Mark Chapter 8
Mark Chapter 8 is, like the remainder of the Gospel of Mark, a superb passage for teaching phonics to a child, teenager, or adult.
Key words practiced in this chapter include:
Phonetic words
- rebuffed
- persecuted
- Messengers
Sight words
- lose
- Christ
Chapter 8
The crowd that followed Jesus was enormous and had little to eat, so Jesus gathered His students and said, "I have great love and empathy for the people, who have been following Me for three days and now have nothing to eat. I am responsible for them, for if I send them away to their homes, they will collapse along the way, as many of them have come a great distance." The students responded, "How can we feed these people bread out in the desert where food is scarce?" Jesus asked them, "how many loaves do you have?" They replied, "seven." So he told the crowd to sit down, and taking the seven loaves and giving thanks unto God, he broke them and gave them to His students to distribute, and they did. They also had a few small fish, which he also blessed and had distributed. The people ate and were filled, and the students found that a surplus of seven large baskets of food fragments remained. Four thousand people had eaten, and Jesus sent them on their way.
Jesus went into a boat with the students and traveled into Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came to Him and began to try to test Him with their questions, demanding a sign from heaven. In his soul he sighed deeply at their lack of faith, and he replied, "Why does this generation want a sign? I'll tell you the truth: you will not be given a sign." So he left them, returned to the boat and traveled across the lake.
The students had neglected to bring bread on board, and had not so much as one loaf aboard. And Jesus warned them, "I caution you, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod." They discussed this among themselves and decided, "He says this because we didn't bring bread." And Jesus knew this and said, "Why do you think this is about bread? Do you still not perceive or understand the message? Have your minds been closed? You have eyes and ears, but do you see, hear, or even remember? When I distributed the five loaves among five thousand people, how many small baskets of remainders did you collect?" "Twelve." "And of the seven loaves given to the four thousand, how many large baskets remained?" "Seven." "Why do you still not understand?"
Jesus arrived at Bethsaida, where people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. Jesus took the hand of the blind man, and led him outside the village; Jesus spit on the man's eyes, and laid His hands upon him, asking if he could see. The man looked up and declared, "I only see men who look like walking trees." Jesus put His hands on the blind man's eyes again, and then told him to look up. The man's sight was restored, so that he could see every man around him clearly. Jesus sent him home and told him, "Do not enter the village or tell anyone there about this."
Jesus and the students then went to the towns around Caesarea Philippi, and while walking He asked them, "Whom do men say that I am?" The students replied, "'John the Baptist.' But some say 'Elijah', and others say, 'One of the prophets.'"
And He asked, "Who do you say I am?" to which Peter answered, "you are Christ." And He told them not to tell anyone about his true nature. He taught them of things that must pass, that the Son as man would suffer great trials, be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the scribes, and would be killed, only to rise again to life in three days time. He said this openly, but Peter took him aside and began to protest. But Jesus turned and, looking at His students, rebuffed Peter. "Begone, Satan. You aren't thinking about Godly things, but the things of men."
Then calling the people to Himself and the students, Jesus said, "Anyone who wants to follow Me must lay aside all thought for himself, pick up his cross, and follow Me. For he who seeks to save his life will lose it, while anyone persecuted to death for the sake of myself and the gospels will be saved. For what good is it for a man to win the whole world if he condemns his soul? Or what will a man pay in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of Me or My teaching to this adulterous, sinful generation, I, the Son as man will be ashamed of them when I return with the glory of My Father and His Holy Messengers."
See also
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