Mark 08
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
1In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. So Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from a great distance.” 4His disciples answered him, “Where can someone get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.” 6Then he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. After he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples to serve. So they served the crowd. 7They also had a few small fish. After giving thanks for these, he told them to serve these as well. 8Everyone ate and was satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9There were about four thousand who ate. Then he dismissed them.
Jesus fed 20,000 earlier. Now, He fed 12,000.
10Immediately he got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The location is unknown, but it was most likely on the coast of the Sea of Galilee.
The Demand for a Sign
11Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for a sign from heaven to test him.
Jesus performed several miracles, but the Jewish leaders wanted another sign.
12Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13Then he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.
Jesus actually gave them the sign of Jonah, which was His resurrection from the dead.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14Now they had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15And Jesus ordered them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!” 16So they began to discuss with one another about having no bread. 17When he learned of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? 18Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? Don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Twelve.” 20“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Seven.” 21Then he said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Leaven was a symbol of evil. The Pharisees and King Herod were feeding the people leaven, which was truth mixed with error.
A Two-stage Healing
22Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus and asked him to touch him.
Bethsaida was a town on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. A blind man was brought to Jesus. It was predicted in the Old Testament that the Messiah would heal blind men.
23He took the blind man by the hand and brought him outside of the village. Then he spit on his eyes, placed his hands on his eyes and asked, “Do you see anything?” 24Regaining his sight he said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” 25Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again. And he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26Jesus sent him home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”
Jesus took the blind man outside of the village perhaps to walk and build a relationship with him. Jesus healed the blind man by placing saliva on his eyes. The spit of man is used for cursing. The spit of God can heal a blind man.
Jesus asked for silence, perhaps to keep away the crowds of those who were only interested in miracles. There are many today who will flock to healing services, not to hear the Word of God, but to experience the supernatural. The charismatics usually do not have enough Bible doctrine to realize that they are seeing counterfeit miracles performed by demons, but performed in the name of God.
Peter’s Confession
27Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
Caesarea Philippi was a city about 25 miles north of Bethsaida near Mt. Hermon. Jesus was gaining celebrity status. Jesus asked the disciples about the reaction of the people.
28They said, “John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets.”
The Old Testament clearly predicted that the Messiah would be both God and man. Jesus told the people plainly that He was the Messiah. However, most of them believed that He was less than God. Many of the cults and isms mix truth with error in order to teach that Jesus is less than deity.
29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
Jesus not only answered that He was the Christ, but He also answered that He was “the Son of the living God”. Peter could only know this information by divine revelation. No one can know the true identity of Jesus unless it is revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.
30Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
The people wanted a Messiah who would free them from the tribute of Rome. They did not yet understand that the Messiah first had to free them from their sins. They would not understand this kind of Messiah until after the cross. Then, the apostles would reveal the real Jesus to the people.
First Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
31Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
At the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, He offered the Messianic Kingdom to the Jewish people. Since they rejected the kingdom and called Jesus demon possessed, Jesus began teaching a new message. The new message was crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus for the atonement of sin.
32He spoke openly about this. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Peter rebuked Jesus for teaching about the atonement.
33But after turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”
Satan does not want the message of Christ’s atonement to go out to the world. He will even influence strong men with strong Bible doctrine to teach otherwise. This is why there are so many modern churches who replace atonement teaching with seeker-friendly teachings, liberal teachings, and charismatic teachings.
Following Jesus
34Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
To become a follower of Christ, one must be willing to deny his own will and follow the will of Christ, even if it leads to martyrdom.
35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.
This is a paradox in which the natural man does not understand. If anyone wants to save his physical life, then he will lose his eternal life. If anyone wants to save his eternal life, then he must lose his physical life. A mature believer will give up his physical life for the sake of the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus is the God-man who died for the sins of mankind and raised Himself from the dead to prove it.
36For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life?
A man cannot take power, fame, and wealth into the kingdom of God. It is better to live in poverty for seventy years and to be wealthy for eternity than it is to live in wealth for seventy years and poverty for eternity. Many people will sell their souls for power, fame, and wealth.
37What can a person give in exchange for his life?
Esau exchanged his birthright for a bowl of stew. Modern unbelievers will exchange their eternal life for power, fame, and wealth. They think that they are intelligent, but it this kind of behavior that is actually the mark of a foolish person.
38For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
The Son of Man is a messianic title of Jesus which was introduced by the prophet Daniel. The generation in which Jesus stepped into was an adulterous and sinful generation. The Jews had committed adultery with the satanic world system of Rome.
There were many in the Roman Empire who were ashamed of Jesus being the Jewish Messiah. When the Son of Man returns to earth to put down the Antichrist, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them. At the Second Coming, Jesus will purge all sinners out of the world. He will send the sheep Gentiles into the Millennial Kingdom and the goat Gentiles will be thrown away like trash into Gehenna, which was the literal name of hell. Gehenna was the burning trashcan of Jerusalem. Gehenna will also be the eternal burning trash can of those who reject Christ. Those who reject Christ would never be happy in the Millennial Kingdom, because they hate God. They are so totally depraved and evil, that they would prefer the Lake of Fire over the Millennial Kingdom.
+++
The divine viewpoint of this chapter is that the natural man is so totally depraved and evil, that he would rather burn in hell than spend time with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom. He would rather spend eternity in the Lake of Fire than to spend eternity with Christ.