Mark 8:22

Mark 8:22 says, And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. When Jesus reached Bethsaida, a blind man was brought to Him.  We must also come to Jesus where He is.  Even though Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost, we still need to meet Jesus while He is near us spiritually.  Jesus never forces anyone to come to Him, even though He has sought them.  Verse twenty-three adds, And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.  Jesus took the man by the hand and led him out of town.  The man was not given a reason why this was happening but could simply follow in faith.  We may not always understand what is happening in life, but we need to simply continue to follow Jesus by faith.  Jesus spit on the man's eyes, though this was unnecessary in order to heal him.  Matthew Henry says this was a small sign to bolster the man's faith, which may have been weak at that time.  I believe God will always allow us to see signs that He is at work in our lives, ever if our faith is weak.  Jesus then asked the man what he saw.  Verse twenty-four continues, And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.  The man said he saw men that looked like trees walking.  I believe the man's limited sight was due to a lack of complete faith in Jesus.  When our faith is small in a particular circumstance, we may have limited vision as to what God has in store for us.  Verse twenty-five states, After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.  Jesus put His hands on the man's eyes and had him look up.  When Jesus touches us when we are having a hard time seeing clearly spiritually, we need to look up to Him and not around at the world.  The man's eyesight was restored then, and he saw clearly.  Jesus did not leave the man with partially restored sight, and He will not leave us with partially restored spiritual sight as long as we put our faith in Him completely. I believe this was because His faith in Jesus grew, and not because of the physical act of Jesus touching his eyes.  Verse twenty-six adds, And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.  Jesus then told the man to go home and not to tell anyone what had happened.  We on the other hand, when we meet Jesus Christ and accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord are given the command to go and tell everyone.  So today, let me tell you about a Man named Jesus Who came to redeem us from the death penalty of sin, by sacrificing Himself to a cruel death on the cross in our place. 

Mark 8:14

Mark 8:14 says, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. When the disciples were on the ship, they realized they hadn't brought any bread with them, and they only had one loaf on the ship.  They were still looking at things from a worldly point of view instead of a spiritual one.  We too often obsess about how little we have instead of how much God will provide for us if we put our faith in Him.  Verse fifteen adds, And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod   I believe that a lot of God's work goes undone because we only see what we have, instead of what God can do through us if we allow Him to. That is why Jesus warned them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.  They were more concerned about physical matters than they were spiritual matters.  The Pharisees, the most religious people of that day, and Herod, the ruler of the area, were lumped together.  Religion and government cannot meet our needs but only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord can.  Verse sixteen continues, And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. The disciples still thought Jesus was talking about their lack of bread, a material thing.  As long as we are focused on material things, we will miss the spiritual blessings.  Verse seventeen states, And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?  Verse eighteen adds, Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?  Jesus asked the disciples if they could not see, hear, and remember what they had seen and heard Him do.  How often might He ask us the same question when we say we cannot do what we believe He wants us to do because of a lack of faith.  Verse nineteen declares, When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.  Verse twenty adds, And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. Jesus reminded them of His feeding the five thousand and the four thousand and of how much was left over.  As Christians, there should be times when God has done something miraculous in our life, and yet we still doubt that He can meet our needs today.  Verse twenty-one continues, And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?  Jesus then asked the disciples how they could not understand what these two miracles should have taught them, and that is that He could more than abundantly meet their needs, and He still can today. 

Mark 8:10

 Mark 8:10 says, And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. After feeding the seven thousand men, Jesus immediately got on a ship and left.  Jesus did not come for the praise and adoration of people for what He could do for them physically or materially, but He come to call people to Him spiritually.  This would reach its culmination at the end of His earthly ministry when He sacrificed Himself on the cross to make salvation possible for anyone and everyone who put their faith in Him as their personal Savior and Lord.  Jesus did not die to save just certain people, but to save everyone who put their faith in Him, and that includes people who may hate Christians.  I believe our responsibility is not to hate them in return, but to share the love of Christ with them as we earnestly pray for their salvation.  This is just my understanding of what God's word says, but I don't believe that we are to engage in speaking evil of them either.  Verse eleven adds, And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. Jesus encountered some Pharisees when He came ashore.  The Pharisees seemed to always be around Jesus, and though they were super religious people, they did not know Who Jesus was, and they did not like Him at all.  There are still very religious people today who do not know Who Jesus is, and they often do not like what He teaches at all.  Verse twelve continues, And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.  The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign to prove He was Who people said He was.  They did this to tempt Jesus.  There are still people today who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and the only way to forgiveness of sin.  The only sign there ever was or ever will be is the sign of the cross, and the empty tomb that was a part of the salvation plan of God.  Jesus said no sign would be given to that generation, those who lived before His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, and those are the only signs any generation will ever be given.  If we demand signs in order to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we are not coming by faith, which is the only way to accept His salvation of us.  Verse thirteen concludes, And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.  Jesus did not stay to argue with the Pharisees but left on a ship again.  God is not going to stay around to argue with anyone about the only way to salvation today, which was, is, and always will be faith in Jesus Christ as ones personal Savior and Lord. 

Mark 8:1

Mark 8:1 says. In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, A crowd was following Him for three days with nothing to eat.  We often have a hard time getting people to come to church for an hour or two, even if they are well fed.  We need to desire to follow Jesus just as strongly. Verse two adds, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: Verse three continues, And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. We see that Jesus had compassion on them, fearing they would faint if they didn't get something to eat before He sent them away to their own houses, and He still has compassion on us today.  I believe we too often leave a worship service spiritually starving, and all the time Jesus waits ready to fill us. Verse four states, And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?  The disciples wondered where they could get food to feed the multitude in the desert, and if we are not living by faith instead of sight, we may often doubt that we can do what God calls us to do.  Verse five adds, And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.  Jesus asked the disciples how many loaves they had, and they said seven.  All we can do is to bring to Jesus what we have and then let Him use it as He sees fit.  We too often look at what we have and think what about me if I share it, but maybe we need to try to out give God.  Verse six says, And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. Jesus had the people sit, blessed the bread, and had the disciples pass it out to the people.  The disciples might have had doubts, but they did as Jesus instructed them to do, and so must we as Christians.  Verse seven adds, And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.  The disciples also had a few small fish, which Jesus blessed, and had the disciples pass out to the people.  Verse eight continues, So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.  The people were all filled and there were seven baskets of food left over.  They were unable to out give Jesus, and neither can we.  Had they refused to give up what they had, it would have soon been used up, but instead they ended up with so much more.  I believe we often end up with seven loaves and a few fish because we think we cannot give up what we have, instead of ending up with seven baskets full because we gave all we had to God.  Verse nine concludes, And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.  This time, there were about four thousand men who were fed, but the number was never important.  They would all have been fed regardless of the number.  Of course, in order to be a part of this miracle, the people had to be following Jesus, and so must we if we expect a miracle in our life.