Mark 8
8
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
1During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples over and told them, 2“I’m very concerned for these people. They’ve already been with me for three days, and they’ve run out of things to eat. 3I don’t want to send them away hungry, because if I do, they may be too weak to make it back home. I know that some of them have come a long way.”
4His disciples answered, “We’re in the middle of nowhere. Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd?”
5“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. He picked up the seven loaves and gave thanks to God, and then he broke them and gave them to his disciples. They passed the pieces of bread around to the people. 7The disciples also had a few small fish, so Jesus gave thanks for them and told his disciples to pass them around too. 8Everyone ate as much as they needed, and after that, the disciples picked up seven full baskets of leftover pieces. 9Just counting the men, 4,000 people were fed. Then Jesus sent the crowd away 10and got into a boat with his disciples. They went to the area of Dalmanutha.
11The Pharisees came and began to ask Jesus questions. They wanted to test him, so they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, it won’t be given any sign.” 13Then he left them, got back into the boat, and crossed over to the other side of the lake.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16The disciples talked this over among themselves and decided, “He must be saying that because we didn’t bring any bread.”
17Jesus knew what they were saying, and he asked them, “Why are you talking about not having any bread? Why can’t you see or understand? Is it because you don’t want to? 18Do you have eyes that still don’t see, and ears that still don’t hear? Don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they answered.
20“Later I broke seven loaves for the 4,000. How many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they replied.
21He said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22Jesus came with his disciples to Bethsaida, and there some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 23He took him by the hand and led him outside the village. Then he spit on the man’s eyes and placed his hands on him. “Do you see anything?” Jesus asked.
24The man looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking around.”
25Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes again, and when he opened his eyes wide, his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t even go into the village.”
Peter Says That Jesus Is the Messiah
27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say one of the prophets.”
29“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus Tells About His Coming Death
31Jesus then began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man would have to suffer a lot. He told them that the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law would reject him. He said that he would be killed, but that after three days he would rise again. 32He explained all this clearly. But Peter took him to one side and started to berate him.
33Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, and then he firmly put Peter in his place. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You’re not thinking about what God wants. You’re only thinking about what people want.”
You Must Pick Up Your Cross
34Jesus called the crowd to him, along with his disciples, and he said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple has to deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow me. 35Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the good news will save it. 36What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul? 37What can anyone trade for their soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
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Mark 8
8
A Meal for Four Thousand
1-3At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.”
4His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?”
5He asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they said.
6-10So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha.
11-12When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, “Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you’ll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.”
Contaminating Yeast
13-15He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”
16-19Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
They said, “Twelve.”
20“And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”
“Seven.”
21He said, “Do you still not get it?”
22-23They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”
24-26He looked up. “I see men. They look like walking trees.” So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t enter the village.”
The Messiah
27Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, “Who do the people say I am?”
28“Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’” they said. “Others say ‘Elijah.’ Still others say ‘one of the prophets.’”
29He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”
Peter gave the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”
30-32a Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” He said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.
32b-33 But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. “Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works.”
34-37Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?
38“If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.