Bible in One Year Day 157 (Mark 7-8, Psalm 23)

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Day 157: Following Jesus 

Agape Bible Study 
Mark 7 - 8 

Mark 7:1-13 ~ The Traditions of the Elders

The Temple hierarchy in Jerusalem sent their representatives to examine Jesus in the same way they sent men to question John the Baptist (Jn 1:19-20). The "traditions of the elders" they refer to in verse 5 are the religious practices that have been added by the Pharisees and elders of the past century to the written Mosaic Law of the Torah and the Oral Tradition given to Moses and Aaron.

As they expanded their authority over all religious matters in the first century BC, the Pharisees began to preach the doctrine that the ritual purity practices that applied to the priests should be applied to all the covenant people. They added their own interpretation of religious customs to the Mosaic Law, making the Law more of a burden for the people and less of a tutor and a guide. The Pharisees are not charging Jesus and His disciples with poor hygiene but with a flagrant disregard for religious observances of the Law.

Jesus responds to their attack by calling them hypocrites (a Greek word that refers to one in Greek drama who plays a part) and quoting from Isaiah 29:13 LXX. 

Mark 7:14-23 ~ The Parable of Clean and Unclean and Jesus' Teaching on the Parable

The Parable of Clean and Unclean is Jesus' 7^th parable. In the teaching of this parable, Jesus will do away with the ritual purity laws associated with clean and unclean foods (Lev chapter 11). The foods designated "clean" and "unclean" were meant to separate the Israelites from their pagan neighbors and to remind the Israelites that were a pure and holy people dedicated to God. This is the first of the ritual commandments of the Sinai Covenant that Jesus has changed. 

Mark 7:24-30 ~ The Faith of a Gentle Woman

Jesus makes His second expedition into Gentile territory where Jews are living. His first visit into Gentile territory was the journey into the Decapolis on the east side of the Galilee (Mt 9:28-34). Once again Jesus tries to have a little private time but word of His arrival in the area has already spread. A Gentile woman approaches Jesus. She respectfully falls at Jesus' feet and appeals to Him to heal her daughter of demon possession. Jesus' reply seems unfeeling, although Mark softens Jesus' response unlike the harsher reply in Matthew 15:26 with let the children be fed first (Mk 7:25a)

His point is that the proclamation of the Kingdom is intended for the children of Israel first and that it is not right to take the "bread" that is the Word of God meant first for the children of Israel and give it to the Gentile "dogs" who have no knowledge of God and live ritually unclean lives outside the covenant. After Jesus' Resurrection He will commission the new Israel of His Church to carry the Gospel of salvation to the Gentiles (Mt 28:19-20; CCC 839).

Mark 7:31-37 ~ Healing a Deaf Man

This story is told only in Mark's Gospel. Jesus travels into Gentile territory a third time. He journeys to the east, returning to the region of the ten Greek culture cities called the Decapolis (see Mk 5:1-20). A man who is deaf and incapable of intelligible speech is brought to Jesus for healing. This time many details in the healing of the deaf man are included.
Notice that Jesus takes the man aside for a private healing. Perhaps this is because of the man's deafness. When he suddenly hears for the first time the loud noise of the crowd might have been unsettling and Jesus is making the first experience of hearing enjoyable. 

Chapter 8

Feeding the multitudes (Bernardo Strozzi)

Mark 8:1-10 ~The Second Miracle Feeding of the Four Thousand

The feeding miracle of the five thousand (not counting women and children) is retold in all four Gospels (Mk 14:13-21; Mk 6:31-34; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13). However, only the Gospels of Matthew and Mark present both miracle feedings of the five thousand and the four thousand.
Question: How many days did the crowd stay with Jesus in the miracle feeding of the four thousand?
Answer: The crowd stayed Jesus three days.

In the symbolic significance of numbers in Scripture, three is a number of importance, completion and fulfillment, especially signifying an important event in salvation history. Between His death and resurrection, Jesus will rest in the tomb for three days from Friday to Sunday as the ancients counted.

We are told that the second miracle feeding took place in "a deserted place" like the feeding of the five thousand (Mk 6:35; 8:33). The mention of the location of Jesus' teaching being in a "deserted place" or "wilderness" brings to mind the Old Testament miracle feeding of the manna in the wilderness. Since the site of both miracle feedings is in a deserted place like the Israelites in the wilderness miracle feedings, it may be an allusion to Jesus as the new Moses, feeding His people and leading them out of the "wilderness" of sin into the blessings of His Kingdom. It is something the people certainly thought of when they encountered Jesus the day after the first miracle feeding in St. John's Gospel and asked Him to make manna come down from heaven like Moses (Jn 6:30-31).

Question: What are the similarities between the two miracle feedings in Mark 6:32-45 and 8:1-10 and the significance of the connection to the third miracle feeding in 14:22-25?

Answer:

1. The first two miracle feedings take place in a deserted place (Mk 6:32; 8:4).
2. In the two miracles, Jesus feeds a large crowd with a small quantity of bread and fish (Mk 6:38, 43-44; 8:5, 9).
3. In the two feeding miracles, Jesus challenges the disciples who respond with a lack of faith (Mk 6:37; 8:4).
4. In the two miracle feedings, Jesus acts as the host of the meal (Mk 6:41; 8:6-7).
5. At the end of each meal, all the people are satisfied and there is an abundance of leftover food (Mk 6:42-43; 8:8).
6. At the end of each feeding miracle, Jesus dismisses the crowd and departs in a boat to another place (Mk 6:45; 8:10).
7. The feeding miracles of the five and four thousand prefigure the third miracle feeding where Jesus is the Host of a meal in which He offers the Eucharist at the Last Supper (14:22).

Question: What are some of the differences between the first two miracle feedings?
Answer:

1. In the second miracle feeding, instead of listening to Jesus teach most of the day, the crowd has been with Jesus for three days (Mk 8:2).
2. In the first miracle feeding, there were five loaves of bread and two fishes for a total of seven elements. In the second miracle feeding, there were seven loaves and a few fish (Mk 8:5, 7).
3. There are two blessings in the second miracle feeding (Mk 8:6, 7).
4. In the first miracle, more than five thousand men were fed with twelve baskets of food left over and gathered. In the second miracle there were about four thousand fed and there were seven large baskets of collected left over food (Mk 8:9).
5. The first miracle feeding was in the Galilee that was part of the original territory of the Promised Land and the second is in Gentile territory (Mk 7:31).

Mark 8:11-13 ~ The Pharisees Demand a Sign

The argument with the Pharisees may be a continuation of the controversy in 3:22-30. The concept of a "sign" is found in the Old Testament and in Jewish literature. A "sign" signifies that which guarantees the truthfulness of a statement or action that is approved by God (see for example 1 Sam 2:34-36 and Is 7:14). Recognition that a sign from heaven is demanded as evidence of Jesus' trustworthiness sheds light on this verse. The Pharisees regard Jesus' miracles as ambiguous actions whose legitimacy must be confirmed by "a sign from heaven" to verify His authority, which is what they now demand. Their "testing," mentioned in verse 11 refers to the Biblical provision of testing to determine if a prophet has been sent by God (see Dt 13:2-6 and 18:18-22).

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Mark 8:14-21 ~ The Leaven of the Pharisees and the Disciples' lack of Understanding

Again in verse 18 Jesus makes a reference to the prophecy in Isaiah 6:9-10; He has repeatedly been urging His Apostles, disciples and the people to "see and hear" and to therefore "understand" His words and deeds (e.g., Mk 4:3, 9, 18, 20, 23, 24; 7:16 [omitted in some texts]; 8:18). In this exchange with His Apostles, which follows Jesus' discussion with the Pharisees who demanded a sign of Jesus' divine authority, Jesus begins with a warning concerning the "leaven/yeast" of the Pharisees and Herodians. You will recall that it is the Pharisees and Herodians who are planning Jesus' death (Mk 3:6). "Leaven/yeast" in the Bible is sometimes a symbol for sin, hence the complete absence of yeast in the "camp of God" (Jerusalem) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex 13:3-10; Lev 23:6-8; Dt 16:8).

Question: When the Apostles fail to comprehend His warning, He asks them a series of how many questions? List the questions and which question is a reference to Isaiah 6:9-10.
Answer: There are six or seven questions depending how one divides the text:

1. Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
2. Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
3. Are your hearts hardened?
4. Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? (reference to Is 6:9-10)
5. Or do you not remember?
6. When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?
7. When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?"

Part of the answer to this riddle lays in the Scripture passages concerning "hard hearts" and Jesus' reference to Scripture in question #4 that He quoted to them in Mark 4:12. Those who were condemned for their "hard hearts" in the Old Testament were the people of the Exodus generation who had witnessed so many mighty miracles of God. No two generations had witnessed so many miracles of God as the Exodus generation and Jesus' generation. Jesus' question in verse 18 is not only a reference to Isaiah 6:9-10 that was quoted by Jesus in 4:12, but it is also the quote from a phrase found in Jeremiah 5:21 and Ezekiel 12:2. All three prophets were commissioned by God to warn the covenant people of God's impending divine judgment.

Mark 8:22-26 ~ The Blind Man of Bethsaida
The village of Bethsaida ("house or place of fishing") was located at the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee. It was the original hometown of Simon-Peter, his brother Andrew prior to moving to Capernaum, and it was the hometown of the Apostle Philip (Jn 1:44; 12:21). In the healing of the blind man, Jesus is demonstrating His command that the people should "hear" and "see" so they can "understand" as He did in the healing of the deaf man in Mark 7:31-37 after the earlier feeding miracle. Once again, as in the healing of the blind man, the healing occurs as part of a process.

Question: What is the process Jesus uses in His healing of the blind man?
Answer:

1. Jesus takes the man outside the village.
2. Jesus uses His spit in the process of healing and lays His hands on the man.
3. The man sees unclearly at first.
4. Jesus lays His hands on the man's eyes a second time and the man's sight is restored.

Like the deaf man, Jesus took this man off away from the crowd, and He uses His spit in the healing process. In the first part of the healing the man sees unclearly but he knows what he sees are people so he may have had sight at one time. When the man is healed, like the deaf man, Jesus instructs him to tell no one. A comparison can be made between the blind man and the disciples and the other people who have witnessed Jesus' miracles. The blind man, like the disciples and the people, does not see clearly at first but after another infusion of God's grace, his faith allows him to see clearly. His healing prefigures the gradual enlightenment of the disciples concerning Jesus' true identity and the "seeing clearly" that will be expressed in St. Peter's profession of faith.

Part III The Mystery Begins to be Unveiled

8:27-33 ~ Peter's Profession of Faith and the First Prophecy of the Passion

This event is not only the climax of the "Bread Narrative" but it is the turning point in Mark's account of Jesus' public ministry as Peter gives his profession of faith that Jesus is the promised Davidic Messiah. Caesarea Philippi was a collection of four villages that Herod Philip (another of Herod the Great's sons) rebuilt into a large Hellenistic city, naming it after the Roman emperor and adding his own name. Evidently Jesus' gathering with His disciples took place on the outskirts of the city. 

Peter's declaration is not as profound in Mark's Gospel as it is in Matthew's Gospel where Peter proclaims: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God," and for this confession of faith receives the "keys" of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth (Mt 16:16-19). Peter's profession of faith is the climax of Mark's "Bread Narrative" and the beginning of the unveiling of the "mystery" of Jesus' true identity.

Mark 8:31-33 ~ The First Prediction of the Passion

Now that the disciples understand He is the Messiah, Jesus reveals His coming suffering, rejection, death and resurrection, but they cannot comprehend that with His divine power that He would let such a thing happen to Him. This is the first of three predictions that Jesus gives concerning His Passion (also see Mk 9:30-32 and 10:32-34). 

Mark 8:34-9:1 ~ The Conditions of Discipleship
This is the first mention of the cross in Mark's Gospel. Jesus uses the image of a cross, a Roman instrument of death in the execution of criminals, as a shocking metaphor for the obedience of discipleship.

Question: What three verbs does Jesus use in the three commands He gives the disciples in His instruction on the conditions of true discipleship in Mark 8:34?
Answer: He tells them to:

1. deny
2. take
3. follow

Question: What did Jesus mean by the commands in His definition of the conditions of true discipleship in Mark 8:34-38?
Answer: He says that true discipleship is based on:

1. The willingness "to deny" selfish desires by daily dying to oneself in order to live for Christ.
2. Being willingly "to take" and endure those struggles/crosses that are necessary in order ...
3. "To follow" Jesus' teachings faithfully and obediently in service to Christ and His Kingdom.

Question: What is Jesus' condition for true discipleship? What is the irony and what is the reward?
Answer: It means completely identifying with Christ's message by disowning one's self interest to the point of being willing to die for Jesus. The irony is the promise that whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ will live. His/her life will be eternal in God's heavenly Kingdom.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 157 Consciousness after Death Questioned

CHALLENGE: “The Bible says people aren’t conscious after death. It describes the dead as being asleep (Ps. 13:3; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 9:24; John 11:11) and says that ‘the dead know nothing’ (Eccles. 9:5; cf. Ps. 6:5, 88:10–12, 115:17).”

DEFENSE:These passages are explained by several factors. 

One factor is euphemism—substituting a more pleasant term for an unpleasant reality. Describing death as sleep is euphemism. People refer to death by many euphemisms (“passing on,” “going home,” “no longer with us”), and even those who believe in a conscious afterlife use sleep as a euphemism (“Grandma fell asleep”). This is because the dead look asleep. They don’t stand up or move, and their eyes are frequently closed. People even close their eyes to make them look more like they are asleep and thus less disturbing. 

The sleep euphemism is an example of phenomenological language, where something is described by how it appears rather than how it actually is (death is not literally sleep; otherwise, corpses would come back to life every morning). Phenomenological language shapes biblical descriptions of death in other ways. Since corpses do not talk, Scripture notes that dead people don’t praise God. Thus the psalmist indicates that, as long as he is alive, he will praise God for delivering him, but if he becomes a corpse, he won’t. This fits a common Old Testament pattern of asking for God’s blessings so his praise can be declared.

Phenomenological language stems from an earthly perspective—one without access to the invisible world. This is particularly the case in Ecclesiastes, where the author deliberately assumes an earthly perspective as a tool of analysis, as stressed by the book’s repeated emphasis on what happens “under the sun” (1:3, 9, 14, etc.). From the earthly perspective, he argues that life is better than death, for “he who is joined with all the living has hope” (9:4) and “the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing” (9:5), for they no longer have “any share in all that is done under the sun” (9:6). This is the expression of a man trying to make sense out of death from an earthly perspective, apart from divine revelation—not a theological assertion about the afterlife. 

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist