CONCERN OF CHRIST What of those who chose to save their life? What then? Eternally lost, undone, hopeless. Ashamed now of Him – concerned about their reputation – looking for gain – losers. What profit if I am a friend to everyone – popular – sought after What profit if people look at me and think my religion makes me good? What profit if I am successful in business, rising higher and higher each year What profit if my learning opens doors to the intellectual pursuits I longed for What profit if I travel the world and millions know my name as a leader What profit if I have prepared everything for my family’s well-being and my retirement What loss when I am young, I excel in every endeavor and lose to greed What loss when I am middle-aged, and my life consists of my possessions What loss when I am old and have no peace, contentment, or comfort What loss when all people have to measure me by is, “He was a good man” What loss if I have never been saved from sin and hell What loss if I leave this life alone, without God, without Christ, without hope? Because the worth of a soul is greater to God than the world – I must be saved! Because this life is my only time of preparation for the eternal future – I must prepare now!
Feeding four thousand, v. 1-8 The Lord Jesus Christ had previously fed five thousand men besides women and children, who were probably Jewish for the most part. He had made provision for His own then, but even though they ate of the bread He created to meet their need, they left Him, and “many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” The cost was too great. As a nation, they rejected Him, but many individuals gathered unto Him in a separate place far from the bustle of the world that followed their leaders. Most continued in the traditions and religious activities without the presence of the Lord Jesus and apparently found that more comfortable.
In this miracle of feeding four thousand, the disciples didn’t come to Him, calling His attention to the needs of the people. The people had been without food for three days, and the Lord called the disciples to Him, drawing their attention to the need. He was the one motivated by compassion for the people. He was the one who gave the command to sit and rest. He was the one who took into His hands what was needed and gave thanks for it. He, through the help of His disciples, satisfied the needs of the people.
That is what our Lord does for us. He knows our needs and, with love, nourishes and cares for His own people. We are inadequate to meet our own needs, let alone the needs of others. But, “Little is much when God is in it.” What He gives us from His bountiful storehouse of grace, we give Him thanks for and distribute it to others. The free, undeserved favor of our God of love toward us moves our hearts in gratitude and thanksgiving to Him. He then allows us to step out in faith in His full provision, and pass on to others that we have received from Him.
Jewish leaders demand a sign, v. 9-13 It seems that the Pharisees were waiting for Jesus whenever He was in public, with animosity deep in their souls. They had tried to explain away all the miracles He had done by attributing them to coincidence, luck, or evil power, but not as the work of One who was the Son of God, God’s Perfect Servant. They would not accept the abundance of signs of divine authority they had seen, and that was happening all over Galilee, Decapolis, and other areas. The Lord Jesus demonstrated His power over the hosts of hell when He cast out demons. He showed His power in creation by feeding thousands of people with a mere handful of food. He instantly created huge amounts of food with His creational power. He demonstrated His authority over death, sickness, and disease, including the soul-damning disease of human sin. He forgave sins, and the lives of people were changed.
When there are those who are opposed to God, His Gospel, and His sovereign authority over the whole universe, they will suffer the consequences of that rejection in God’s own time. God does not force people into the kingdom of God. Like the Pharisees and Sadducees in the past, people who ignore the obvious evidence of divine authority have chosen to follow the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The result will be that they will be eternally lost and will be forever in darkness: moral, spiritual, and physical darkness. The torments of the rejectors of our Lord Jesus Christ will not be just because they did not believe in Him, but their hearts will remain forever hardened against God. Anger, animosity, bitterness, remorse, and all that is associated with an anti-God mind will remain forever burning in their soul. They will not want others they know to associate with them in their chosen state of mind and soul.
To demand that the Lord Jesus produce a sign from heaven was like they wanted an Old Testament type of sign like an earthquake, fire, and lightning from heaven that turns rocks into gravel or produces tons of manna and quail to sweep over them. Those kinds of things had already been done. Bread and fish, the voice of God, a dove –all evidence of grace, love, and forgiveness of sins that come from One who instantly calmed the sea and stopped the wind. In the wilderness centuries before, His signs were of power, judgment, and justice. When our Lord was here physically, grace and truth came, the same as they do today—no wonder the Lord groaned deeply in His spirit at the sins of those men of unbelief. One wonders at the awfulness of unbelief now, as people deliberately turn away from the grace of God presented in the Gospel message.
God is doing “mighty works” in our day when the spiritually blind are made to see by faith. When they see the Savior taking their place on the cross of Calvary as the sacrifice for their sin; they are made to see. Spiritually dead are made alive in Christ as a new creation, born again into the family of God. There is an obvious contrast in the spiritual life of believers who live holy, righteous, and godly lives in this present world when seen against the moral darkness and spiritual deadness of those who don’t know God and love not our Lord Jesus Christ. Reality is seen when God’s people shine as lights in the world.
Warnings against wrong teaching, v. 14-21 Like the disciples who were again in the boat with the Lord, we can get so occupied with material needs that we forget the power of our Lord, who, in grace, makes provision for all of our needs. We can’t do anything about the refusal of others to accept the “grace and truth” that has come through our Lord Jesus Christ. But we should never misunderstand the teaching and provision of divine grace. Rather than pay heed to all the things that are taught by people on television programs, the internet, or in popular public gatherings of multitudes; we need to commit ourselves to get our understanding from God’s word.
Natural reasoning obscures spiritual understanding. It lowers divine truth to the limited way of “looking at things” through natural intelligence. There is a great distance between the words and ideas of people and the word of God, “which effectually worketh in you that believe.” It is possible for believers to “not remember” the fullness of the provisions given to us by our Lord Jesus. He offers us His wisdom and grace, which we can receive and to which we always have access when we reach out in faith and take what He gives us in His word.
The case of the blind man, v.22-26 There was an urgency in the actions of the Lord Jesus as He approached the end of His ministry. He wanted His disciples prepared for what was ahead of them, so for their sake, much of what He did during the last of His Galilean ministry was teaching by example and by word. His teaching about the leaven of false teaching, took place as they were crossing in the boat to Bethsaida. There, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, begging Him to give him eyesight.
In a different method, Jesus took the hand of the blind man in His comforting hand and led him away from all those people who would have been staring at Him out of curiosity and anticipation. They wanted a king. He wanted to be their personal Savior and Lord. This is like a type of Israel that was spiritually blind. The Lord called disciples and believers in Him to separate from skepticism, doubt, and rejection, and go outside the camp to Him personally. The observers saw Him as the Messiah, but not as the Son of God and the Savior of sinners.
The significance of the two touches on the blind man’s eyes by the Lord seems to be that we need God’s grace to get any sight, even though it may be limited at first. What the blind man saw first was like great big men moving vaguely before him. The opening of spiritual eyesight may be different in people. Spiritual apprehension does not come at once for some people. We need God’s grace continually so that we can “see clearly.” When we see men for who they are, and we see our own weaknesses and inability; then we will clearly see Jesus for who He is in all His holiness, perfection, grace, and love.
The man who received his sight was sent directly to his home by the Lord rather than go to where people were waiting to gawk at him and make a big fuss. When they did see him, there would have been no denying God was at work and Jesus had healed the man, even though they didn’t see it. The evidence of the work of Christ was there, so they had to accept by faith that Jesus did the healing. It was real and could not be ignored or discounted even though there wasn’t a big crowd to see it happen. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Evidence of reality isn’t done in the drama of a moment, but in the consistency of a life lived for God.
Peter’s Confession, v.27-30 This paragraph is the turning point of the Gospel of Mark. The Lord had avoided the big crowds who had wanted to make Him their political king. They had missed the whole purpose for which He had come. His teaching wasn’t what the majority wanted. They wanted Him to be in power so they could get what they wanted for themselves. In a private place somewhere in the highlands of what we call Lebanon today, Jesus posed a vital question to His disciples. “Who do men say that I am?”
It was very important for Him to know what people thought about Him, but He knew that in Himself. So, it was important for His disciples to know for themselves, what people thought. They would be running into the same difficulties later on in their own public ministry of the Gospel. He knew everyone's thoughts, but the disciples needed to make a real commitment to Him personally. He took this rather lengthy journey to an isolated place, which impressed the disciples with the importance He attached to the commitment they would make. The whole of Christianity is based on a right understanding of who the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ is. He was the Perfect Servant of God, but there was more to Him and His work than service.
Christianity is more than a philosophy; it is a body of doctrinal teachings and a code of ethics that establishes an unchanging standard of morality. It is the good news of a Person; God, who was found in fashion as a man in order to become obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He is the “Rock” upon which we are built. He is the “Fortress” where we find our safety. He is the “Savior” who has rescued us. He is the “Redeemer” who has paid the full price to redeem us from the consequences of our sins, by dying for us on the cross. He is our risen “Lord” to whom we owe our allegiance, obedience, and loyalty.
The Pharisees and rulers had made it plain who they thought He was. He was a “friend of publicans and sinners,” and that was it as far as they were concerned. As such, He was a threat to their control over the minds, lives, and money of the people. The Lord knew who His disciples would soon be reaching out to with the Gospel, so He wanted them to identify the people to whom they would be witnessing. John the Baptist was certainly a preacher who warned the people. Elijah had raised a boy from the dead. Prophets were people whom God had used as a conscience for the nation of Israel. Jesus was all of those things.
Peter’s simple statement of faith did not complicate anything. “Thou art the Christ” leaves no doubt as to what they believed and in whom they believed. They had seen Him, heard His teaching and their hands had “handled the word of life.” They knew He was sent by the Father, and they knew He was “full of grace and truth.” There was no lofty declaration of their faith in this statement. Peter just plainly stated the facts as they knew them, and the Lord Jesus was satisfied with that answer.
We don’t know everything we should all at once. As we move through this life of faith, every day is a day of new things. Sometimes, it is a new truth that has been there all the time but has now become clear to us. Other times, we have new experiences of God’s faithfulness, and our spirits are lifted high as we worship and praise Him for answering prayer, opening doors for the Gospel, and confirming our faith. Whatever we might say to the question; “Whom do you say that I am?” would be quite inadequate. Who can define the infinite, eternal God? Who can adequately declare His glory, majesty, dominion, and power? So, sometimes, the best thing we can do is identify Him in a personal way; “My Savior, my Redeemer, my God, my Lord!”
Prediction of His death, v. 34-38 There had been illustrations of the cross work in the teaching and practices of our Lord Jesus Christ before this time. At this turning point in His ministry, the Lord Jesus spoke openly and unmistakably about His death, burial, and resurrection. Until this time, it likely would have been premature for the Lord to be so open and precise about what would happen to Him. It is not always wise for us to speak in haste to family and friends regarding some things we have to deal with in our lives. People are not always ready to hear disturbing news, and it may be best to wait for a better time or until children are more mature. It may be best to give a little bit of information and gradually add to it until the whole picture of a matter is revealed.
Peter’s confession as to who the disciples knew Jesus to be and the assurance he had clearly stated, apparently on behalf of the twelve, opened the way for the Lord to let them know ahead of time what was coming. To not have given a warning before the event would have made it hard for them to handle when it came, and to have accepted, without doubts, the whole of the doctrine of the Messiah. Even though they didn’t understand much of what and why His suffering, death, and resurrection were going to happen; at least they knew what He had told them.
Much of what we learn as believers come to us line-upon-line and precept-upon-precept; here a little and there a little. By listening and learning, we can gradually come to the full light of understanding things that happen without hitting a panic button or being too unnerved as we look ahead.
Sometimes, words are spoken, and we are not sure what they mean. Later, as time passes, we learn they didn't say what it seemed to mean to us when we first heard them. Plain speaking needs to be done with grace and truth so those who hear will be able to understand the meaning and the worth of the message contained in a few words fitly spoken. Usually, hearers can recognize when vague words spoken are to put them off until some later day. Then, when the time is more opportune, this message will be more than just a token, and we will learn what the speaker really meant to say.
To speak the truth means I make sure the listeners understand the message the words convey. They shouldn't seem trivial but should be given with compassion and empathy, and the salt will season the grace. That way, the importance of the message is not overlooked, and it does not mislead anyone from the path of faith. Not everything we hear will make us feel happy or content because there are warnings to give. Kingdom living today does not mean everything is easy and smooth. When we bear the cross of identification with Christ, the world thinks we are losers.
The big picture of what is going on in the kingdom of God today is very different from what some unfaithful religionists say. Things are not getting better, and they will continue to get worse until the full fruit of evil has spent itself on this earth, which is cursed. It is well from our place in history to remember that suffering brings glory. Righteousness in nations will come under Messiah's reign, but not until then. Until that time comes, it remains a call and a challenge to me to "rightly divide the truth" to hearers so that by faith, Christ they will see.
It was the safest and best time for the disciples to hear what was ahead. Peter’s confession was real, and it had come to him from the Father. They were now able to have the panorama view of events gradually opened up to them as they were able to bear it. They believed in Him personally. Now, they had to believe what He said about His suffering and death, even though they didn’t want to hear it. As they were being prepared for what was coming to the Lord Jesus; they were also being instructed as to what would come to them, even though they didn’t know that. They would have been more able to accept the truth of what they were told without losing or compromising their faith.