Hi Sean, first time I've asked a question in ages because I'm usually too busy but I'm always listening to the podcasts, thank you for all the great conten of Scripture. In this story, the healing of the blind man bridges between v21, where Jesus was very . 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? France ( French: [fs] ), officially the French Republic (French: Rpublique franaise [epyblik frsz] ), [14] is a country located primarily in Western Europe. And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. The event before us today comes in vs22-26, the healing of the blind man in Bethsaida. John Piper May 23, 2017. He asked them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven. So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 6. The disciples could not imagine whence so many men should be satisfied with bread here in the wilderness, v. 4. Pentateuch How would we receive it if Jesus said, Walk down death row daily and follow Me? Major Prophets They came forth on purpose to question with him; not to propose questions to him, that they might learn of him, but to cross question with him, that they might ensnare him. From this we know that they could have done better than this. I. Three times Jesus predicts his death (8:31; 9:30-31; 10:32-34). Jesus did not ask this question because He didnt know who He was or because He had a twisted dependence on the opinion of others. All rights reserved. (Mark 8:35-9:1) Why we must take up our cross and follow Jesus. He took himproslabomenos auton. He put His hands on his eyes again: This is the only gradual or progressive healing described in the ministry of Jesus. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Mark 8:22-38: "Jesus Asks The Disciples Who He Is, Then After Peter's Confession Begins To Tell Them Plainly That He Would Suffer, Die, And Be Raised" By Jim Bomkamp Back Bible Studies Home Page 1. We can give thanks that Jesus suffered for our sake and that through Him we have hope and salvation. When he saw such proofs as he every day saw of the power of Christ, he might conclude that he could not be compelled to suffer; the most potent enemies could not overpower him whom diseases and deaths, whom winds and waves and devils themselves, were forced to obey and yield to: and when he saw so much of the wisdom of Christ every day, he might conclude that he would not choose to suffer but for some very great and glorious purposes; and therefore he ought not thus to have contradicted him, but to have acquiesced. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" (2.) 22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. The cross had no other purpose. He didnt make a deliberate choice to reject God and embrace Satan; he simply let his mind settle on the things of men instead of the things of God, and Satan took advantage of it. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Jesus loves people (cf. 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. The Old Testament II. The cross wasnt about religious ceremonies; it wasnt about traditions and spiritual feelings. ii. He led him out of the town. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? During this period, Jesus is struggling with disciples who are blind to the truth that he would teach them. They prove that he is the true Messiah, the Son of God, and Saviour of the world: this the works he did witnessed concerning him; and this his disciples, who were the eye-witnesses of those works, here profess their belief of; which cannot but be a satisfaction to us in making the same inference from them. The Transfiguration. 28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 2. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town., a. Mark 8 runs in a loose parallel of Mark 6:31-7:37. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. General Epistles Jesus encourages a slave rebellion, where the slaves of sin, Satan, and the world rebel against their masters. Mark 8:11-21 Spiritual Blindness, Part 2. No, certainly these things are written, that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God (John 20 31); and this discourse which Christ had with his disciples, will assist us in making the necessary reflections upon the miracles of Christ, and a right use of them. What an absurdity is it for them to desire a sign!" The Gospels Pauline Epistles By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Let's read verses 27-30. Deny himself, and take up his cross: Everybody knew what Jesus meant when He said this. It means that we have to associate ourselves with someone who was despised and executed. 1. Turn with me as I read Mark 8:22-33. Some thoughts on today's scripture. You would have even had a placard across your chest announcing your crime. When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me., a. They demanded of him a sign from heaven, as if the signs he gave them on earth, which were more familiar to them, and were more capable of being examined and enquired into, were not sufficient. And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. Everyone knew that the cross was an unrelenting instrument of death. They could have understood more if they applied themselves more. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. Mark 8:22-26 Jesus' Power over Blindness. What that is that men do, to save their lives, and gain the world, he tells us ( Mark 8:38 ), and of what fatal consequence it will be to them; Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed. perceive ye not yet, neither understand? The meaning of this verse is, Whosoever shall refuse, through pride or wickedness, to acknowledge and serve Christ here, shall be excluded from his kingdom hereafter. Now Christ took this way, (1.) 1. He did not bid his friends lead him, but (which bespeaks his wonderful condescension) he himself took him by the hand, and led him, to teach us to be as Job was, eyes to the blind, Job 29 15. Those that are ashamed of Christ in this world where he is despised, he will be ashamed of in that world where he is eternally adored. Scripture: Mark 8:34-38. You cant gain resurrection life without dying first. The two express the same idea. . b. To be asked to take up a cross would have been really shameful. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Luke-Acts i. Jesus Himself had the opportunity to gain the world by worshipping Satan (Luke 4:5-8), but He found life and victory in obedience instead. How strangely stupid and senseless are ye! Commentary on Mark 8:27-38 Matt Skinner These verses are crucial for understanding the Gospel according to Mark as a whole and for fathoming what it means to be Christian. They asked for a dramatic sign from the sky, something similar to Elijahs fire from heaven (1 Kings 18:38). Peter little thought to have had such a sharp rebuke for such a kind dissuasive, but perhaps expected as much commendation now for his love as he had lately for his faith. It was therefore proper to remind them, not only of the sufficiency, but of the overplus, of the former meals; and justly were they chidden for not understanding what Christ therein designed, and what they from thence might have learned. Those need not fear wanting, that have Christ to live upon. Christ doth not forbid him to tell it to others, but he must not tell it to any in the town. b. Calling Jesus the Messiah was right on the mark but easily misunderstood. Avoiding the walk down death row with Jesus means that we may gain the whole world, and end up losing everything. Mark 8:22-26 (ESV) 22 And they came to Bethsaida. In the second place, it was other people that brought him; he did not come of his own accord. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind Me, Satan! How many loaves do you have? Bethsaida, in the day of her visitation, would not know the things that belonged to her peace, and now they are hid from her eyes. c. You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men: Jesus exposed how Peter came into this satanic way of thinking. The picture is of a man, already condemned, required to carry his cross on the way to the place of execution, as Jesus was required to do. (Wessel), iii. The account they gave him, was such as plainly intimated the high opinion the people had of him. i. Actually, Jesus called us to rebel against the established order of this world. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. They claim that this was merely a retelling of the feeding of the 5,000. Take heed, beware: Jesus essentially said, Beware of the evil way the Pharisees and Herod think of the Kingdom of the Messiah, for in a short time I will reveal the truth of it to you. Both Herod and the Pharisees idealized the Kingdom as domineering power and authority. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village." ( Mark 8:22-26 ESV) 3. 1. 8. The Messiah will be the most destructive conqueror in history, smashing his enemies into utter extinction. (Barclay). Essentially, they said, You have done a lot of small-time miracles. Avoiding the walk down death row with Jesus means that we may gain the whole world, and end up losing everything. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. (2.) In this chapter, we have, I. Christ's miraculous feeding of four thousand with seven loaves and a few small fishes, ver 1-9. 1. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Message Excerpt. 7. Why does Jesus ask for their thoughts about His identity, instead of just telling them who He is? The Romans would parade you through town for everybody to see. In short. The directions Christ gave the man he had cured, not to tell it to any in the town of Bethsaida, nor so much as to go into the town, where probably there were some expecting him to come back, who had seen Christ lead him out of the town, but, having been eyewitnesses of so many miracles, had not so much as the curiosity to follow him: let not those be gratified with the sight of him when he was cured, who would not show so much respect to Christ as to go a step out of the town, to see this cure wrought. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. This demand for a special sign was an extreme example of the arrogance and pride of the Pharisees towards Jesus. Let us enquire then, if we see aught of those things which faith is the substance and evidence of; and if through grace we see any thing of them, we may hope that we shall see yet more and more, for Jesus Christ will perfect for ever those that are sanctified. Deny himself, and take up his cross: Everybody knew what Jesus meant when He said this. 1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob . If you have a prayer request, have questions about Jesus, want to know how you can get plugged into Immanuel, or just want to say "hi", click here for our online . Let him deny himself, and take up his cross: It was bad enough for the disciples to hear that Jesus would suffer, be rejected, and die on a cross. a. Raja jin tentu saja tak terima dan dengan licik ia ingin merebut kembali hutan tersebut. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. i. How they misunderstood this caution. 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. Previous post The Resurrection of Jesus (Romans 4:25) Next post 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 . b. (Mark 8:27-30) Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah. a. II. What Peter said was in contradiction to the spiritual authority over him. The disciples might easily understand it, if they had not been very much under the power of prejudice: or, it intimates that he spoke it cheerfully and without any terror, and would have them to hear it so: he spoke that saying boldly, as one that not only knew he must suffer and die, but was resolved he would, and made it his own act and deed. David Guzik commentary on Mark 9 describes the transfiguration of Jesus, and how Jesus casts out a difficult demon from a boy. It sounds strange to say, You will never live until you walk down death row with Jesus, but that is the idea. Jasprit Jasbirsingh Bumrah. Therein appeared the faith of those that brought him. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. MARK 8:22-38. The Old Testament Are we invited by the words and works of Christ to follow him? We can imagine Jesus hoping one of the disciples might say, Jesus, You did this before. What the caution was (v. 15); "Take heed, beware, lest ye partake of the leaven of the Pharisees, lest ye embrace the tradition of the elders, which they are so wedded to, lest ye be proud, and hypocritical, and ceremonious, like them." We looked at Jesus' miracle of the feeding of the 4,000. If those that are spiritually blind, do not pray for themselves, yet let their friends and relations pray for them, that Christ would be pleased to touch them. Peters rebuke of Jesus was evidence of the leaven mentioned in Mark 8:15. The cross wasnt about self-promotion or self-affirmation. The Pharisees tempted Jesus to perform a miraculous sign just as Satan tempted Him to do so in the wilderness. THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS Mark 8:22-38; Mark 9:1 Our attention has been drawn to the Master's sighs; here, however, was another characteristic act. Because he would not tie himself to a method, but would show with what liberty he acted in all he did. Active. Mark 8:11-21 Spiritual Blindness, Part 1. d. You are the Christ: Peter knew the opinion of the crowd though complimentary towards Jesus wasnt accurate. III. Get behind Me, Satan! i. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Because Peter couldnt handle a suffering Messiah, he rebuked Jesus. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. THE CONTEXT This lesson is bracketed by the story of Jesus healing a blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-26) and another blind man, Bartimaeus, at Jericho (10:46-25). IV. 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. The experiences we have had of God's goodness to us in the way of duty, greatly aggravate our distrust of him, which is therefore very provoking to the Lord Jesus.