the greatness of the miracle and teach them also at the same time to practice economy in the midst of plenty.

9 And they were about four thousand:–“About,” may have been a few more or less than four thousand. This together with the feeding of the five thousand gives us some idea as to what the historians mean when they speak of great multitudes following Jesus. At what moment was the miracle performed? Was it before or after the breaking and distribution? Did the increase take place while the bread was passing through and from the hands of Jesus similar to that of the widow’s oil (2Ki 4:5-7), which filled vessel after vessel, and was only stayed when there were no more to fill? Was it after small pieces were placed in the hands of the multitude? We do not know. Since Jesus did not reveal this point, we will not undertake to do so. But the important point is stated that the miracle was performed; just when is comparatively of no consequence. Some think this miracle is only another account of feeding the five thousand. This, however, is absurd. The questions Jesus asked in verses 19 and 20 prove beyond a doubt that there were two instances of miraculous feeding. Besides the accounts of the two show marked differences. The journey to the former was from Galilee, probably from Capernaum; to the latter from Sidon through Decapolis. That was in the spring; this in the summer. The one was in the vicinity of Bethsaida, northeast of the Sea of Galilee; the other in Decapolis, a few miles further south. In that the people were principally Jews from the western side of Jordan who had been with Jesus one day; in this they were a mixed multitude, partly Jews and partly heathen, from the west of Jordan and had been with Jesus three days. There the number of men was five thousand, who reclined on the grass; here four thousand who reclined on the ground. In that case there were five loaves and after eating twelve baskets of fragments; in this there were seven baskets of fragments. All this shows there were two miraculous feedings.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This was the second miracle of feeding. Our Lord knew whence these people came, and was solicitous for them on their long journey home if they departed without food. The miracle was the result.

The warning given to the disciples was consequent on the request of the Pharisees for a sign from heaven. This desire for a sign beyond those given was, and is, a danger. Those who live in unbroken communion with God do not seek for signs, but find them in all the miraculous movements of the most commonplace hours.

Here we have another, and perhaps the most remarkable, of the miracles which were wrought in stages.

The Master was approaching the end of His mission, and He gathered around Him His disciples. He questioned them on the opinions of men concerning Him. He then sought one other testimony, and that from those whom He had chosen. It is this view of the question and answer that reveals the value and preciousness of Peter’s confession, “Thou art the Christ.” Superior to all the rest, the One to whom all the others were but forerunners. The very Messiah!

Peter’s position in what followed was not an altered one. How could the Messiah who was to restore the kingdom do so if the elders of the people rejected and killed Him? The new teaching introduced now for the first time was full of surprise. It is worthy of notice here, as in other in. stances in the last days of Jesus, that all this mistake arose, on Peter’s part, from a partial attention to the Master’s words. If he had grasped the promise, “after three days rise again,” how different must have been his attitude.

Turning from private dealing with His disciples, and addressing them and the multitudes, our Lord laid down the stem, inexorable law of His Kingdom.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

MIRACULOUS FEEDING OF THE FOUR THOUSAND

8:1-9. The report of the miracle performed on the deaf and dumb man seems to have gathered a multitude about Jesus in Decapolis, reproducing the effects of his Galilean ministry. They had been with him three days, enough to exhaust whatever provisions they had brought with them, when Jesus proposes to his disciples, as in the preceding miracle, that they feed them. They meet his proposition with the same incredulity as before, but he simply inquires how many loaves they have. They answer seven, and with these and a few fishes, Jesus proceeds to feed the multitude, numbering four thousand men alone.

The objection to the repetition of this miracle seems to be based on a misconception of our Lords miracles. If they were acts of thaumaturgy, intended to reveal Jesus power, the repetition of this miracle would seem improbable, and the similarity of the two accounts would point with some probability to their identity. But if the real object of the miracles was to meet some human need, then the recurrence of like conditions would lead to a recurrence of the miracle. And, in the life of Jesus, with its frequent resort to solitary places, and the disposition of the multitude to follow him wherever he went, the emergency of a hungry crowd in a place where supplies were not to be obtained would be certain to recur. Weiss objects that there was nothing to bring the multitude together, and that the miracle occurred at a time when Jesus had definitely closed his ministry in Galilee. But both Mt. and Mk. lead up naturally to this event, the one stating directly that he was healing the sick of all kinds of a great multitude that had resorted to him (Mat 15:30, Mat 15:31), and the other narrating the report of his healing of the deaf and dumb man circulated by his friends throughout the region, and the excitement created by it. Moreover, we have here, as Weiss himself admits, the results of Jesus previous visit to this region, and of the cure of the Gadarene demoniac, which the healed man had spread abroad in accordance with Jesus express command. Do we not have here a solution of the real difficulty underlying Weiss objection? It is true that we have in the gathering of the multitude, and the stay of three days, in which Jesus must have taught and healed, an episode in this period of retirement that is out of harmony with its evident character and design. But is not the exception justifiable? Here was a region where Jesus had been prevented from exercising his ministry by the opposition of the people, and now, on his first return to it, he finds the people in a different mood. This causes him to deflect from his purpose of retirement for a time, in order to exercise the ministry from which their previous unbelief had kept him. This seems more natural than to suppose that the evangelists created a second miracle out of certain minor variations in telling the story of the first, and then, having a miracle on their hands, proceeded to make a place for it in their narrative.

This account is found only in Mt. and Mk. The verbal resemblance of the two accounts is remarkable, the following words being identical. , , () , () (). () ; , . , , , , , () . Among these words, , , , and are peculiar, and especially the construction of . Indeed, the occurrence of this peculiar nominative in both accounts would be enough to prove their dependence or interrelation.

1. -there being again a great multitude. The reference is to the previous feeding of the five thousand (6:34); and the representation is that in this respect, the circumstances were similar. In both cases, there was a great multitude. . 1-and not having anything to eat; this is another circumstance in which the two events were similar.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDGLMN 1, 13, 28, 33, 69, etc. Latt. Memph.

-having called his disciples, he says.

Omit after , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABDKLMN 1, 33, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph. Syrr. Omit after , Tisch. Treg. WH. DLN 1, 28, 209, Latt. Memph. Harcl.

2. 1-I have compassion on the multitude because already they remain with me three days.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ALNX etc. B .

This three days stay of the multitude means of course that Jesus had been deflected from his purpose of retirement during this time, and had been drawn into his ordinary work of teaching and healing. And the sequence of events would indicate that the gathering was caused by the report of the miracle upon the deaf and dumb man.

3. -fasting. -they will be exhausted.2 3 4-and some of them have come from a distance. This is an additional reason for not sending them away, not the reason of their exhaustion, as in TR.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BL 1, 13, 28, 33, 209, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. Insert before , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDL 1, 13, 28, 33, 69, 209, 346 (Latt.).

4. ;-Whence will any one be able to feed these with bread here in the wilderness? This failure of the disciples to recall the previous miracle is one of the really strong reasons for doubting the repetition of the miracle. The objection is valid; the stupid repetition of the question is psychologically impossible. But this does not disprove the repetition of the miracle, only this incident in it. All things considered, it is very much more probable that the accounts got mixed in this particular, than that one miracle should be multiplied into two. So Meyer. 5 -literally, on a desert place; i.e. an uninhabited place, where there are no supplies to be bought.

5. -And he asked. -And they said.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BL . , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BN .

6. -And he gives orders for the multitude to recline. The verb is used to denote the transmission of orders through subordinates.1

, instead of , gave orders, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDL one ms. Lat. Vet.

-having given thanks. We have in this word one side of the invocation at meals, and in below, the other, the invocation of blessing on the food.2

-to set before them.

, instead of , BCLM 13, 33, 69, 346.

7. 3 -And they had a few little fishes; and having blessed them, he commanded to place these before them also.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BD . Insert after Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL 6 10, 28, 116, Memph. , instead of , Treg. WH. RV. BL , also DM marg. , and C 115, one ms. Lat. Vet. .

8. -And they ate.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDL 1, 28, 33, 40, 124, Latt. Memph. Pesh.

-literally, remnants of fragments; i.e. consisting of fragments. -On this, and the used to collect the fragments in the feeding of the five thousand, see on 6:43.

9. -and they were about four thousand.

Omit , those eating, Tisch. (Treg.) WH. RV. BL 33, Memph.

JESUS CROSSES TO THE WEST SHORE OF THE LAKE TO DALMANUTHA, AND THE PHARISEES RENEW THEIR ATTACK ON HIM, DEMANDING A SIGN FROM HEAVEN

10-13. After finishing his work in Decapolis, Jesus gets into the boat kept for his use by the disciples, and crosses to the region of Dalmanutha, several miles south of his usual resort. But he does not escape the hostile vigilance of the Pharisees (Mt. says, Sadducees also), who gather about, demanding a sign from heaven, different from the terrestrial signs to which he has confined himself. Jesus asks merely, why this generation (of all generations) asks for a sign, and solemnly declares that no sign shall be given it.

10. -the boat constantly in attendance on him, 3:9, 4:36, 6:32. -Nothing is known of this place, which is not mentioned elsewhere. Probably, it was a small village near Magadan (Magdala), which is the place mentioned in the parallel account, Mat 15:39. This would make it on the west shore of the lake, and in the southern part of the plain of Gennesareth.

11. -the Pharisees came out. Jesus has been absent in Gentile territory since his dispute with the Pharisees about the washing of hands, 7:1 sqq., and now, immediately on his return, they are on his track again. They came out, Meyer says, from their residences in the neighborhood. But see Morisons Note. All explanations are conjectural and uncertain. Mt. couples together Pharisees and Sadducees, and the same in the warning against their leaven which follows. This is ominous of the final situation in Jerusalem, when the combination of the party of the priests and of the Scribes brought about his fate. -to discuss with him.1

-a sign from heaven. This was one of their cavils, like their attributing Jesus casting out of demons to the power of the prince of demons, by which they sought to discredit the miracles performed by him. They made a distinction between miracles that might be explained by reference to some supernatural power operating here in the world, and distinct from God, and those which came visibly from heaven, i.e. from the sky. The kind of signs demanded by them we find in the eschatological discourse, ch. 13, this being what they had been led to expect in connection with the Messianic period. See 13:24, 25. The miracles performed by Jesus were none of them, they thought, from this source. They were walking on the water, creating earthly food, healing human diseases, and so confined to this world. What they wanted was a voice from heaven, or anything coming from above. -testing him. They wanted to put his power to perform miracles, or to produce them, to the test, and to see if he was able to give them a sign in which there should be no possibility of collusion with the powers that rule this lower world. The uniform use of tempt to translate this verb is very misleading.

12. -having groaned in spirit, i.e. inwardly, not audibly. ;-Why does this generation seek a sign?

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDL 1, 28, 33, 118, 209.

-if a sign shall be given-! This is a case of suppressed apodosis, and is a common Hebrew form of oath or asseveration.1 By is meant a work which has either for its object, or result, the proof of the Divine presence and power. This is a denial that his own miracles had this purpose. All of them were uses of Divine power, but not displays of it. Any self-respecting man will refuse to show himself off, but he will constantly do things having other legitimate objects, which do show incidentally his intelligence, or strength, or goodness. This is the attitude of Jesus. He refuses to do anything merely as a sign, and yet his life was full of signs; nay, it was a sign, he himself was the sign. Indeed, the only element about his miracles which will save them from the general disbelief of the miraculous is the consonance of their objects with the character of Jesus. No one could have devised the story of a miracle-working person, and have kept the story true to Jesus principles and character. The wonderful thing about the miracles is that the Divine power shown in them is kept to uses befitting the Divine Being. -to this generation. Jesus refuses especially to give a sign to that generation. It was an age full of signs; it was the period of the Incarnation, and yet its leaders went about asking for signs, and refused to believe the self-witness of the Son of God.

WARNING AGAINST THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND OF HEROD

13-21. Jesus does not remain in this hostile region, but crosses again to the east side. On the way, he warns the disciples against the unspiritual influences of the Pharisees-men who ask him for a sign-and, in order that they may not go from formalism to irreligion, also against the leaven of Herod. The disciples, who had forgotten to take bread, think that he is speaking of literal leaven. Whereupon, Jesus asks them if they are as dull as the rest to his spiritual meanings, and if they have forgotten how easily he provided for the lack of material food.

13. , -having embarked again, he departed.

Omit , in the boat, Tisch. WH. RV. BCL mss. of Latt.

, -Take heed, beware of the leaven.1

The word is used figuratively in Bib. Greek for a pervasive influence, either good or bad, though generally the latter, owing to the ceremonial depreciation of leaven among the Hebrews. The leaven of the Pharisees is their general spirit, including hypocrisy, ostentation, pride, formalism, pettiness, and the like; cf. Mat_23. Here, where Jesus is fresh from his controversy with them about signs, the thing specially in his mind would be the spirit that leads them to ask for a sign, when his whole life and teaching was a sign. It would be, in a word, their unspirituality, their blindness to spiritual things, which led them to seek outward proof of inward realities. The leaven of Herod, on the other hand, was worldliness. The Herods were professed Jews, who sought to leaven Judaism with the customs of heathenism. They represented the escape from the rigors and scruples of Pharisaism into the license and irreligion of the world, instead of into the freedom of a spiritual religion. But the escape from spiritual blindness does not lie that way.

16. , ()-And they reasoned with each other, (it is) because we have (or they have) no bread. Probably, with either or , is causal, and there is an ellipsis of the principal clause.

Omit , saying, after , Tisch. Treg. WH. BD 1, 28, 209, mss. Lat. Vet. , instead of , Treg. WH. RV.marg. B 1, 28, 209, two mss. Lat. Vet. Memph., also D mss. Lat. Vet. (quod panes non haberent).

The disciples were themselves so blind spiritually, that they attributed a material sense to Christs spiritual sayings. They thought that he was warning them, in the very spirit of the Pharisees themselves, against food contaminated by them. Their thoughts were on their neglect to take bread, and so leaven, or yeast, suggested to them bread.

17. , , ;-And perceiving it, he says to them, Why do you reason (it is), because you have no bread?

Omit , before , Tisch. (Treg.) WH. B * one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph.

;-have you your understanding dulled?1

18, 19. Tisch. punctuates these verses so that they read, Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear, and do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, and how many baskets full of fragments you took up? WH. read, Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments you took up? This latter punctuation is the most probable.

Insert before , Tisch. CDM 1, 33, mss. of Latt.

By his reference to the miracles of feeding the five thousand, and the four thousand, Jesus means to remind them that he has shown them his ability to provide for their lack of bread in an emergency, so that they need not fix their thoughts on that, nor think that his mind is occupied with it. The question about the baskets of broken pieces is intended to suggest the bounty of the provision made. It is noticeable that the distinction between and in the two miracles is kept up here in Jesus` allusion to them.

20. (), -And they say (to him), seven.

, instead of , and they said, Tisch. one ms. Lat. Vet. Pesh. , Treg. marg. WH. RV. BCL 115, two mss. Latt. Memph.

21. ;-Do you not yet understand?

Omit , How, Tisch. WH. RV. CKL 1, 118, 127, 209, one ms. Lat. Vet. , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ACDgr. LMNUX mss. Lat. Vet. Syrr.

HEALING OF A BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA

22-26. Jesus and his disciples land at Bethsaida, on the cast side of the lake. There a blind man is brought him to be healed with the usual touch. But Jesus, still in quest of retirement, and so more than ever anxious to avoid the notoriety attending his miracles, takes the man outside of the village. He employs the same signs to tell him what is being done for him as in the case of the deaf and dumb man in Decapolis. But here, for the first and only time, there is something to obstruct the immediateness of the cure, and at first, the man sees only men looking like trees walking about. Jesus laid his hands again upon his eyes, and the man saw clearly. Then Jesus, in order to prevent the story spreading, ordered him not even to enter the village where he is known.

22. -And they come to Bethsaida.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDL 13, 28, 33, 69, 124, 346, Latt. Memph.

23. -he brought him outside of the village. In the only other miracle recorded by Mk. alone (7:31-37), there is this same privacy observed. The two coming together at the same period of our Lords life would seem to indicate that there was some reason for the peculiarity common to them both, arising from the critical character of the period in his life. It was not the period of his miracles, nor of his public teachings, but of retirement with his disciples; and hence the even unusual secrecy attending such miracles as he did perform. -having spit. This also is peculiar to this pair of miracles.

, instead of , he led him out, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL 33.

;-he asked him, do you see anything?1

This reading, instead of , if he sees anything, Treg. marg. WH. non marg. RV. BCD* gr. Memph.

24. , etc.-The AV., I see men as trees walking, ignores this . RV., I see men; for I see them as trees walking. That is, what would otherwise be taken by him for trees he knows to be men by their walking around. This indistinctness of vision is due not to the confusion of his ideas arising from his previous blindness, but to the incompleteness of his cure. This is the single case of a gradual cure in our Lords life, and the narrative gives us no clue to the meaning of it. But we have no right to argue from this single case that gradualness was the ordinary method of Jesus cures.2

25. ()-then again he laid.

, instead of , Treg. WH. BL.

, , -and he looked fixedly, and was restored, and saw all things clearly.

, instead of , he made him look up, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* L 1, 28, 209, 346 (one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph.). , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BCL . , instead of , Tisch. WH. marg. * CL (33 ). , all things, instead of , all men, Tisch. Treg. WH. BC* DLM ? 1, 13, 69, mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Syrr. Memph.

denotes the act of fixing his eyes on things, by which he would be able to distinguish them. is compounded of and , and denotes clearness of vision. , TR., denotes distant sight.1

26. -do not even go into the village. The man was to return to his house, which was outside of the village, and so far from publishing his cure in the village, he was not even to enter it.

Omit , nor tell it to any one in the village, Tisch. (Treg. marg.) RV. WH. * and c BL 1, 209, Memph.2

Attention should be called to the characteristics of the two miracles narrated by Mk. alone, both of which, moreover, belong to the period of Jesus retirement, and to localities inhabited by a mixed Jewish and heathen population, and unfrequented by him in his previous ministry. In both the healing of the deaf and dumb man in Decapolis, and that of the blind man at Bethsaida, Jesus takes the man aside before performing the cure, and uses spittle on the parts affected. In the second, the healing of the blind man, the cure is gradual. As to the withdrawal from the multitude, the purpose is obvious. The miracles belong to the period of retirement, and Jesus takes more than usual pains to guard against notoriety. A secondary effect, if not purpose, in the case of the deaf and dumb man, would be to fix his attention on what Jesus was about to do for him. As to the use of the spittle, it is commonly regarded as extraordinary, and naturally so, as these are the only cases in the Synoptical Gospels in which Jesus employs any other means than the laying on of hands. In the case of the deaf and dumb man, the reason for this exceptional treatment appears in the condition of the man. The thrusting of the hands into the mans ears, the spitting into them, the looking up to heaven, are the language of signs, by which Jesus seeks to awaken the faith of the man necessary to his cure. Certainly the thrusting of the hands into his ears is that, and the rest goes along with this symbolical act. In the case of the blind man, extraordinary conditions are not lacking, though not of the same kind. Jesus is in an unfamiliar region, and the mans blindness withdraws him more or less from even the knowledge that those about him would have of this extraordinary personage. In these circumstances, Jesus uses something more than the ordinary laying on of hands, which would tell its story so quickly to a Jew accustomed to his ordinary procedure, and substitutes what we may call a more elaborate and significant ritual of cure. The gradualness of the cure in this case would arise out of the same extraordinary conditions. Jesus is contending here against a dull, slow-moving faith, which hinders the ordinary immediateness of the cure. This explanation matches the extraordinary methods and process of the cure with the extraordinary conditions of the case.

On the other hand, Weiss, ignoring the peculiar conditions, treats both the process and the gradualness of the cure as representing Jesus ordinary method and the rationale of the miracles. These are the two cases, he says, in which Mk. goes into details in telling the story of the miracles, and the matter contained in them, therefore, is to be read into the other accounts. The difficulty in this is to account for the choice of these two isolated cases for the introduction of these details. It is easy to account for them as peculiarities belonging to an exceptional period in the life of Jesus, but not at all easy to account for the choice of these, the very last of the miracles, to bring out material belonging to them all, but hitherto unrelated by Mk., and omitted altogether in the other evangelists. Moreover, it is very singular that this gradual cure occurs in the Gospel which emphasizes most the immediateness of the cures. Out of the eleven miracles of healing recorded in Mk., five speak directly of the immediateness of the cure, and of the rest three give circumstances implying the same. And yet, we are told that in this Gospel, the one account of gradual cure establishes the form to which the others must be conformed. As for the use of the spittle, that is treated as an actual means of cure, not as a symbol or sign. So Meyer. However, it is allowed that the curative power infused into this came from above. And this again is normal, telling us what really happened in the other cases. A means, which yet has no power in itself, only what is infused into it supernaturally. This is truly a tertium quid, and as long as it introduces into the miracles nothing of the nature of a secondary cause, it may be ranked among the curiosities of religious speculation.

JESUS GOES WITH HIS DISCIPLES INTO THE REGION OF CSAREA PHILIPPI. PETERS CONFESSION OF JESUS AS THE MESSIAH

27-30. Jesus having landed at Bethsaida, proceeds to Csarea Philippi, at the foot of Mt. Hermon, a region hitherto unvisited by him. On the journey here he gains the privacy for which he had been seeking, and questions the disciples as to what men say about him. They tell him that he is called variously John the Baptist; Elijah, and one of the prophets. Then comes the question for which all his life with them had prepared the way, what title they are ready to give him. Peter, speaking for the rest, says, Thou art the Messiah. But Jesus, having drawn this confession from them, charges them to tell no one else.

27. . -into the villages of Csarea Philippi. Mt. says, into the parts of Csarea Philippi. The district is called here by the name of its principal city, and the villages were those belonging to that district. The city is near the sources of the Jordan, about 25 miles north of the lake of Galilee. Panium was the original name of the city, from the god Pan, who had a sanctuary here. The town was enlarged and beautified by Herod Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, to whose territory it belonged, and was given its new name in honor of the emperor and of himself. Philippi distinguishes it from Csarea on the coast. It marks the most northern part of our Lords journeyings, except Tyre and Sidon. His coming here was for the general purpose of his later Galilean ministry, to talk with his disciples in retirement of the approaching crisis in his life. ;-Who do men say that I am? This is the first time that Jesus has approached this question, even in the circle of his disciples. The characteristic of his teaching has been its impersonality His subject has been the Kingdom of God, its law, the conditions of membership in it, but not the person of its King. He has made approaches to this personal subject in the announcement of the coming of the kingdom, implying the presence of the King, and has made a veiled claim to the title in calling himself the Son of Man, but these hints and suggestions have been all. We should be inclined to call his styling himself the Son of Man something more than a veiled claim, if it were not that the people and rulers were manifestly in doubt, as this very event shows, as to the nature of his claim. This constitutes the great difference between the Synoptical Gospels and the fourth Gospel, since in the latter, Jesus discourses principally about himself and his claim.

28. -they told him, saying. The verb and the participle are so nearly identical in meaning, that their juxta-position here is quite difficult to account for. On the different answers to the question of Jesus,-John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets, see on 6:14.

instead of , answered, Tisch. Treg. marg. WH. RV. BC* and 2 L one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. Pesh. Insert , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* DL 13, 28, 69, 124, 282, 346, mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph. , instead of . . Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* L Memph.

29. -And he asked them.

, instead of , he says to them, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* DL 53 mss. Lat. Vet.

;-But who do you say that I am? is emphatic in itself, and by its position.1 When the announcement of Jesus Messianic character is made, it does not come from himself, but is drawn out of the disciples by this question. He would have them enjoy the blessedness of not receiving it from flesh and blood, i.e. by oral communication, even from himself, but of that inward reception by silent communication from the Father which is the only source of true knowledge of spiritual things. See Mat 16:17. He manifested himself to them, admitting them to an intimate companionship and intercourse with himself; and when he had made his impression on them, he drew from them the confession made under the guidance of the Spirit, that he was no inferior and preparatory personage in the Messianic Kingdom, but the King himself. Here, as everywhere, Jesus method is the truly spiritual one, that depends very little on external helps, but on the silent movings of the Spirit of God. -This is the first time in the Gospel that Peter appears as the spokesman of the disciples. -thou art the Christ. On the meaning of , see on 1:1.

30. -that they tell no one. The silence that Jesus enjoins on them is due to the same reasons as his own silence up to this time, and his breaking it only when he was alone with them. It was esoteric doctrine as yet, that only those could receive, who knew something about the Messianic office on the one hand, and about the person of Jesus on the other. In the prevalent misconception of the Messiah, such an announcement would work only disaster. The time was coming for it, but when it did come, the tragedy of Jesus life followed immediately.

JESUS PREDICTS HIS CRUCIFIXION. PETER REBUKES HIM, AND JESUS REPELS THE EVIL SPIRIT WHO SPEAKS THROUGH HIM

31-33. After drawing out from his disciples the confession of his Messianic claim, Jesus proceeds to tell them how that claim will be treated by the authorities. In general, it will bring him much suffering, and finally his rejection and violent death at the hands of the Sanhedrim, from which, however, he will be raised after three days. Peter, who evidently regards this as a confession of defeat, and as vacating the claim just made, takes Jesus aside, and begins to rebuke him. But Jesus, recognizing in this the very spirit of the Temptation, meets rebuke with rebuke, telling Peter that he is acting the part of the Tempter, and that he reflects the mind of men, not of God.

31. -he began to teach. This is a true beginning, being the first teaching of this kind.1 -it is necessary. The necessity arises, first, from the hostility of men; secondly, from the spiritual nature of his work, which made it impossible for him to oppose force to force; and thirdly, from the providential purpose of God, who made the death of Jesus the central thing in redemption. But in order to take its place in the Divine order, his death must come in the human, natural order. That is to say, his death is the natural result of the antagonism of his holy nature to the world; it is the martyrs death. But it has also a Divine purpose in it, and it is necessary to the accomplishment of that purpose. The Divine purpose can use, however, only the death that results from the human necessity, the martyrs death. Jesus must be put to death by man. 1 -that the Son of Man suffer many things. This is the general statement, under which the rejection and death are specifications. . -by the elders and the chief priests and the Scribes.

, by, instead of ,2 Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDGKL . Insert , the, before Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDEHMSUVX, and before Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDEFHLSMUV .

Elders was the general term for the members of the Sanhedrim, and when used as it is here, with the names of classes comprised in that body, it denotes, of course, the other members outside of these classes. The chief priests were members of the high-priestly class, i.e. either the high priest himself, those who had held the office, or members of the privileged families from which the high priests were taken. The three classes together constituted the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the Jews, by which Jesus predicts that he is to be rejected and put to death.3 -and after three days rise again. This is one of the psychological problems with which we are confronted in a history generally answering with considerable exactness to such tests. For when we come to the account of the resurrection, this prophecy plays no part. The event, when it takes place, does not recall the prophecy, and is met with a persistent unbelief which does not seem in any way consonant with the existence of such a prophecy. It would seem as if Jesus must have used language here, which the disciples did not understand, until after the resurrection itself, to refer to that event. That Jesus predicted the crucifixion and resurrection, there does not seem to be any reasonable doubt. But we find variations in the details, which suggest that these were supplied by the writers, post eventum, and that the prediction itself was general in its character. Moreover, we find in the eschatological discourse, that Jesus language needs a key, and we seem forced to the supposition that the utter failure of the disciples to understand the present prophecy must have been due to a like enigmatical use of language. -without any reserve, using entire frankness of speech. Now that the time had come for Jesus to speak about this, he spoke out frankly.

32. -having taken him aside. Peter could not understand plain speech about a matter to be spoken of only under his breath. Metaphorically, he puts his finger on his lips, and says Hush. He does not wish further open discussion of so dangerous a topic, and so he takes Jesus aside even to remonstrate with him. -to rebuke. Such an idea as his master had announced was not only to be refuted, but rebuked as unworthy of him. This would be the way in which he would reconcile it with his sense of his Lords dignity to rebuke him; a thing that he would not think of doing except as he thought that Jesus was himself underrating that dignity. He had just allowed the Messianic claim made for him by the disciples, and now he seemed to be predicting defeat, whereas it belonged to the Messiah not to be defeated.

33. -having turned, that is, upon Peter. But as he turned on him, it brought the rest of the disciples to view, and having seen the effect of Peters action on them, he was moved to special plainness of speech. -he rebuked Peter and says. Notice the repetition of the of v. 32. Peter had assumed to rebuke him, and now he rebukes Peter.

, instead of , saying, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL two mss. Lat. Vet. Memph. Pesh.

– denotes withdrawal, get away. And the whole phrase means, Get out of my sight. -Satan. Our Lord is not calling names here, but indicating in strong language the part that Peter is playing. He is putting temptation in our Lords way, and is so acting the rle of Satan. Jesus recognizes that it is not Peter in propria persona that is speaking, but the Spirit of evil speaking through him, just as he recognized the invisible Tempter in the wilderness (Mat 4:10). -thou thinkest not, thou dost not regard. means to side with one.1 Peter did not keep in mind Gods purposes, but mens. He did not look at things as God looks at them, but as men regard them, and hence he played the part of the Adversary, the Tempter. And it was not a minor and incidental temptation, but the great thing that separates Gods ways and mans, the temptation to consider himself, instead of imitating Gods self-sacrifice.

JESUS TEACHES THE MULTITUDE THAT THE SELF-SACRIFICE PRACTISED BY HIMSELF IS THE NECESSARY CONDITION OF DISCIPLESHIP

34-9:1. Jesus now calls up the multitude, having closed the purely esoteric part of his teaching, relating to his own fate, and teaches them that the condition of discipleship is self-denial, and following him even to death. He bases this on the general principle that to lose life is to save it, and to save it is to lose it. And there is no profit in gaining the whole world and losing ones life, because that is an irreparable loss. Nothing will buy it back. These ultimate gains and losses follow a mans attitude towards Him because the Son of Man is to return in the glory of his Father, and will then be ashamed of the man who is now ashamed of Him.

34. -the multitude. It seems from this, that in spite of his being away from his usual place of work, and in heathen territory, Jesus was surrounded by a crowd of people. And his language implies that they had some knowledge of him. -If any one wishes to follow after me. A figurative expression of discipleship.1

, instead of , Treg. WH. RV. BC* DL Latt. Harcl. marg. , instead of , Tisch. Treg. C* DX 1, 28, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. The rare combination, found elsewhere only Mat 10:38, is fairly conclusive of the originality of the reading.

-let him deny himself. The person is made here the direct object of the verb, not the indirect. He is not to deny something to himself, but he is to renounce himself. He is to cease to make himself the object of his life and action. The verb is the same that is used to denote Peters denial of his Master, and means to deny that one stands in a supposed relation to another, and hence to reject, or renounce. To deny self is therefore to deny the relation of self-interest and control which a man is supposed to hold to himself, in the interest of humanity and of God; in other words, to renounce himself. It is the negative side of the command to love, and like that, does not refer to special acts, but to a change of the fundamental principle of life. . -and take up his cross. This is a phase, the extreme phase of the self-denial which Jesus has just demanded. Let him deny himself, and carry out that self-denial even to death. The cross does not mean here any disagreeable thing, but the instrument of death. The criminal carried his own cross to the place of execution, and so, to take up the cross means to go to the place of death. The equivalent of it in our language would be to go to the gallows or the stake. The idea is, that a disciple is to follow the example of Jesus in giving up everything, even life itself, that belongs to the selfish interests, sooner than anything belonging to the higher purposes of life. . -and follow me. This is not a third thing added to the self-denial and cross-bearing, but a repetition of the of the conditional part of the sentence. The meaning is, that in these two things, self-denial and cross-bearing, is to be found the way to follow him.

35. -For whoever wishes.1 – but whoever shall lose.2 (omit , this one) will save it.

before , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BCKM 1, 28, 33. , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BCD 2 Omit before , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABC* DLM* X Latt. Memph. Syrr.

Jesus has just bidden them to sacrifice even their lives, and this gives the reason for that bidding, showing them that this is really the way to save their lives. The paradox consists in the two meanings of the word life. In the first clause, it means the bodily life, and in the second, the true life of the spirit, which is independent of that bodily condition. The general principle is, that there is no such thing as ultimate loss in the kingdom of God. And in this case, a man loses his life only to receive it again enriched and multiplied. He sacrifices himself so far as he is identified with lower interests, only to become absorbed in higher and larger interests, in righteousness and love, in God and man. -for the sake of me and of the Gospel. Here we have the higher objects stated, for which a man sacrifices himself, and in which the merely personal life is absorbed. He becomes absorbed, in the first place, in a higher personality, that of Jesus, the Redeemer, and the head of the Messianic kingdom, who represents interests human and universal. And all personal interests become merged in those of the Gospel, the glad-tidings that Jesus brings, that the kingdom of God is coming. This coming is involved in the advent of its king.3 It is as a man loses himself in so great and high things, that he finds himself, and as he sacrifices his life in their behalf, that he saves it. Only in such things is there any true life.

36. ;-for what does it profit a man to gain , and to forfeit ?

, instead of , Tisch. WH. RV. BL mss. Lat. Vet. Pesh. , instead of , and , instead of , Tisch. WH. RV. BL.

-to forfeit. The word commonly means to lose by way of penalty, to forfeit. The argument is carried forward here no longer in the contrast between the two lives, the in its two senses, but in the contrast between the and the . And this is pertinent, because the earthly life is measured generally by outward gains, while the spiritual life is valued for itself. In the one, a man is worth dollars and cents, in the other, his worth is a matter of his own excellence, the quality and range of his being. The question is thus between that life which consists mainly in having, and that which consists in being. And to be, in the true sense, means to have the life of God in us. The contrast is made as strong as possible by making the gain the , the sum total of things.

37. 1-For what shall a man give? -as an exchange. The questions means, if a man has forfeited his life, by what price or ransom can he buy it back? It is the rhetorical form of saying that the loss is irrevocable. It is the irrevocableness of the loss that makes the gain to be nothing by its side. The whole world, if a man had it, would not buy back his life, if he lost it.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BL 28, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. * B (c L ) , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BCEFLMVX .

38. -for whoever.2 The argument does not connect this with the special statement that immediately precedes, but with the entire statement of which that forms a part. It shows how these general statements are to be applied to mans relations to Christ; how these relations can affect their lives so profoundly-a question that might easily be suggested to his listeners by the amazing character of his assumptions. The present situation, he says, is to be changed. He who seems to them now so easily to be set aside is to appear eventually as the Son of Man, coming in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels. Now, they are ashamed of him, it may be; then he will be ashamed of them. The announcement of Jesus Messiahship (v. 29) is followed immediately by the prophecy of his humiliation and death; and that by the statement that life and death hang upon the acceptance and imitation of him; now this is justified by the prophecy of his reign. Verily, Jesus reticence about himself, that has been so characteristic of his teaching so far, is here broken. -adulterous. The figure represents sin as unfaithfulness to the close relation in which God seeks to put man to himself. It is a favorite figure of the prophets.

1 The participle here is plural, because it belongs with a noun of multitude, which is taken distributively. In , we have the pronoun and the mood of direct discourse. is irregularly substituted for , the indirect interrogative. The mood is quite regular. See Win. 25, 1. Goodwin, Greek Moods and Tenses, 71. relates this not only as a fact, but as it lay in Jesus mind and influenced his action.

Tisch. Tischendorf.

Treg. Tregelles.

WH. Westcott and Hort.

RV. Revised Version.

Codex Sinaiticus.

B Codex Vaticanus.

D Codex Ephraemi.

G Codex Wolfi A.

L Codex Regius.

M Codex Campianus.

N Codex Purpureus.

Codex Sangallensis

1 .Codex Basiliensis

13 Codex Regius.

28 Codex Regius.

33 Codex Regius.

69 Codex Leicestrensis.

Latt. Latin Versions.

Memph. Memphitic.

A Codex Alexandrinus.

K Codex Cyprius.

Codex Petropolitianus

Lat. Vet. Vetus Latina.

Vulg. Vulgate.

Syrr. Syriac Versions.

209 An unnamed, valuable manuscript.

Harcl. Harclean.

1 On , see on 1:41. is an elliptical construction for the acc. of duration of time. We say, it is three days, they remain with me. Win. 62, 2.

Codex Tischendorfianus

2 Both these words are peculiar. is a good Greek word, but is found in the N.T. only here and in the parallel passage, Mat 15:32. The same is true of in this sense of exhaustion.

3 This adverb itself belongs to later Greek, and the combination of prep. and adverb is also late. With an adverb of this ending, moreover, the prep. is superfluous. Win. 54, 1. 65, 2.

4 This perf, from is late. Thay.-Grm. Lex.

346 Codex Ambrosianus.

5 See on 6:42.

1 Thay.-Grm. Lex., under .

2 See on 6:41.

C Codex Bezae.

3 On the form , see Thay.-Grm. Lex. is found in the N.T. only here and in the parallel (Mat 15:34).

marg. Revided Version marg.

Pesh. Peshito.

1 The proper meaning of is to search or inquire in company. This meaning discuss is peculiar to the N.T.

1 See Win. 55, Note at end.

1 This meaning of is foreign to the verb in earlier Greek, and the construction with is borrowed from the Heb. It is a pregnant construction, and is resolvable into look to yourselves, and so keep from. Win. 32, 1, note.

1 On the meaning of , see on 3:5.

U Codex Nanianus.

1 This use of in direct questions is not found in classical Greek, but belongs to the N.T. period. Win. 57, 2.

AV. Authorised Version.

2 So Weiss, Life of Jesus, 2, 97, 3, 23.

1 is a rare word.

2 The translation of , neither nor, AV., is wrong. is disjunctive, and the first is to be rendered Not even. Win. 55, 6 a).

1 Win. 22, 6.

1 Thay.-Grm. Lex.

1 See on 2:28.

2 On the distinction between and after passives, see Win. 47 b) Note.

E Codex Basiliensis.

H Codex Wolfi B.

S Codex Vaticanus.

V Codex Mosquensis.

F Codex Borelli.

3 See Schrer, N. Zg. II. I. III. IV.

1 Thay.-Grm. Lex.

1 See on 1:17-20. The use of after is a Hebraism. Win. 33, Note. Thay.-Grm. Lex.

1 On the use of for after relatives, see Win. 42, Note at end. Also footnote2, p. 158.

2 On the fut. ind. with , see Burton, 308, who notes it as a N.T. use. Win. 42, 3 b, cites only LXX. passages, as the N.T. passages occur only in the various critical texts. There is a use of the future indicative in classical Greek with , but not in conditional or relative clauses. And there is a use of the future in conditional relative clauses, but without . This construction is therefore anomalous. See Goodwin, Greek Moods and Tenses, 61, 3, Note; 50, 1, Note 1; 37, 2, Note 1.

3 See on 1:1, 14, 15; cf. Mat 4:23, Mat 9:35, Mat 24:14.

1 An irregular form of sec. aor. subj. for . The mood is that of deliberative questions. Win. 41 a, 4 b.

2 This use of for is due to the use of as a contracted form of , leading to a mistaken use of the two as interchangeable. See Thay.-Grm. Lex.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

the Demand for Signs Rebuked

Mar 8:1-21

Notice the Masters tender considerateness, Mar 8:1-9. He would not have the people faint on their way home. There are distinct differences between this miracle and the feeding of the five thousand. Most of these are evident to the English reader, but that between the baskets used for the fragments is clear only from the original-those used in the case of the five thousand being quite different from the large ones used here, Mar 8:20; Mat 15:37. Our Lord never repeats His work.

The Savior sighed in the previous chapter over physical need; here He sighs over moral obtuseness, Mar 8:10-21. The language is very strong, and gives a glimpse into the Redeemers heart. Had the Pharisees been as willing to discern the signs of the age as to read the weather, they must have been able to recognize Him and His claims; but their foolish heart was darkened. Having sighed over the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees, might He not equally have done so over the obtuseness of the Twelve? They thought that He was referring to their carelessness in omitting to take bread. How little they realized that the cause lay far deeper! Let us be quick to read the divine intention in very simple incidents, and to learn that all Gods past dealings contain lessons for the present!

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Jesus Feeds the Multitude Again (Mar 8:1-9)

The circumstances surrounding this miracle were similar to the occasion of some months before; yet it is evident that the disciples had forgotten-as we often do-the remarkable manifestation of divine power that they had seen at that time. The heart of Jesus Christ was touched by the need of the multitude, and His heart ever controlled His hand. For three days they had flocked about Him and paid attention to His teaching. Their food supplies had all given out and they were left with nothing to eat. He could not bear to leave them in that desolate condition. Many lived at quite a distance from the place in which they were. To go home hungry would work a real hardship on them.

From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? It was the expression of the unbelief in the hearts of the disciples. That they should so soon have forgotten the miraculous feeding of the five thousand would seem incredible if we did not know something of the untrustworthiness and unbelief of our own hearts.

How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. The disciples were to have the privilege of sharing with others the provision they had made for their own need. This time they did not procure the food from someone else. Following the same procedure as in the previous miraculous feeding (Mar 6:30-44), the people were seated on the ground, and after giving thanks Jesus broke the bread and gave it to His disciples to distribute to the multitude.

They had a few small fishes. Why were these not mentioned before? Could it be that they had been withheld by the doubting disciples until they saw how the bread was multiplied? Apparently the fishes were blessed separately and then distributed as the bread had been.

They did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat.. .seven baskets. Again there was an overabundance. After the multitude was fed, the disciples received seven hampers of food in return for the bread and fishes they had entrusted to Jesus to dispense. The leftover food was sufficient to last a long time.

They that had eaten were about four thousand. Again Mat 15:38 adds, Beside women and children.

It has often been pointed out that in the original Greek text two different kinds of baskets are indicated in the two accounts of miraculous feedings of the multitudes. In Mark 6, after the feeding of the five thousand, there were twelve handbasketsful left over. Handbaskets were such as folk carried with them when traveling on foot. In Mark 8, after the feeding of the four thousand, there were seven hampersful left over. Hampers were large baskets that were often used for carrying fish or transporting other goods.

The number of baskets left over in each miracle suggests a spiritual lesson. The number twelve is generally used in Scripture for administrative completeness, whereas seven is the number of mystical or spiritual perfection. The twelve baskets signified the abundant provision that will be enjoyed under Messiahs reign. The seven hampers tell us of the perfection of spiritual blessing when we learn that not by bread only do we live, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4).

One of Jehovahs names of old was El Shaddai-the God all-sufficient. Our Lord was revealing Himself as the incarnate God, abundantly able to meet every need, when He fed the multitudes who on these two occasions flocked to hear Him preach the gospel of the kingdom. His supplies are unlimited. What we need is faith to count on the riches of His mercy and to draw from His abundant store. The bread He gave pictured Himself as the bread of God come down from Heaven. If a man eat of this bread he will live forever (Joh 6:51).

The incident recorded in Mar 8:1-9 brings to an end one distinct phase of Christs ministry.

Jesus Warns His Disciples (Mar 8:10-21)

Returning to the western side of the lake, in the region of Dalmanutha or Magadan, Jesus was met by some caviling Pharisees. Ignoring all the marvelous works that He had performed, they came asking for a sign from Heaven to authenticate His messiahship. We are told that Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit; His inmost being was grieved to find such unbelief and determined opposition from those who should have led the populace in the path of subjection to God and obedience to His Word. Why should they ask a sign? It was only an evidence of the state of their hearts. He declared that no sign would be given to that evil generation. They were set in their attitude of enmity against Him whom God had sent to redeem Israel.

Leaving them to their unbelief and hardness of heart, the Lord departed again to the other side of the lake-that is, to the region of Bethsaida Julias. There were two cities called Bethsaida, one on the western, and the other on the northern side of the sea of Galilee.

In their haste to leave Dalmanutha the disciples failed to replenish their store of bread. The characteristic bread of that country was flat loaves that were easily carried about. Apparently there was some expression of apprehension as to what provision they could obtain when they disembarked. The Lord took occasion to warn them, when He knew their concern, to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. Conscience-smitten because of their carelessness in not having made proper provision for the needs of the group, the disciples leaped to the conclusion that Jesus was warning them not to purchase bread from the parties mentioned. But the Lord made it clear that by using the term leaven He was referring to the doctrines of these religious and political systems. These doctrines corrupted all who received them. The leaven of the Pharisees was hypocrisy and self-righteousness. The leaven of Herod was political chicanery and worldliness.

In order to ease the minds of the disciples as to food for their bodies Jesus reminded them of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand on one occasion and the four thousand on another. In each case there was not only abundance for all but many baskets of fragments were salvaged for future use. Why be anxious as to what one would eat on the morrow when the Creator of all things was with them? How ashamed the twelve might well have been of their doubts and fears as Jesus put the pointed question, How is it that ye do not understand?

Jesus Heals a Blind Man (Mar 8:22-26)

When the disciples reached Bethsaida Julias, they witnessed another evidence of the power of their Master. This miracle was of an exceptional character. So far as the record goes it is the only instance where healing was only partial at first and not instantaneous.

A blind man was brought to Jesus by friends who pleaded that He might touch the closed eyes and so give sight to the poor, afflicted one. Instead of doing this in the presence of all the people, Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the city. It was as though, realizing that many in the crowd were but curiosity seekers, He would take the man aside and minister to him alone. Jesus then put His hands on the man and asked him if he was able to see. The man exclaimed, I see men as trees, walking. Sight was but partially restored. He could see different objects but could distinguish men from trees only by their walking. Once more Jesus placed His hands on the mans eyes and told him to look up. Now he was healed completely and he saw every man clearly.

Just why healing was not immediate we are not told-possibly because of lack of perfect faith on the part of the blind man or his friends. The work having been accomplished, Jesus dismissed the now happy man and told him not to go back into the town or tell of his healing to anyone there.

Peter Declares His Faith (Mar 8:27-30)

Whom do men say that I am? Jesus questioned His disciples in order to elicit from them a definite confession of His messiahship and divine sonship. As they moved about they heard many people discussing Jesus, and undoubtedly they had often debated in their own hearts the things that were said.

We remember that Herod, goaded by a guilty conscience, felt sure that Jesus was John risen from the dead. Others shared the same view. Some, remembering the prophetic declaration recorded in Mal 4:5, thought Jesus must be the promised Elijah. Another group simply thought of Him as a new prophet who had suddenly appeared in Israel.

Whom say ye that I am? It is not enough to be familiar with other mens views of Christ, be they right or wrong. Our Lords question was intended to emphasize the responsibility of individuals to know Him for themselves. Peters answer was the result of deep conviction based on a divine revelation: Thou art the Christ. The fuller confession given in Mat 16:16 is a declaration of Peters faith in Jesus both as the Messiah of Israel and the divine Son of God. He is both. In fact He could not be the Messiah (Christ) were He not the Son of God, for the Christ was the Son given and the Child born, as prophesied in Isa 9:6. It is to Him the Father says, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee (Psa 2:7).

Mark did not mention the Lords commendation of Peter or Jesus prophetic words concerning the building of His church upon the rock of His deity (Mat 16:17-19). Mark also omitted Jesus giving of the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, which Peter used on Pentecost and in Corneliuss house to admit Jews and Gentiles into the kingdom. All we are told in Mark 8 is that the disciples were not at that time to begin the work of making Jesus known to the world in His true character. They were to wait until after His death, resurrection, and ascension to Gods right hand in Heaven.

Jesus Teaches of His Death and Resurrection (Mar 8:31-38)

Our Lord knew exactly what awaited Him, and told His disciples in plainest language what the order of events would be. He had come into the world to die. While His death would be the demonstration of mans bitter hatred toward God, it was also to be the supreme expression of Gods love to man. His death was to be followed by the physical resurrection of the body of Jesus, the proof that redemption was accomplished so the believer might be justified from all things. The foreknowledge of Jesus may be accounted for in three ways, all in perfect harmony with each other. In the first place, though He had become man, He did not cease to be God, and therefore He knew from the beginning all things through which He was to pass. Then as man He was a student of the Word. He knew the Scriptures and came to fulfill them. So He based His predictions on the Scriptures. And lastly He was a prophet speaking under the direct control of the Holy Spirit.

Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. Peter had just confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now he ventured to rebuke the Lord as though He were a discouraged man, speaking from the standpoint of one crushed and disappointed by the continued opposition of His foes. The Lord at once recognized in Peters foolish though well-meant words the voice of the adversary, seeking to turn Him aside from the cross where He was to die as the supreme sacrifice for sin. His sharp rebuke silenced the blundering apostle, but neither Peter nor the rest really understood the revelation given.

Our Lord could make atonement for sin only by His sacrificial death. There was no other way. The word translated atonement in the Old Testament means far more than at-one-ment, which is accepted by many as its true meaning. Thoughts of appeasement, satisfaction, substitution, redemption, pacification, and reconciliation are all involved. In the New Testament the concept of the atonement is expressed by a Greek word meaning propitiation. Many English terms are needed to reveal all that is involved in the vicarious death of the cross. But apart from resurrection, all would be meaningless.

Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. A man carrying a cross was a man going out to die. The true disciple of Jesus is one who refuses the claims of self, and is ready to die daily for his Masters sake (1Co 15:31). To deny oneself is more than to be self-denying or unselfish. It means the utter setting aside of the self-life, that Christ alone may be seen (Gal 2:20).

Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. The professed follower who is concerned with his own best interest and lives to gratify his own natural desires will find out at the judgment seat of Christ that his life has not counted for God-it is really lost. On the other hand, Jesus said, Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels shall save it. A life laid down for Christs sake is a life saved for that day when all that has been done to glorify God and make known His gospel will be rewarded richly.

What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? The Revised Version reads, And forfeit his life. That is, present temporal gain will sink into nothingness if the soul, the real life, has been frittered away in things that do not profit. The only life that counts is that which has been lived for eternity.

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? This question is generally used as though it meant, What shall a man take in exchange for his soul? But it is the very opposite. If the soul is lost, what shall a man give to reclaim it? His case will be utterly hopeless. He cannot buy back the life that has been forfeited because of sin and selfishness.

Jesus solemnly declared that He will be ashamed in the final reckoning day of any who are ashamed of Him now. Our eternal destiny depends on our attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. To confess Him openly before men means eternal life and salvation. To deny or be ashamed of Him means eternal judgment and everlasting ruin.

Christ is the touchstone that will be used to test all hearts. As is our attitude to Him, so will be Gods attitude to us when the day of reward shall come. Our blessed Lord laid down His life in order that He might save our souls and have us wholly for Himself. He loved the church and gave Himself for it (Eph 5:25). He considered no sacrifice too great in order to redeem us and make us His own. Surely then we should be prepared to go even to death in order to prove our love for Him. His death was atoning. By it we are justified when we trust in Him (Act 13:39). Our sins are forever put away by His precious blood. We could have no part in making propitiation, but we are called upon to deny self and to lay down our lives if need be to attest our faithfulness to Him and our love for a world for which He gave Himself (1Jn 4:10-11). If Christ died for all, then God saw all as dead, that they who live through faith in Him might henceforth live not unto themselves, but unto Him who died and rose again (2Co 5:14-15).

Again and again Jesus told His disciples of His approaching death and resurrection, but they seemed utterly incapable of grasping the meaning of His words. Yet His purpose for coming into the world and taking humanity into union with His deity was to die for them. Jesus sought to prepare the minds of His followers beforehand so that when they saw Him die, their faith would not fail.

All through His life Jesus had the cross before Him. He became man that He might die as our kinsman-redeemer (Lev 25:48) in order to bring us into life and liberty. Some time ago I read a sermon on The Recklessness of Jesus. The preacher, while professing warm admiration for our Lords earnestness of purpose, bewailed the sad impulsiveness that took Him to Jerusalem the last time. The preacher asserted that Jesus literally threw Himself into danger and courted the opposition of the leaders in Israel who were bent on destroying Him. How much better might it have been for the world, suggested this unconscious blasphemer, if He had remained quietly in Galilee. Jesus could have established a school for teachers in Capernaum, written a number of books, thereby enriching the religious literature of the world, and died at last in a good old age. Countless disciples, who honored and loved Him, could have been trusted to carry His instruction to the ends of the earth. One shudders at such wicked nonsense.

Had the Lord Jesus not died for our sins, there would have been no living message to carry to the world. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mat 20:28). We are told that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (1Co 15:3). Christ died-that is history. For our sins- that is the central doctrine of grace. Before He left the glory that He had with the Father before the world was (Joh 17:5), He said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God (Heb 10:9). The will of God to which He referred specifically was the settling of the sin question. He came to earth to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:26). Voluntarily He put Himself at the disposal of sinful men that this will of His Father might be carried out (Joh 14:31). No one took His life from Him; He laid it down of Himself (Joh 10:18). All was foreknown and predetermined, though this did not lessen mans guilt in rejecting Him (Act 2:23).

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Mar 8:1-9

We have here-

I. A picture of the forsaken Church of Christ. (1) Much people were gathered round the Lord. Many are gathered round Him today. Few, if we think of the immense multitude of those who are called into the Church of Christ; many, if we think of the small number of the chosen in all ages, and especially in our own day. (2) They have nothing to eat, said the Lord in our Gospel about the four thousand hearers. The same words must be said of the people of Christ now. The soldier needs food, if he is not to grow weary and perish with hunger; the Christian soldier needs both physical and spiritual nourishment. He is in the wilderness. Where shall he find it?

II. The Lord takes pity on His Church. He knows the condition and the need of His own; He knows it even before they themselves are conscious of it, and before they cry to Him He gives them enough and to spare. They gather up the fragments, and find that through His blessing they have become more than the original provision. Fear not then, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

R. Rothe, Nachgelassene Predigten, vol. i., p. 40.

Mar 8:4

Bread in the Wilderness.

I. The question of the disciples has been, as all will admit, the natural question of all who have had any time or mind to think from the beginning of the world. There is perhaps no animal that has to spend so large a part of his time in procuring the food he needs as man. And when he has got it, it will not satisfy him as their daily food will satisfy the other creatures. No sooner is he filled than he finds out that man cannot live by bread alone, that he cannot be satisfied from any earthly stores, that he wants something more and has another kind of hunger. The hunger of the soul awakes, and it demands to be satisfied with something-it knows not what, perhaps. And how is this hunger to be satisfied here in the wilderness-in this place of exile, of desolation far from God and home and rest? There is nothing outwardly and visibly belonging to this life on which the immortal soul can feed. Whence, then, is the necessary food to be fetched? Who is to go for it?

II. Men often talk about this life as being a wilderness, and they are right; but do you know why and in what sense? The wilderness is not a. desert, nor a howling expanse of sand, nor a land of the shadow of death, except at certain times. We are specially told by the Evangelists that there was much grass in the place where Jesus was; in all probability there were plenty of low shrubs as well, and thousands of the brightest flowers; for it was spring time, and the early rains had transformed the earth. Now our life is just like the wilderness in this sense: very often it is full of beauty, of grace, of life, of promise. There are times when every element of hope and contentment seems present in abundance. But all this beauty and promise will not satisfy the soul of man, however much it may please his fancy and his taste. Hence the force of the question, How shall a man satisfy these men here in the wilderness? It is easy enough to please people in the wilderness, if you go at the right time. The beauty of the landscape, the buoyancy of the air, the exhilarating sense of freedom and expanse-all these are delightful. But to satisfy them, that is what we cannot do; that can only be done, in the wilderness, by the Divine power of Christ. He can and will feed them; and it makes no difference to Him how many the people, how few the loaves; they shall all be satisfied, and go home in the strength of that food.

R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 173.

References: Mar 8:4.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1885. Mar 8:4-8.-C. Kingsley, Town and Country Sermons, p. 250.

Mar 8:5

Our Lord Jesus Christ, being about to work a miracle of omnipotent grace, first bids His disciples to count over their own little stores, to see what they have towards it; what they have, however trifling in amount, of the same kind and sort with the thing wanted; they producing that, He will do the rest; nay, He will do all, inasmuch as all that they can bring is absolutely valueless and of nought for the object. “How many loaves have ye?” is His preliminary question in everything. When the seven loaves are brought to Him, then and then only does He begin to work. The applications of this truth are many and various.

I. We see it in Inspiration. God condescended to use human infirmity as the vehicle of our enlightening, leaving it infirm, leaving it human, where it matters not that we should know, but strengthening it out of weakness and lifting it above earth wheresoever He willed that it should know the thing that is, inasmuch as it had in it the thing which we must do or the thing which we must be. “How many loaves have ye?” Then, using these, Christ will multiply and bless. Bring forth all your gifts, such as they are, of understanding and culture and knowledge and utterance,-bring them forth; and then Christ, taking them at your hands, shall give them back to you blessed and blessing, to be to generations yet unborn the light of their life and the consolation of their sleep and of their awakening.

II. That which is true of the Book is true also of the life. “How many loaves have ye?” Christ puts that question, day by day, to each one of us. There be many that say, I have no work for Christ and no mission. Mine is no lofty station; mine is no large sphere; mine is no eloquent tongue or popular manner or telling influence. Let me live out my little day, and go back to the ground from which I was taken. Gravely, sorrowfully, yet earnestly and gently too, does Christ address Himself to you today, saying, Think yet once more-how many loaves have ye? Nothing? Not a soul? Not a body? Not time? Not one friend or neighbour to whom a kind word may be spoken, or a kind deed done, in the name, for the love, of Jesus? Bring that-do that, say that-as what thou hast; very small, very trivial, very worthless, if thou wilt; yet remember the saying, “She hath done what she could.”

C. J. Vaughan, Temple Sermons, p. 166.

Mar 8:6

Feeding the Four Thousand.

I. Observe the extreme tenderness and love of Christ in this work of power. In it He taught us (1) To reflect how constantly and in how many ways He still exercises the same wonderful power of feeding His people by multiplying their food. See in the harvest how every year a much mightier work even than filling the five thousand or the four thousand is done in every land-I might say in every cornfield. (2) Again, we can hardly think of the corn of wheat sown in the ground, and multiplied so wonderfully for His people’s food, without being reminded of another corn of wheat-I mean the Body of the Lord Himself, dying and being buried, and springing up into the enormous multitudes of Christian men and women. All of them, in every country and in every age, He feeds with the perpetually multiplied food of His spiritual Body and Blood.

II. Observe, again, that our Lord, though He did this miracle twice over, did it only twice. He did not interpose His Divine power every time His disciples were hungry, or save them from the ordinary industry and forethought which should provide themselves with food. Twice He did it, to prove His power, to confirm their faith, to teach us various good and useful lessons; but neither when He was among His disciples, not afterwards, did He encourage them to expect miraculous helps to save them in times of difficulty and danger, still less to save them from the consequences of their own neglect and improvidence.

III. Our Lord, in doing this wonder, does not do it without some use of means. Seven loaves and a few small fishes are, no doubt, quite insufficient for so great a number of people; still, He uses the seven loaves and the few small fishes. He does not put the small quantity aside, and create a great deal new. No; He blesses the little, and it becomes enough.

IV. Again, He used the help of His disciples. Men in themselves are, no doubt, of no power to feed the souls of men. They cannot of themselves reach their brethren’s hearts, or do them spiritual good by any power of their own. But yet the Lord of the feast employs them. He does not ordinarily act direct, but makes use of men and things to act by; men to teach, water to baptize, bread and wine to eat and drink; all in themselves utterly weak and powerless; but when authorised and blessed by God, made powerful to win souls, and to regenerate souls, and to feed souls, and to save souls unto eternal life.

G. Moberly, Parochial Sermons, p. 191.

References: Mar 8:8.-J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. ii., p. 214. Mar 8:9.-W. F. Hook, Sermons on the Miracles, vol. ii., p. 66. Mar 8:10-21.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 157; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 170. Mar 8:11.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 294.

Mar 8:12-25

I. Ver. 12.-“And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign?” etc. The sign in this case was morally suggestive. It must have been one of the great troubles of His sad and weary life to be continually carrying in His own bosom secrets which He would not divulge. The sigh was an expression of self-restraint. Misery has often relieved herself in speech; but this Man of sorrows had added to His many griefs the woe of often suffering in misunderstood and resentful silence.

II. Ver. 14.-“Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.” Dwell for a moment upon the circumstance of the disciples having but one loaf in the ship; you will find that there is an explanatory word in this verse, and that word is “forgotten.” If these words are put together, we shall find a revelation of poverty which is far from being inapplicable to the circumstances of many in the present day. If forgetful, thoughtless, indolent men are assisted in their straits and embarrassments, we do but offer a bounty to incompetence and inconsideration, and thus do more harm than good.

III. In the 13th verse the Saviour says, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” In this He teaches us to beware of bad little things. In relation to the meal the leaven is small; yet the leaven will operate until it has subdued every particle of the meal to itself. Thus it is with many bad principles and pernicious habits; they may be apparently little and trivial in themselves, yet in them there is a vitality which never rests until it has penetrated from centre to circumference. Under this admonition the disciples, deficient in spiritual refinement and vision, instantly recur to the circumstance that they have but one loaf in the ship. Christ has ever been obstructed by materialising men. The material never can understand the spiritual; hence it is that if we come to Christ in the mere letter, we never can comprehend the spirit of His language; but if we read Him in the light of consciousness while we are prostrated before the altar of His Cross, we are led into the deepest things of His heart, which in our present imperfect state we are permitted to attain.

Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. no.

References: Mar 8:15.-D. Fraser, The Metaphors of the Gospels, p. 135. Mar 8:17, Mar 8:18.-Beecher, Plymouth Pulpit Sermons, 5th series, p. 251. Mar 8:19-21.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1822. Mar 8:21.-G. Macdonald, Unspoken Sermons, 2nd series, p. 48.

Mar 8:22-25

The Gradual Healing of the Blind Man.

This miracle has a peculiarity, in which it stands absolutely alone, and that is that the work is done in stages; that the power which at other times has but to speak and it is done here seems to labour, and the cure comes slowly; that in the middle Christ pauses, and, like a physician trying the experiment of a drug, asks the patient if any effect is produced, and, getting the answer that some mitigation is realised, repeats the application, and perfect recovery is the result.

I. First, we have here Christ isolating the man whom He wanted to heal. This fact of a miracle done in intended secrecy, and shrouded in deep darkness, suggests to us the true point of view from which to look at the whole subject of miracles. He wrought the miracles not coldly in order to witness to His mission, but every one of them was a token, because it was an outcome of His own sympathetic heart, brought into contact with human need.

II. We have Christ stooping to a sense-bound nature by the use of material helps. No doubt there was something in this man which made it advisable that these methods should be adopted. They make a ladder by which his hope and confidence might climb to the apprehension of the blessing. And that points to a general principle of the Divine dealings. God stoops to a feeble faith, and gives it outward things by which it may rise to the apprehension of spiritual realities.

III. Lastly, we have Christ’s accommodating the pace of His power to the slowness of the man’s faith. I take it that the worthiest view of that strangely protracted process, broken up into two halves, by the question that is dropped in the middle, is this, that it was determined by the man’s faith, and was meant to increase it. He was healed slowly because he believed slowly. His faith was a condition of his cure, and the measure of it determined the measure of his restoration, and the rate of the growth of his faith settled the rate of the perfecting of Christ’s work upon him.

A. Maclaren, A Year’s Ministry, 1st series, p. 261.

References: Mar 8:22-25.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii., No. 701; Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 68.

Mar 8:22-26

The text shows us-

I. The value of intercessory prayer. We need to pray for ourselves, but it is a poor religion that stops at self. We need the power and the grace of Christ to heal our own hurt; but if we truly realise the presence of Christ, and if we believe in His healing power, we shall seek Him, not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of others too.

II. Christ answers the appeal beyond the asker’s expectation. In the healing touch we have a mark or characteristic of common occurrence in our Lord’s miracles. The touch is a sign of a great spiritual truth. If Christ is to heal us, our soul must touch Him and He must touch us. There must be a meeting-ground with nothing to intervene between sinner and Saviour.

III. Jesus Christ, who had all power at His command, delayed the progress of a miracle and broke it into two. Had the work been done off-hand, it might discover to us a miracle of power and but little else. He gave sight to the blind; it was divided, delayed, and for a time apparently unsuccessful. The sequel exhibits a still greater work-a miracle of patience. Here Christ shows us the Father. Christ suits His communications to human infirmity; He restrains His power and graduates revelation by our capacity. Our impatience will have results at once. God can abide delay. Christ taught the Word as they were able to hear it. We are apt to take our distorted images for true pictures; far wiser is it to await the open vision, when we shall see face to face. First impressions are not always correct. Christ must come closer and touch us once again for enlarged and purified vision. “After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” How many conversions do these words epitomise? They sum up a large series of religious experiences. Light may come by fits and starts. Not all at once, nor even gradually, are some brought to acknowledge their real condition before God. Partial awakening may be followed by times of spiritual collapse and apparent failure of the Holy Spirit’s power; there comes at length what we might call a second conversion, or, to speak more correctly, the completion of the work-conversion of heart and life; no longer crude and imperfect views of truth, or dim perceptions, “men seen as trees, walking,” but all things seen plainly.

G. Walker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 43.

References: Mar 8:22-26.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 174; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 11 Mar 8:23-25.-A. Blomfield, Sermons in Town and Country, p. 169. Mar 8:24, Mar 8:25.-H. P. Hughes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 217. Mar 8:24-29.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii, p. 297. Mar 8:25.-W. F. Hook, Sermons on the Miracles, vol. ii., p. 20. Mar 8:27-30.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 164. Mar 8:27-33.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 178.

Mar 8:31

Christ’s Intimation of His Sufferings.

The time from which Jesus began to speak to His disciples of His sufferings was the time at which His Apostles had made open confession of His Godhead. Here then is a point from which to reckon, and on which to reason. We may now start with the inquiry, What inducement led to, and what instruction may be gathered from, the recorded fact, that when Jesus had drawn from His disciples the acknowledgment of His Divinity, then, and not before, He began to tell them of His sufferings.

I. The Apostles could have had none but the most indistinct apprehensions of the office and mission of our Lord, so long as they were ignorant of the death which He had undertaken to die. Christ deferred speaking of His sufferings till His disciples had full faith in His Godhead. As much as to say, “It will be of no avail to speak to them of My death till they are convinced of My Deity. So long as they only know Me as the Son of man, they will not be prepared to hear of the Cross; when they shall also know Me as the Son of the Living God, then will be the time to tell of ignominy and death.”

II. We seem quite justified in gathering from the text, that henceforward our Lord made very frequent mention of His Cross. And what is very observable is, that it seems to have been upon occasions when the disciples were likely to have been puffed up and exalted, that ever after our Lord took special pains to impress upon them that He must be rejected and killed. Learn to expect, and be thankful for, something bitter in the cup, when faith has won the victory, and you have tasted, in no common measure, the powers of the invisible world. Triumph would make us proud, if not followed by humiliation; and the Good Physician who gave His own blood to save us from death will in mercy prevent the fever, by opening a vein. When Christ shows us the crown, He loves us too well, not commonly to follow it with laying on the Cross.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,268.

References: Mar 8:31-38.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 173; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 250.

Mar 8:34

I. Such were the terms by which Jesus Christ sought to enlist men in His service. They came around Him attracted by His holiness, and curious to know more about Him. He offered them three attractions-self-denial, shame, and absolute surrender. Unless they were content with these, they could not enter His army. We have almost lost sight of the strangeness of the summons. “To take up the Cross” has become a religious phrase. We use it almost mechanically; nay, when we are most reverent, we almost hesitate to apply it to the trials of common life. We shrink from applying it to the man of the world, to the man of business, to the man of cultivated intellect, and perhaps it seems to be peculiarly strained if applied to the very young. And yet it contains the very lesson of Christianity.

II. To take up the Cross daily is to be prepared for what is most painful in the attempt to do your duty. The Cross is, like all burdens, heavy, exhausting, crushing. But it is more. It is degrading also. It fills us with shame. It crushes out of us our pride, and all that is false in our darling self-esteem. It makes us think less well of our energies at the very time that it taxes them most severely. It says to us, “You must dare to face this duty;” and in the same breath, “How poor and cowardly you must be to dread it!”

III. Some crosses are visible. They are borne, if borne at all, in the sight of others. With strong natures, pride sometimes comes to the help of conscience, and insidiously lends its strong arm to the support of the burden. But there are other kinds of crosses. There are those which no one ever sees, perhaps never suspects. These are not the least formidable. There is (1) the cross of truthfulness; (2) the cross of self-denial in little things; (3) the cross of humility; (4) the cross of temperance. Each heart has its own cross to bear. To many it is the burden of holding fast by God and leading a cheerful, happy life, in the absence of human sympathy. To be willing to take up the Cross is the very essence of the faith of Christ. By this test we may measure our own progress. No laxity in our practice can ever explain away the declaration of our Master, “He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.”

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 197.

Mar 8:34-38

Saving One’s Life by Losing It.

When Christ is preached in our day, men are not ashamed of Him on precisely the same grounds that they were in the early days. Christ is represented by great churches that are emblazoned with art, that represent the wealth of the communities, that have about them a kind of historical charm and a flavour of antiquity, and men are not ashamed of Christ as of old, nor are they likely to be. Neither are men ashamed of Christ doctrinally. Whichever platform you put Him upon, whether you regard Him simply as a Man of genius or as semi-Divine, or as God manifest in the flesh, there is nothing that should lead men to be ashamed of Him. Look at the different ways in which men unconsciously to themselves are ashamed of Christ.

I. There are a great many men who are more or less studious, more or less thoughtful, more or less uneasy; it has been so for several years; they have been satisfied that they have not been living right, that they ought to come to a higher form of religious development, and they hope that the time will come when they can do this; but what is the reason that they never take this step in advance, and break out into that higher development? If you trace it, you find that oftentimes there is a sense of shame of their part. A man shrinks from letting the community know that he really is concerned about himself; and he is kept back by what may be said, and what may be thought.

II. There are a great many men who are hoping that they are Christians. They stealthily snatch at prayer; they turn to the Word of God, and read that a good deal, but they are not willing that it should be known. They are trying to live Christian lives secretly. There is connected with this a good deal of the element of shame, either directly or by inference.

III. We are growing old in this world. Things perish in the using. On everything in life is the mark of change. Spring comes out of winter and changes into summer. Summer with its growth moves into autumn. Autumn is swallowed up in the winding-sheet of winter. So of all things in human life. Youth running towards manhood; manhood declining towards old age; and beyond old age there is a life that grows broader and broader, brighter and brighter. After this life, all that encumbered men and bound them here shall be dropped away. There is a life of joy and glory; and to that men are invited, that they may become sons of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. And what is there in that of which any man should be ashamed? What is there not in it which every man should leap to acknowledge with gratitude?

H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 202.

References: Mar 8:34-38.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ix., p. 253. H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 183.

Mar 8:35-37

I. The confession and rebuke of St. Peter seem to be closely connected with the solemn teaching of the text. The fearfully wrong view which St. Peter had taken of what was consistent with the character and office of our Lord, notwithstanding the wonderful revelation he had received concerning His true being; seems to have suggested, as it were, to our blessed Lord the necessity of publishing clearly and broadly certain essential laws of His kingdom. So He called to Him the people with His disciples also; for the lesson He was about to teach was one for all ears, it could not be too extensively known nor too carefully pondered; and when He had called them He said, “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Thus He laid down self-denial as the basis of His service. He did not wish any one to follow Him under false notions. As it followed, that because He was Christ, therefore He must suffer, so it followed that those who would be great in His kingdom must obtain their position, not according to the fashion of this world, but by denying themselves and taking up the cross.

II. To those whom Christ immediately addressed, and those of the times immediately following, these words would be a tower of strength; and even to ourselves, they are very far from useless, if they teach us that no real happiness can be gained by shrinking from Christ’s yoke, and that all that we can do for Christ and all that we give up for Him, and, if need be, all that we suffer for Him, will be richly rewarded by Him whom we serve. We learn from the text that an earnest Christian life requires the sacrifice of everything which may be a hindrance to its growth; even a man’s life must be jeopardised for that which is his true life, and the gain of all things will be an infinite loss if it entail the sacrifice of our spiritual life. The world is a great prize, judging according to human estimates. It includes all the wealth, the power, the pleasures that human nature is capable of possessing and enjoying; yet what is it, if the man who has gained it has lost himself? its enjoyment can only last for an hour, and the joys of heaven last for evermore.

Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, 2nd series, p. 278.

Reference: Mar 8:35.-S. A. Brooke, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 392.

Mar 8:36

Two questions meet us on the threshold of this great subject. What is meant by the soul, to which this paramount value is ascribed? And why should there be any natural enmity between the world and the soul? Why should the gain of the whole world be likely to hazard the loss of the soul?

I. The soul is man’s higher life; the life, not of the body, nor even of the intellect, but of the feelings, the affections, and the aspirations. A man may ignore this higher life and do his best to drown and stifle it; but he cannot divest himself of it. It is part of himself. Willingly or unwillingly, worthily or unworthily, he must carry it about with him to death and through death. There is a “for ever” stamped visibly upon it. He can ennoble or he can degrade, but he cannot destroy. To lose the soul is in Scriptural language to spoil this higher life; to quench the Divine Spirit, by whose fire alone it burns; to lose the capacity of caring for God and for all those lofty things which we believe to be dear to God and the natural heritage of man.

II. Why should the gain of the world imperil the soul? Here experience gives the answer. Theoretically it is quite possible to win the world and to win the higher life as well; to seek with ardour, and to enjoy to the full, what are called in pagan language the gifts of fortune; and to consecrate all in the spirit of thankfulness to the service of God and the wants of others. It is possible, because with God all things are possible. But it is hard, terribly hard. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” Have we not all lived long enough to discover this much, that when our heart is set eagerly upon any of the things of earth, upon success in any shape, bodily or intellectual, we are tempted to sink to the level of that particular object? It peoples and satisfies your imagination. It gives birth to a thousand secondary interests all like itself, none rising higher than its fount, all tending to lead away our thoughts from the higher life, and to make it appear distant and shadowy. If we ask ourselves, How can we know whether we are losing our souls or not? the answer seems to be, You are losing your soul, you are doing, slowly perhaps but surely, what you can to make the restoration, the re-inspiration of your higher life impossible, if you are gradually losing your love for God, your interest in all things high, your unselfish devotion to others, your faith in the paramount claims of duty over your own personal inclinations, however legitimate they may be.

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 259.

References: Mar 8:36.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 92; H. B. Ottley, Church of England Pulpit, vol. i., p. 229; E. D. Solomon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 30. Mar 8:36, Mar 8:37.-J. Keble, Sermons from Lent to Passiontide, p. 115; W. J. Cuthbertson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 202; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 94. Mar 8:38.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 86; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 172; vol. xxvi., p. 315. Mar 9:1.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 250. Mar 9:1-4.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 187. Mar 9:2.-New Outlines on the New Testament, p. 39; C. Kingsley, Village Sermons, p. 114. Mar 9:2, Mar 9:3.-R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons, vol. i., p. 200. Mar 9:2-8.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 476. Mar 9:2-9.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 191. Mar 9:2-10.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 339. Mar 9:2-13.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 256. Mar 9:5-13.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 192. Mar 9:7.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” p. 259.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Chapter 8

1. The feeding of the Four Thousand. (Mar 8:1-9. Mat 15:32-39)

2. The Pharisees ask a sign. (Mar 8:10-13. Mat 16:1-4)

3. The Warning against the leaven of the Pharisees. (Mar 8:14-21. Mat 16:5-12.)

4. The healing of the blind man. (Mar 8:22-26)

5. Peters Confession. (Mar 8:27-30. Mat 16:13-16; Luk 9:18-20)

6. The first announcement of His coming rejection and death. (Mar 8:31-33. Mat 16:21-23; Luk 9:22)

7. His Disciples to follow in His path. The Coming Glory. (Mar 8:34-38. Mat 16:24-28; Luk 9:23-27)

1. The Feeding of the Four Thousand. Mar 8:1-9

The compassion and loving care of Him who came to minister is once more seen. Again He meets the need of the multitude in a miraculous way. But here we have seven loaves and seven baskets are left over. It points clearly to the manifestation of Divine power, for the number seven occurs twice. He in His great goodness and great power is sufficient to meet all human need. The miracle foreshadows the great and perfect blessings of the coming Kingdom age.

2. The Pharisees ask a sign. Mar 8:10-13

Though the religious leaders had seen so many signs and display of Divine goodness and power they asked a sign from heaven. Unbelief ever looks for something new and is never satisfied. Their request may be looked upon as a temptation. He could have shown a sign from heaven, but with it He would have left the humble path of the Servant. He sighed deeply, which is another phrase peculiar to Marks account, showing His deep emotion. He refused the sign. The next sign will be the sign of the Son of Man in heaven at the time of His glorious return. Then a believing remnant of His people will welcome Him.

3. The Warning against the leaven. Mar 8:14-21

He warns against the leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians. It is the only time the word leaven is found in Mark. It means, as elsewhere in the Word of God, evil. The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy, insincerity of an unbelieving heart in opposition to God. The expression of it is self-righteousness in pride. The leaven of the Herodians is worldliness. He warns His disciples to beware of it for the leaven of the Pharisees was in them too. They did not fully see His Glory, though they believed in Him as the promised Messiah. Their state and the Lords Power and patience towards them is beautifully brought out in the healing of the blind man.

4. The Healing of the blind man. Mar 8:22-26

This healing at Bethsaida is only recorded by Mark. It reveals the tender, patient and successful method of the Servant in His ministry. The disciples case is illustrated. They saw men as if they were trees. Their sight was imperfect. But He did not leave them in that condition. Their clear sight came, when the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, was given to them. But many other lessons are found here. See how He led the blind man outside and what pains He took, and though He knew all about the effect of putting His hands upon his eyes, yet He inquired lovingly if he beheld anything. If we are in His loving hands, separated from Bethsaida (place of snares, a picture of the world), He will deal with us in the same tenderness and patience. Mar 8:26 tells us once more how He did not seek honor from man.

5. Peters Confession. Mar 8:27-30

How perfectly all is linked together. Though the disciples were imperfect in their sight yet they knew that He was the Christ. That is true faith, which they all possessed, with the exception of Judas, who never addressed Him as Lord. Mark gives the briefest account of Peters confession. Matthew contains the completest record. The church, as a future thing, is announced in Matthew as well as the Kingdom. The church is not mentioned by Mark. All shows the divine hand which guided the pens of these instruments. What is dispensational is always fully given in the kingly, dispensational Gospel by Matthew and omitted by Mark.

6. The first announcement of His coming rejection and death. Mar 8:31-33

The Servant now speaks of Himself as the Son of Man, the title both of His rejection and of His exaltation. For the first time He announces His coming death. He knew all from the beginning. He knew it when He went into the dark waters of Jordan. He knew it all along in His ministry of toil. Yet with the vision of His rejection, of His suffering on the cross, constantly before Him, He continued uninterruptedly in His ministry of love. Nothing could swerve Him from it. What perfection and beauty! But He also spoke of His resurrection. He knew the glory that should follow. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross and despised the shame. In our service for God the Cross and the Glory should ever be seen. We, too, must be willing to share His reproach and look forward to the crowning day, the day of His Glory and ours as well. Peter becomes, on account of his blindness, the mouthpiece of Satan, rebuking the Lord. Then He looked on His disciples, an addition in Mark. What a look it must have been! He rebuked Peter in the words He used when Satan made the same suggestion to avoid the cross.

7. His Disciples to follow in His path. The Coming Glory. Mar 8:34-38; Mar 9:1

Well may Gods people ponder over these words. Salvation is by Grace. Nothing can save but Grace. Eternal salvation is not dependent on our walk. But the way which leads to Glory is the way of self-denial and suffering. It is His own path. Is it not true that we naturally like to escape trial, shame and rejection; that we shrink from the suffering which, doing Gods will, in such a world as this, must ever entail; that we prefer to have a quiet, respectable path in the earth–in short, the best of both worlds? How easily one may be ensnared into this! (W. K.) We may not be called upon to lose the life for His sake, but let him deny himself we can always do, enabled by His Grace. All the words our ever blessed Lord spoke to His disciples hold good in this dispensation of Grace. He announces His coming Glory. It is His second Coming in the Glory of His Father.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

CHAPTER 33

Satisfaction Found in the Wilderness

In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

(Mar 8:1-9)

Once again our Savior is seen here miraculously feeding a hungry multitude in the wilderness. Here he fed four thousand men with just seven loaves of bread and a few pieces of fish. A similar miracle is recorded in Mark 6 and this same miracle was recorded by Matthew in Matthew 15.

The Son of God knew (and knows) the heart of man. He knew that caviling skeptics would arise in every age who would deny his miraculous works, works that displayed his divinity with undeniable clarity. Therefore, he repeated this great miracle in a very public manner, before thousands of witnesses. He has fixed it so that the only way you can read the Bible and still go to hell in unbelief is by jumping over walls of stumbling blocks. Yet, men far prefer to explain away the very existence of God by the most ludicrous arguments imaginable, than believe the Word of God, trust a crucified Substitute, and bow to a sovereign Lord.

Satisfaction for Our Souls

And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? (Mar 8:4) In this wilderness we call life, in this world of sin, sorrow and suffering, and in the world to come, in that great wilderness called eternity, there is no satisfaction to be found for our immortal souls, except that satisfaction which is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.

Let me find nothing satisfying until I find Christ in it. I know that nothing can be dissatisfying, no matter how unpleasant and painful it is in itself, if I can see Christ in it. A conscious awareness of his presence sweetens every earthly bitterness. The love-tokens of his favor increases every joy. The sweet savor of his blessed name is as ointment poured forth, a spikenard very precious to perfume the lives of all who trust him. May God be pleased to make Christ the satisfaction of your heart and soul and of mine forever. Let us find satisfaction in nothing except our Savior! He alone leads his chosen to fountains of living water and feeds us with the bread of life. He makes his flesh to be meat indeed and his blood to be drink indeed, and he promises, that feeding upon him, we shall never hunger or thirst after the unsatisfying things of time and sense again (Rev 7:17; Joh 6:51; Joh 4:15).

False Faith

The multitude was very great (Mar 8:1). There is, in the multitudes who followed our Savior, though they never knew his grace, a clear demonstration of that false faith, by which multitudes deceive themselves. These vast multitudes followed our Master because of the loaves and fishes. They had either seen or heard about his miraculous powers and bountiful provisions. Like these multitudes, many today take up a profession of faith and follow Christ in this world, sometimes for many years, who never know him. Some do so because they imagine they have seen a supernatural vision, or miracle. Some do so because they have been convinced of the historic facts of our Lords earthly accomplishments. Some simply continue in the religious traditions in which they have been reared. Many take up a profession of religion for purely carnal, covetous reasons. Many more do so at a time of emotional crisis. But the vast majority of those who profess faith in Christ prove in time that they never knew Christ.

True, saving faith is much, much more than a religious experience, doctrinal position and form of godliness. True faith essentially involves three things.

1.Knowledge You cannot trust Christ if you do not know who he is and what he has done.

2.Assent We must agree with Gods testimony concerning his Son.

3.Commitment We must bow to the Son of God as our Lord, trusting our souls upon his merit and to his dominion.

Matthew Henry wrote, True zeal makes nothing of hardships in the way of duty. They that have a full feast for their souls may be content with slender provision for their bodies. However, it is not at all unusual for false piety to produce the same outward zeal. Religion without zeal is certainly false. But outward zeal is no true evidence of inward grace. Grace produces love, kindness, compassion, and care.

Frequently, those who are deceived with a false faith will endure great hardships to keep up their profession. These people underwent a great deal of difficulty in following Christ. They were with him three days, and had nothing to eat. That was hard service. Probably, there were some who brought some food with them from home. But by this time it was all gone. And they were a long way from home in the wilderness. Yet, they continued with Christ, and did not speak of leaving him.

Christs Compassion

I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far (Mar 8:2-3).

Our all glorious Christ is a Savior full of compassion for needy souls. He has a compassion for those who are in need. As a man, he was the most caring of men. Yet, he has a special, particular concern for those that are reduced to need because of their zeal and devotion to him. He said, I have compassion on the multitude. John Gill observed

Christ is a compassionate Saviour both of the bodies and souls of men: he had compassion on the souls of this multitude, and therefore had been teaching them sound doctrine and he had compassion on the bodies of many of them, and had healed them of their diseases; and his bowels yearned towards them all.

Those whom the proud Pharisees looked upon with disdain, the Son of God looked upon with pity and tenderness. We ought to do the same. Our Lord knew that the vast majority of those before him were hypocrites. Yet, he was moved with compassion toward them. He felt tenderly toward them. Thus, by example, he teaches us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. I fear any form of religion that makes people hard, callous, unkind, and uncaring. Whatever it is, it is not the religion of Christ.

Yet, we must never fail to observe that our Lords primary concern here and in all things is for his elect among the mixed multitude. While the multitudes often have a temporal benefit from his mercy, his mercy is designed for his elect. Paul tells us that he is the Savior of all men, but that he is specially, particularly, and distinctly the Savior of his elect. With that in mind, he said, They have been with me three days, and have nothing to eat.

Our Master will see that we lack nothing by following him. Whatever losses we may incur, whatever hardships we may endure, whatever sacrifices we may be compelled to make because of our faith in, love for, and devotion to him will be taken care of by our Master. We shall lose nothing in this world and nothing in the world to come. He has promised, Them that honour me I will honour (1Sa 2:30), and They that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing (Psa 34:10).

The Lord Jesus said, If I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way. He knows and considers our frame. If we seek to glorify him, we shall be fed by him. He considered that many of these men came from afar, that they were a long way from home. He would not send them home fasting. It is not his way to send those away empty who look to him for bread.

Grace Sufficient

And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? (v.4) Here we are reminded of the terrible weakness of our faith. Like these poor disciples, we quickly forget the wondrous things we have seen and experienced; and, forgetting them, our hearts are filled with foul unbelief. How weak we are! Yet, Our Lords all-sufficiency and grace is made perfect in our weakness. That is what the Master tells us in 2Co 12:9. My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Our unbelief and sin is often the black backdrop against which the diamonds of our Lords mercy, love, and grace shine forth most brilliantly. Our unfaithfulness makes his faithfulness all the more radiant.

I do not suggest for a moment, Let us sin that grace may abound. But I am saying that our unbelief and sin, the sins and unbelief of Gods elect are graciously overruled by our great and glorious Savior to make his grace shine forth most brightly in us forever.

These disciples could not imagine how so many men should be satisfied with bread in the wilderness, though they had seen it before. That therefore which they considered impossible, must have appeared all the more glorious when it was done.

The fact is, our blessed Savior usually intervenes at the time of utmost extremity. Christs time to act for the relief of his people is when things are brought to the last extremity. He made provision for these men when they were at the point of fainting (Mar 8:3). When they were reduced to absolute dependence upon him, he stepped in for their salvation. That is always the time when mercy comes. When we are completely helpless, he steps in to deliver us from trouble. When we are at our wits end he steps in to save.

Grace Inexhaustible

Our Saviors storehouse of grace is inexhaustible. He performed virtually the same miracle twice before, and seems to have done so with a specific purpose in mind. He wanted to show that he is ever gracious and infinitely bountiful in grace and power. He is still the same today. His throne is a throne of grace. He invites us to come, as often as we have need, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16).

Notice this, too. In the first miracle he took five loaves and two small fish and used them to feed five thousand men. Here he takes seven loaves and a few small pieces of fish to feed four thousand. Why? I think he intends for us to understand three things specifically.

1.It is our responsibility to use everything God puts in our hands for the work he gives us opportunity to do for the souls of men and the glory of his name.

2.If the work we are doing is Gods work, it matters not whether we appear to have much or little. It is all the same to him. What we have is utterly insignificant. Our greatest assets and abilities are just as insignificant in the work of Gods kingdom as our greatest needs and liabilities.

3.With our great God and Savior nothing is impossible.

In our Fathers house there is bread enough and to spare. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets (Mar 8:8). They all had a full meal. Not one left the scene desiring more. As John Trapp wrote, They did eat to satiety, as men use to do at feasts, where the tables seemed to sweat with variety. And, spiritually, there is such a fulness in Christ, which he communicates to all who come to him, that from it we receive, and grace for grace (Joh 1:16). Those who live upon Christ shall always have bread enough and to spare and should never fear being brought to need. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread, neither for their bodies or their souls. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness (Psa 37:25; Psa 107:9).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

Mat 15:32-39

Reciprocal: Mat 14:14 – and was Mar 8:20 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

WHEN THE FIVE thousand were fed, as recorded in Mar 6:1-56, the disciples took the initiative by calling their Masters attention to the needy condition of the crowd. On this second occasion the Lord took the initiative, and drew His disciples attention to their need, expressing His compassion and concern on their behalf. As on the first occasion so again now the disciples have simply man before them, and think only of his powers which are wholly unequal to the situation. They had not yet learned to measure the difficulty by the power of their Lord.

Hence the instruction which was conveyed by the feeding of a huge crowd with earthly resources of the tiniest order, was repeated. There were slight differences, both as to the number of the people and the number of the loaves and fishes used, but in all the essentials this miracle was a repetition of the other, as once more He fulfilled Psa 132:15, and displayed the power of God before their eyes.

Having fed the multitude, He dismissed them Himself, and immediately after departed with His disciples to the other side of the lake, just as on the previous occasion. On His arrival certain Pharisees came with aggressive intent requesting a sign from heaven. He had as a matter of fact just been giving very striking signs from heaven in the presence of thousands of witnesses. The Pharisees had no intention of following Him, and hence had not been present so as to see the sign for themselves, still there was ample witness to it if they cared to listen. The fact was of course that on the one hand they had no desire to witness any sign that would authenticate Him and His mission, and on the other hand they had no ability to see and recognize the sign even when it was plainly before their eyes. Their utter unbelief grieved Him to the heart.

In verse Mar 8:34 of the previous chapter, when He was confronted with human weakness and disability of a bodily sort, He sighed: here confronted with blindness of a spiritual sort, He sighed deeply in His spirit. Spiritual incapacity is a far more serious matter than bodily incapacity. They were blind leaders of a blind generation and groping about for a sign. No sign would be given to them, for to blind men signs are useless. This was the occasion when, as recorded at the beginning of Mat 16:1-28, the Lord told them they could discern the face of the sky, but not the signs of the times.

Let us not dismiss this matter as being something which only concerns the Pharisee: in principle it also concerns ourselves. How often has the true believer been troubled and disheartened, thinking God has not spoken, or acted, or answered, when really He has, only we have not had eyes to see. We may have continued beseeching Him for more light, when all the time all that was wanted was a few windows in our house!

The motive actuating these Pharisees was wholly wrong, since their object was to tempt Him. So the Lord abruptly left them and departed again to the other side of the lake, which He had left but a short time before, and the disciples were without bread. Thus for the third time they were face to face with the problem raised in the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand, only on a very small scale.

Alas! the disciples no more met the problem in the strength of faith when it was on the small scale than when it was on the great scale. They too had not so far had eyes to see the power and glory of their Master, as displayed twice in His multiplication of the loaves and fishes. True faith has penetrating vision. They should have discerned who He was, and then they would have looked not to their paltry loaves or fishes but to Him, and every difficulty would have vanished. In the small crises that mark our own lives are we any better than they were?

The Lords charge about the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod is not explained to us here, as it is in Matthew, but we must note its significance. He referred to the doctrine of the two factions, which worked like leaven in those who came under the influence of the one and the other. That of the Pharisees was hypocrisy. That of the Herodians was utter worldliness. In Matthew we read of the leaven of the Sadducees, and this was intellectual pride which led them into rationalistic unbelief. Nothing does more effectually blind the mind and understanding than leaven of these three kinds.

The blind man of Bethsaida, of whom we read in verses Mar 8:22-26, exactly illustrates the condition of the disciples at that time. When the blind man was brought to the Lord, He took him by the hand and led him out of the town, thus separating him from the haunts of men, just as previously He had turned His back upon the Pharisees and those with them (verse Mar 8:13). Outside the town the Lord dealt with him, performing His work in two parts-the only time, as far as we remember, that He acted thus. As the result of the first touch he saw, men as trees, walking. He saw, but things were badly out of focus. He knew that the objects he saw were men, but they looked much bigger than they were.

Thus it was with the disciples-man was too great in their eyes. Even as they looked at the Lord Himself it would seem that His humanity eclipsed His Deity in their eyes. They needed, like the blind man, a second touch before they saw all things clearly. The presence of the Son of God amongst them in flesh and blood was the first touch that reached them, and as a result they began to see. When He had died and risen again and was ascended to glory, He laid His second touch upon them in shedding forth His Spirit, as recorded in Act 2:1-47. Then they saw all things clearly. We may well earnestly pray that our spiritual vision may not be near-sighted and out of focus, lest the great trees, we think we see, turn out to be merely feeble little men strutting about. Such a state is possible for us, as 2Pe 1:9 shows, and there is no excuse for us, since the Spirit has been given.

The blind man, when cured, was not to go into the town nor testify to any in the town; moreover the Lord Himself now withdrew with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, the most northerly town within the confines of the land, and very near the Gentile border. Clearly He was beginning to withdraw Himself and the testimony to His Messiahship from the blind people and their yet more blinded leaders. Here He raised the question with His disciples as to who He was. The people hazarded differing guesses, but all imagined Him to be some old prophet revived, just a man, and none had sufficient interest to really find out.

Then Jesus challenged His disciples. Peter became the spokesman and answered confessing His Messiahship, but this only produced a rejoinder which probably astonished them greatly, and may astonish us as we read it today. He charged them to be silent as to His Messiahship, and began to teach them as to His approaching rejection and death and resurrection. Any testimony that had been rendered to Him as the Messiah on earth was now formally withdrawn. From this point He accepted His death as inevitable, and began to turn the thoughts of His disciples to that which was impending as the result of it. This was the orderly progress of things on the human side; and it does not contradict nor clash with the divine side- that He knew from the outset that which was before Him.

Moreover, the disciples were as yet hardly fit to bear further testimony, had it been needed. Peter indeed had some measure of spiritual sight, for he had just confessed Him as the Christ; yet the intimation of His approaching rejection and death raised a vehement remonstrance from this very man. In this Peters mind was being swayed by Satan, and the Lord rebuked this spirit of evil who was behind Peters words. Peters mind was set on the things that be of men, and so he answered very aptly to the man of whom we have just read, who saw men as trees walking. Though he recognized the Christ in Jesus, he still had men before him, and in this the other disciples were no better than he. So how could he go forth as an effectual witness to the Christ whom he recognized? No wonder, after all, that at this point He charged His disciples that they should tell no man of Him.

We may pause here, each to face the fact that we cannot effectually go forth in testimony unless we really know the One of whom we testify, and also know and understand the situation that exists, in the face of which the testimony has to be rendered.

In the closing verses of our chapter the Lord begins to instruct His disciples in the presence of the people as to consequences that would follow from His rejection and death. They imagined themselves to be following a Messiah who was to be received and glorified on earth; and the fact was, He was about to die and rise again and be for the present glorified in heaven. This entailed an immense change in their outward prospects. It meant the denying of self, the taking up of the cross, the losing of life in this world, the bearing of shame as identified with Christ and His words, in the midst of an evil generation.

The force of deny himself is hardly expressed by self-denial, which is the denying oneself of something. What the Lord speaks of is not that but the denial, or the saying of no, to oneself. Also, take up his cross does not mean bearing trials and troubles merely. The man who in those days took up his cross was being led to execution. He was a man who had to accept death at the hands of the world. To say no to oneself is to accept death internally, on ones own spirit: to take up ones cross is to accept death externally at the hands of the world. That is what discipleship must mean, since we follow the Christ who died, rejected of the world.

This thought is expanded in verses Mar 8:35-37. The true disciple of Christ is not aspiring to gain the whole world; he is ready rather to lose the world, and his own life in it, for the sake of the Lord and His Gospel. The perfect Servant, whom Mark depicts, gave His life that there might be a Gospel to preach. Those who follow Him, and are His servants, must be prepared to give up their lives in preaching the Gospel. If they should be ashamed of Him now, He would be ashamed of them in the day of His glory.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Chapter 11.

The Leaven of the Pharisees

“In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And His disciples answered Him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And He asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away. And straightway He entered into a ship with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, “Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And He left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto Him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said Seven. And He said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?”-Mar 8:1-21.

The Feeding of the Four Thousand.

I am going to omit any extended treatment of the paragraph which describes the feeding of the 4000. The outstanding lessons are mainly identical with those suggested by the feeding of the 5000 (see pp. 50-61). The only noticeable point of difference is this-that, while the feeding of the 5000 was not a wort of necessity, but was deliberately performed by our Lord to symbolise His dying and the giving of His flesh to be the food of the world, this later wilderness feast was provided in order to meet an urgent necessity. It found its motive, not in any truth Jesus wished to teach, but in His pitifulness and compassion. The crowd had been with Him three days, and had had nothing to eat, and He would not send them away fasting to their homes, lest they should faint by the way, for many of them had come from far. The presence of 4000 people with Him in the wilderness would seem to show that the popularity lost by the sermon on the Bread of life had to a large extent been recovered.

Retirement Sought.

But Christ was more in love with quietness than popularity. What He wanted most was opportunity for quiet talk with His disciples. And so, when the great feast was over, He entered into the boat with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. Where Dalmanutha was, it is impossible to say, for this is the only place where the name is mentioned. “He came,” Matthew says, “into the borders of Magadan” (Mat 15:39). But that does not help us, as Magadan is as impossible to locate as Dalmanutha, Matthew’s account being the only place where the name occurs. Travellers and geographers have suggested identifications with various sites, one or other of which may possibly have been the Dalmanutha mentioned here, though it is by no means certain. The fact seems to be that Dalmanutha and Magadan-whether they are two names for one place, or two places adjacent to each other-were very obscure places. And it was their obscurity that constituted their attractiveness to our Lord. He made His way to these hidden, out-of-the-way spots, whose very location has passed out of the recollection of men, because they seemed to promise Him an undisturbed retreat, where at length He could enjoy that opportunity for quiet speech with His disciples about Himself and the shameful end He knew was in store for Him-an opportunity which hitherto He had sought in vain.

He was, however, again disappointed in His hope. When He passed northwards into the borders of Phnicia, He could not be hid-need, misery discovered Him. Now, when He proceeded eastward to these obscure villages, He could not be hid-hate discovered Him.

Enemies Afoot.

“And the Pharisees came forth,” says Mark-Matthew tells us that some Sadducees were also with them-a fact we should have gathered from Christ’s subsequent conversation with His disciples, even if Matthew had not told us so explicitly. Pharisees and Sadducees were, as a rule, at daggers drawn. They were separated from one another by deep religious and political differences. The Pharisee stood for the strictest orthodoxy; the Sadducee was more or less of a rationalist. The Pharisee was politically an enthusiastic, not to say fanatical, nationalist; the Sadducee was willing to accept foreign rule, and, indeed, to identify the Messianic anticipations of Israel with the Herodian dynasty. But for the time Pharisees and Sadducees had forgotten their mutual antagonism in a common hate of Jesus. They had thwarted and opposed Him before, as we have already seen. Perhaps, when they saw the crowds desert Him after His sermon on the Bread of life, and discovered that He had gone northwards into Phnicia, they may have flattered themselves that they had finally got rid of Him. But His return, and the crowding out of so many thousands into the wilderness to hear Him, stirred them to renewed activity. He had scarcely reached His retreat before they were on the scene. They had probably come forth from Capernaum, and their object was to ply Christ with captious questions, and, if possible, to “catch Him in His words.”

A Sign Demanded.

Monuments of Mercy seen.

They began their policy of entangling questions, by reiterating their demand for a “sign.” This was a strange demand, was it not? For our Lord’s career as a Teacher had been marked by an abundance of “signs.” That is what all of our Lord’s miracles were-they were “signs.” That is John’s comment, after the first of them, “This beginning of His signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory” (Joh 2:11). And ever since that first sign, signs the most wonderful and subduing had continued to mark our Lord’s course. Wherever He went He left behind Him some monument of His power and grace. When Eleanor, the wife of King Edward, died at Harby, they brought her body to Westminster for burial, and in every town at which her body rested for a night they built a cross; you can trace the route of that funeral procession by the crosses that still remain. So you could trace Christ’s progress through Palestine by the healed men and women to be found in every place, monuments to His compassion and love. He went to Jerusalem, and He left His monument there in the person of the impotent man whom He restored to health and strength. He went to Cana, and He left His monument there in the person of the nobleman’s son rescued from the very jaws of death. He went to Decapolis, and He left His monument there in him who had had the legion but was clothed and in his right mind. He went into the borders of Phnicia, and left His monument there in the person of the daughter of the Canaanitish woman, whom He delivered from the tyranny of an unclean spirit. He went to Jericho, and He left His monument there in the person of blind Bartimus restored to sight. He went to Bethany, and He left His monument there in the person of dead Lazarus called back again to life. And as for Capernaum, from which place these carping Pharisees had come, He had done so many signs in Capernaum that, if He had done the like in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

-And yet ignored.

And yet, in spite of all this, these Pharisees and Sadducees came to Him asking for a sign. Other people were awed and subdued, and convinced by what they saw. Nicodemus declared that no one could do such mighty works except God were with him; the multitudes, when they saw the palsied man restored, glorified God, saying, “We never saw it on this fashion”; even the half pagan people of Decapolis, when they saw the deaf and dumb man able to hear and able to speak, declared, “He hath done all things well,” and glorified the God of Israel. But these Pharisees and Sadducees affected to be still in doubt;-they insinuated that there was room in all these signs for illusion and delusion, and so they come to Him clamouring for a sign about which there should be no controversy or dispute-they seek of Him a sign from heaven.

A Sign from Heaven sought.

From heaven, because heaven was supposed to be a place where Satan had no power. In their bitterness and malice they had not hesitated to suggest that some of our Lord’s miracles were done by Satan’s help and power. But a sign from heaven would prove past dispute the Divineness of Christ’s mission. They do not specify what precise sign they want; “that He should stop the sun or rein in the moon, or hurl down thunder or the like,” says Chrysostom. Probably they had in mind the manna sent down from heaven in answer to the prayer of Moses, or the fire called down by Elijah, or the thunder and rain called down by Samuel; at any rate, some sign from heaven, that they might see and believe.

The Sorrow of Jesus.

And when He heard this request our Lord “sighed deeply in His spirit,” or rather, groaned deeply. What evoked this deep groan from the spirit of Jesus? We saw before that His sigh over the deaf and dumb man was a sigh wrung from Him by the thought of the havoc sin had made in a world which God made “very-good.” This deep and vehement groan is a groan over sin itself. If it had been weak faith crying out for succour and confirmation, our Lord, you may depend upon it, would have done or said something to meet its need. But this demand for a sign was not the cry of weak faith. It was the final evidence of callousness and obduracy of heart. Christ had already given signs more than sufficient to men of open and honest heart But these were men who did not want to believe. Their request for a sign from heaven was made, not in the interests of belief, but as an excuse for unbelief. And that was why Christ groaned deeply. Here were men hardening their hearts against the evidences of God’s grace, doing despite to the Holy Spirit of God, deliberately sinning against the light. It was over this that Christ sighed. I find that scarcely anything stirred Christ to deeper emotion than the thought of the people’s unbelief. It was one of the things over which He is said to have “marvelled.” And when He burst into that passion of tears and grief over Jerusalem, the cause lay in the obduracy and unbelief of the people.

A Personal Question.

All of this suggests the question whether Christ has any occasion to sigh over us. For confessedly He accomplishes in our midst the most wonderful “mighty works.” He restores the morally blind, He heals the morally leprous, He quickens the morally dead. His Divine Commission would seem to be sufficiently attested; yet multitudes refuse to believe on Him. And their obduracy causes infinite pain and sorrow to His heart He sighs deeply in His spirit. Does He sigh over us?

The Refusal of the Sign.

The reply of Jesus to the demand was, “Why doth this generation seek a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation” (Mar 8:12). Now, why did Jesus refuse these people a sign? Various reasons have been suggested, and there is probably something in every one of them. (1) To begin with, the motive that prompted the request was wholly wrong. As I said, it was not confirmation of a struggling faith that these people wanted, but rather an excuse for unbelief. (2) Then again, as some commentators suggest, even a sign from heaven would have been wasted upon these people. You remember what our Lord said in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead” (Luk 16:31). An extraordinary preacher, says Jesus, would produce no effect upon men who could remain unmoved under the preaching of Moses and the prophets. And the same principle held good with reference to these Pharisees and Sadducees. Men who could remain untouched and unpersuaded-who could convince themselves there was nothing Divine in the healing of the palsied, the feeding of the 5000, the raising of Jairus’ daughter-would not be persuaded though Christ should give them a sign from heaven. They would try to explain even that away. They did try to explain it away. For when the voice from heaven came saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again,” those who stood by said it was only thunder.

The Reason for Refusal.

But I think there were other and deeper reasons why Christ refused this “sign from heaven.” First of all, as far as I can make out from a study of the Gospels, Christ never performed any miracle from motives of mere display. They were never done for spectacular effect. He never performed a miracle, as far as I can discover, to prove His Deity, or to constrain people to believe on Him. The result of His miracles often was that people did believe on Him, because through them they beheld His glory. But that was never the motive. The motive was always our Lord’s pity and kindness and desire to do good. He never performed a useless miracle. He never displayed His power for display’s sake. His works were always a revelation of His grace. But such a “sign” as these Pharisees asked for would have been contrary to our Lord’s whole method. Every element of mercy, humanity, and instruction would have been banished from it. It would have reduced Christ to the level of the magician, the mere wonder-worker, and He refused to do it. (3) And there is this further fact. Christ, as Mr. Latham points out in his Pastor Pastorum, never overwhelmed the human mind and will by His miracles. Their evidence was never irresistible. That is to say, if men wished to find a loophole for doubt, they could generally find one. It had of necessity to be so; otherwise religion would, as Mr. Latham says, be not a faith, but a science; trust in Christ would cease to be a moral act. There is no moral quality about our belief that two and two make four; we are so made that we must believe it. You can see that if the “signs” which Christ did proved His Divinity in the same mathematical and irresistible way, faith in Him as the Divine Saviour would be as void of moral quality as our belief to-day that two and two make four. It seems a paradox, but in reality it is sober truth to say, that before a genuine faith can be exercised, there must be room for question and doubt. For there is always an element of the venturesome in faith. People crave for certitude. They have a hankering after mathematical proof in the realm of religion. They are hankering after the impossible. The law of religion is, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” If Christ had given an absolutely irresistible “sign from heaven”-such a sign as left men powerless to disbelieve-He would not have created faith, He would have destroyed it. He would have overwhelmed the mind, He would not have convinced it. So He declined this final and irresistible sign. He left room for the exercise of “faith.” He has given us “signs” enough to persuade the honest and sincere heart. If men refuse to be persuaded, it is because they have an evil heart of unbelief. And so a man’s faith or unfaith becomes an index to his moral nature.

The Leaven of the Pharisees.

“There shall no sign be given unto this generation,” Christ said. And having said that He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side. But though He left them, He could not forget them. While His disciples were busy attending to the boat, Christ brooded over the obduracy and blindness and malignant hate of these people He had just left. And then, as Dr. A. B. Bruce says, “Abruptly, and as one waking out of a reverie, He uttered this solemn warning to His disciples, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod” (Mar 8:15). I need not refer to the stupid literalism of the disciples, who actually thought at first Christ was warning them against purchasing bread that came from the hands of the Pharisees and Herodians. Their colossal misunderstanding only shows how urgent was their need of that special training Christ was eager to give, how far as yet they were from appreciating the spiritual character of the Kingdom. But I pass all that by. They understood at length, as Matthew puts it, that He “bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Mat 16:12). Now what was there in the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees that made Christ warn His disciples thus solemnly against it?

-Hypocrisy.

-Formalism.

-Materialism.

The Pharisees are again and again denounced by Christ as “hypocrites.” They made a great show of religion; but it was a case of much cry and little wool. The form was there, without the power. They paid tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and neglected mercy and righteousness and truth. Formality was the besetting sin of the Pharisees. That was the “leaven” against which Christ warned the disciples. For “formalism” is ever the foe of true religion. The man who magnifies the outward and mechanical is always in danger of minimising and neglecting the inward and the spiritual. Formalism in Palestine nineteen centuries ago was so much the foe of religion that it nailed the Lord of life to the tree. And if formalism was the leaven of the Pharisees, materialism was the leaven of Herod. For the Herodians-who were mainly Sadducees-were people who abandoned their national hopes and ideals, attached themselves to the usurping and half-pagan Herodian dynasty, for the sake of present material advantage. And materialism again is the deadly foe of religion. It is the antithesis, denial of religion. “Love of the world is enmity against God.” “Beware,” said Jesus, “of these two things.” They had stifled out the religion in the hearts of these Pharisees and Herodians. They would stifle out the religion in their hearts, if allowed to enter. Has the warning any pertinency for our day? Surely, my brethren, it has. These are the two most menacing perils of our own day-formalism and materialism, the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

Take Heed!

These are not ancient perils. They are perils of to-day. There is no warning more needed by us than this-“Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Beware of formalism, the leaven of the Pharisees. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Beware of materialism-the leaven of Herod. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1Jn 2:15-17).

Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary

Jesus did many of his works through cooperation with his disciples.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

ONCE more we see our Lord feeding a great multitude with a few loaves and fishes. He knew the heart of man. He saw the rise of cavilers and skeptics, who would question the reality of the wonderful works He performed. By repeating the mighty miracle here recorded, He stops the mouth of all who are not wilfully blind to evidence. Publicly, and before four thousand witnesses, He shows His almighty power a second time.

Let us observe in this passage how great is the kindness and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He saw around Him a “very great multitude,” who had nothing to eat. He knew that the great majority were following Him from no other motive than idle curiosity, and had no claim whatever to be regarded as His disciples. Yet when He saw them hungry and destitute, He pitied them: “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat.”

The feeling heart of our Lord Jesus Christ appears in these words. He has compassion even on those who are not His people-the faithless, the graceless, the followers of this world. He feels tenderly for them, though they know it not. He died for them, though they care little for what He did on the cross. He would receive them graciously, and pardon them freely, if they would only repent and believe on Him. Let us ever beware of measuring the love of Christ by any human measure. He has a special love, beyond doubt, for His own believing people. But He has also a general love of compassion, even for the unthankful and the evil. His love “passeth knowledge.” (Eph 3:19.)

Let us strive to make Jesus our pattern in this, as well as in everything else. Let us be kind, and compassionate, and pitiful, and courteous to all men. Let us be ready to do good to all men, and not only to friends and the household of faith. Let us carry into practice our Lord’s injunction, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.” (Mat 5:44.) This is to show the mind of Christ. This is the right way to heap coals of fire on an enemy’s head, and to melt foes into friends. (Rom 12:20.)

Let us observe, in the second place, from this passage, that with Christ nothing is impossible. The disciples said, “from whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?” They might well say so. Without the hand of Him who first made the world out of nothing, the thing could not be. But in the almighty hands of Jesus seven loaves and a few fishes were made sufficient to satisfy four thousand men. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

We must never allow ourselves to doubt Christ’s power to supply the spiritual wants of all His people. He has “bread enough and to spare” for every soul that trusts in Him. Weak, infirm, corrupt, empty as believers feel themselves, let them never despair, while Jesus lives. In Him there is a boundless store of mercy and grace, laid up for the use of all His believing members, and ready to be bestowed on all who ask in prayer. “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.” (Col 1:19.)

Let us never doubt Christ’s providential care for the temporal wants of all His people. He knows their circumstances. He is acquainted with all their necessities. He will never allow them to lack anything that is really for their good. His heart is not changed since He ascended up on high, and sat down on the right hand of God. He still lives who had compassion on the hungry crowd in the wilderness, and supplied their need. How much more, may we suppose, will He supply the need of those who trust Him? He will supply them without fail. Their faith may occasionally be tried. They may sometimes be kept waiting, and be brought very low. But the believer shall never be left entirely destitute. “Bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure.” (Isa 33:16.)

Let us observe, in the last place, how much sorrow unbelief occasions to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that when “the Pharisees began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him, He sighed deeply in His spirit.” There was a deep meaning in that sigh! It came from a heart which mourned over the ruin that these wicked men were bringing on their own souls. Enemies as they were, Jesus could not behold them hardening themselves in unbelief without sorrow.

The feeling which our Lord Jesus Christ here expressed, will always be the feeling of all true Christians. Grief over the sins of others is one leading evidence of true grace. The man who is really converted, will always regard the unconverted with pity and concern. This was the mind of David: “I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved.” (Psa 119:158.) This was the mind of the godly in the days of Ezekiel: “They sighed and cried for the abominations done in the land.” (Eze 9:4.) This was the mind of Lot: “He vexed his righteous soul with the unlawful deeds” of those around him. (2Pe 2:8.) This was the mind of Paul: “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow for my brethren.” (Rom 9:2.) In all these cases we see something of the mind of Christ. As the great Head feels, so feel the members. They all grieve when they see sin.

Let us leave the passage with solemn self-inquiry. Do we know anything of likeness to Christ, and fellow-feeling with Him? Do we feel hurt, and pained, and sorrowful, when we see men continuing in sin and unbelief? Do we feel grieved and concerned about the state of the unconverted? These are heart-searching questions, and demand serious consideration. There are few surer marks of an unconverted heart, than carelessness and indifference about the souls of others.

Finally, let us never forget that unbelief and sin are just as great a cause of grief to our Lord now, as they were eighteen hundred years ago. Let us strive and pray that we may not add to that grief by any act or deed of ours. The sin of grieving Christ is one which many commit continually without thought or reflection. He that sighed over the unbelief of the Pharisees is still unchanged. Can we doubt that when He sees some persisting in unbelief at the present day, He is grieved? From such sin may we be delivered!

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Mar 8:1. In those days. Matthew gives no mark of time, and Mark is indefinite. Three days (Mar 8:2) is more specific.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

REACHING A CRISIS

The topics or events of the present lesson:

The Four Thousand Fed (Mar 8:1-9); The Leaven of the Pharisees (Mar 8:10-21); The Blind Man of Bethesda (Mar 8:22-26); Peters Confession (Mar 8:27-38); The Crisis of the Transfiguration (Mar 9:1-13); The Lunatic Healed (Mar 9:14-29); Christs Predication of His Death (Mar 9:30-32); Ambition Rebuked (Mar 9:33-37); Sectarianism Rebuked (Mar 9:38-38); Future Retribution (Mar 9:42-50) In the second of these events, observe a further illustration of Marks power of observation and the minuteness of his record in particular cases – Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit (Mar 8:12).

The third is recorded only by Mark, and has an illuminating note attached to it in the Scofield Bible. It will be observed that the man was led out of the town (Bethsaida). This town, as appears from Mat 9:21-24 had been abandoned to judgment, and Christ would neither heal nor permit further testimony to be borne there (Mar 8:26 of the lesson). But while Bethsaidas probation as a community was ended, yet He would still show mercy to individuals. It suggests Rev 3:20.

Mark, as usual, gives the briefest account of Peters confession, and does not mention the church. The mention of the latter is dispensational and is found in the dispensational Gospel of Matthew. Notice Mar 9:33 : when He had turned about and looked on His disciples characteristic of Mark.

The warning about future retribution (Mar 9:42-50) peculiar to Mark, is one of the most solemn in the Bible. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, can hardly yield other meaning than the eternal conscious punishment of those who die in their sins. How awful the thought! What a motive for earnestness in soul-winning!

Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt, is an allusion to Lev 2:13. The salt represents the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from all that tends to corruption. Have salt in yourselves really means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God grant it to us.

QUESTIONS

1. Name the topics or events of this lesson.

2. Name some illustrations of Marks peculiar characteristics as a writer, found in this lesson.

3. What peculiarities do you find in the miracle at Bethsaida?

4. What is the doctrinal teaching in Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48?

5. How would you interpret Mar 9:49-50?

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

This chapter begins with the relation of a famous miracle wrought by our Saviour; namely, his feeding of four thousand persons with seven loaves, and a few fishes.

And here we have observable, first, the tender care which Christ took of the bodies of men, to provide all necessaries for their support and comfort; he giveth us richly all things to enjoy. The great housekeeper of the world openeth his hands, and filleth all things living with plenteousness. How careful was our Saviour here that the bodies of poor creatures might not faint, nor be over weak and weary by the way! Therefore he would not dismiss them without refreshment.

Observe, 2. The original source and spring from whence this care that Christ had of the multitude did proceed and flow; namely from that sympathizing pity and tender compassion which the merciful heart of Christ did bear towards persons in distress and misery.

Learn hence, That the tender pity and compassion of Christ is not the spring and fountain of spiritual mercies only, but of temporal blessings also; I have compassion on the multitude who have nothing to eat.

Observe, 3. How the disciples, not seeing any outward, visible means for the people’s support, conclude it impossible for so many to be satisfied with the little supply they had; namely, seven loaves and a few small fishes.

Learn thence, That a weak faith soon grows thoughtful, and sometimes distrustful at the sight of difficulties. Whence say the disciples, can these men be satisfied with bread? Not considering, that the power of God in blessing our food, is far above the means of food. It is as easy for him to sustain and nourish us with a little as with much; Man liveth not by bread, but by the blessing of God upon the bread he eats.

Observe, 4. That although Christ could have fed these four thousand without the loaves, yet he takes and makes use of them seeing they may be had.

Learn hence, That Christ did not neglect his own appointed ordinary means nor do anything in an extraordinary way, farther than was absolutely necessary. Christ was above means, and could work without them, and when they failed, did so; but when the means were at hand, he made use of them himself, to teach us never to expect that in a way of miracle, which may become at in a way of means.

Observe, 5. From our Lord’s example, that religious custom of begging a blessing upon our food before we sit down to it, and of receiving the good creatures of God with thanksgiving. How unworthy is he of the crumbs that fall from his own table who with the swine looks not up unto, and takes no thankful notice of, the hand that feeds him?

Observe, 6. The certainty and greatness of the miracle: They did all eat and were filled. They did all eat, not a crust of bread, or bit of fish, but to satiety and fulness. All that were hungry did eat, and all that did eat were satisfied, and yet seven baskets remain; more is left than was at first set on. It is hard to say which was the greatest miracle, the miraculous eating, or miraculous leaving. If we consider what they ate, we may wonder that they left anything; if what they left, that they eat anything.

Observe lastly, Our Lord’s command to gather up the fragments, Teaches us, That we make no waste of the good creatures of God. The fragments of fish-bones broken bread must be gathered up; the liberal housekeeper of the world will not allow the loss of his orts. Frugality is a commendable duty. God hath made us stewards, but not absolute lords of his blessings. We must be accountable to him for all the instances of his bounty received from him.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mar 8:1-4. In those days, the multitude being very great The multitude mentioned Mat 15:30; and having nothing to eat They had, as on a former occasion, consumed all the provision they had brought with them; Jesus said I have compassion, Greek, , my bowels yearn, or, are moved, toward the multitude Who thus flock eagerly about me, and express such zeal in their attendance, as to expose themselves thereby to many inconveniences and hardships. It is pleasing to observe the strong compassion which our blessed Lord continually discovered in all his actions toward mankind. Because they have now been with me three days It is probable that the multitude, intent on hearing Christ and seeing his miracles, had lodged two nights together in the fields, as the season of the year was pleasant, this event happening quickly after the passover; and besides, the great number of the cures which had been wrought but just before, might animate them to continue with him, concluding, perhaps, that the miraculous power of Christ, which was displayed in so many glorious instances around them, would either preserve their health from being endangered by the large dews which fell in the night, or restore them from any disorder they might contract by their eagerness to attend on his ministry. If I send them away fasting, they will faint, &c. Our Lord by his power could as easily have preserved them from fainting without food, as have created food by multiplying the loaves and fishes for their support, but he chose to take the latter method. For divers of them came from far This our Lord knew, and he knew also that they were but ill furnished for procuring provisions, or accommodations abroad, for themselves. His disciples answered, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread, &c. The disciples, it seems, did not reflect on the miracle which Christ had lately wrought for the relief of the five thousand, or they did not imagine he would repeat such a miracle; or perhaps they thought that Christ proposed to feed this great multitude in the natural way, and, therefore, thus intimated their surprise that he should think of doing a thing so impracticable. Jesus did not reprove them for their forgetfulness of what he had so lately done, or for their wrong notions, but meekly asked what meat they had, and upon their telling him, he ordered it to be brought, and out of seven loaves and a few little fishes made a second dinner for an immense multitude by a miracle, few or none of them having been present at the former dinner. They seem to have been mostly such as followed Jesus from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and the neighbouring heathen country; hence they are said, on seeing his miracles, to have glorified the God of Israel. This dinner was in all respects like the first, except in the number of loaves and fishes of which it was made, the number of persons who were present at it, and the number of baskets that were filled with the fragments that remained. One cannot but remark, says Dr. Macknight, with what wisdom Jesus chose to be so much in deserts during this period of his ministry. He was resolved, in the discharge of the duties of it, to make as little noise as possible, to avoid crowds, and to be followed only by such as had dispositions proper for profiting by his instructions. And, to say the truth, not a great many others would accompany him into solitudes, where they were to sustain the inconveniences of hunger, and the weather, for several days together. As the multitude on this and the like occasions remained long with Jesus, doubtless his doctrine distilled upon them all the while like dew, and as the small rain upon the tender herb. If so, what satisfaction and edification should we find in the divine discourses which he then delivered, were we in possession of them! The refreshment we receive from such of them as the inspired writers have preserved, raises an ardent desire of the rest. At the same time it must be acknowledged, that we are blessed with as much of Christs doctrine as is fully sufficient to all the purposes of salvation.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

LXIX.

THE DEAF STAMMERER HEALED AND FOUR THOUSAND FED.

aMATT. XV. 30-39; bMARK VII. 32-VIII. 9.

b32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech [The man had evidently learned to speak before he lost his hearing. Some think that defective hearing had caused the impediment in his speech, but Mar 7:35 suggests that he was tongue-tied]; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue [He separated him from the crowd to avoid publicity (see Gen 1:31]; he maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. [These were the people who had asked Jesus to depart from their coast on account of the loss of their swine. A complete change in their feelings had taken place since that day.] a30 And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at his feet; and he healed them [We have here an instance of the common difference between the narratives of Matthew and Mark. Where Matthew is wont to mention the healing of multitudes, Mark picks out one of the most remarkable cases and describes it minutely. The hasty action of those who brought in the sick and returned to bring in others is indicated by the way in which they cast down their burdens at Jesus’ feet]: 31; insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel [The people whom Jesus healed were Jews, but daily intercourse with the heathen of Decapolis had tended to cool their religious ardor. The works of Jesus revived this ardor and caused them to praise the God whose prophet they esteemed Jesus to be.] a32 And b1 In those days [i. e., while Christ was in Decapolis], when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, aJesus called his disciples unto him, and said, {bsaith,} unto [404] them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: aAnd I would not send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way. b3 and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way: for some of them are come from far. [When the five thousand had been caught in similar circumstances, the apostles had come with suggestions to Jesus, but now, being taught by experience, they keep silence and let Jesus manage as he will. The multitude had not been three days without food, but it had been with Jesus three days and was now without food.] 4 And his {athe} disciples say unto {banswered} him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? aWhence should we have so many loaves in a desert place as to fill so great a multitude? [It seems strange that the apostles should ask such a question after having assisted in feeding the five thousand. But the failure to expect a miracle, despite previous experience, was a common occurrence in the history of Israel and of the twelve ( Num 11:21-23, Psa 78:19, Psa 78:20). In this case the failure of the apostles to expect miraculous relief suggests that they had probably often been hungry and had long since ceased to look for supernatural relief in such cases. Their disbelief here is so similar to their disbelief in the first instance that it, with a few other minor details, has led rationalistic commentators to confound the miracle with the feeding of the five thousand. But the words of Jesus forbid this– Mat 16:9, Mat 16:10, Mar 8:19, Mar 8:20.] 34 And Jesus said unto them, b5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. aand a few small fishes. 35 And he commanded {bcommandeth} the multitude to sit down on the ground [they were on the bleak mountain, and not in the grassy plain of Butaiha]: and he took the seven loaves aand the fishes; and he gave thanks, band having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his {athe} disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. [405] {bto set before them; and they set them before the multitude.} 7 And they had a few small fishes: and having blessed them, he commanded to set these also before them. a37 And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. 38 And they that did eat were babout afour thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And he sent away the multitudes.

[FFG 403-406]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Mark Chapter 8

We shall find in chapter 8 another example of that which we have been noticing. Jesus leads the blind man out of the town. He does not forsake Israel wherever there is faith; but He separates the one who possesses it from the mass, and brings him into connection with the power, the grace, the heaven, whence blessing flowed-blessing consequently which extended to the Gentiles. Power was not exercised in the midst of manifest unbelief. This clearly marks out the position of Christ with regard to the people. He pursues His service, but He retires to God because of Israels unbelief: but it is to the God of all grace. There His heart found refuge till the great hour of atonement.

It is on this account, as it appears to me, that we have (chap. 8) the second miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. The Lord acts again in favour of Israel, no longer as administering Messianic power in the midst of the people (which was implied, as we have seen, in the number twelve), but in spite of His rejection by Israel, continuing to exercise His power in a divine manner and apart from man. The number seven [6] has always the force of superhuman perfection-that which is complete: this however applied to what is complete in the power of evil as well as good, when it is not human and subordinate to God. Here it is divine. It is that intervention of God which is unwearied, and which is according to His own power, which it is the principal object of the repetition of the miracle to display.

Afterwards the condition both of the heads of Israel and of the remnant is displayed. The Pharisees require a sign; but no sign should be given to that generation. It was simply unbelief when abundant proofs of who He was were before them; they were the very things which had led to the demand. The Lord departs from them. But the blind and unintelligent condition of the remnant is also manifested. The Lord warns them to beware of the spirit and the teaching of the Pharisees, the false pretenders to a holy zeal for God; and of the Herodians, the servile votaries of the spirit of the world, who, to please the emperor, set God entirely aside.

In using the word leaven, the Lord gives the disciples occasion to shew their deficiency in spiritual intelligence. If the Jews learnt nothing from the Lords miracles, but still asked for signs, even the disciples did not realise the divine power manifested in them. I do not doubt that this condition is set forth in the blind man of Bethsaida.

Jesus takes him by the hand and leads him out of the town, away from the multitude, and uses that which was of Himself, that which possessed the efficacy of His own Person, to perform the cure. [7] The first effect well depicts the condition of the disciples. They saw, doubtless, but in a confused manner, men, as trees, walking. But the Lords love is not wearied by their unbelieving dullness of intelligence; He acts according to the power of His own intention towards them, and causes them to see clearly. Afterwards-away from Israel-the uncertainty of unbelief is seen in juxtaposition with the certainty of faith (however obscure its intelligence may be), and Jesus, forbidding the disciples to speak of that which they certainly believed (the time was gone by for convincing Israel of Christs rights as Messiah), announces to them that which should happen to Himself, for the accomplishment of Gods purposes in grace as Son of man, after His rejection by Israel. [8] So that everything is now, as we may say, in its place. Israel does not recognise the Messiah in Jesus; consequently He no longer addresses the people in that character. His disciples believe Him to be the Messiah, and He tells them of His death and resurrection.

Now there may be (and it is a most important practical truth) true faith, without the heart being formed according to the full revelation of Christ, and without the flesh being practically crucified in proportion to the measure of knowledge one has of the object of faith. Peter acknowledged indeed, by the teaching of God, that Jesus was the Christ; but he was far from having his heart pure according to the mind of God in Christ. And when the Lord announces His rejection, humiliation and death, and that before all the world, the flesh of Peter-wounded by the idea of a Master thus despised and rejected-shews its energy by daring to rebuke the Lord Himself. This attempt of Satans to discourage the disciples by the dishonour of the cross stirs up the Lords heart. All His affection for His disciples, and the sight of those poor sheep before whom the enemy was putting a stumbling block, bring a vehement censure upon Peter, as being the instrument of Satan and speaking on his part. Alas for us! the reason was plain-he savoured the things of men, and not those of God; for the cross comprises in itself all the glory of God. Man prefers the glory of man, and thus Satan governs him. The Lord calls the people and His disciples, and explains distinctly to them that if they would follow Him, they must take part with Him, and bear their cross. For thus, in losing their life, they would save it, and the soul was worth all beside. Moreover, if any one was ashamed of Jesus and of His words, the Son of man would be ashamed of him, when He should come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. For glory belonged to Him, whatever might be His humiliation. He then sets this before His chief disciples, in order to strengthen their faith.

Footnotes on Mark Chapter 8

6: It may be remarked that seven is the highest prime, that is indivisible, number; twelve, the most divisible there is.

7: Spittle, in connection with the sanctity of the Rabbis, was highly esteemed by the Jews in this respect; but here its efficacy is connected with the Person of Him who used it.

8: We have nothing here of the church, nor of the keys of the kingdom These depend on what is not introduced here as a part of Peters confession-the Son of the living God. We have the glory of the kingdom coming in power, in contrast with the rejected Christ the prophet-servant in Israel.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

FEEDING THE MULTITUDES AGAIN

Mat 15:32-38; Mar 8:1-9. During these days [i.e., His sojourn in Decapolis], the multitude being very great, and not having what they may eat, Jesus, calling to Him His disciples, says to them, I sympathize with the multitude, because already three days transpire to Me, and they have nothing which they may eat. If I shall send them away to their home fasting, they will faint by the way; for some of them have come from afar. And His disciples responded to Him, Whence will any one be able to feed so many with bread, here, in a destitute place? And He asked them, How many loaves have you? And they said, Seven. And He proclaimed to the multitude to sit down upon the ground; and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, He broke them, and gave them to His disciples, that they may distribute them; and they dispensed them to the multitude. They also had a few small fishes; blessing, He commanded that they should also distribute these. Mat 15:37 : And they all ate and were filled; and they took up the remainder of the fragments, seven baskets full. And those eating were four thousand men, besides women and children. The Jews especially, as well as the Orientals generally, in that day and at the present, are in the habit of going, by whole families, on foot, taking a few donkeys or camels to carry burdens. We hear much said about feeding the five thousand and the four thousand, only giving the estimate at about one-half, as Matthew certifies that, in the one instance, there were five thousand men, besides women and children; and in the other, four thousand men, besides women and children; thus giving the estimate at ten thousand in one case, and eight thousand in the other, at the minimum; as in all probability the women and children far outnumbered the men, which is the case in our campmeetings and other religious gatherings, and would be even more so in Israel, where, from time immemorial, it was customary for whole families to go to their great religious convocations, leaving the home without a keeper, as God had assured them that He would protect their domestic interests during their absence to attend the periodical national solemnities. On this occasion, from the seven loaves and a few small fishes, after feeding the eight thousand, they gathered up seven baskets full of fragments, evidently those great baskets, in which they now carry merchantable produce to market, holding several bushels; i.e., the fragments amounting to about one hundred times the original quantity. So, if you would be a millionaire in the kingdom of God, start now, run with all of your might, and do your best to give away all you have, resting assured God will multiply you a hundred-fold. If you can only rake up a few loaves and fishes, and pitch a holiness camp-meeting, you will have plenty to feed the thronging multitudes, and fragments enough, if gathered up and utilized, to inaugurate at least ten new camps next year.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Mar 8:10. He came into the parts of Dalmanutha, situate beyond the Jordan, where Tiberias and Magdala were considerable towns.

Mar 8:12. There shall no sign be given to this generation. Mat 12:38.

Mar 8:24. I see men, as trees, walking. To other blind men the Lord said, receive your sight, and the blind saw. Here he chose to diversify his manner by a gradual restoration of the powers of vision. From the more private and gradual operation of this miracle, we learn that this man had lost his sight in the course of providence. The town of Bethsaida through unbelief, after rejecting the glorious works recorded in Mat 11:4; Mat 11:21 and Luk 10:13, was deemed unworthy to see another miracle. Such are the awful retributions of divine justice. The Lord did not even allow the man restored to sight, to publish the miracle of mercy in such an unworthy place, but sent him away to his own house. It is the same with regard to the gradual illumination of the mind. Some men are suddenly touched and converted; others see their sins; fear to die, try to keep the law, use the means of grace, seek salvation partly by works, partly by grace; but sincere seekers at length see the glory of God in the face of Christ, and exult in the joys of remission.

Mar 8:29. Thou art the Christ. Eusebius, in his demonstration of the gospel, book 3. ch. 7, after reciting the whole of Mat 16:16-18, notices that Mark simply says, thou art the Christ. Peter having dictated and revised the gospel of this evangelist, could not publish his own praise. For which reason, Mark also passes it by. This invaluable work of Eusebius I now hold in my hand, while I translate. Ed. Paris, fol. 1528.

Mar 8:31. And after three days rise again. Erasmus, in his critical annotations, reckons these from the commencement of our Saviours passion. Beza has also a long note here. He illustrates the phrase as a hebraism, by authorities.

Mar 8:36. If he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul. The riches he shall lose are not his own; but the soul, in regard of intellectual powers, moral endowments, and immortality, as we have remarked on Gen 2:7, may be said to be truly his own, or rather himself. And when the Judge shall retaliate, and be ashamed of temporizing characters, their souls are lost for ever. The last words decide that the immortal spirit in man is here understood.

REFLECTIONS.

We have at the end of this chapter, one of the most impressive passages of our Saviours ministry. Drawing towards the close of life he began to fortify his disciples, and the whole multitude, against temporizing with religion in that adulterous age. He was now in Judea, where many believed on him, but did not confess him openly for fear of the jews. Their judgment was informed, and they admired his person and the glory of his works, but secretly said we must run no risk. We must abide in the synagogue, we have wives and children, and we must preserve our shops, our lands, and our lives. Hence we think those who confess him openly warmer than wise. Now, against this wily policy the Lord set a firm face, and directed the thunderbolt of his word. He declared that those wary men were not sufficiently wise; that in the issue they should both lose their lives and their riches; and that the simple hearted who owned the truth, and left the consequences to the care of providence, should save their lives. And this prophecy was most strikingly realized in the siege of Jerusalem. The prudent temporizers took refuge in the city, and perished; but the simple hearted fled beyond the Jordan, and were preserved.

From those most striking occurrences we learn our call to make an honest and open profession of religion. In all places, and in all companies, let us carry the mark of God in our forehead. Let us serve him openly, for he has openly loaded us with benefits; and shall we ever be ashamed of redeeming love? How else shall we dare to see his face? How else, but by example, shall the unregenerate be emboldened to forsake the world, and confess the Lord. And though we should in ruder times be called to exile, to sufferings or to martyrdom, we are still to confess the Lord.

This profession must be voluntary. Whosoever will come after me, said Jesus. Whatever we do for God must be a freewill offering through faith. We may say of the believers consent, as of Christs death, by the which will we are all sanctified.

It must be accompanied with self-denial. All unlawful pleasures must be abandoned, all carnal court and homage to the world must cease; for it is still the world which crucified the Lord, stoned the prophets, and martyred the saints. Yea, and our own will must be so lost in the will of God, as spiritually to be dead with Christ, and crucified to the world. The taking up of our daily cross in the spirit and temper of our Redeemer is also implied here.

In this honest profession of religion our faith must be founded on argument. What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world. Here the worth of the soul is opposed to worldly gain. And what can the world do for those shrewd and plodding men who have realized a fortune. Can it give them health in sickness? Can it produce peace of conscience; and can it shelter them in the day of visitation? Nay, the rich are then the most exposed, and the least resigned to die. But, oh the soul, the immortal soul, so godlike in its powers, and so divine in its capacity of happiness; shall it be entombed in sensual love, and earthly desire? Shall it be lost, irrecoverably lost, for the momentary smiles of earth? Think, oh man, that this case is put in the form of an interrogation; for so the scriptures do when the case is unutterable. Hence those piercing questions, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation. If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear.

Our Saviour came to a full issue, and clinched the nail with temporizers. He declared that all who were thus finally ashamed of him in that adulterous age, should not only lose their lives and their gain in Jerusalem, but lose their souls in the day of judgment. He would be ashamed of them before his Father and his holy angels. How striking are the retributions of justice: how equal are the ways of God!

We must admire the openness and candour of our blessed Lord as a preacher. He never trifled, he never amused his hearers. He avowed the terms of salvation with a high voice; and fully apprized his followers from the beginning with the rigours of the cross, and the usage they must expect from the world. And happy is the man who unconditionally puts his soul under his yoke; for his commandments are not grievous.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mar 8:1-10. The Second Feeding of the Multitude.This narrative is now generally regarded as a second version of the incident recorded in ch. 6. Indeed Wendland, Wellhausen, and HNT treat Mar 8:1-26 as a doublet of Mar 6:34-52, Mar 7:1-23, Mar 7:31-37. That both accounts of the feeding of the multitude are closely followed by disputes with the Pharisees and miracles of gradual healing may not be as significant as they suppose. Certainly, the demand for a sign is not a doublet of the discussion about defilement, nor is the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida an alternative version of the Ephphatha story. The case of the feeding of the 4000 is more suspicious. For details as to parallels and differences between Mar 6:34-44 and Mar 8:1-10, see Menzies note on the latter passage. The repetition of this miracle is improbable. In spite of Swete, the question of the disciples in Mar 8:4 is psychologically strange, if a previous miracle had taken place. Lk.s omission of the second narrative may be due to his recognition that we have here two versions of the same incident. Moreover, the story does not suit its present context in Mk. It is placed on Gentile soil where Jesus did not preach, and in a period when He was no longer engaged in preaching. Mk., knowing a second version of this story, seems to have regarded it as a distinct event, and inserted it at this point, perhaps to show that Jesus did for the Gentiles what He had previously done for the Jews. If so, this is symbolically suggestive, and historically inaccurate.

Mar 8:8. The word for baskets is different from that used in Mar 6:43. It is the kind of basket in which Paul was let down from a wall in Damascus (Act 9:25). The numbers of the baskets in each case are supposed by many scholars to be symbolical, twelve representing the apostles who serve the Jews, seven the deacons who serve the Gentiles. The evangelists knowledge of this symbolism is doubtful.

Mar 8:10. The text of this verse and the locality of Dalmanutha remain obscure (Mat 15:39*). Perhaps the verse should go with the next paragraph.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

(Mark 8) CHRIST IN THE OUTSIDE PLACE

In the previous chapters, 6 and 7, we have seen that the presence of the Lord Jesus, in the midst of men, had made manifest the corruption and unbelief of the social, political, and religious world. Every overture of grace being rejected the Lord retires from the haunts of men and is found apart in “the desert place,” alone on “a mountain,” and “walking upon the sea.” (Mar 6:31; Mar 6:46; Mar 6:48).

In chapter 8, the Lord identifies His own with Himself in this outside place, and exhorts them to follow Him (1, 10, 27, 34). Further we learn the fulness of the resources in Christ for those who follow Him in the path of separation. Their needs are met (1-9); opposers are silenced (10-13); spiritual vision is given to see all things clearly (14-26). Moreover while we are warned that to follow Christ through a world from which He is rejected, will entail suffering, reproach, and present loss, we are also encouraged by the prospect of the glory of the Kingdom to which the path of suffering leads. If we suffer with Him. we shall also reign with Him.

(Vv. 1-9). The former miracle in which the Lord fed the five thousand, had a distinctly dispensational bearing, as it became a solemn witness that the One the nation rejected was their true Messiah. It is immediately followed by the Lord taking a place on the mountain as intercessor, while His disciples are left to face the opposition of the world – a picture, surely of Christ’s present service on high on behalf of His people.

This second miracle of feeding the multitude has a more distinctly moral significance as setting forth, not only the resources that are in the Lord to meet the needs of His people, but also the compassion of His heart that feels for those whose needs He meets. The disciples do not come to the Lord, as in the former miracle, calling His attention to the people’s needs. Here everything proceeds from the Lord. He sees the need; He calls the disciples to Himself; He brings before them His compassion; He sets the people in rest, making them to sit down; He takes what is to hand, and giving thanks for it, distributes it to the people through the disciples, and thus satisfies their need.

Let us remember that He is the same today. He knows our needs, and has the heart to love and the hand to nourish and cherish His people (Eph 5:23; Eph 5:25; Eph 5:29). Too often, like the disciples, we feel the need and the utter inadequacy of the little we have to meet it. If, however, like the Lord, we bring our little into touch with heaven and give thanks for it, should we not find that God can make it go a long way, and not only meet our need, but even have something in hand?

(Vv. 10-13). On a previous occasion when the disciples entered a ship, the Lord went up into a mountain to intercede for them (Mar 6:45-47). On this second occasion the Lord went “with His disciples,” setting forth the further truth that, He is not only for us on high, but, with us to support us in the storms of life, and in meeting the opposition of the enemy. This opposition is ever directed against Christ: so we read that having come to land the Pharisees “began to dispute against Him” (N. Tr.). Already signs in abundance had been given- therefore to ask for a further sign only betrayed the enmity and unbelief of the flesh. The wickedness of man, however, became an occasion for revealing the perfection of the heart of Christ. Their malicious opposition aroused no angry resentment in the Lord, as too often some little opposition may do with ourselves. With Him it was met with feelings of sorrow and pity, for we read, “He sighed deeply in His spirit.” He asks the searching question, “Why doth this generation seek after a sign?” Signs are of no avail, and proofs useless, to those who, moved by malice refuse to believe. Such seal their own doom, for we read that the Lord “left them and . . . departed to the other side.” Solemn, indeed when men leave the Lord; but how far more terrible the condition of those from whom the Lord departs.

(Vv. 14-21). Upon entering the ship the second time we learn that the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and what was more serious had forgotten the grace and power of the Lord that had met the needs of hungry multitudes. Occupied with their material needs they fail to understand the warning of the Lord against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Though associated with Christ in a path apart from the corrupt world, they were, as with believers today, in danger of being leavened with the time-serving spirit of the political world which marked the Herodians, or the form of godliness without the power that marked the Pharisees.

As so often with ourselves, the disciples reason about the Lord’s words and miss their spiritual import by materialising them and seeking to reduce hem to the level of the human understanding. The Lord rebukes them for heir lack of spiritual perception, and short memory of His grace and power. He asks some searching question which we may well address to ourselves. “Why reason ye?” Why “perceive ye not yet, neither understand?” “Have ye your heart yet hardened?” “Do ye not remember?”

Instead of facing facts, and listening to the truth, we, at times “reason”; and our natural reasoning obscures our spiritual understanding. Behind the darkness of nature there is, too often, the hardness of heart which comes from so quickly forgetting the grace and love of His heart – we do “not remember”. These searching questions have a voice for all believers, for they were uttered, not to opposers, but, to true disciples.

(Vv. 22-26). The case of the blind man clearly sets forth the difference between the nation and the disciples. The nation, as such, were in total blindness. The disciples, though true believers in the Lord, at that time lacked spiritual intelligence. They saw but dimly His Divine glory. They recognised and owned Him as the true Messiah, but their Jewish prejudices, and habits of thought hindered them from seeing fully His further glories as the Son of Man and Son of God. For this they needed to be wholly separated from the nation; and hence the significance of the Lord’s act in leading the man out of the town, as before He had taken the deaf and dumb man aside from the multitude.

At the first touch the man’s sight was received, but he had not at once the skill to use the sight. He said, “I see men as trees walking.” The disciples were in like condition spiritually. They were hindered from discerning the glory of the Lord by having an exalted sense of the greatness and importance of man. We need, not only the grace that gives sight, but the further grace to use the sight that we may see “every man clearly” – to see men as they really are, and to see ourselves in all our weakness, and above all to see Jesus in all His perfection.

The Lord sends the man to his house. He was not to return to the town, nor tell it to any in the town. The time for testimony to the nation at large was over.

(Vv. 27-33). The discourse of the Lord with His disciples that follows, shows, not only the unbelief of the natural man, but how little the true disciples discerned His true mission and glory. The great test question then, as now, is “Who do men say that I am?” All glory for God and blessing for man turns upon the Person of Christ. It becomes manifest that mere human intelligence will never arrive at the truth. The men of that day included many scholars with great intellectual abilities, nevertheless all their thoughts about Christ ended in speculation and uncertainty. Some said He was John the Baptist, others that He was Elias, others again that He was one of the prophets. None arrived at the truth. In contrast we see in Peter the result of simple faith in one that was an ignorant and unlearned man when measured against the intellectual leaders of this world. Faith does not speculate or reason, but with the utmost certainty arrives at the truth, for faith is the gift of God. Thus Peter can say, “Thou art the Christ.”

The Lord charged them that they should tell no man of Him. He had been rejected by the nation, so His position as the Messiah is for the time set aside and the Lord takes the wider title of Son of Man which leads to greater glories than earthly dominion in connection with Israel, for as Son of Man He will have universal dominion over all created things. But before He can take His place as Son of Man with all things put in subjection under Him, and exercise His grace towards all men, He must go into death, accomplish redemption and break the power of Satan, death and the grave. With the cross in view He began to teach His disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected and killed, and after three days rise again. Of this great truth the time had come to speak openly to the disciples, and no longer in parables.

At once it becomes manifest that though the disciples had true faith in Christ, yet, like the man with the partially recovered sight they but dimly discerned the glory of the Lord as the Son of Man. Peter could not endure the thought that His Master and Lord should be despised and rejected of men, and so rebuked the Lord. Knowing the effect that Peter’s words would have upon the disciples, the Lord, looking upon them, “Rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me Satan: for thy mind is not on the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.” (N. Tr.). How solemn that, as true believers, it is possible to make statements with the utmost sincerity which come from Satan. Peter may have thought he was only expressing a loving sentiment for His Master; actually he was doing the work of Satan by seeking to turn the Lord from the path of obedience to the Father’s will, and casting a stumbling block in the way of the disciples. He was viewing all from a merely human standpoint. At the moment he saw men as trees walking.

(Vv. 34-38). The Lord having called the people unto Him, with His disciples, leads their thoughts from “the things that be of men” by instructing them in the mind of God. If they would follow Him into the new world of blessing and glory that He was opening up as the Son of Man, they must be prepared for His position of suffering and rejection in this world. Here it is no question of expiatory suffering when forsaken by God, but of meeting the contradiction of sinners and suffering from the hands of men, in which, in some little measure, believers can share even to a martyr’s death. To follow Christ in a world from which He has been rejected will mean that self must be denied, the present life let go, and the world refused. But whatever the path involves in this world, it leads to the day of glory when the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

Contemplating the Lord Jesus as presented in this chapter, we see Him in the outside place with His own, having a perfect knowledge of our needs, with a heart that feels for us in our needs, and a hand that provides or our needs. Moreover to follow Him will mean that we, not only walk where He walked – in the outside place, but that we walk as He walked. In our little measure we shall have hearts moved with compassion for the needs of others; we shall give thanks for God’s mercies, and we shall meet the opposition of those who dispute against us, in no spirit of resentment, but with sorrow of heart. We, too, shall deny ourselves, accept the path of reproach, refusing the life here and the present evil world, while looking on to the glory of the world to come, even as He, for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God (Heb 12:2-3).

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

CHAPTER 8

1 Christ feedeth the people miraculously: 10 refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees: 14 admonisheth his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod: 22 giveth a blind man his sight: 27 acknowledgeth that he is the Christ, who should suffer and rise again: 34 and exhorteth to patience in persecution for the profession of the gospel.

Ver. 15. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. The leaven is the doctrine of the Pharisees, by which they taught children to say to their parents corban, as well as other things contrary to the law of God. The leaven of Herod is the doctrine of the Sadducees, for with them Christ had had His most recent controversy, as appears from Matt. xvi. 1-12. For Herod, as well as many of the principal people at that time, were Sadducees (see Jos. xviii. c. 2). They denied the immortality of the soul, and lived as Atheists. So Herod lived in adultery, killed John, and committed many other crimes, having no fear of God. For although he thought that John had risen again in Christ, yet that opinion did not arise, out of faith, but was wrung out of him by fear. Others, with Origen and S. Jerome, understand by leaven the sect of the Herodians, who flattered Herod, saying that he was the Messiah. But that referred to Herod of Ascalon, not Herod Antipas, as I have shown on Matt. xxii. 16.

Ver. 23. And taking the blind man by the hand, He led him out of the town, i.e., outside of Bethsaida, as is plain from ver. 22. He led him forth for the same reason that when He was about to heal the deaf and dumb man He took him aside from the multitude. This was, 1st For the sake of prayer, that, being alone, He might collect His thoughts, and unite Himself wholly to God, and pray the more intently and collectedly. 2nd To fly from the applause of men, and teach us to do the same. 3rd Because the citizens of Bethsaida were unworthy of the miracle of Christ; for although they had seen Him work so many miracles, they would not believe in Him.

And spitting upon his eyes. Fasting spittle does good to the purblind, but does not illuminate those who have actually lost their sight. The saliva, therefore, of Christ was not a natural but a supernatural remedy for blindness, being the instrument by which Christ’s Godhead wrought.

S. Hilarion imitated this miracle by which Christ gave sight to a blind man, as S. Jerome relates in his Life. “A blind woman was brought to S. Hilarion, who said that she had expended all her substance upon physicians. Hilarion said to her, If thou hadst given to the poor what thou hast thrown away upon physicians, Christ the true Physician would have healed thee.”

Laid His hands, i.e., when He had placed His hands upon the eyes of the blind man, and again removed them. For that is improbable which the Scholiast in S. Chrysostom says, that this blind man saw people (ver. 24) when Christ’s hands were over his eyes. For this would have been a new and uncalled-for miracle.

Ver. 24. And looking up, he said, I see men as it were trees, walking. As much as to say, I see something obscurely and confusedly; for I see men walking, but in such a way that I cannot distinguish whether they are men or trees. Just as it happens to ourselves, says Bede; when we see people at a great distance, we can only distinguish men from trees by their motion, because men walk, but trees do not. The word walking must be referred to men, not to trees, as is plain by the Greek. The word walking in the Latin text, however, might refer to trees in this sense: I see men as it were trees split, and therefore two-footed, and so walking. This blind man, therefore, as yet in darkness, saw men as it were through a mist and cloud, in which they appeared greater than they really were, it might be as thick and tall as trees, as by means of magnifying glasses letters appear larger than they are in reality.

It is related of S. Gregory Thaumaturgus, that in the Decian persecution he fled with his deacon to a certain hill. A certain traitor made known where they were to the persecutors, who carefully searched the whole hill to discover Gregory. With strong faith in God, he stood in prayer, with eyes immovable and hands stretched out. But God smote the persecutors with inability to see. They returned and reported that they had seen nothing on the hill except two trees a little distant from one another. When they had gone away, the traitor himself went up the hill and saw two men, Gregory and his deacon, instead of the trees. He acknowledged that it was the work of Divine power that they had appeared to the persecutors to be trees, and he fell down at their feet, and from a traitor became a confessor of the faith. (S. Greg. Nyss. in Vita.)

Mystically: The Scholiast in S. Jerome says, “The blind man is a penitent sinner. He sees men as trees walking, because he esteems every one superior to himself. With David he counts himself unworthy to be called a man, deeming himself to be a dead dog and a flea” (2 Sam. xvi.).

Ver. 25. After that again He laid His hands upon his eyes, and he began to see, and was restored, so that he saw all things clearly. Christ wished not suddenly, but by degrees, perfectly to illuminate this blind man: 1st That He might exhibit miracles of every description. 2nd That this miracle might be more esteemed. 3rd And principally, That He might accommodate Himself to the imperfect faith of the blind man and those who brought him, their faith increasing as the miracle proceeded; and that He might the more kindle in them faith, hope, and desire that it might be brought to a perfect work. “In the first place, He cured this blind man imperfectly,” says Euthymius, “inasmuch as he believed imperfectly, that he who as yet had but a little vision might by means of the little light believe more perfectly, and be healed more completely; for He was the wise Physician.” And by and by he says, “Increase of faith deserved increase of healing.”

Tropologically: Christ wished to teach us that the unbeliever and the sinner are gradually illuminated by God, and that they ought correspondingly to make gradual increase in the knowledge and worship of God. “He did it,” says Bede, “that He might show the greatness of human blindness, which is wont to arrive step by step, and by certain grades, as it were, of progression, at the light of the Divine knowledge.” For as the Scholiast says, “There are degrees of knowledge; neither can any one arrive in a single hour, or, indeed, without considerable time, at perfect knowledge.” We have experience of this in children and scholars, who must be taught and instructed step by step. For if the teacher, being impatient of delay and trouble, should wish to teach them everything at once, he would crush their memory and intellect, so that they would take in nothing. It is like wine when it is poured into a vessel with a narrow neck; if you try to pour it all in at once, you pour in scarcely anything, but nearly the whole is spilled. Worthy of note is the Italian proverb, “Gently, gently, if you would go far;” or the saying of the philosopher, “Progression is by degrees.”

Symbolically: The Scholiast in S. Jerome says, “Christ laid His hands upon his eyes, that he might see all things clearly, that is, that by visible works he might understand things invisible, and which eye hath not seen; and that after the film of sin he might clearly behold the state of his soul with the eye of a clean heart. For blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Ver. 34. In this adulterous generation, of depraved Jews, who are sons of God, though not genuine ones, but like spurious children, the offspring of adultery. For they are degenerate from the faith of their fathers, the Patriarchs, since they will not receive Me, who am the Messiah promised to them. Therefore they are not so much children of God as of the devil. Such are called in Hebrew bene nechar, i.e., children born of a strange, alien, or adulterous father. See what has been said on S. Mat 10:33.

Ver. 39. The kingdom of God, i.e., the glory of the kingdom of God, which is about to be in My transfiguration.

Coming, i.e., appearing, and showing itself to Peter, James, and John. In power, i.e., with great power, glory, splendour, and majesty. (Top )

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

MARK CHAPTER EIGHT

8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

Okay now those of you that chomp at the bit when the preacher goes five minutes over time to quit, take special note. These folks listened for three days! Even at the Bible conferences they used to have they would let you go eat from time to time. Well McDonald’s was not quite prolific back then as they are now.

The people had listened to the Lord for three days. We might assume that they took sleep breaks but how many of us would listen that long without a meal? Really, is there anything interesting enough to keep our attention that long without food? We have a hard time giving three hours to the Lord during a week much less three days. I’m sure it would make a difference if it was Christ Himself speaking, but rather suspect we would complain bitterly if he went past latte time.

This account is different than the feeding that we have already seen in Mark. There is a chart that will show this quite clearly.

Mar 6:41 ffMar 8:1 ff

Had come from “His own country (6.1) Southern coast of Sea of Galilee (7.31)

5 loaves – 2 fishes 7 loaves – few small fishes

12 baskets left over bread/fish7 baskets of meat

5000 ate4000 ate

Into a ship for BethsaidaInto a ship for “parts of Dalmanutha”

There is one item of interest. In 8.19 and 20 Jesus used two different terms for basket. The baskets in the first miracle relates to a wicker basket. We are not told the size. The baskets in the second miracle are reed baskets and may have been somewhat smaller since they can relate to a lunch basket. There does not seem to be any real significance other than maybe volume. Christ was probably just speaking of the baskets used rather than meaning some general term.

Bethsaida is on the northeast coast of the Sea of Galilee while Dalmanutha is of uncertain location but most believe it to be on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee in the area of Tiberias. It is also called “Magadan” according to Robertson (Mat 15:39) In fact Magadon is on somemaps just to the north of Tiberias.

Just a note about the term translated “fasting” might be appropriate. It is not the term that relates to fasting for religious reasons. It is simply a term that relates to going without eating. This is the only time the word is used in the New Testament that I found.

Again we see that the Lord looked upon the people with compassion. He could have been disgusted with them for not bringing their ice chest filled with food,, or their McDonald’s coupons so that they could go get something to eat. He felt pity for them and their situation and wanted to relieve their problem.

I may have mentioned this account before, but bear with me. We had a missionary family for a Sunday’s services. They got up early and drove several hundred miles to make Sunday school. The couple was involved in all services that day so their time with their children was limited.

Having been on deputation for several years I knew some of the rigors of that life and sensed that this family was terribly limited on funds. I also knew that our church always gave their gifts to missionaries by check.

There had been no time for supper so I also knew the kids were going to be hungry ad sensed that there would be no food for the trim home. I went to the grocery store next door and picked up a bunch of snackies and sandwich materials with some pop. I handed the missionary the bags as he climbed into the van and I could see the kids eyes light up with excitement.

I am not saying I had the compassion of Christ but all of us should have compassion and we should be tuned into situations where we might be able to respond to that compassion by filling the needs of others.

How can we be true believers without showing compassion to those around us, whether Christian or lost? We should be ready to assist at any moment and at every opportunity.

Verse six mentions that the Lord prayed or gave thanks before feeding the people. This is our pattern for our own homes. We ought to give thanks for the food that the Lord has provided. We should take this small item from the Lord for a pattern for our homes and be sure to share with your family now and then just why you do it. He is our example and it is our place to follow Him.

Of interest might be the fact that Christ gave the food to the disciples to serve the crowd. He could just as easily given it to twelve from the crowd to distribute, but He chose to have the disciples to serve. Possibly another step in their training one might well assume. Certainly to be used of God one must be able to serve. Many miss this point and feel they should be able to minister to the church rather than serve – the two are one.

The service of the Lord is not only an honor but our duty to Him that has done so much for us. To serve is to do that which the bond slave is to do – the desire of the master.Recently someone on a forum asked pastors what days they took off and one of the replies was that he took Tuesday off because he was not the type of man he would thrust upon his wife for a day. The clear implication was that Sunday put him into a mood other than feeling right and proper.

Christ said that He would build His church and we know that He is the Master thus why would the servant take on the pressure of responsibility for what takes place on Sunday morning? He is not the Master, he is not the boss, he is the servant of almighty God and God is the one that is responsible for how Sunday goes or does not go.

Too many men take upon themselves too much when they consider their ministry. If there is growth it is of the Lord, if there is loss it is of the Lord, it is up to the servant to minister to the people whether many or few. The responsibility of the servant is to show up and do as good a job as possible, and it is up to the master to bless that work according to His desires and plans in the lives of the people.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

C. The second cycle of self-revelation to the disciples 8:1-30

The disciples had not yet understood the lessons that Jesus sought to teach them. Mark constructed his Gospel to show that in His discipleship training Jesus repeated lessons to train them. One writer noticed the following repetitive parallel structure in this section of the Gospel. [Note: Lane, p. 269.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. The feeding of the 4,000 8:1-9 (cf. Matthew 15:32-38)

This miracle repeated the lesson of the feeding of the 5,000 for the disciples who had not learned what they should have from the former miracle (Mar 8:17-21). [Note: See E. Schuyler English, "A Neglected Miracle," Bibliotheca Sacra 126:504 (October-December 1969):300-5.]

"Mark clearly understood that there were two occasions when Jesus miraculously fed a multitude." [Note: Lane, p. 272.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Jesus and His disciples were still in the Decapolis region east of the lake. Three days had passed and the crowds were now hungry, having exhausted the provisions they had brought with them. Perhaps Jesus waited three days to see if the disciples would ask Him to feed this crowd as He had fed the former one (Mar 6:31-44). They did not. Jesus’ compassion for the multitude led Him to articulate their plight. Still the disciples did not ask Jesus to meet the need. Even the similar surroundings did not jog the disciples’ memories.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8:1-10 (Mar 8:1-10)

THE FOUR THOUSAND

“In those days, when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and some of them are come from afar. And His disciples answered Him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And He asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And He commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, He brake, and gave to His disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. And they had a few small fishes: and having blessed them, He commanded to set these also before them. And they did eat, and were filled: and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets. And they were about four thousand: and He sent them away. And straightway He entered into the boat with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.” Mar 8:1-10 (R.V.).

WE now come upon a miracle strangely similar to that of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. And it is worthwhile to ask what would have been the result, if the Gospels which contain this narrative had omitted the former one. Skepticism would have scrutinized every difference between the two, regarding them as variations of the same story, to discover traces of the growth of the myth or legend, and entirely to discredit it. Now however it is plain that the events are quite distinct; and we cannot doubt but that information as full would clear away as completely many a perplexity which still entangles us. Archbishop Trench has well shown that the later narrative cannot have grown out of the earlier, because it has not grown at all, but fallen away. A new legend always “outstrips the old, but here . . . the numbers fed are smaller, the supply of food is greater, and the fragments that remain are fewer.” The latter point is however doubtful. It is likely that the baskets, though fewer, were larger, for in such a one St. Paul was lowered down over the wall of Damascus (Act 9:25). In all the Gospels the Greek word for baskets in the former miracle is different from the latter. And hence arises an interesting coincidence; for when the disciples had gone into a desert place, and there gathered the fragments into wallets, each of them naturally carried one of these, and accordingly twelve were filled. But here they had recourse apparently to the large baskets of persons who sold bread, and the number seven remains unaccounted for. Skepticism indeed persuades itself that the whole story is to be spiritualized, the twelve baskets answering to the twelve apostle who distributed the Bread of Life, and the seven to the seven deacons. How came it then that the sorts of baskets are so well discriminated, that the inferior ministers are represented by the larger ones, and that the bread is not dealt out from these baskets but gathered into them?

The second repetition of such a work is a fine proof of that genuine kindness of heart, to which a miracle is not merely an evidence, nor rendered useless as soon as the power to work it is confessed. Jesus did not shrink from thus repeating Himself, even upon a lower level, because His object was not spectacular but beneficent. He sought not to astonish but to bless.

It is plain that Jesus strove to lead His disciples, aware of the former miracle, up to the notion of its repetition. With this object He marshaled all the reasons why the people should be relieved. “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and some of them are come from far.” It is the grand argument from human necessity to the Divine compassion. It is an argument which ought to weigh equally with the Church. For if it is promised that “nothing shall be impossible” to faith and prayer, then the deadly wants of debauched cities, of ignorant and brutal peasantries, and of heathenisms festering in their corruptions — all these, by their very urgency, are vehement appeals instead of the discouragements we take them for. And whenever man is baffled and in need, there he is entitled to fall back upon the resources of the Omnipotent.

It may be that the disciples had some glimmering hope, but they did not venture to suggest anything; they only asked, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? It is the cry of unbelief — our cry, when we look at our resources, and declare our helplessness, and conclude that possibly God may interpose, but otherwise nothing can be done. We ought to be the priests of a famishing world (so ignorant of any relief, so miserable), its interpreters and intercessors, full of hope and energy. But we are content to look at our empty treasuries, and ineffective organizations, and to ask, Whence shall a man be able to fill these men with bread?

They have ascertained however what resources are forthcoming, and these He proceeds to use, first demanding the faith which He will afterwards honor, by bidding the multitudes to sit down. And then His loving heart is gratified by relieving the hunger which it pitied, and He promptly sends the multitude away, refreshed and competent for their journey.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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