Mark-Lesson 12

Lesson 12

Questions Demanding an Answer

Mark 8: 1–38

Knowing the Scriptures

Studies in Mark’s Gospel

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

In Mark 7 we read of Jesus’ direct confrontation of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day.  Isn’t it sad that Jesus’ most harsh rebukes were not to people involved in outright sin, but those who were supposed to be examples of holiness?  As you may remember, the word Pharisee means set apart ones, or holy ones.[i] Yet in their hypocrisy they depended on their own interpretations of the Law as superior to the Law itself, often just so they could find a way around it and maintain their definition of cleanliness.  Jesus struck at the heart of their hypocritical ways by redefining what truly makes one clean versus unclean in God’s sight.  We also examined how to bear godly fruit in our lives, not the rotten fruit that our flesh can produce.  The chapter closed with two examples of Jesus demonstrating what He had just taught, retreating into primarily Gentile territory where He healed the daughter of a woman that the Pharisees would have considered unclean and would have passed by, and then healing a man of his deafness and inability to speak clearly.  What a picture this was of this man being fully restored to his physical senses while the Pharisees deafened themselves to and miscommunicated God to those around them.  This week we will reach the climax of the first part of our studies with a famous discussion at Caesarea Philippi.  Until this point Mark had been emphasizing Jesus’ Galilean Ministry, but now we will enter the period of Jesus’ ministry aiming toward Jerusalem (Mark 8:27-10:52).  The final part of our studies will be examining the passion of the Son of Man in Mark 11-16.

It is interesting that the more we dig into Mark we find it isn’t the “comic book Gospel” thrown together in non-stop action it appears to be at first glance, but we can see how this is a very well crafted account to minister to the group Mark wrote to.  James Brooks pointed out how Mark carefully structured Chapters 6–8 after the same pattern to repeat the important lessons Jesus was trying to teach His thick-headed disciples:[ii]

Let’s turn to those lessons that speak to us as well in this important chapter.

DAY ONE:  Fed to the Full

Please carefully read Mark 8:1-9 and answer the following questions.

1.  What circumstances did Jesus and His disciples find themselves in, and what did Jesus say about this (v. 1-3)?

2.  Jesus’ solution to the problem for the people was carefully planned out, done methodically, miraculously, and with a ministry purpose.[iii] As we saw in the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus was moved by compassion, a gut feeling that wells up in one’s inner being that leads to just having to do something about it.  Here He had compassion and concern about the physical and spiritual well being of the crowd.  How did the disciples react familiarly, and what did Jesus order happen (v. 4-7)?

3.  What a blessing to think that God Himself thinks about our struggles, especially when we like this crowd are faint, weak, desponding, and faint hearted.  What comfort about this do we find in passages such as Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:14-16, and 1 Peter 5:7? What are some other passages like these that comfort you when you are feeling worn down and beat up?

4.  After Jesus blessed the seven loaves and few small fish they found, what was the result (v. 8, 9)?

SIDELIGHT: FED TO THE FULL

There are some things of significance here in verses 8-9 that we should understand to get the full picture. We notice the number seven stands out. Without going crazy over numerology, it is important to remember that seven in the Bible is used to reflect completion and perfection of something; thus the number six is the number of man, reflecting incompleteness without the perfection of salvation in Jesus Christ.[iv]  The baskets mentioned here weren’t small hand baskets, but large ones made from ropes, sort of like a hamper large enough for a person to fit in, like Paul did when he was lowered over a wall in a basket (Acts 9:25).[v] The Greek wording tells us these people were filled to the full, and there were not just crumbs left over, but an overabundance or surplus of food, no doubt that the people gladly took with them on the way.  The crowd of 4,000 also strikes us.  Matthew’s counterpart of this story (Matthew 15:38) stated that there were 4,000 men besides women and children, and why Mark didn’t say this isn’t known.  If that was the case and Matthew’s account is not of a different feeding not recorded elsewhere, there could have been up to 16,000 people fed that day[vi]...fed to the full with plenty left over!

Scripture Memory:  This week we will be memorizing Mark 8:34b-35.  Review the passage several times throughout the day each day this week, and by the end of the week, you should have it memorized completely.

He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.”  (Mark 8:34b-35, nkjv)