Chapter Seven
Clean and Unclean
It would be easy to assume that the controversy over the cleanliness laws that we are reading about in this section of Mark to be archaic. They may be of some antiquarian interest but certainly not relevant for us today. Yet actually they are profoundly relevant for human life in any culture and in any century. The Biblical cleanliness laws were quite severe: you could touch no animal or human being, if you had an infectious skin disease like boils, rashes or sores, if you came into contact with mildew, if you had any sort of bodily discharge, if you ate unclean foods, etc.. etc., etc., you were considered ritually impure, defiled, stained unclean, meaning that you could not enter the temple – and worship God with the community. These were given as an aid to enable them to recognize that they were spiritually and morally unclean and could not enter the presence of God unless there was some kind of spiritual purification. In our passage Jesus startingly states:
14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’” Mark 7:14-15 (NIV)
According to Jesus, in our natural state, we are all unfit for the presence of God no matter how cleaned up on the outside that we think we are. This is what makes it so relevant to us today as well. Outside works will never clean our hearts. Ever!
Ancient people were constantly ridden with shame and guilt. Nowadays in our culture, having moved on from moral absolutes, nobody seems to know what’s right or wrong for certain. Nobody seems to know about God or His Word for certain. We all have to decide what is right and wrong in our own eyes; we all have to decide for ourselves and not be held to others’ standards. Our culture thinks human nature is basically good. We don’t believe that God is a transcendently holy deity before whom we all stand guilty and condemned apart from Christ. And we could not be more wrong.
We wrestle with profound feelings of guilt and shame. Where do they come from? Though we have abandoned the ancient categories, we still have a profound, inescapable sense that if we were examined we would be rejected. We have a deep sense that we have got to hide our true selves or at least control what people know about us. Secretly we feel that we are not acceptable, that we have to prove to ourselves and to others that we are worthy, lovable, valuable.
Why do we work as hard as we do? Why do we never relax once we attain a certain level of whatever? Why is it that some of us can never allow ourselves to disappoint anybody? We have no boundaries, no matter what is asked of us, because to disappoint somebody is a form of death. Where are all these self-doubters coming from? Franz Kafka states: “You don’t believe in sin, you don’t believe in judgment, you don’t believe in guilt – and yet you know somehow you are unclean.” There is no escaping the fact that we all have a sense that we are unclean and Jesus tells us we can’t shake that sense of uncleanness or that sense of ought. Further in our passage He states:
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? 19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) Mark 7:17-19 (NIV)
Jesus is quite graphic here: Whether you eat clean or unclean food it goes into the mouth, down to the stomach, and then literally out into the latrine. It never gets into the heart. Nothing that comes in from the outside makes us unclean. Our Lord goes on to say what does make us unclean:
20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” Mark 7:20-23 (NIV)
Jeremiah tells us:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV)
What is wrong with the world? It is the person sitting in my chair and your chair. We are the problem! Jesus is saying in effect, we are what’s wrong! It comes from the inside – it’s the self-centeredness of the human heart. It’s sin. Sinful behavior and sinful desires sets the whole body on a spiral spin toward death and destruction. It can overtake us as fire which is never satisfied and difficult if not impossible to confine. Sin if left unchecked will consume us eventually, it never stays in its place and always leads to separation from God which results in intense suffering in this life and then in the next. We must not compromise ourselves, wink at or embrace sin rather do anything we can to avoid it – flee from it. Know where your weaknesses lie. G. K. Chesterton once replied to an article entitled: “What’s Wrong with the World” the following way:
“Dear Sir: Regarding your article ‘What's Wrong with the World?’ I am. Yours truly, — G. K. Chesterton.”
The heart of the problem is always a problem of the heart. No matter what we do or how hard we try, external solutions do not deal with the soul or heal the soul. The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law’s Outside-in “MO” will never work because most of what causes our problems works there way from the inside out. On our own, we will never shake that sense that we are unclean because as believers we all know that apart from Christ we are not. We can never trust in our own external “righteousness” but only in His perfect work on our behalf.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)
“The line between good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties – but right through every human heart and through all human hearts.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“Time after time the Bible shows us that the world is not divided into the good guys and the bad guys. There may be ‘better guys’ and ‘worse guys’, but no clear division can be made between the good and the bad. Given our sin and self-centeredness, we all have a part in what makes the world a miserable, broken place.” Tim Keller
“The jargon of the philosophy of progress taught us to think that the savage and primitive state of man is behind us…but barbarism is not behind us, it is within us.” Lord David Cecil (stated after the Holocaust)
Jesus Himself states later in Mark:
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good--except God alone.” Mark 10:17-18 (NIV)
“Jesus challenged the man’s faulty perception of good as something measured by human achievement. No one is good, absolutely perfect, except God alone, the true Source and Standard of goodness. The man needed to see himself in the context of God’s perfect character. Jesus’ response did not deny His own deity but was a veiled claim to it. The man, unwittingly calling Him ‘good,’ needed to perceive Jesus’ true identity.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary
Religious works and deeds will not get rid of the self-justification, the self-centeredness, the self-absorption, at all. Neither politics nor beauty, nor wealth nor any worldly attainment for that matter will not really strengthen and change the heart. There will always be a sense of inconsequentiality, that we are unclean, that we need to prove ourselves apart from Christ – outside-in simply does not work.
The Prophet Jeremiah tells us:
22 “Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD. Jeremiah 2:22 (NIV)
The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were convinced that by following all the cleanliness and dietary regulations perfectly (which of course they could never do) would give them a right standing before God and Jesus here totally debunks their wrong thinking. Unlike Matthew, Luke and John, Mark almost never makes editorial comments or interpretations in his book. So when he does it is really significant. He makes one in this story at the end of verse 19:
(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”). Greek experts and scholars agree that Jesus is saying, “As of now I make these foods clean.” I called the world into being; I called the storm to a halt; I called a girl back from death; and now I call all food clean.
In order to understand the magnitude of this statement we have to remember that Jesus has an incredibly high regard for the Word of God. He considers it binding, even upon Himself. Now the cleanliness laws are a part of the Word of God. Jesus would never look at any part of Scripture and say, “I am abolishing this; we have gone beyond this now.” So what is He saying here? The cleanliness laws have been fulfilled – their purpose to get one to move toward spiritual purification, has been carried out. The reason you do not have to follow them as you once did is that they have been fulfilled. What an incredible thing to say!
The process for the Day of Atonement for the Jews was quite an amazing ritual. One day a year the High Priest would go before God for the sins of the people and it required much preparation which must be done to keep the priest from being struck dead before a holy God. Of this preparation Keller writes:
Read Tim Keller’s Book King’s Cross on this preparation (page 82) (1).
4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” Zechariah 3:4 (NIV)
8 “‘Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.’” Zechariah 3:8-9 (NIV)
God was giving Zechariah a prophetic vision so that he could see us the way that God sees us before Jesus came – clothed in filthy dung. In spite of all our efforts to be pure, to be good, to be moral, to cleanse ourselves, God sees our hearts, and our hearts are full of filth. All of our morality and good works don’t really get to the heart. Apart from Jesus, we are all unfit for the presence of God. Zechariah’s prophecy is that someday the sacrifices will be over, the cleanliness laws will be fulfilled. Jesus shows up and staged His own Day of Atonement shaking up the then religious world. Through Jesus Christ, at infinite cost to Himself, God has clothed us in costly clean garments. Believers are now wrapped in a robe of His righteousness. It cost Him His blood. And it is the only thing that can deal with the problem of our hearts.
“Cast your deadly “doing” down – Down at Jesus’ feet; Stand in Him, in Him alone, Gloriously complete.” James Proctor
Christ, as one theologian has said, has not merely paid the penalty for our sins but also He has positively merited for us eternal life…merited for us the reward by His perfect obedience to God’s law, so we can run to our Father without fear. Because of Jesus, we have the most intimate and unbreakable relationship possible with the God of the universe.
The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman
Jesus leaves that place and heads to the vicinity of Tyre. Exhausted from the overwhelming crowds while ministering in the Jewish provinces, He heads into Gentile territory to get some rest. He enters a house and tries to keep His arrival quiet yet Scripture states He could not keep His presence secret. As soon as she hears He is there, a woman with a demon possessed child arrives on the scene. Because of Tyre’s proximity to Judea, she would have been familiar their Jewish customs. She realizes she has none of the credentials needed to approach a Jewish rabbi – she is Greek, a Gentile, a pagan, a woman, and her daughter has an unclean spirit. She knows that in every way she is disqualified to approach a devout Jew much less a rabbi. Yet in her desperation she does not care. Falling at His feet, she begins pleading and begging Jesus to drive out the demon from her daughter seemingly not willing to take “no” for an answer. Her child was in jeopardy and she was willing to do whatever it took to save her, brazenly pushing past all barriers.
On the surface, Jesus’ answer appears cruel. Our society loves dogs yet in the New Testament times, most dogs were scavengers – wild, dirty, uncouth in every way. To call someone a dog was a terrible insult. In Jesus’ day the Jews often called the Gentiles “dogs” because they were “unclean”. Is what Jesus saying to her an insult, then? No, it is a parable, meaning a metaphor or likeness and that is what this is. Jesus uses a diminutive form for dog. A word that really means “puppies”. Remember the woman is a mother and it is as if Jesus is saying to her: “You know how families eat – first the children eat at the table and afterwards their pets eat too. It is not right to violate that order.
Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of Israel and concentrated His ministry on Israel for all sots of reasons. He was sent to show Israel that He was the fulfillment of all Scripture’s promises, the fulfillment of all the prophets, priests, and kings, and the fulfillment of the temple. Yet, after His resurrection, He immediately said to the disciples, “Go to all the nations.” His words then are not the insult they appear to be. What He is saying to her is this: “Please understand, there’s an order here. I am going to Israel first, then the Gentiles later.” The woman comes back with an astounding reply: “Yes, Lord, but the puppies eat from that table too, and I’m here for mine.” He had given her a combination of a challenge and an offer and she responds to the challenge. She accepts the fact that she is not from Israel and does not worship the God of the Israelites and therefore has no place at the table. She takes no offense nor does she stand on her rights. She says, “All right, I may not have a place at the table – but there’s more than enough on that table for everyone in the world, and I need mine now.” In the most respectful way, she will not take no for an answer. She approaches Him in rightless assertiveness something we know very little about in our culture of “rights”. Instead of asking Him to give her what she deserved on the basis of her goodness she is saying “Give me what I don’t deserve on the basis of your goodness – and I need it now!”
A good translation of Jesus’ reply would be “Such an answer!” or “Wonderful answer, incredible answer.” And so her plea is answered and her daughter is healed. This woman approached Jesus boldly, with rightless assertiveness. To take up both the offer and challenge of God’s infinite mercy.
“We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.” Thomas Cranmer
The reward for her faith was the healing of her demon possessed daughter demonstrating that God’s kingdom has come and that Jesus is God’s man for all peoples. Contrary to religious and racial bigots, no one is so unclean that they cannot receive the blessing and the touch of Jesus Christ – the God who astonishes.
The Healing of a Deaf and Mute
As soon as Jesus leaves Tyre, Mark records this story of the healing of the deaf mute. A man was brought to Jesus who was deaf with a speech impediment. Like the Syrophoenician woman, the man’s friends were persistent in begging Jesus to lay His hand on the man. That they did not specifically ask for healing may indicate that all they were asking for was our Lord’s blessing by placing His hands upon the man. This they would receive and more! Remember He came to overflow our cups.
Jesus takes the man aside, His attention is personal and compassionate. Jesus does a whole series of things with the deaf and mute man: He takes him away from the crowd; He points to his ears; He then touches His own tongue, takes His own saliva, and puts it on the man’s tongue; He looks up, sighs, and says, “Be opened!” You might say, “Well, Jesus is doing the rituals of a miracle worker.” Actually, no: Remember that in every miracle we have witnessed, from calming the storm to bringing Jairus’s daughter back to life to the healing of the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter, there was no arm waving, no incantation, no mumbo-jumbo. Jesus obviously does not need to perform a ritual in order to summon His power. Which means Jesus is doing all this not because He needs it but because the man needs it.
Jesus’s response to the woman’s request to heal he daughter is enigmatic, cryptic, even curt. Here, with the deaf-mute He is melt-in-your-mouth sweet. Why? Because Jesus always gives you what you need, and He knows better than you what that is. He is the Wonderful Counselor.
Jesus deeply identifies with this man. All the touching of his ears, touching his mouth – it’s sign language. Jesus is saying, “Let’s go over here; don’t be afraid, I’m going to do something about that; now let’s look to God.” He uses non-verbal speech that he can understand. Jesus always goes to our level does He not? Notice that He takes him away from the crowds. Why? Well just imagine this man as he grew up. He’s always been a spectacle. He’s deaf, and therefore he can’t produce proper speech. Just imagine the way people made fun of him all his life. Jesus knows this, and refuses to make a spectacle of him now. He is identifying with him emotionally.
But there is a deeper identification yet, because at one-point Jesus utters a deep sigh. A better translation might be “He moaned”. A moan is an expression of pain. Why would Jesus be in pain? Maybe it’s because he has emotionally connected with the man and his alienation and isolation. That’s true, but He is about to heal him. This could be an expression of our Lord’s love and compassion for this man and also His great grief over the fall of man and the terrible consequences of sin. It is the sigh of God over a broken creation. Jesus said to him “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened”. Immediately his ears were opened and his speech difficulty was removed and he began to speak clearly. The original text states literally: “The shackle of his tongue was released”. Like a prisoner bound in chains, Jesus broke the fetters of his captivity and set him free.
Mark’s conclusion has deep theological significance. “He has done all things well (good)” echoes creation and God’s work in Genesis 1-2. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak” recalls Isaiah 35:5-6:
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Isaiah 35:5-6 (NIV)
The regions of Tyre and Sidon are precisely the Lebanon of Isaiah 35. The Gentiles will join the ransom of the Lord. Salvation thus comes to the Gentile world in Jesus, Who is God’s Redeemer from Zion. Jesus has the power to overcome our spiritual blindness and open our eyes that we may see.
“Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ. Ye blind, behold your Savior come; And leap, ye lame, for joy!” Charles Wesley
Chapter Eight
Repetition is a great and effective teacher is it not? In Mark 8:1-30 we have a parallel of Mark 6:30 -7:37 – similar events in the same order: Feeding a great multitude; A boat trip; Confrontation with the Pharisees; A conversation about bread; A miraculous healing; A significant confession. These events likely happened this way in terms of their history but also Mark may have recorded them in this order for the purpose of theology, especially how it relates to discipleship. Remembering what we have seen our Lord do in the past should help us trust Him in the present. Sadly, we are often forgetful and even hard-hearted. In spite of seeing the Lord work in our past, we are not sure He can handle our present.
Jesus Feeds The Four Thousand
“In those days” informs us that the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand probably took place in the region of Decapolis (7:31) as an extension of the Lord’s mission to the Gentiles – though some Jews may also have been present. Jesus has a plan. He wants us to see His love and concern for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. While He is the long-expected Jewish Messiah, He is also the Savior of the world (John 3:16).
As was His nature, He had compassion for the crowd as they were hungry and had nothing to eat. He calls the disciples to Himself, shares His heart and explains the situation. Again the twelve respond with their inability to do anything about it. They were in a bad location as well as lack resources. They neglected to give thought that their Resource was right before their eyes.
Jesus quickly moves into action. First He finds out what is available. Second, He seats the crowds, blesses the bread, and gives it to the disciples to distribute. Third, a few sardines are discovered. He blesses these and the newly created dead dish that are perfectly edible and has the twelve distribute them as well. Twice He has taught the people to thank God for their daily provision and to trust Him as their sole and sufficient resource to give them what they need.
Written to his wife during one difficult time in the work of the China Inland Mission, “We have twenty-five cents - and all the promises of God!” J. Hudson Taylor
Jesus tells us:
31 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:30-34 (NIV)
They ate and were filled and the leftovers gathered filled seven baskets – like I have stated, He comes to overflow our cups and meager in His hands is much. Jesus could now send them on their way home. Just another day in the life of the Messiah Jesus, who satisfies all who follow Him. This is yet another sign of the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom. However, some still just don’t get it.
The Pharisees enter on the scene to test Jesus asking for a sign from heaven (as if feeding the four thousand was not enough). In spite of his numerous miracles and teachings which gave evidence that He was the Messiah, they reject what they hear and see. They had made up their minds about Jesus and they were not about to let the facts get in their way.
For the second time in two chapters the Lord “sighs” with deep emotion. His anguish directed at minds that refuse the clear evidence of Who He was and is. Hearts remained hard, eyes refused to see, ears that would not hear. It is as if He is saying: “You want a sign? Then read the Scriptures, listen to my words, see what I do! Beyond that no other sign will be given. If you cannot see God at work in Me, no evidence will convince you otherwise. Your demand is just an expression of unbelief. I will not play your evil and wicked game.”
Nothing more can be said. Abruptly, as if a sign of divine judgment, Jesus leaves them. These religious zealots were physically so close to our Lord, but they had never been further away where it really mattered: in their own hearts. They have lost Him. Not long from now they will crucify Him. Unbelief is evil and tragic when it says no to the Gospel and God’s Son.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
Unfortunately, the Pharisees were not the only ones having a difficult time understanding. However, unlike the unbelieving Pharisees who were moving in the wrong direction, the disciples were making progress, slow though it was. They still had ways to go as our text testifies.
They got in the boat with only one loaf of bread not realizing that they also were accompanied by the “Bread of Life”. They begin to discuss their predicament perhaps even blaming one another for the lack of food while all the while failing to see the irony of the situation.
Jesus used the visual aid at hand to teach His guys cautioning them about the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. A small amount of leaven will permeate a whole batch of bread dough. The unbelief that had gripped the hearts of the Pharisees and Herod had taken control of their entire lives (as sin will do). “Watch out” He says. “Don’t let unbelief take you down and away from the divine truth you see and hear in Me.” His guys don’t get it and begin to talk about having only one loaf of bread. Jesus is speaking spiritual matters and their minds are stuck in the rut of the mundane.
Jesus steps in with a series of questions: “Why are you talking about having no bread?” Do you still not see or understand?” “Are your hearts hardened?” Do you have eyes, and not see?” “Do you have ears, and not hear?” “Do you not remember?” “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces of bread did you collect?” When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many large basketfuls of pieces of bread did you collect?” “Do you still not understand?” These questions were not meant to shame rather instruct. For sure, they are slow learners but then so are we! Indeed, it is situations like these in Scripture which bolster my hope! If the disciples continually struggled while walking with Jesus it gives me hope for myself who seems to struggle daily! How often we are so hesitant to embrace he Truth that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) and that my God will supply all my needs (not my wants!) according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19) and countless other promises in Scripture as well. We often seem to have memory lapses in crisis or in the midst of great need. Remember that God will supply you with whatever you need to do His bidding. Like the twelve, we so often see our Lord’s great works in our lives but still fail to fully understand and trust Him.
“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” Hudson Taylor
The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida
These verses constitute a visual parable that, though historically true, also symbolizes the spiritual pilgrimage of the disciples. Mark perfectly sandwiches it between Mark 8:14-21 and Mark 8:27-38. The two-step healing which Jesus uses is intentional (as is everything He does!) It is meant to portray the gradual, step-by-step understanding of the disciples.
Certainly, Jesus could have healed this man instantly. That He does not is meant for our instruction. The disciples are slowly coming to see and understand that Jesus is the Messiah. However, even after Peter’s great confession in 8:29, they still have only partial sight and understanding. He is not the kind of Messiah they expected. Only after the cross and resurrection do they finally get it. They were just like this blind man who received his sight gradually.
Jesus and His guys arrive at Bethsaida on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. They are immediately met by a delegation who bring to Him a blind man which they begged Jesus to touch. No doubt they had heard of His compassion and His healings. They believed “He has done everything well” and they were hopeful for the same for their friend. We will never be disappointed when we bring our friends to Jesus and neither will they!
Jesus is again tender and compassionate in His treatment of this blind soul. He takes him by he hand and leads him away for privacy. He spits on his eyes and asks, “Do you see anything?” The Son of God of course did not expect complete healing at this point and was certainly not surprised at his response. The man basically states that he sees some – more than ever before – but I still do not see perfectly. I am reminded on Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians:
12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)
“What is the significance of this? Was it that this man was a particularly ‘difficult case’ for Jesus? Hardly! Was this miracle then – like others – a sign? Yes! But to whom? To the man? No, rather to the disciples. And this is confirmed by the fact that Jesus had already asked them about their vision of Him (V. 18). He was now leading them by the hand to the point at which their sight would become much clearer, and Peter would confess “You are the Christ” (V. 29). Like this blind man healed by Jesus, their spiritual understanding did not come instantaneously, but gradually. They, too, needed the second touch from the hands of their Master.” Ferguson Commentary
After this Jesus places His hands on him again and his eyesight is completely restored, seeing everything clearly. As before, Jesus sent him home with a command not to enter the village. No need for a show. No desire to make him a spectacle. This miracle was for his physical eyes, and for the disciples’ spiritual eyes. Accomplishing those two purposes was enough.
Peter’s Confession Of Christ and Jesus Predicts His Death
Chapter eight of Mark’s Gospel is a pivotal chapter. It’s the climax of the first act, in which the disciples finally begin to see the true identity of the One they have been following. In it Jesus says two things: I am a King, but a King going to a cross; and If you want to follow me, you’ve got to come to the cross too. Mark tells the story this way:
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Mark 8:27-30 (NIV)
Here at last Peter begins to get the answer to the big question – a question we all must answer, “Who is Jesus”? Peter responds the “Anointed One” – the Messiah, the King to end all kings, the King who is going to put everything right. Jesus accepts the title – but then immediately turns around and begins to say things they find appalling and shocking. “Yes, I’m the King,” He says, “but I’m not anything like the king you were expecting.”
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Mark 8:31-32 (NIV)
Jesus’ first important statement here is “The Son of Man must suffer.” Today there is a faulty perspective of Jesus that is extremely dangerous and seductive. In his book Radical, David Platt writes:
“We American Christians have a way of taking the Jesus of the Bible and twisting Him into a version of Jesus that we are more comfortable with. A nice middle-class American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts. A Jesus Who wants us to be balanced, Who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and Who for that matter wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus Who brings comfort and prosperity to us as we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream.” David Platt
Any fair and honest reading of Scripture will reveal that this is not who Jesus is and not what Jesus demands. Jesus says, “Die and then follow me.”
This text provides the answer to thee crucial questions: Who is Jesus? What did He come to do? What does He expect of you? It is the beginning of the “Great Discipleship Discourse” (Mark 8:31-10:52), in which three times Jesus predicts His passion (Mark 8:31-33; 9:30-32; 10:32-34). Immediately following each time, He instructs them concerning true discipleship and what it means to truly follow Him because, like us, they just do not seem to get it! In Mark 8:32, Peter tries to correct Him on what kind of Messiah He will be. In Mark 9:34, they are debating greatness in the kingdom. And in Mark 10:37, James and John preempted the others in asking to sit on His right and left in the kingdom. So our Lord explains what the normal Christian life looks like and what it means to follow a King Who came to die and serve, and Who calls His followers to do likewise.
“Every step on the pathway of spiritual progress will be marked by the bloody footprints of wounded self-love. All along the course of spiritual advancement, one will have to set up altars upon which even the legitimate self-life will have to be sacrificed.” Alexander Maclaren
Jesus takes the twelve north for a time of private instruction. Caesarea Philippi is an unlikely location for the first human proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. It represents the outer regions of paganism, idolatry, and hostility to the Hebrew faith. We are at a crucial turning point. As Jesus brought gradual physical sight to the blind a man of Bethsaida, He will now bring gradual spiritual sight to the disciples concerning Who He is and what kind of Messiah He will be.
Jesus first asks a straightforward question to the twelve, a question they have pondered since He calmed the sea in Mark 4:41: “Who then is this?” The disciples give the popular opinions roaming around: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets from the past – all of which are honoring but misrepresenting. They applaud Him while denying Who He really is. This inescapable question demands an accurate and acceptable answer. “Who do people say that I am?”
Jesus shifts the question to His guys and of course Peter responds for the group: “You are the Christ.” The first half of Mark focuses on Who He is. The Gospel tells us the King has come! Our response is to repent and believe. The first confession comes from an insider when Peter says, ‘You are the Messiah!” The second half focuses on what He came to do. The Gospel tells us the King must die! Our response is to take up our cross and follow Him. The climactic confession comes from an outsider – a Gentile, a Roman Centurion: “This man really was God’s Son!” (Mark 15:39). A King Who dies is not what they expected or wanted. It is, however, what they desperately needed. And so do we.
Jesus now begins a new chapter with His disciples’ education. It is time for them to graduate even if they are not ready. Jesus will usher in an eternal kingdom over which He will rule as King and Lord. However, God’s way will be different from what a world that exalts power would expect: He will suffer, be rejected, especially by the religious establishment, be killed, and rise three days later.
All this must happen. It is necessary. It is what sin’s payment demands and we cannot provide. This is where the law of God and the love of God will meet! This is where judgment and grace kiss! Rob the word “must” of its meaning and you empty the Gospel and the cross of its glory. God’s ways are often hard but clear.
Peter was on board with Jesus as the Messiah but a suffering servant not so much! He wasn’t partial to the idea of the cross and he took Jesus aside and told Him so in the manner of a rebuke. Words that I am confident haunted him as he rehearsed them over and over in his mind even years later – “How could I have said that?” “How could I have rebuked my Savior?” Words spoken are like toothpaste squeezed out of a tube – once they are out there is no getting them back in!
Jesus responds to Peter’s statement as if he were Satan or a demon-possessed man! It is harsh but justified and necessary. Like Satan at the temptation in the wilderness, Peter offers Jesus the crown without the cross. He thinks he has a better plan than God does. Peter wants a Jesus to fit his agenda, his plan. He thinks he knows the kind of Messiah Jesus needs to be and attempts to reshape and redefine Him to fit his conception. Are we not often guilty of doing likewise? “Give me a Jesus I can control, one I can conjure up in my image and likeness!” No, you and I must learn and affirm the ways of God, not man. We may not fully understand it. It may not be easy or safe. It will, however, be best. In fact it will be perfect:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
God’s ways are often hard but clear. They are a challenge but always good, pleasing and perfect. The passion of the Christ reinforces these biblical truths.
Confident that God’s will is perfect, even if it might not be safe, we embrace the call of Jesus to follow Him and to die to self in order that we and others might truly live! It is in so doing that we take hold of the life that is truly life!
Being Jesus’ disciples requires three essentials: Deny yourself (1) – Give up the right of self-determination. Live as Christ directs. Treasure and value Jesus more than yourself, your comforts and your aspirations. Put to death the idol of “I”. Say no to you and yes to Jesus! Being self-less is not thinking less of yourself but rather simply thinking of yourself less. Take up your cross daily (2) – To die to self is not normal or natural, but necessary to be Christ’s disciples, believe me it can be a slow painful death. Remember our crosses are perfectly suited for us to bear with all patience and joy. And each person’s cross is different. There is purpose in our crosses – they are not merely given to us to suffer hardship or to make us wiggle with pain rather they are given to conform us into the image of sweet Jesus Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross suffering its shame. Never shun your cross – it is your biggest blessing wrapped in the wrapping paper of hardship. Follow Me! (3) – Are we willing to believe and obey Jesus? It will be radical not comfort laden because it involves a death to the self-centered life.
In verse 35 Jesus provides the basis for the challenge of verse 34. If you save or treasure your life above all else, you will lose it. The one who plays it safe and considers his existence more important than Jesus will lose both Jesus and eternal life. In contrast, the one who gives his life for Jesus and the Gospel will actually save it! Following Jesus involves trusting Him – that He has our best interest at heart even though we may not understand our circumstances. It is living life with open hands – enjoying what He places in them and not whining when they may be taken away. It is to live free from the bondage of sin and the world. In all actuality it is the abundant life that He came to give each one of us BUT it certainly does not mean that it is easy or that it is without pain. Yet, He so out gives anything He may take away leaving in its place more of Him and His perfect will which passes all understanding. Never be afraid to follow the Master.
Read: The King’s Cross – C.S. Lewis Quote – Page 108 (2)
“We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave. Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham’s was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God’s dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God’s river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him.” F. B. Meyer
“We will dare to trust our God…and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man.” C. T. Studd
“Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice; everything is lost by failure to obey God’s call.” Henry P. Liddon
“God will be our compensation for every sacrifice we have made.” F. B. Meyer
“If the worst things work for good to a believer, what shall the best things? Nothing hurts the godly…all things…shall co-operate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings.” Puritan Thomas Watson
“Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart does the Spirit control? You can only be blest, and have peace and sweet rest, as you yield Him your body and soul.” Elisha Hoffman
35 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:35-38 (NIV)
Read: We Murder With Words Unsaid – Greg Morse
These are Beth’s personal notes, due to this fact sources are not often stated.