In our study of Mark chapter eight, we will see that Jesus is the bread that gives us life and sustains our lives.
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It was during that time that another large crowd gathered, and they had nothing to eat. Yeshua called his talmidim to him and said to them, "I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them off to their homes hungry, they will collapse on the way; some of them have come a long distance."
Once again, we see that Jesus was faced with a hungry crowd of followers. This crowd is different from the one described in chapter six as these people had followed Jesus for three days.
His talmidim said to him, "How can anyone find enough bread to satisfy these people in a remote place like this?"
The reaction of the disciples is puzzling as they must have forgotten how Jesus had fed the five thousand. Because they had forgotten that, they were not prepared for this crowd. We may be hard on them and say that we would never forget what He has done but is that really true. If we do not share what He has done in our daily lives, we will forget many of the details and these details are what helps us to grow in our understanding of God.
"How many loaves do you have?" he asked them. They answered, "Seven." He then told the crowd to sit down on the ground, took the seven loaves, made a b'rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to his talmidim to serve to the people.
We see that it is later in the year as the grass is not green and He had the people sit on the ground. Once again, He gave thanks and broke the bread for the people.
They also had a few fish; making a b'rakhah over them he also ordered these to be served. The people ate their fill; and the talmidim took up the leftover pieces, seven large basketsful. About four thousand were there. After sending them away, Yeshua got into the boat with his talmidim and went off to the district of Dalmanuta.
We see that this time there were about four thousand instead of the five thousand that were fed previously. This is often referred to as the neglected miracle of Christ as everyone remembers the feeding of the five thousand but few remember the four thousand. We see this miracle of bread performed twice and are reminded that, throughout the Bible, the number two is associated with the number of legal witnesses required. In these two miracles, Jesus was testifying that He was the Bread of Life.
The P'rushim came and began arguing with him; they wanted him to give them a sign from Heaven, because they were out to trap him. With a sigh that came straight from his heart, he said, "Why does this generation want a sign? Yes! I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation!" With that, he left them, got into the boat again and went off to the other side of the lake.
After this, the Jewish leaders tried to test Jesus again by asking for a miracle. He had just fed well over 4000 people and yet they asked for a sign. You can feel the sadness as Jesus let out a deep sigh of pity. He felt sorry for them because they could not see the signs that were right in front of them so they kept asking for more signs. It is much the same today as people look for spectacular signs of the end of the age instead of looking at the small signs around them.
Now the talmidim had forgotten to bring bread and had with them in the boat only one loaf. So when Yeshua said to them, "Watch out! Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P'rushim and the hametz of Herod," they thought he had said it because they had no bread.
While they were in the boat, Jesus used the example of bread to teach His disciples. He warned them about yeast which is used to make bread fluffy and to taste good. It is a single cell organism that converts its food (sugar and starch) into carbon dioxide. The men would have been familiar with the removal of yeast (leaven) from their homes during the celebration of the Passover but were probably wondering why Jesus was telling them this now. They talked about it among themselves and could only come up with the fact that they did not have but one loaf of bread with them. They were still focused on the physical instead of spiritual matters. We may be quick to criticize them as we can look back at the entire ministry of Christ and clearly see what He was talking about, but, they did not have all of the facts that we do. One thing that we can learn from this is that we must look to Jesus for the answers about spiritual matters and not the views of men.
But, aware of this, he said, "Why are you talking with each other about having no bread? Don't you see or understand yet? Have your hearts been made like stone? You have eyes -- don't you see? You have ears -- don't you hear? And don't you remember?
Here, Jesus asks them five questions and we are reminded that, throughout the Bible, the number five is associated with grace and grace is a gift. With these questions, He is trying to get them to see past the human desire to work for the things of God. The yeast that He had warned them about was the teaching of the Pharisees that was trying to add the Law (works) to grace.
When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" "Twelve," they answered him. "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" "Seven," they answered. He said to them, "And you still don't understand?"
The conversation continues as Jesus reminds them of the fact that He had fed all of those people when it did not seem possible. Their part in the feeding of the people had simply been to deliver what the Lord had provided. All the people had to do was to accept the food as a gift from God. He had been sufficient for the physical needs and He is sufficient for their spiritual need of salvation. This is a picture of how we are to share our faith with the world. As disciples, we are to simply take the gift that God has provided and present it to those that do not know Him. Then, they can simply accept the gift or refuse it.
They came to Beit-Tzaidah. Some people brought him a blind man and begged Yeshua to touch him. Taking the blind man's hand, he led him outside the town. He spit in his eyes, put his hands on him and asked him, "Do you see anything?"
Once again, they came to Bethsaida known as the house of fish and the hometown of some of the disciples. Again, a blind man was brought to Jesus to be healed but we notice that he took the man out of the town before He healed him. The town had become like Nazareth in the fact that they had seen the miracles of Jesus but rejected Him. This time Jesus spit on the man's eyes which speaks of the words of God. The town was a religious town and had knowledge of the things of God but still could not see Jesus as the promised Messiah. The same type of thing is happening today in the local "churches". Many have a religious tradition but no room for the work of the Lord. Very little happens there like a tree that does not produce any fruit. But, Jesus is taking many of His people by the hand and leading them outside of these "churches" where there is room for Him to work.
He looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like walking trees." Then he put his hands on the blind man's eyes again. He peered intently, and his eyesight was restored, so that he could see everything distinctly. Yeshua sent him home with the words, "Don't go into town."
When the man first opened his eyes, he could not clearly see so Jesus put His hands on him again. Why did He have to do so twice? This was a picture of the fact that even the people of that religious town could be saved if they would only yield to the touch of Jesus. Why did Jesus tell the man not to go back into the town? They had already seen the miracles that Jesus performed and still did not believe.
Yeshua and his talmidim went on to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked his talmidim, "Who are people saying I am?" "Some say you are Yochanan the Immerser," they told him, "others say Eliyahu, and still others, one of the prophets." "But you," he asked, "who do you say I am?" Kefa answered, "You are the Mashiach." Then Yeshua warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Here, we see the fundamental question that divides the world today. Who was/is Jesus? There are those who say He was a great man like John the Baptist. There are those (Muslims) that say He was a prophet. Then, there are Christians (like Peter) who acknowledge Him as the Son of God and Savior of the world. Why did Jesus tell them to keep it to themselves? It was not the proper time for it to be revealed and it was not the manner in which God was going to reveal it. Talk is cheap and so God was going to reveal Jesus as the Christ when He died on the cross and rose again.
He began teaching them that the Son of Man had to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and that he had to be put to death; but that after three days, he had to rise again.
Now that they knew who He was, Jesus began to teach them about the things that were to come. He explained that the religious system would reject Him even to the point of killing Him but that He would rise again in victory. It is the same today, in that, man has tried to make the church a religious system and in the process have rejected the teaching of Jesus. The old laws have been brought back into the church and new ones have been added with every denomination.
He spoke very plainly about it. Kefa took him aside and began rebuking him. But, turning around and looking at his talmidim, he rebuked Kefa. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said, "For your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God's perspective!"
Peter could not accept the things that Jesus was saying and began to correct Him. Jesus corrected Peter and even called him Satan. How could this be? The simple fact of the matter is that there are two sides to the battle that is going on even to day. You are either in tune with God's plan or you are working for the devil. What do you have your mind set on? If its not the "things of God", then, you are on the wrong team.
Then Yeshua called the crowd and his talmidim to him and told them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him say `No' to himself, take up his execution stake, and keep following me. For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will save it.
What does it mean to be a Christian ("come after me")? First, we must "deny himself" speaking of the fact that we must admit that we cannot work to better ourselves to a point where we become acceptable to God. Secondly, we do His will no matter what ridicule or shame we face. Those that prefer this life and the things of this world will miss eternity with Him.
Indeed, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? What could a person give in exchange for his life? For if someone is ashamed of me and of what I say in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.
A Christian will boldly stand up and say that we are saved only by the grace of God through the acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If we are ashamed to stand for His name now, we can be sure that He will not stand for us on the day of judgment. Without the Bread of Life which is Jesus Christ, we die.
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