February 3, 2014: Mark Chapter 8

The Gospel According to Mark Chapter 8

Originally posted Monday, February 18, 2008

Mark Chapter 8:1-9 Feeding the 4,000  [MT 15:32-39]

This is the second miracle of distribution of bread, with an outline similar to MK 6:30-44. There are minor differences such as 4,000 instead of the previous 5,000 people; 7 loaves instead of 5 loaves and 2 fish; 7 baskets of fragments instead of 12; here Jesus takes the initiative to point out the need to feed the people while previously it was the disciples who wanted to send the  people away.

Perhaps the most significant difference is the location. In MK 6:30-44 Jesus and the disciples are in Galilee, following the visit to Nazareth and the disciples' mission tour. Before our present passage Jesus had completed a journey to Tyre in Gentile territory, then taking a rather circuitous route by way of Sidon to the north, he came to the region of the Decapolis, also Gentile territory.

The importance of the two locations for Mark and Matthew, one occurring in Jewish and the second in Gentile territory, is found in what is being portrayed. The miraculous abundance of food for so many is a feature of the Messianic age which is yet to arrive, but which, in the writers' view, has already begun in and with Jesus ministry. There is not only enough food for the crowd to be satisfied before their journey home, there are baskets full of leftovers. The Greek word used here for basket is for a large mat basket, big enough to hold a person (Acts 9:25). The heart of both stories is that Jesus makes the Messianic age available to all people, to both Jew and Gentile, with no discrimination. As there will be wholeness in body in the age to come, their will also be an abundance of food beyond imagination. It is easy to understand these passages together as a parable in which the unexpected lesson is that there will be seats at the table for all, Jew and Gentile alike. In Paul's Epistle to the Galatians we will read the theological foundation for this expected future.

The expectation of equality for all people is not new with either Paul or the writers of the Gospels. It is rooted in the Biblical understanding of how God relates to humanity as revealed in the life of Jesus. The word is "Hesed" which brings together two attitudes of God acting toward us: love and kindness, often combined in God's loving kindness and faithfulness. In Judaism and the more ancient religion of Israel, the components of Hesed are compassion, mercy, justice, faithfulness and love, not only how God acts toward us but how we in turn are to act toward others. It is the Golden Rule and two great commandments to love God and neighbor combined. It is the ideal world view of Isaiah and other prophets. It is the sum and substance of Jesus' understanding of what it means to live in God's Kingdom, under God's Reign now. It is not how the world will be in some hypothetical future, but how it can begin to work already. As Christians, this is an enterprise worth our best and most dedicated efforts. Wherever and whenever the Church can be clearly differentiated from the society in which it works, the beginning has come upon us.

Mark Chapter 8:10-13 Demand for a Sign [MT 16:1-5]

After Jesus had sent the people away, he and the disciples left the area and went by boat to the region of Dalmanutha. Unfortunately such a place does not appear in any literature from that time nor in any archeological journals. Some manuscripts have changed the name to Mageda or Magdala, neither of which fit well. All we can know from Mark's description of the journey is that it would have been on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, and in Jewish territory ,based on the boat having sailed from the eastern shore and Pharisees being at the boat's destination. Most commentators on Mark recognize he is somewhat geographically challenged.

In Matthew there are two passages in which the religious authorities ask Jesus for a sign of his authority, once a sign from him and a second time a sign from heaven (from God). In both instances part of Jesus' answer involves the sign of Jonah. (see MT 12:38ff comments). Mark does not mention Jonah and Jesus simply tells the Pharisees there will be no sign given to this [evil and adulterous] generation. Such a response is not because there is anything wrong with humans asking for a sign from God. There are a number of Old Testament examples of such requests (Gideon, Hezekiah) . But in this case, Jesus knows it is a "testing" which usually is rooted in hostility.  Signs can be either earthly (miracles such as healing) or cosmic events (sky, planets, etc.). Of course, any number of Jesus' miracles would have provided all the signs they needed. Jesus' answer addressed to those who are part of this "evil and adulterous generation" is not that no sign will be given. Of course for Mark the critical sign of Jesus' authority has already been given - God's voice in the anointing of Jesus at his baptism, and they would not accept it. Mark's point of view is that no matter what signs or miracles are given, the Pharisees and other leaders will not accept anything for they deny any possibility that Jesus' authority is from God.

We might ask ourselves if we are part of the same generation as were the Pharisees. Do we require signs that Jesus has authority to speak to this world or to us and through us to the world? What kind of sign would we want to be convinced that Jesus speaks for God, or that God spoke and acted through Jesus in an authoritative way? Are there signs all around us and we just don't get it? Do we live in such a desacralized world that the sacramental nature of Grace cannot be seen and, to use Dr. Gene Zimmerman's term, the "Holy Presence" cannot be discerned? We might ask ourselves...we might.

Mark Chapter 8:14-21 The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod  [MT 16:5-12]

Matthew has replaced the yeast of Herod with that of the Sadducees knowing that the Herodians would not be in any religious agreement with the Pharisees. However neither would the Sadducees who rejected the very idea of the Pharisees' oral traditions. The word yeast is a mistranslation of the Greek text  which uses the word for leaven. Yeast is from a single celled fungi and was rare in Jesus time. Leaven is left over fermented dough used as a starter for a new batch of bread. It was considered as symbolic of "creeping corruption" or decay because it could permeate the whole of the dough and cause it to rise, just as a little evil can permeate the whole person and turn him/her toward wickedness. Nothing containing leaven could be placed as a cereal offering on the Temple altar. During the seven days of Passover there can be no leaven in a Jewish household. In early Christian thought, leaven was associated with the corruption of the Old (evil) Age in which the Church existed. In baptism all the leaven of that age was removed in preparation for the age to come. 

In this passage the disciples are discussing having only one barley loaf with them on the boat, a rather astonishing discovery, having just recently picked up seven basketfuls of bread scraps. Jesus hears them and warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, which they misunderstand. They think he is talking about not having any bread. Jesus marvels at their incomprehension of the lesson (teaching) of just who this Jesus is, taught in the recent feeding of the four thousand (the number of baskets is not relevant to the meaning of this passage). Unlike Matthew, Mark has no closing comment explaining that Jesus was talking about the teaching of the Pharisees, that just a small amount of their teaching, like leaven, could creep in and quickly spread its corrupting influence. For Mark as well as Matthew there was a need to warn their respective communities of the corruption which might arise from the "contamination" brought by false teachers and prophets who urged a return to Jewish traditions as a requirement for being a Christian. In "Galatians" and "Philippians" Paul warns against such corrupting influences from the Church in Jerusalem.

Mark Chapter 8:22-26 The Blind Man of Bethsaida  [MT has no parallel passage]

This passage is much like the healing of the deaf mute (MK 7:31-37) and the blind Bartimaeus of Jericho (MK 10:46-51). These three passages taken together are often understood and used in preaching as parables about Jesus' opening the ears and eyes of the spiritually deaf and blind, which for Mark frequently includes the disciples from whom Jesus works to remove the leaven of imperceptions. Mark would also want us to understand these miracles to be in keeping with God working in Jesus in accordance with Isaiah 35:5-6 which looks forward to the new age of God's Reign and Jesus' role in bringing that Reign about. The stories also serve the theme of restoration. For this blind man, who had to be led by someone everyplace he needed to go, now can be independent and go where he wishes.

The two step healing of this blind man speaks to the process sometimes necessary to bring persons to belief in who Jesus is. The situating of this passage immediately before Peter's confession of faith, albeit not quite a completely mature faith, indicates this parabolic meaning. As noted previously the use of saliva as a curative was well known in Greek and Roman as well as Jewish healing.

We are all acquainted with the maturing nature of faith. Whatever a mature faith looks like, it is certain we are not born into the Church through confirmation or any other way with such a faith. John Wesley, the spiritual father of Methodism, taught about the work of Grace in our lives. The Prevenient Grace of God draws us to Christ. The Saving Grace of God draws us into the fellowship of the Church. The Sanctifying Grace of God then guides us through progressively more mature stages of faith. Wesley preached and wrote about going on to perfection. Although I have never met anyone who has reached such a stage, I understand his meaning in the possibility of an ongoing spiritual growth by attention to our faith and taking the opportunity to nourish that faith by all means possible. It is part of our lives that leaves much to be desired in this busy age. The Church serves us well when it can offer a wide range of growth opportunities, in Sunday classes and other learning situations, small groups and serving ministries. It doesn't fit the Biblical view of faith to say we have achieved the top.

For those interested in the stages of faith I recommend James Fowler's books, Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian : Adult Development and Christian Faith.

Mark Chapter 8:27-30 Peter's Confession of Faith  [MT 16:13-20]

Matthew has significantly expanded Mark's version of this passage. He has used the basic confession around which he writes about the Church with respect to its establishment upon the Apostolic heritage and its authority as the legitimate inheritor of the keys to the Kingdom of God, the gate through which one must pass to enter.

Mark is the one who sets the scene in Gentile territory, Caesarea Philippi, an appropriate place in the heart of the Roman frontier. It is here that Peter's confession of faith is made, as if shouting it out in a rejection of the Roman penchant for deifying its Emperors as Lords and Saviors of the world. The question Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" is the one important question we all must answer. Our answer probably will not be "Messiah" for such a title is too laden with the baggage of the first century. We may use other titles as metaphors for an insight into what Jesus may mean to our lives and what authority we believe he has to speak to us in this modern age. Regardless of the answer, an answer is necessary, and the answer must be our own.

Mark Chapter 8:31-9:1 Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection  [MT 16:21-28]

Matthew has used essentially all of Mark's passage unchanged. Of interest is vs. 9:1 in Mark.  Note that Matthew writes as a future event that some who are hearing Jesus "...will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom." Mark's original, however, is present tense. Those that are hearing Jesus "...will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come with power." The difference is important. Matthew, writing in about 85 CE is more conscious of the delay of Jesus' return. He places that return within the lifetime of his community, a dilemma faced by each generation of the Church ever since, leading to an endless stream of predictions and books about the end of this age. Mark asserts that the Kingdom has already come, if only in part. How those with Jesus will see that it has already come is not altogether clear. Perhaps this refers to the Transfiguration in MK 9:2-6. The use of "has" precludes the possibility that the coming of the Kingdom relates to the crucifixion and/or resurrection or Jesus' expected return.

Perhaps we would not be to far from an understanding of this mystery if we would see all of the events of Jesus' ministry, as portrayed in Mark, as examples of that Kingdom being already present. The Kingdom is beginning because taken together all of those events are understood by Mark to represent the presence of God at work in the world though Jesus. If God is at work in Jesus, then God's Kingdom, God's Reign, has indeed already begun. The citizens may be small in number, a few disciples here, a few there, but there none the less; with each added disciple, each new believer, the Kingdom advances. We are not meant to be concerned about times and hours. We are part of the advancement, supported by the foundation already laid for nearly 2000 years. It is our turn to keep that foundation spreading. In our lifetime perhaps what we do will help others see that, indeed, God's Reign has already come.