What is your mind set on? In this chapter we see one of Jesus’ sharpest rebukes against his disciple Peter going as far as to call him Satan and commanding him to get behind him, or as The Message says, “Get lost.” How would you like Jesus to tell you to “Get lost”?
Peter had followed Jesus for years. Few people would have known more about Jesus than Peter did. Yet we see that on this occasion Peter was prone to set his mind on the cares of the world instead of on Jesus.
How much more diligent must we who know about Jesus but have never seen him physically check our minds and actions to ensure that we are set upon the right path.
STUDY NOTES: 7:1-37
8.1-10: Feeding of the 4,000
As we study the life of Jesus we begin to see again and again the compassion of Jesus. Once again a crowd has gathered to listen to his teachings and they have overstayed their provisions. The crowd had been gathered for three days to listen to Jesus and now they had run out of food. An uncompassionate person could have berated the crowd for not coming prepared or for staying too long but not Jesus. He only had compassion for the crowds. As followers of Jesus our lives likewise should be characterized by compassion (Col 3:12).
When the disciples hear Jesus speaking of his compassion for the people they question the practicality of his compassion. Once again the disciples don’t get it; they didn’t understand who Jesus was. Once aroused the compassion of Jesus never remained inactive. He had provided food for the crowds before so why did the disciples not believe he could do it again? Had they forgotten about the feeding of the 5,000?
Compassion without action is only a nice sentiment or mild empathy at its best. True compassion will always result in action. When Jesus gives us a compassion for his people he desires to act on that compassion and try to help where we can.
Because of his compassion Jesus challenges his disciples and asks them how many loaves of bread they did have. The disciples saw the enormity of the crowd and felt powerless to help. Jesus saw the seven loaves and some fish and concluded, “Hey, I can do something with that.”
Like the challenge to his disciples Jesus challenges us to take what we have, give it over for his use and then see what happens with it. After all, we never know when God may turn our 7 loaves and some fish into enough food to feed 4,000 people. If we give nothing we will never help anybody and eventually what we had will be gone but if we give the little something that we do have we can at least help a few (Mark 8:35).
Have you ever given something small (time, money, word of encouragement) and seen it turned into much more than what you gave?
This crowd was gathered in a place called the Decapolis, where Jesus earlier healed a demonic man and sent him back to his people to tell them what Jesus had done for him (Mark 5). It is quite possible that this large crowed was gathered due to the ministry and work of this once demon possessed man. This man wasn’t just healed to go back to his own life but healed to become a minister and to bring people to Jesus.
8.11-21: Seeking a Sign
The Pharisees sought a great sign, something abnormal that would show them that their long awaited Messiah had arrived. Did Jesus deny them a sign because he desired that their heart stay hardened? No, Jesus denied them an abnormal, spectacular sign because there were already enough signs in the world around them to show them that Jesus was God. Jesus is the God of our common everyday world and he can be found in the everyday world around us just as easily as he can be found in a sign.
The Pharisees once again where not seeking God with there heart they were simply looking for reasons to discount Jesus and prove their own position and importance.
v.15
- leaven was a Jewish symbol of Evil
- leaven of the Pharisees – a hardened heart that is so set upon serving itself that it doesn’t stop to look for God in the world around us
- leaven of Herod – pleasures of this world (John’s beheading… find other histories)
- In our following after Jesus we must be careful to watch the two extremes of legalism (working our way to God) and cheap grace (we have to do nothing but follow the pleasures of the world let God do all) both paths attempt to find happiness and fulfillment in this world. That is their basic fallacy and short coming. The power of Jesus does not reside in earthly power or fulfillment
- Jesus calls us to follow him in a way that is devoid of the influence (leaven) of the ritualistic or the worldly
I love the fact that the disciples still don’t get, it gives my feeble and wondering mind hope that there is still a chance for me to understand. They had experienced Jesus’ provision twice before and now worried about lacking food.
How many times have you had to relearn the same lesson from over and over again? Why didn’t you learn it the first time around?
Take another look at verse 18 and then go back and read Mark 4:11-12 and its surrounding context. How are these two statements similar? With this previous quotation in mind, how does this change or reinforce Jesus’ statement in this passage?
8.22-26: Healing of a Blind Man
Why did Jesus take the blind man outside of the town before healing him?
If we look at the exchange in verse 22 we see that the blind was brought to Jesus and that those who brought the blind man to Jesus were the ones who entreated Jesus to heal him not the blind man himself. During the walk to the outskirts of town the blind man had to trust in Jesus to lead him. What a wonderful picture of our own lives! As Jesus leads us we learn to trust him more and more until he can finally bring us to the place of our healing.
We can often feel like a blind man as we try to navigate the streets and alleys of our own lives. How is our faith strengthened when we allow Jesus to lead us through these obstacles?
Is this what I should see???
In Matthew 11 (Matt. 11:21) Bethsaida is strongly rebuked by Jesus for having seen many miraculous signs and yet they still did not repent and stayed in there sin. By taking the blind man outside the city to heal him Jesus did not give Bethsaida the honor of seeing yet another miracle. It appears there is a limit on the number of signs given to those who choose to ignore them.
This miracle is unique in that it is recorded to have happened gradually and not completely all at once. There is a lesson we can learn here. Our own personal healings and understanding of God’s truth may come gradually and we should not be surprised when it takes time to heal or to understand the truth of God. It’s wonderful when our healing occurs immediately but we must be patient and not lose heart when our healing takes time.
8:27-38: Take up Your Cross and Follow
The disciples had been following Jesus for some time. As we saw earlier in this chapter they did not always understand who Jesus was or what his intentions were. Now it was time for Jesus to test them so that he could make it very clear that He had not come to create an earthly kingdom but to create a heavenly kingdom.
Why did Jesus direct his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah (v. 30)?
Jesus likely directed his disciples to be silent about the revelation that he was the Messiah because the disciples understanding of messiah-ship was still flawed and lacking. Jesus still had to teach them that the Messiah would suffer and be rejected (v. 31).
Peter (v. 33) is referred to as Satan because he had allowed the values of the world to trump the values of God. We must strive to see and live this distinction. When we let the world’s values come before God’s value we are in a way acting as an agent of Satan.
What are the some of the world’s values that you fight against in your own spiritual walk?
Following this rebuke comes one of Jesus’ most compelling exhortations. It is good that we should take the time to meditate on and ponder the consequences of such a calling and take those consequences very seriously. This exhortation was given to the disciples and the crowd that followed Jesus so we can understand it to have a wide application and relevance. To that end we’ll take the rest of this chapter verse-by-verse.
v. 34 – The Price of following
Jesus states the criteria or cost of following him. It’s important to note that here the price is relayed to people who could say they were already following him, His disciples and the crowds. Many among his disciples and the crowd had already left their families to follow Jesus, yet Jesus still repeated the price of his calling.
Reflecting on this occasion in Jesus’ ministry German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer concluded that by reiterating the cost of following himself Jesus freed all who had followed him to this point from their previous commitment to follow him and asked them to ante up again to his call (Discipleship). Following the call of Jesus for our life is not something we do once and then move on. Rather it is a daily choice to get up, pick up our cross and follow Jesus.
v. 35 - The meaning of life
Christ is saying something here about the meaning of life, or at least where life can be found. The conclusion we are all supposed to reach is the fact that a life outside of Christ falls short of being life at all. A life outside of Christ is a life that is controlled by the ideas and values of the individual. The individual thinks he knows best how to run his life and in so running his life in the best way he thinks he can he is actually squandering it away.
A life lived for Christ on the other hand is a life in which man has forfeited his right and actions to try and control his life. Such a man has yielded to Christ’s direction. Therefore he has lost control of his life but finds that his life is now filled and molded by Christ. It is only when we give up our life that we can truly find it.
v. 36 – Life is not about Material Possessions
We can gain the whole world and yet lose our life. How many men have lost their life in the pursuit of material possessions that were much less valuable than the whole world? It’s not rare to find men who will give their life over to the pursuit of riches but never give their life over to God. Even if we don’t consider ourselves slaves to the material possessions of this world we still must fight the desire to want to obtain more and better stuff.
Here Jesus has defined life as something that can only be found outside of the offerings of this world. Jesus says you can have all the world offers and yet not have life. It’s easy to define our lives by the type of job we have or the size of house we live in but those definitions won’t last the test of time. It’s only when we define our lives in view of the call and value Jesus has placed upon them that true value is found.
v. 37 - Abject Poverty
There is nothing we can pay or offer in return for our lives. Why? Because our lives have already been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus and nothing we do or have can ever match the cost that Jesus paid when he shed his blood for our souls… nothing!
v. 38 – Do not be Ashamed
Though He suffered and was rejected there is no shame in following Jesus. Why is that? When the world turns its back on us and rejects us why are we not feel shame?
We are not to be ashamed because when we give our lives over to Jesus he redefines the value system that measures the value of or life. Before we come to Jesus our value is measured by the values of this world, how much power or money do you have. When we come to Jesus he redefines our life to not be about the approval of this world or about the world’s values. Rather our life is now counted valuable simply because we are created beings that Christ died and shed his blood for.
We will only feel shame when we believe what we have is not as worthwhile as what some one else has. If we believe that Jesus Christ is the one thing of supreme value in this world then we should feel no shame in serving Him. Jesus should become so great in our lives that the approval and value of anything else becomes dim.
The warning from Jesus here is so harsh because he lays out the choice so clearly. The choice Jesus gives us is this, “Would you rather have the Glory of the Father and his angels or respect from the world around you?” If you don’t believe in Christ over the values of this world then you don’t believe enough to be one of the ones whom the Father will glory over.
The call of Christ is a call to place Jesus at the center of our value system. It’s not a call to accumulate stuff or be a good person and go to church. It’s a call to live a life that is completed, controlled and measured by Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
When commenting on this passage William Barclay reminds us that “He [Jesus] came not to make life easy but to make men great.” The daily call to follow Jesus is not a call to a live of ease but a call to live a life of greatness in the eyes of God.
It’s not easy to live a life in this world based on a values system that is so opposite to the standard values of this world but the reward for doing so is great. To this end we must all be diligent in the study of God’s word so that we may clearly know what the values of Jesus are and stand together in fellowship and prayer to encourage one another to live up to the calling and commitment of those values.