In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees Demand a Sign
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8 ESV
Mark 8
How can one feed these people - The disciples are still in Jesus seminary, and this is following many miracles, including the feeding of the five thousand. Matthew and Mark record this other incident of food, and Jesus' display of power over the elements. Not every miracle is mentioned in the Bible, and I think the reason for the mention of two feeding miracles bears significance as a gage of how far the disciples have come.
How many loaves do you have - I imagine this was said with a measure of disappointment. I think they should have just brought Him what they had and trusted Him with the increase. He has already told them that He has compassion on the crowd, that they have been with Him for three days, and He doesn't want them to faint of hunger on the way home. His intent should be fairly clear, and the precedence is the feeding of an even larger crowd.
Seven baskets full - These were larger, different baskets than the ones used in the feeding of the 5,000. It is interesting that in giving up the few loaves, and the fish that oddly showed up later, the disciples weren't out anything, the crowd was fed and they were fed, and there was a surplus of food left over. It is human fallen nature to hoard, to live with a tight grip upon what we think is ours rather than bringing it to the Lord. It becomes so much more in His hands, by His power, with us as trusting bystanders, ready to disperse the Lord's blessings.
Large baskets (4711)(spuris) refers to large flexible baskets, large enough to hold a man (which they did in Acts 9:25!). All except Acts 9:25 describe the 7 baskets of left-over bread in feeding the 4000. Contrast the 12 baskets left over from feeding the 5000 in Mark 6:43, a different Greek word kophinos. In both Matthew and Mark when Jesus describes the feeding of 5000 and 4000, He uses these two words with the same distinction (Mark 8:19-20+.; Matt. 16:9-10+). The two terms are always kept distinct in reference to the two miracles, evidence that different kinds of baskets were used. - Precept Austin
Seeking a sign from heaven to test Him - In Matthew we learn that His resurrection, the sign of Jonah, who spent 3 days in the belly of the whale, would be their sign. He was going to fulfill all righteousness, become the Passover Lamb, be buried and then rise again on the third day. They are wanting a sign in the heavens as though He is hear not as the Lamb, but as the Lion, as though He is coming now to reign on His throne for a thousand years. Surely they have read the prophets, have heard of the suffering Servant in Isaiah, the One born of a woman, Whose heel will be bruised in crushing the head of the serpent, that One is here now and they are rejecting Him just like Isaiah predicted. If they were so earnest in wanting to know, wanting a sign from heaven as though He was Gandalf visiting the Shire, well those Magi from the east followed His star at His birth. The voice of the Father was heard at His baptism, and the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. There is no end to their unbelief, and their probing for the truth is by design no way to find it, for the truth is what they don't want. It is like removing all the evidence from the scene and then going in to look for evidence, demanding a specific type of evidence, that which will usher in the kingdom according to you but not according to God.
…2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. 3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.… Isaiah 53: 2-4
They had forgotten to bring bread - They must have left the 7 baskets with the crowd, some commentators think because of the distance some had to travel back.
Leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod - Both had corrupted the role of shepherds, the Pharisees as religious leaders led men astray with bad doctrine. Herod was corrupt, and as a man in the position of a leader he promoted sins which went against God. This is the leaven that comes from the culture infiltrating the church, and the Herodians were Jews that favored Herod, were not disgusted by his adultery, incest, fornication. There are liberal churches today that are drunk on the philosophies of the world, wanting the fish and the bread but rejecting the call of repentance. They speak of love while leading people off a cliff straight into the hands of a Holy and just God.
In context leaven speaks of the evil influence of these men for it was a symbol of corruption. The poison of these snakes was like a little piece of leaven which could permeate all the dough with dramatic negative effects. Matthew's account did not mention the leaven of Herod, which probably refers to his immoral conduct, etc. Utley adds "The Herods represented the opposite problem—the worldliness, the status quo at any cost!" (Mark 8 Commentary)
…30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32Remember the early days that you were in the light. In those days, you endured a great conflict in the face of suffering.… Hebrews 10: 30-32
Do you not yet understand - They missed the whole teaching about the Pharisees, went right over their heads. They took a spiritual lesson and turned it to a physical problem that wasn't a problem if they would have been paying attention. Yes, they, we, are all that slow to believe and trust in God.
And He was saying to them, Do you not yet understand? - The disciples are still slow to put together the pieces of the puzzle so that they can see the full picture of Jesus and His enemies! Matthew's passage adds details, for there Jesus clearly tells the disciples what He was not speaking of literal bread, but of the leaven-like influence of the religious leaders. Mark does not tell us they understood, but Matthew's account says that finally they "understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Mt 16:12) They finally saw the spiritual lesson that Jesus had been trying to teach them.
Saying is imperfect tense - Expositors says: “If we may emphasize the imperfect tense of elegen (ἐλεγεν), He said this over and over again, half speaking to them, half to Himself.” There was agony of soul back of this questioning, in view of the tremendous issues at stake. Matthew in reporting this happening gives us the information that Jesus finally had to explain to them that He was talking about the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees. - Precept Austin
Led him out of the village - He doesn't refuse the man's request but takes him away from the populace. The healings were very secondary to His ministry of preaching the gospel and fulfilling that which the OT had spoken about Him.
Spit on his eyes - I'm not certain of the speculations of commentators on this approach, why it was gradual, why He spit, was this to assess how blind or what? I am stumped here.
Hiebert - The spitting on his sightless eyes was a symbolic act which the man could feel, assuring him that Jesus would deal with those eyes. The accompanying touch of His hands gave the man further assurance. For a blind man, touch means more than sound. (Gospel of Mark - An Expositional Commentary)
You are the Christ - His disciples see Him as the Messiah, which He is, but He charges them to tell no one, for He needs to go to the cross at the appointed time. He has come to offer Himself as a sacrifice for many, not to set up His earthly throne at this time, and this will play deep into the mind of Judas.
And He said this plainly - Mark notes this, and Peter is quite possibly telling Mark this, the Lord warned us, He told us He would be tried and rejected, scorned as the worst sort of criminal, cursed like everyone who is hung on a tree.
Get behind Me Satan - In other accounts, preceding this conversation Peter is commended for realizing that Jesus is the Christ. He is one blessed with such a beautiful knowledge, that which flesh and blood did not make known to him. But now his flesh rises up against the thought of Jesus carrying out His most sacred mission, the very thing that Peter and all of us so desperately need. Everyone talks so much about feelings these days, and they put a great deal of weight upon it, well I think Peter is saying this from such a place. He has come to love the Lord, to admire His untaintedness, His compassion, His power, His friendship, and the last thing He wants to see is this Man be abused by far lesser, unfathomably lesser men. How gross the devil is though, he can play to our weakness and if we are led by our feelings rather than what the word of God says, than this is the place where he will make his play, tempt our hearts, and get us to justify our thoughts. From our thoughts will come our actions and those most led by feelings will be most quick to speak, yet the Lord recognizes the source, "you are not speaking on behalf of God, you speak on behalf of the one who does not want Jesus to defeat sin at the cross."
Let him deny himself - The cost of discipleship, and we get a sense of Judas and so many others as they turn away at this. It is too much to receive scorn, though Christ did, too much for me to be insulted, though Christ was, to be hungry, He was 40 days, to be forsaken, He was in the worst way, and so men contrive another gospel, that which fills their pockets and their bellies. Men want to be worshiped, everyone is fighting for likes on Facebook and Twitter, women are rejecting God's demand of modesty in order to be idolized by men who refuse to shepherd. Children are throwing away the statutes of God for the popularity of the crowd. Men and women are weather vanes in the work place, not sure of what they believe till the company and the culture tell them. It's not about you, not about building a stage to display your greatness, you didn't even make you. It's about denying you and attaching yourself to Him. It's about Jesus, One Way, One Truth, He is the life, and if you care about anybody you come in contact with, then you will not deny that even if the cost of it is denying yourself, losing your "friendship", your esteem, your popularity. Pride is the opposite of sanity, it is narcissism, vanity. Jesus said, "if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto Me." We must decrease.
36A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; 38and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.… Matthew 10: 36-38
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