Mark 8:22-9:1

Have you ever watched something in super slow motion? It can be very very revealing.

Man do I really look like that? Oh man that was awesome. You slow things down in order to get a firm grasp on what took place at a particular space in time. You probably see this most often in sporting events.

(Video review - the slow it down). They say sometimes officials or referees miss calls because in real time it is just hard to take all the information in and then make a discive call.

The second half of the Gospel of Mark kind of takes place at a slower speed. A snails pace. Everything kind of slows down and there is great intentionality taken by Jesus to get His followers to understand that the road they were all on was a road that was leading to a Garden called Gethsemane and then shortly after that to a place called Golgatha.

He was going to be betrayed and handed over to die and although they would stumble and falter along the way in pretty humbling and spectacular ways, He would never leave them behind. The perseverance and patience of Jesus with His disciples is something we want to watch in slow motions over these next 8 chapters.

In the first 8 chapters of Mark, we see Jesus traveling by boat everywhere 18 times a boat is the means of transportation to quickly get from one place to another. We won’t read about any boat travels from here on out. The means of transportation now is much slower and deliberate in this second half. It is all done by foot “on the way.”

The reason for this is that Following Jesus is a path that must be walked. Step by step. One foot in front of the other. There are no shortcuts. We follow Him, step by step to the place where He eventually suffered and died. We as His disciples are called to follow in His steps!

As the disciples follower Jesus along the way in the second half of this book, they are going to repeatedly fail to keep in step with Jesus just as much as they failed in the first half. There is nothing new there! But knowing that sometimes we learn more from our failures than we do our successes, we are going to see Jesus repeatedly and patiently meet them with grace, right where they were at. He is so gracious with them even when they sleep on Him in the Garden as His betrayer was coming to identify Him with a kiss.

Jesus is so gracious and patient with His disciples. This is something that we will watch in slow motion in the next 8 chapters.

Today we are going to look at 2 stories that build off to the three stories we told last week. We won’t retell those stories, but it will help us to be reminded of what we learned.

Mark is trying to indicate to us in this section that…

Jesus is the exclusive, heaven-sent, satisfier of our souls.

Jesus is the only source of eternal satisfaction. (everyone ate and was satisfied).

Undeniable proof of this has already been given. (The Resurrection - The Pharisees demanded a sign.)

We need to to remember what He has done. (When the disciples were getting who He was and what He was capable of doing, Jesus moved towards them and asked them to reflect and remember what they had seen Him do. Provide satisfaction to weary people who had come to Him so that they could make it on a long journey home.

Jesus is the exclusive, heaven-sent, satisfier of our souls.This is what we saw last week and this week we will see that recognizing this reality is a process, but ultimately we have to answer the most penetrating question presented to us in the Gospel of Mark:

Who do you say that I am?

This is a question that we must all come up with a definitive answer for. There is no eluding this one. Who do you say that Jesus is? The answer to that question will determined how you live your life now and it will determine your eternal destiny.

I can’t stress the importance of arriving at the correct answer to this question.

So with thoughtful, contemplative hearts and minds let’s read our text today.

Mark 8:22–9:1 (ESV)

22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

Let’s Pray

Recognizing this reality is a process. (22-26)

The reality that we need to recognize was defined last week: Jesus is the exclusive, heaven-sent, satisfier of our souls.

Restoring sight to the blind is a promised action of God in the Psalms and the Prophets (Ps. 146:8; Is. 29:18; 35:5 etc) and here, Mark shows us a depiction of Jesus restoring sight to the blind. Mark is attributing God-like characteristics to Jesus. We see it, but the disciples don’t. At least not yet.

This two stage healing of a blind man will help us see that coming to a point of understanding who Jesus is, is an incremental process. Thats how it was for the first disciples, that is more than likely how it will be for us.

A blind man is healed in two stages, so that we might start to see thing more clearly! Brilliant.

Mark 8:22–26 (ESV)

22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Crazy story right? Isn’t it? Jesus spitting in some blind guys face! Come on! This is the second time Jesus used spit to heal people in the Gospel of Mark. The first time Jesus spit and touched a mute mans tongue and now Jesus is going to “spit on his eyes.”

Have you ever heard of that game, “Would You Rather?” This is the “Would you Rather” Jesus Edition. Would you rather have Jesus heal you by spitting on his hands and touching your tongue or spitting in your eyes?

Gross…are those my only options for healing?

Well the only reason He is able to heal in the first place is because later on is this Gospel Jesus allows Himself to be spit upon a by a defiate crowd of people before the religions leaders of the day.

Mark tells us that…

Mark 14:65 (ESV)

65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

This is what it cost Him in order to bring about your healing that will come incrementally over time.

If you are going to be grossed out by anything be grossed out by the fact that it was your sin that lead Him to that defiant crowd that spit on Him, covered his face and struck Him, mocked Him and punched Him.

He went through that for you. The cost of our sin is sickening. Be grossed out by that.

But talk about having a significant point of contact with a person. This is pretty personally intimate.

The God of the Universe had this healing transpire in such a way to make a poetic point ring down through the ages. If we are going to start seeing things clearly, He Himself is going to have to do something about our blindness.

This isn’t Jesus accidentally coming up with the wrong healing potion. This is the God of the Universe giving a master lesson on how we sometimes are unaware of the majesty of Jesus and how our healing takes place in stages!

At this point in the Gospel, the disciples only see in part, but eventually they will see the full picture. They are about to confess that He is the Christ, but they will not understand the full implications of what that confession really means.

That full picture will be very clear by the end of the Gospel when we see Jesus as the Messianic King reigning from a splintered cross.

In this short story there are 10 references to seeing, which begs me to ask us all this question. Do we have eyes to see who Jesus is? What stage of healing are we in? Do we see things clearly at this point or are there more scales that need to fall from our eyes?

Recognizing Jesus as the exclusive, heaven-sent, satisfier of our souls, is a process.

And to initiate that process we must…

We must confess our belief in true identity of Jesus. (27-30)

Peter’s confession is the highpoint and the hinge point of Mark’s Gospel.

As readers of Mark’s Gospel we have been in on the secret since verse 1 of chapter 1.

Mark 1:1 (ESV)

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

For the first time in the Gospel of Mark, since 1:1, someone other than the wind and the waves and the demonic forces begin to understand who Jesus actually is! But even then it is very apparent that although Peter and the disciples come up with the right answer they are still confused as to what that answer means.

It’s kind of like when you guess at an answer and you get it right, but then when someone presses you and asks you why it is right, you feel your heart rate start to quicken because you don’t really know.

Peter and the disciples are going to confess that Jesus is the Christ, but they have a misunderstanding of what being “the Christ” means and what it will mean for them as they follow in His steps.

Mark 8:27–30 (ESV)

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Okay, Jesus is now walking with His disciples to a destination and “on the way” (a phrase you will see again in this Gospel), He incrementally drills down into their perception of Him.

First He asks them, ‘Who do people say that I am?’

They inform Him that there are a lot of different opinions out there. Some are really strange; and some are maybe a little closer to the truth.

Thinking Jesus is John the Baptist is just pretty strange. It is hard to come up with that answer. He was beheaded and Jesus clearly had a head so…

Some are maybe a little closer to the truth. You are Elijah!

Remember Elijah was a prophet who never died. So maybe Jesus was Elijah coming back performing miracles like a prophet of old.

In a contemporary sense, many people have a perception of Jesus; but it might be a misperception. By and large most people in popular culture see Jesus as a sort of positive icon. They pick and choose various things they have heard about Him or His teaching and end up liking certain aspects of His “philosophy.”

The non-judgmental Jesus. The great moral teacher Jesus. The life coach Jesus. The Hipster Jesus. The Jesus that is accepting of everyone. The Superhero Jesus. The One who exist to bail us out of all the perdicaments we get ourselves in.

You know Jesus, the fair skinned man with blond hair and blue eyes that looks like Michelageols cousin!

Jesus!?

There are a lot of mis perceptions of Jesus out there, but then Jesus puts the people in front of Him in the cross hairs and He asked them,

“but Who do you say that I am?”

And Peter speaks up for the crew and confesses, “You are the Christ.”

You are the Anointed One of God who was promised to come from long ago.

But, what you don’t want to be is either majorly confused as to who Jesus is and you don’t want to be a little closer to understanding who He is, when it comes to understanding the most important reality in all the universe, you want to be dead on accurate otherwise you will just be dead.

So Jesus doesn’t seem to concern Himself with what all the people are thinking about His identieis, here in this story he zeros in on the guys in front of him, looks direclty at them and asks them a direct question.

Who do you say that I am?

YOu are the Chrsit.

The true identity of Jesus.

Hinge because everything from this point on will lead to the cross.

Why He has come. To suffer (8:31)

Mark 8:31 ESV

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

For three years I have told you that I am the Son of God. I have revealed that I am the Messiah, the very Messiah who you, as Jews, believe will deliver you, will be like a super=king... This Messiah must suffer. He's gonna suffer to deliver you, not from a death angel in Egypt or from a Pharaoh in Egypt, but to deliver you from eternal punishment before a holy God

The Lamb of God would be slain.

The result of truly owing that confession. (32-9:1)

and who we are to become. to walk in this suffering steps

Mark (Original Meaning)

Jesus spells out the fine print of the requirements of discipleship. The cross is not his to bear alone. It is necessary not only as a means of redemption but as a way of life that disciples must bear if they want to be his disciples. They too will face suffering and will be tempted to take an easier path that sidesteps any call for sacrifice. Anyone who faithfully follows a suffering leader will become a sitting duck and the object of hate crimes.

True nature of discipleship

Mark (Original Meaning)

The disciples’ shortcomings become even more prominent in this section. In scene after scene, their blindness becomes distressingly evident. Each time Jesus instructs the disciples about his coming suffering and resurrection, they manifest in some way their complete lack of understanding. In the first instance, Peter openly rebukes Jesus for thinking that he will suffer (8:32–33). In the second, all the disciples begin to bicker privately about who is the greatest (9:33–34). In the last, James and John bid for places of power and glory in the kingdom, which rankles the other disciples. They resent this bid to gain a competitive edge, for they want to be the ones who rule the roost (10:35–41). The disciples’ tenacious thickheadedness gives Jesus an opening in each instance to make a statement about the true nature of discipleship (8:34–38; 9:35–37; 10:42–45)

eading the Fine Print that

Putting your money wehere your mouth is.

walking hte walk that you talk.

giving evidence to the faith that you profess.

not loving you rlife unto death.

Redefining what it means to be Messiah.

The disciples made up a character of who they thougth the Messiah was. They created an image of the Messiah that would suit their wants and wishes for temporary releif ffrom teh oppression they were facing in this life.

but Jeus is goign to redefine that Messiahship to showcase his power of this life and the next one.

We better be careful about how we define Jesus in our minds.

espcially in our culture. the tolerant, love is accepting of anthing. ets.

(THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW).

Dont’ create a God in your own image.

Rev. 12:11

Mark 8:31–9:1 ESV

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

So who do you say he is?

It is a new year…ministry year at least.

If you want some life application you are going to get it this week. (baptism class) you need to publically identify wiht him.

some have not had any element of suffering

Acts 14:22 ESV

22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Benediction

Why is Jesus spitting on everyone. Spitting in interestd 2 times Jesus spits on people to heal them; then Jesus tells his disciples (10:34) that people will spit on him (which is an act of judgement and sickening defiance) and then the actually do it in 14:65, they spit on him and cover his face and then punch him.

Discussion Questions

What stage of healing are we in? Do we see things clearly at this point or are there more scales that need to fall from our eyes?