This is how I introduced the sermon I preached from this passage:
We are approaching the midpoint, and a major turning point, in Mark’s Gospel. The end of chapter eight is not just the middle of the book, it is a major event. Everything up until now has been building toward it and everything that happens afterward is explained by it.
If you view the Gospel of Mark as a play in three acts, we are about to end Act 1 and begin Act 2. Act 1 introduced Jesus and took us through his Galilean ministry. It was characterized by miracle stories, exorcisms, growing opposition, and the theme of insiders and outsiders. Although crowds have been large, committed followers and genuine faith have been rare, and exceptional.
Through all this Mark has been showing us who Jesus is in many ways. Every miracle, every story, has been chosen specifically and told carefully to demonstrate for us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But people aren't getting it. What's going to happen at the end of this chapter is that Jesus is going to ask the disciples point blank if they get it yet, and they will--sort of. Right now, however, they still don't.
In fact, we are in the midst of a repetition. Almost everything that happened from the middle of chapter 6 through the end of chapter 7 is being repeated here in chapter 8 so that it will sink in--both for the disciples and for us.
There was a miraculous feeding (of the five thousand) followed by an episode on a boat, an argument with the Pharisees, a discussion about bread (with the Syrophoenician woman) and the healing of a deaf man corresponding to Isaiah 35.
Now here in chapter 8 we have a miraculous feeding (this time of four thousand) followed by a journey on a boat, an argument with some Pharisees, a discussion about bread, and then next week the healing of a blind man which again corresponds with Isaiah 35. While Jesus is clearly trying to get something across to his disciples, Mark is clearly trying to get something across to us.
There has been another growing theme over the last few chapters--that of unbelief. The Pharisees have rejected him. The crowds are spoken to in parables because of their unbelief. Jesus’ family is on the outside. He is sent away from the Decapolis. He is rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. The execution of John the Baptist, told in the early part of chapter six, served as a foreshadowing. Even the disciples don't seem to get it, and Jesus desperately needs them to, for his ministry is coming to a close.
Act 1 of this three act play will conclude at the end of chapter 8 where Jesus and his disciples are as far away from Jerusalem as Jesus ever gets during his ministry. From that point on he will be journeying toward Jerusalem. His arrival there at the end of chapter 10 will mark the end of Act 2 and the final act begins at chapter 11 with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Click here: Mark 8:11-21 - The Tragedy of Unbelief
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