As you (hopefully) know, I’ve been working through a quick survey of the Gospel of Mark this month with my wife, a few students and staff. I normally won’t post these as blog posts, but this one was just too good. I am posting them online as HTML pages and linking them to the outline, as well as sending them out in email form each morning (let me know if you want me to add you to the email list).
Credit: the outline and many of the thoughts are from James R. Edwards’ excellent commentary on Mark.
This is starting to get really exciting, hold on to your britches.
Removing the Veil
Part 1 (8:10-30)
Here we reach Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, which divides Mark in two like the Rocky Mountains. Before the confession, Jesus was criss-crossing the Sea of Galilee doing ministry, afterwards He’s heading resolutely to Jerusalem. Before the confession He was working with the masses, after He’s privately teaching His disciples. After the confession, He solemnly says “I tell you the truth” a dozen times – something He’d only said before once (3:28). Before the confession, He’s casting out demons and telling people to be quiet and not tell anyone who He is – we see none of this afterwards.
A Sign of Disbelief (8:10-13)
Jesus goes in the boat to Dalmanutha, a region probably on the Westernmost shore of the Sea of Galilee, just below the cliffs of Arbel. The Pharisees “come out” against Him, asking Him for a “sign from heaven”. This is different from the word for miracle – Jesus has been doing lots of miracles, but what they’re asking for is “a sign from heaven,” proof that God Himself is cool with what Jesus has been doing. Jesus response, though it doesn’t come across so much in English, is total dismay or despair, groaning in His spirit, signifying that He’s being pushed to the limit. His response of “no sign will be given to this generation” is literally a Jewish idiom that is the equivalent of “over my dead body” (Edwards: “if a sign shall be given to this generation, may I die”).
Right away, Jesus gets back in the boat and takes off. He has so had it with the Pharisees; their hardness of heart and total unbelief has pushed Him to the edge. They want “proof positive”. He’s been doing crazy-awesome miracles all along – He doesn’t require blind faith – but He does require some faith.
The Enemy Within (8:14-21)
In the boat on the way back, Jesus encounters more unbelief – but this time from His own disciples! He uses a riddle involving yeast to warn them to watch out for the hypocrisy and traps of the Pharisees and Herod and they think “yeast?! Oh no, we forgot bread!!” As if their unbelieving response to Jesus request “You give them something to eat” wasn’t bad enough (“Shall we go out and buy 200 days’ wages worth of bread?!”), now they’re freaking out because they forgot to bring the bread.
It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t simple chew the disciples out for having no faith, but He points to the root of their lack of faith: not seeing or understanding. Genuine, saving faith isn’t blind faith, it’s faith based on hearing, seeing and understanding – paying attention to the miracles that Jesus has done for us.
The Touch that Gives Sight (8:22-26)
I’ve always been confused with this miracles – why Jesus does it in stages, making the man’s vision blurry and asking him if he sees – and the guy seeing things blurry “I see men, but they look like trees walking around”. I was like “What?! Why not just heal him all the way, the first time?”
But I never put it in context. It occurs right after Jesus chews the disciples out for not seeing, not understanding – “do you not yet perceive? … having eyes do you not see?” This miracles is all about sight – in the English several of the words for sight are the same, but the original Greek has eight different words for the nine instances of “seeing” in 8:23-25!
The man’s blurry vision at the beginning – “I see men, but they look like trees” – is parallel to the disciples after Jesus confession of the Christ. They recognize that Jesus is the One – the Messiah – but they (like everyone else) are expecting a military campaign and a reigning king. Their vision is still blurred. It’s not until after the resurrection that they will be able to see clearly, like the man at the end of the healing.
Peter’s Declaration of Jesus’ Messiahship (8:27-30)
I really like how Jesus asks “who do others say I am?” and “how about you, who do you say I am?” as two distinct questions, forcing the disciples to think for themselves and venture into the open with their own beliefs on the matter. I also love the question – it’s not about what Jesus has done, it’s about who He is. Who do you say Jesus is? I need to ask this question more often of teens who respect Jesus and Christianity, but haven’t taken the plunge. Who do you say Jesus is? Is He the Christ, the very Son of God?
Jesus, we honor You as the Son of God, the Judge of all, the coming King. We swear loyalty to You, yet we’re acutely aware of our own weakness and faithlessness. Please teach us to see, to hear, to pay better attention to You and all You’ve said and done for us, that our faith may grow and our lives be changed, in order that You may be exalted on earth, like You are in heaven.
– peter
. She’s from the UK, so it’s very difficult to get her full album (yet), but you can get her earlier EP and watch the videos Earthquake and Remedy online.
