Mark Chapter 8
Read 1 to 9 . Jesus can create food. Therefore Jesus is God.
Read 10 . Dalmanutha is near Lake Galilee; we are not sure where.
Read 11 . What is a sign from heaven ? For example, in the Old Testament, God made fire come down from the sky ( I Kings 18 : 36 – 39 ). If Jesus could make fire come from heaven, then everyone would say that Jesus is God. The Pharisees already saw Jesus heal many people. They should have been satisfied. But because they did not have Faith, they were not satisfied. They always wanted to find another excuse. so that they could avoid believing in Jesus. Therefore they always asked for more and more proof. Probably even if Jesus made fire come from heaven, they would still not believe. They would ask for even more signs.
Read 12 . Jesus was sad because the people did not have Faith. If the people had Faith, they would not ask for a sign. Jesus knew that giving them more signs would not help them. ( See Luke 16 : 31 ) .
Read 13 to 15 . The word yeast here means ” influence “. Just like yeast is small, but it can have a big result, in the same way, the wrong ideas of the Pharisees are small, but the result can be very bad – it can hurt your life. The sentence means, ” Don’t have the same attitude as the Pharisees and Herod “. Herod was the King. Both the Pharisees and Herod did not want to believe in Jesus, therefore they asked Jesus to do a sign, even after after they already had seen enough proof. The place where Herod asked for a sign is in Luke 23 : 8 . The place where Jesus explained the meaning of ” yeast of the Pharisees ” is in Matthew 16 : 12 .
Read 16 to 21 . The disciples should be able to understand that when Jesus created food, that was already a clear enough sign. They don’t need another sign. The miracle of creating food should be enouth to believe in Jesus.
Read 22 . Bethsaida is on the north shore of Lake Galilee.
Read 23 to 25 . Usually Jesus healed people in one step. This time he decided to use two steps. Some people think that Jesus means to tell his disciples, ” now you are beginning to understand. Don’t worry : soon you will understand everything ” .
Read 26 . Jesus doesn’t want the man to tell anyone about this miracle . Jesus said the same thing to his disciples in Matthew 17 : 9 . The reason is that people do not understand the real purpose of jesus. They will want him to fight and kill the Romans. Jesus wants to wait until they can understand his true purpose before he tells them that he is their King. He wants them to know that his purpose is not to fight : his purpose is to die for us. To see an example of what the people wanted to do, look at John 6 : 15 .
Read 27 . Caesarea Philippi is north of Lake Galilee.
Read 28 . Why did some people say that Jesus was John the Baptist ? John the Baptist was already dead. The reason is that Jesus was a great preacher, just like John was, and so some people thought that Jesus was John who had risen from the dead. Why did some people say that Jesus was ” Elijah ” ? Elijah was also already dead . Besides, the Old Testament prophesied that someone similar to Elijah would appear in the future, just before the Messiah came. But Jesus was not Elijah. Jesus was actually the Messiah. Later, Jesus told his disciples that the Old Testament sentence about Elijah coming back was really talking about John the Baptist. Bible verses : John was already dead ( Mark 6 : 27 ) . Someone like Elijah will come ( Malachi 4 : 5 – 6 ) . Jesus explains that John the Baptist fulfills the prophecy about Elijah returning ( Matthew 17 : 10 – 13 ) .
Read 29 . Christ means Messiah. Messiah refers to the King that god promised to send. The Old Testament tells many details about the Messiah, such as : He will be God’s Son, He will bring peace forever, He will die for us, and he will rise from dead. Most of the Jews knew that the Messiah would be a King, but most of them did not accept the idea that the purpose of this King was to suffer and die. Bible verses : Christ means Messiah ( John 1 : 41 ) . The Messiah is God’s Son ( Psalm 2 : verse 2 introduces the Messiah. Verse 6 says he is a King. Verse 7 says hHe is God’s Son. ) The Messiah will bring eternal peace ( Isaiah 9 : 6 – 7 ) . The Messiah will die for us ( Isaiah 53 : 4 – 9 ) .
Read 30 . Beacuse the people did not understand the true purpose of the Messiah, so it was too early to tell them. After Jesus rose from the dead, he said we should tell everyone.
Read 31 . ” Son of Man ” is another name for Jesus. This name is first found in Daniel 7 : 13 -14 . In a dream, Daniel saw heaven; he saw someone in heaven who looks like a man. Everyone worshipped this man ( so we know He is God ) and He was the King over all the nations forever ( so we know He is the Messiah ) . When Jesus called Himself ” Son of Man “, He meant, ” I am that one that Daniel saw in heaven. I am God. I am Messiah. : But when Jesus said, ” I must be killed “, everyone was very surprised.
Read 32 . Peter said ” You are the King. So you should not die. “
Read 33 . It was God’s will for Jesus to die. Peter was telling Jesus not to do God’s will. In Matthew 4 : 1 – 10 , Satan also told Jesus not to do God’s will. So Peter was saying the same thing as Satan.
Read 34 . Jesus was a King, but He was also a servant. He was willing to suffer. If we belong to the King, we are also servants; we also are willing to suffer.
Read 35 . For example, the Roman soldiers said to people : ” Are you Christians ? If you say yes, we will kill you. ” Some people gave up Jesus in order to save their lives, but because they gave up Jesus, they did not have eternal life. Other people said , ” Yes , I am a Christian. ” Of course , the Romans killed them. But they have eternal life with Jesus.
Read 36 . Some people do not believe in Jesus because they are too busy making money. But it is no use. After they die, their money will not help them.
Read 37 . Do you think money is more important than eternal life ? Do you think power is more important than eternal life ? Do you think friends are important than eternal life ? Some people do not believe in Jesus , because they think money, power, and friends are more important. After they die, they will have nothing.
Read 38 . The time when Jesus comes with his Angels is called ” the Last Day ” or ” Judgment Day. ” (more at I Thessalonians 4 : 16 ) .
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