After the preaching tour by the twelve, Jesus began to withdraw from Galilee as the scene of his public ministry. There were probably several reasons for this new departure. Many of the people of Galilee were intent on forcing him to be their king and deliverer. Jesus desired to avoid any such public demonstration. He desired to get away from the milling crowds in order to devote more time to the training of the twelve. The time was short; the disciples still had much to learn.
Perhaps the deciding factor in the decision of Jesus no longer to stay at Capernaum in Galilee was the news of John the Baptist's tragic death and the resulting interest and curiosity that Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, was showing in Jesus.
The story of the execution of John the Baptist is, apart from the record of Jesus's trial and crucifixion, one of the darkest pages in the New Testament. Herod Antipas had at one time visited his half-brother, Herod Philip, in Rome. There he persuaded Philip's wife, Herodias, to desert her husband, while Herod Antipas deserted his wife to marry Herodias. It was a scandalous arrangement, contrary both to the laws of the Jews and the laws of God.
John the Baptist boldly denounced the entire affair, with the result that he was thrown into prison at the fortress of Machaerus. In spite of his debased character, Herod Antipas maintained a certain awesome respect for the fearless preacher and was, apparently, not at all inclined to do any more than to keep John in prison.
Herodias had nothing but hatred for John, so she waited for an opportune (convenient) time (Mark 6:21) when she might persuade her husband to put an end to John's life. That occasion presented itself when Herod invited the nobles of his realm to his palace at Machaerus to celebrate his birthday. After his step-daughter had danced for his guests, Herod, probably in a drunken stupor, offered to give the girl anything she might ask of him up to one half of his kingdom. Actually, he was powerless to dispose of any of his royal estate without the express permission of the Emperor in Rome, under whom Herod held office as a tributary sovereign or tetrarch.
Herodias took this opportunity to get even with John, and at her suggestion, Salome (whose name we hear from the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus) requested the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The moment that Salome expressed her wish, Herod regretted the rash promise he had made. To save face with his guests, however, and because he believed that an oath was binding no matter how ill-advised it might be, he ordered that John should, then and there, be beheaded.
When word came of the wonders that Jesus was performing, not far from Machaerus, the face of John the Baptist rose accusingly before Herod (perhaps his conscience). Surely, he thought, John had risen from the grave to torment him, and perhaps, indeed,t o punish him for his evil deed. The inference is that Jesus decided, in light of Herod's guilty fears, that it was wise to leave the territory of Herod's dominion, for his time had not yet come.
After the twelve made the report of their tour (Mark 6:30), Jesus said to them, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest (Mark 6:31).
When the crowds saw them leave, they hurriedly made their way around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus and his disciples disembarked, there the people were by the thousands to meet them.
Outwardly, Jesus had been thwarted in his purpose to be alone with the twelve. Yet, when he saw the multitudes he was moved, as always, not with anger, but with deep and genuine compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34). What would happen in our day, if we who follow Christ had the same genuine compassion for the lost and the needy that Jesus had?
All through the day, Jesus taught the people, and by late afternoon (Mark 6:35) they were hungry. The disciples would have ssolved the problem by sending the crowds away. Jesus would not agree to such a thing.
John's Gospel tells us (John 6:7) that it was Philip who pointed out that it would take two hundred denarii (eight months wages) to provide for such a multitude. A denarius was a day's wages for a working man. The disciples' resources, certainly, were all too meager to pay such a bill as that.
In reply to Philip, Jesus simply inquired as to how much food was available. At this, Andrew stepped forward to say that a boy in the crowd (John 6:8-9) had five barley loaves and two fishes, hardly enough to satisfy one hungry man. Mark records that Jesus, taking in his hands this scant supply of food and looking up to heaven, blessed and broke the bread until at last there was enough for everyone, with twelve baskets full of left-overs!
There has been much discussion as to the spiritual significance of Jesus's demonstration of power. It should be remembered that Jesus's central purpose in this part of his public ministry was to train the twelve. While this miracle was the natural resposne of the loving heart of Jesus to human need, it was, at the same time, an opportunity for him to demonstrate to his disciples that, of a truth, there are no limits to the power of God. Besides this, the feeding of the five thousand carried a spiritual message for all who witnessed it and for all who would later hear of it. Jesus's miracles were often parables of teaching. It was a way of saying to the people, I am the bread of life.
The people were greatly impressed with the feeding of the five thousand - so impressed that they decided to acclaim Jesus the king of Israel (John 6:15). To meet this crisis, Jesus sent his disciples to Bethsaida, on the other side of the lake, and when he had dispersed the people, he went alone into the hills (mountains) to pray. (Mark 6:46)
The fourth watch of the night (Mark 6:48) was the three-hour period just before sunrise. So it was very early the next morning when Jesus arose and, looking out on the lake, saw his disciples battling against a storm. Immediately, he went to their aid, walking out on the water. Oddly enough, the disciples did not recognize him. They thought, rather, that they were seeing a ghost and were all the more afraid, until, across the waves, came a familiar voice saying, Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid. (Mark 6:50)
Here again is a miracle which seems to ahve no obvious spiritual meaning and purpose until we look at it more closely. It was first of all, the natural response of Jesus to human need. It was also another opportunity to teach the disciples a needed lesson. When things looked bad, the disciples invariably lost their courage and their faith. This would never do.
All too soon, storms of persecution that were far more treacherous than the storm on the Sea of Galilee would threaten to engulf the disciples. They needed to be made aware of the abiding fact that divine help and divine companionship are available to any follower of Christ. That they had not yet learned this lesson is made obvoius by Mark's comment, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened (Mark 6:52)
On returning to Genneserat, in Galilee, Jesus was met again by the crowds of people, some of whom ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was (Mark 6:55).
As before, they did not come to acknowledge him as their Lord, but to seek healing for their bodies. They had discovered that only to touch the hem of his garment was necessary to be healed (Mark 6:56).
It seems that the greater the acclaim of the people in general was for Jesus, the more determined the scribes and Pharisees were to discredit him. On this occasion, they hit on the fact that Jesus did not instruct nor encourage the disciples to observe the Jewish traditions concerning ceremonial cleanliness.
The tradition of the elders insisted that the Jews should wash their hands frequently, nto simply as a matter of good health and physical cleanliness, but to avoid ceremonial contamination by the Gentiles. This tradition was an attempt to apply to the people generally a law that was originally given for the priests in handling of holy food.
In answering the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus dealt first of all with their traditions in general, and then specifically with the matter of ceremonial cleansing. In making the point that the traditions of the elders had lost most, if not all, of their spiritual significance, Jesus referred to a practice among the Jewish people that had resulted in nothing short of sheer hypocrisy.
Their traditions declared that a man must put God first in the stewardship of his possessions. In itself, this was as it should have been. But the traditions ruled that a man could declare a certain portion of his wealth to be Corban, that is, holy to God. Usually the money was given to the priests for the Temple services.
As time went on, however, many people used this tradition as an excuse to avoid fulfilling their just obligations. Instead of caring for his aged parents as the laws of Moses required, a man would say, I cannot afford to do this since I have designated my money as dedicated to God. In many cases, this claim was just a ruse, and the money was never givent o priests. In this fashion, the leaders had nullified the law of God (the laws of Moses) by claiming to adhere to the traditions of the elders. In this, they were no longer servants of God, but outright hypocrites (Mark 7:6).
Turning to the question of ceremonial defilement, Jesus set forth a spiritual principle that is as applicable to our own day as it was to the day in which it was uttered. He declared that defilement is not a physical matter; it is a matter of the heart. True religion is not ritual; it is righteousness. A man is spiritually clean only as he is clean in motive, in attitude, and in thought. Is this not the very core of our Christian faith? It is in accord with the words of Jesus, I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). It was at this very point that Jesus and the Pharisees stood poles apart.
The clamor of the crowds, on the one hand, and the antipathy of the Pharisees, on the other, led Jesus to withdraw again from Galilee. This time he went into Phoenicia, which was Gentile territory, the people being descendants of the Canaanites. The two most significant cities in Phoenicia were Tyre and Sidon.
Once again, Jesus's presence soon became noised about and, in due time, a Syrophenician woman came calling him to heal her daughter of an unclean spirit. Jesus's immediate response tot he woman raised a great deal of discussion. Did he mean to rebuke her? Was there any possibility that her feelings were hurt by the blunt words, First let the children eat all they want, he told her, for it is not right to take the children's brad and toss it to their dogs (Mark 7:27)
We may explain that Jesus was simply quoting a well-known saying of that day and that, by the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes, the woman recognized the words to be spoken good-humoredly. This interpretation is borne out by the fact that she, rather adroitly, answered him with another current proverb and with equally good humor, as she replied, Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs (Mark 7:28)
Perhaps an even better explanation is that, here again, Jesus was primarily interested in training the twelve, who at that very moment stood around him. He knew that what he first said exactly expressed the point of veiw that they, as Jews, had held throught he years. As he spoke the words, they possibly nodded their assent as if to say, That is just the way we see it.
Then, by his miracle of healing at the Gentile woman's request, Jesus went on to show the disciples that from now on, it would not be so. While he, himself, was sent primarily to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), the ministry of his message would at last be givent o peoples of every race and nation. This incident, therefore, was in a very real sense an indication of the world mission of the gospel.
Jesus went on to say to the Gentile woman, For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter (Mark 7:29)
There is no record as to how long Jesus remained in the region of Tyre and Sidon (Phoenecia). We may assume that the report of the healing of the Syrophonecian girl quickly spread throughout the territory. Jesus was still intent on being alone with the twelve. Therefore, he decided to withdraw from Phoenicia, going to the region known as the Decapolis, which lay on the east of the Jordan River and largely to the south of the Sea of Galilee. As he journeyed, he carefully avoided the territory that was governed by Herod Antipas.
As usual, Jesus was met by a multitude of people (Mark 7:33), who brought with them a man who was both deaf and mute. Since Jesus's purpose at the moment ws to be alone with his disciples, he took the man aside from the crowd to avoid publicity as much as possible.
The conduct of Jesus as he put his fingers in the man's ears and touched the man's tongue was unusual. It is perhaps best explained by the fact that Jesus accommodated his method of healing to the special needs of the particular individual. Since the man was both deaf and mute, the only way to communicate with him was by means of a sign language. This Jesus did by placing his fingers in the man's ears to signify that it was his purpose to restore the man's hearing, and by moistening the man's tongue to indicate the purpose, also, to restore his speech.
Over and over again, we read that Jesus instructed those whom he healed (and sometimes even his own disciples) not publish the matter. The reason for this instruction, of course, was that he was concerned not to add fuel to the fires of popular acclaim that were already raging too fiercely among the Pharisees and scribes. He desired to use his time, as much as possible, in the instruction of the twelve.
In spite of Jesus's injunction to the contrary, the news of the cure of the deaf-mute was widely publicized, with the result that some four thousand people crowded around Jesus.
For three days they waited on the ministry of his words. From sheer compassion (Mark 8:3) he decided to feed them. This miracle has, at times, been confused with the feeding of the five thousand. According to Jesus's own words, as recorded by Mark (Mark 8:19-20) they were two separate miracles. The details of the two miracles differ but the significance of them is identical.
For the crowds, they were miracles of compassion. For the twelve, they were miracles of instruction.
It became quite obvious that Jesus would find no privacy or respite in the Decapolis, so again he and his disciples crossed the lake to Dalmanutha, or Magadan. Hardly had they disembarked, it would seem, than the Pharisees came to harass Jesus.
This time they did not enter into a controversy with him. Perhaps they had already learned that they were no match for him in argument.
Instead, they asked for a sign from heaven (Mark 8:11). By this, they apparently meant some mighty demonstration, such as a finger writing in the skies proclaiming him to be the Messiah - some sign that everyone could see. Jesus well knew that their request was insincere, so he flatly denied it without a further word.
Once again, Jesus attempted to be alone with his disciples. This time he was more successful.
Except for two instances - one recorded at the beginning of this section of Mark's gospel, and one at the end - the crowds were not present. At last, Jesus had the opportunity to face the twelve with certain matters concerning his messiahship and his saving ministry.
About these matters they must be made quite certain before they could be ready to face the hour of their Lord's crucifixion. Together, Jesus and the twelve set out across the lake for the region of Caesarea Philippi.
On the way across the lake, Jesus was apparently still thinking of his recent clash with the Pharisees. He was keenly aware of their entrenched opposition. He knew how to handle them, but would his disciples be equally adept in the days ahead?
One of the worst things that could happen to his cause in those beginning days would be fore his disciples to compromise with the religious authorities and particularly with the Pharisees, whose way of life was altogether different from the way of life that Jesus taught. It was possibly with some such thoughts as these in mind that he said to his disciples, in effect, Guard against the Pharisees. They will attempt to nullify everything you try to do.
The response of the disciples indicated that they still had a great deal to learn, for they missed the point of Jesus's warning entirely. They thought, rather, that he was talking about brad, for the term leaven was commonly so used. Jesus upbraided them for their lack of perception. If he had been speaking simply of bread, why would that be any matter of concern? Had he not supplied bread once for five thousand and again for four thousand? It would be an easy matter to take care of their meager needs.
To make clear his disappointment in them, Jesus went on to say, Do you still not understand? (Mark 8:21). Matthew points out that only then did his disciples realize that Jesus was referring to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:12)
Arriving at Bethsaida, Jesus was met by a group of people who brought a blind man with them. As in the case of the deaf-mute (Mark 7:31-37) Jesus used an unusual procedure in healing the blind man.
It seems that there was a prevailing tradition in those days to the effect that saliva had certain healing qualities. It may very well be that the use of saliva in this particular miracle strengthened the man's faith.
This is the only recorded miracle where the healing was gradual and progressive. Here again, we may assume that the method was employed solely for the sake of the man himself, though there are some who see this as a parable of the progressive nature of our Christian experience.
At long last Jesus gained the objective for which he had sought - to be all alone with the twelve. He must now prepare them for the trying experiences that were in store for them. But first there was one all-important thing that he must know. Did they fully accept him as the promised Deliverer? To be sure, he knew their hearts. Yet he wanted to hear from their own lips that they assuredly knew his true identity - his relationship with the Father, his purpose in his earthly mission. So he asked them: Who do people say I am? (Mark 8:27)
One after another they began to recall what people had said about Jesus. Some had identified him with John the Baptist, others with Elijah or with various other prophets. Then came the test: But what about you? Who do you say I am? (Mark 8:29)
It was Peter who answered, for himself and the others, with the clear and unqualified confession, You are the Christ (Mark 8:29). That confession was what Jesus wanted to hear. The disciples were now ready for him to tell them, in no uncertain terms, what lay before him, and them, in Jerusalem (Mark 8:31)
While Peter was quite sincere in his confession, the implications of Jesus's messiahship where more than he could bear. Peter began to rebuke Jesus. He believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but he could not see why that should mean Jesus's death in Jerusalem at the hands of the religious leaders. A short while before, Jesus had praised Peter; now he rebuked him. Peter, who had acted like a veritable rock, was now acting like Satan, making the same sort of a proposal that Satan had made during the tempation in the wilderness - the proposal that Jesus avoid the cross.
About a week later, Jesus, desiring to prepare his disciples further for the coming events, took Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain. There he was transfigured before then. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. (Mark 9:4)
In the midst of this transfiguration, Peter simply could not remain silent. Hardly knowing just what to say, he declared in effect, This is all so wonderful! Why can't we build three tabernacles and remain up here, far from the troublesome crowd?
Perhaps Peter was remembering the sufferings that awaited them in Jerusalem and felt that this would be a convenient way of avoiding that dark hour. But Peter was speaking out of turn. The pageant of the transfiguration was not yet over for, in a moment, they heard a voice from out of the clouds say, This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! (Mark 9:7)
This proclamation fro heaven had the same significance for the disciples that a similar announcement had for John the Baptist by the river Jordan. It was a seal and sign of God's approval of Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of Mankind. The appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus implied that the purpose of God in the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) had fuond its fulfillment in the gospel (Jesus).
Jesus went on to declare that not only was his way the way of the cross but so, also, the way of everyone who followed in his steps. He was willing to die for the cause to which he had set himself. They also must be willing to die, if need be, for their Master's sake and for the sake of the gospel. Jesus then amplified this truth in three further statements, saying in effect, It is a poor bargain if a man shall seek to save his life at the cost of his own soul. One wonders whether Peter recalled these words later when he denied Christ.
The solemn words of Jesus are spoken just as directly as those of us who claim to follow him in this day as they were to the disciples long ago. The way of the Christian is the way of the cross.
Jesus's final word to his disciples at this point was a declaration that the day of which he spoke was not far off. Some of them would actually see the kingdom of God coming in power. They would see Jesus fulfill his messianic mission in his death on the cross (Mark 9:1)
The experience on the mountain was too much for the three disciples. On the way down they conversed with Jesus, who suggested that they keep silent about the transfiguration until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (Mark 9:9)
Reference to the resurrection brought up another question...
What did Jesus mean?
Possibly, the name of Elijah (who had appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration) was mentioned. This led to another question...
Was it not commonly believed that Elijah would appear before the advent of the Messiah? Had he appeared?
Yes, said Jesus, he had appeared, and he had fared ill at the hands of his enemies. Apparently, Jesus was implying that John the Baptist had fulfilled the prophetic role of Elijah and that he himself would receive no better treatment than John the Baptist had received.
Soon Jesus and the three came on the remaining nine disciples in the midst of a heated argument.
It turned out that a man had brought his boy with an unclean spirit to the disciples, begging them that they heal him. They had been powerless to do the boy any good, and their powerlessness had raised questioning among the bystanders as to whether, after all, they really had the gifts that had been so widely attributed to them.
It would seem that Jesus addressed his words of rebuke (Mark 9:19) not only to the nine disciples but also to the crowd, and especially, perhaps, to the scribes who were making capital out of the disciples' failure. Then he turned to the father of the boy and began to inquire as to the history of the boy's illness. The father was only too willing to tell Jesus the boy's story, and concluded by saying, But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. (Mark 9:22)
To this Jesus replied, If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes (Mark 9:23). There is a note of concern in the father's reply. In effect he was saying, I believe but my faith is weak. Give me the power to have stronger faith. At this, Jesus released the boy from the power of the evil spirit.
The nine disciples were frankly embarrassed. Why had they failed so miserably? Jesus's answer gave them little room for comfort for he plainly told them that they could oo might works only after much prayer. Is it not equally true that our powerlessness as the followers of Jesus Christ is often due to our lack of devotion in prayer?