Mark 8

Mr 8:1-26.

FOUR

THOUSAND

MIRACULOUSLY

FED--A

SIGN FROM

HEAVEN

SOUGHT AND

REFUSED--THE

LEAVEN OF THE

PHARISEES AND

SADDUCEES--A

BLIND

MAN AT

BETHSAIDA

RESTORED TO

SIGHT.

Mt 15:32-16:12).

This section of miscellaneous matter evidently follows the preceding one

in point of time, as will be seen by observing how it is introduced by

Matthew.

Feeding of the Four Thousand

(Mr 8:1-9).

1. In those days the multitude being very great, &c.

2. I have compassion on the multitude--an expression of that deep

emotion in the Redeemer's heart which always preceded some remarkable

interposition for relief. (See

Mt 14:14; 20:34;

Mr 1:41;

Lu 7:13;

also

Mt 9:36,

before the mission of the Twelve; compare

Jud 2:18; 10:16).

because they have now been with me--in constant attendance.

three days, and have nothing to eat:

3. And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint

need of provisions for such a length of time; but the Lord thought of

it. In Matthew

(Mt 15:32)

it is, "I will not send them away fasting"--or rather, "To send them

away fasting I am unwilling."

4. From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the

wilderness?--Though the question here is the same as when He fed the

five thousand, they evidently now meant no more by it than that

they had not the means of feeding the multitude; modestly leaving

the Lord to decide what was to be done. And this will the more appear

from His not now trying them, as before, by saying, "They need not

depart, give ye them to eat"; but simply asking what they had, and then

giving His directions.

5. And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven--It was important in this case, as in the former, that the precise number

of the loaves should be brought out. Thus also does the distinctness of

the two miracles appear.

9. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent

them away--Had not our Lord distinctly referred, in this very

chapter and in two successive sentences, to the feeding of the five

thousand and of the four thousand as two distinct miracles, many

critics would have insisted that they were but two different

representations of one and the same miracle, as they do of the two

expulsions of the buyers and sellers from the temple, at the beginning

and end of our Lord's ministry. But even in spite of what our Lord

says, it is painful to find such men as NEANDER

endeavoring to identify the two miracles. The localities, though both

on the eastern side of the lake, were different; the time was

different; the preceding and following circumstances were different;

the period during which the people continued fasting was different--in

the one case not even one entire day, in the other three days; the

number fed was different--five thousand in the one case, in the other

four thousand; the number of the loaves was different--five in the one

case, in the other seven; the number of the fishes in the one case is

definitely stated by all the four Evangelists--two; in the other case

both give them indefinitely--"a few small fishes"; in the one case the

multitude were commanded to sit down "upon the green grass"; in the

other "on the ground"; in the one case the number of the baskets taken

up filled with the fragments was twelve, in the other seven; but more

than all, perhaps, because apparently quite incidental, in the one case

the name given to the kind of baskets used is the same in all the four

narratives--the cophinus (see on

Mr 6:43);

in the other case the name given to the kind of baskets used, while it

is the same in both the narratives, is quite different--the

spuris, a basket large enough to hold a man's body, for Paul was

let down in one of these from the wall of Damascus

(Ac 9:25).

It might be added, that in the one case the people, in a frenzy of

enthusiasm, would have taken Him by force to make Him a king; in the

other case no such excitement is recorded. In view of these things, who

could have believed that these were one and the same miracle, even if

the Lord Himself had not expressly distinguished them?

Sign from Heaven Sought

(Mr 8:10-13).

10. And straightway he entered into a ship--"into the ship," or

"embarked."

with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha--In

Matthew

(Mt 15:39)

it is "the coasts of Magdala." Magdala and Dalmanutha were both on the

western shore of the lake, and probably not far apart. From the former

the surname "Magdalene" was probably taken, to denote the residence of

Mary Magdalene. Dalmanutha may have been a village, but it cannot now

be identified with certainty.

11. seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him--not in the

least desiring evidence for their conviction, but hoping to entrap Him.

The first part of the answer is given in Matthew alone

(Mt 16:2, 3):

"He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be

fair weather; for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul

weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowering [sullen, gloomy].

Hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern

the signs of the times?" The same simplicity of purpose and careful

observation of the symptoms of approaching events which they showed in

common things would enable them to "discern the signs of the times"--or

rather "seasons," to which the prophets pointed for the manifestation

of the Messiah. The scepter had departed from Judah; Daniel's seventy

weeks were expiring, &c.; and many other significant indications of the

close of the old economy, and preparations for a freer and more

comprehensive one, might have been discerned. But all was lost upon

them.

12. And he sighed deeply in his spirit--The language is very strong.

These glimpses into the interior of the Redeemer's heart, in which our

Evangelist abounds, are more precious than rubies. The state of the

Pharisaic heart, which prompted this desire for a fresh sign, went to

His very soul.

and saith, Why doth this generation--"this wicked and adulterous

generation"

(Mt 16:4).

seek after a sign?--when they have had such abundant evidence

already.

There shall no sign be given unto this generation--literally, "If

there shall be given to this generation a sign"; a Jewish way of

expressing a solemn and peremptory determination to the contrary

(compare

Heb 4:5;

Ps 95:11,

Margin). "A generation incapable of appreciating such

demonstrations shall not be gratified with them." In

Mt 16:4

He added, "but the sign of the prophet Jonas." (See on

Mt 12:39, 40.)

13. And he left them--no doubt with tokens of displeasure.

and entering into the ship again, departed to the other

side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

(Mr 8:14-21).

14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in

the ship with them more than one loaf--This is another example of that

graphic circumstantiality which gives such a charm to this briefest of

the four Gospels. The circumstance of the "one loaf" only remaining, as

WEBSTER and

WILKINSON remark, was more suggestive of their Master's

recent miracles than the entire absence of provisions.

15. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of

the Pharisees--"and of the Sadducees"

(Mt 16:6).

and of the leaven of Herod--The teaching or "doctrine"

(Mt 16:12)

of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees was quite different, but both

were equally pernicious; and the Herodians, though rather a political

party, were equally envenomed against our Lord's spiritual teaching.

See on

Mt 12:14.

The penetrating and diffusive quality of leaven, for good

or bad, is the ground of the comparison.

16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have

no bread--But a little while ago He was tried with the obduracy of the

Pharisees; now He is tried with the obtuseness of His own disciples. The

nine questions following each other in rapid succession

(Mr 8:17-21)

show how deeply He was hurt at this want of spiritual apprehension, and

worse still, their low thoughts of Him, as if He would utter so solemn

a warning on so petty a subject. It will be seen, however, from the

very form of their conjecture, "It is because we have no bread,"

and our Lord's astonishment that they should not by that time have

known better with what He took up His attention--that He ever left

the whole care for His own temporal wants to the Twelve: that He

did this so entirely, that finding they were reduced to their last loaf

they felt as if unworthy of such a trust, and could not think but that

the same thought was in their Lord's mind which was pressing upon their

own; but that in this they were so far wrong that it hurt His

feelings--sharp just in proportion to His love--that such a thought of

Him should have entered their minds! Who that, like angels, "desire to

look into these things" will not prize such glimpses above gold?

17. have ye your heart yet hardened?--How strong an expression

to use of true-hearted disciples! See on

Mr 6:52.

18. Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not?--See

on

Mt 13:13.

and do ye not remember?

19. When I brake the five loaves among five thousand--"the five

thousand."

how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? &c.

21. How is it that ye do not understand?--"do not understand that the

warning I gave you could not have been prompted by any such petty

consideration as the want of loaves in your scrip." Profuse as were our

Lord's miracles, we see from this that they were not wrought at random,

but that He carefully noted their minutest details, and desired that

this should be done by those who witnessed, as doubtless by all who read

the record of them. Even the different kind of baskets used at the two

miraculous feedings, so carefully noted in the two narratives, are here

also referred to; the one smaller, of which there were twelve, the other

much larger, of which there were seven.

Blind Man at Bethsaida Restored to Sight

(Mr 8:22-26).

22. And he cometh to Bethsaida--Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast

side of the lake, whence after this He proceeded to Cæsarea Philippi

(Mr 8:27).

and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch

him--See on

Mr 7:32.

23. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the

town--Of the deaf and dumb man it is merely said that "He took him

aside"

(Mr 7:33);

but this blind man He led by the hand out of the town, doing it

Himself rather than employing another--great humility, exclaims BENGEL--that He might gain his confidence and raise his

expectation.

and when he had spit on his eyes--the organ affected--See on

Mr 7:33.

and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught.

24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking--This is

one of the cases in which one edition of what is called the received

text differs from another. That which is decidedly the best supported,

and has also internal evidence on its side is this: "I see men; for I

see [them] as trees walking"--that is, he could distinguish them from

trees only by their motion; a minute mark of truth in the narrative, as

ALFORD observes, describing how human objects had appeared to him during

that gradual failing of sight which had ended in blindness.

25. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look

up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly--Perhaps the one

operation perfectly restored the eyes, while the other imparted

immediately the faculty of using them. It is the only recorded

example of a progressive cure, and it certainly illustrates similar

methods in the spiritual kingdom. Of the four recorded cases of sight

restored, all the patients save one either came or were brought to the Physician. In the case of the man born blind, the Physician came

to the patient. So some seek and find Christ; of others He is found who

seek Him not.

26. Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town--Besides

the usual reasons against going about "blazing the matter," retirement

in this case would be salutary to himself.

Mr 8:27-38.

PETER'S

NOBLE

CONFESSION OF

CHRIST--OUR

LORD'S

FIRST

EXPLICIT

ANNOUNCEMENT OF

HIS

APPROACHING

SUFFERINGS,

DEATH, AND

RESURRECTION--HIS

REBUKE OF

PETER, AND

WARNING TO

ALL THE

TWELVE.

Mt 16:13-27;

Lu 9:18-26).

For the exposition, see on

Mt 16:13-28.