Let's be honest. The Bible can be confusing, and if it's not confusing, it often seems over-familiar or repetitive.
So when you read a chapter like Mark 8, you might just glaze through it. After all, Christ has already miraculously fed a multitude of people, the Pharisees and disciples are just saying stupid things as per usual, and Jesus has always had some heaven-oriented sayings to give. Same old, same old. And if you're not accustomed to that stuff, it may just seem enigmatic or merely... cool.
But there is so much more to gather from this chapter. All of Scripture is profitable, educational, and transformative (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16; John 17:17), so there is more than meets the eye. No, we can't consider everything here—you can do that by yourself!—but today we're going to consider the correct and incorrect ways of responding to Christ and the gospel. And we'll start by looking at how others fared.
At first glance, the swarms of people are doing what they should, right? They're following Jesus. However, within the context of the rest of Scripture, we see more clearly that the crowds' zeal is entirely erroneous. After all, what do they truly want? The book of John makes it clear: they should be seeking Jesus Himself and His teachings, but instead they just want perishable food and miracles for their own self-interest (John 6:25-27, 66). So their intentions... weren't very good after all.
What about us? Too often I fear we pursue God's blessings, and not God Himself. We see Christ as a means to an end—a way to reap all the benefits, whether or not we glorify, love, or grow close to the Giver. But tell me: perishable bread, earthly sickness, your favorite video game... how important are those things, really?1
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever" (Isaiah 40:8).
If you've spent enough time in the New Testament, you'd know that the Pharisees are notorious for refusing to accept the obvious, and it only proved their wretchedness.2 In this case, the Son of God was doing so many miracles directly in front of them, and He was speaking glorious words from Heaven, and yet they simply never believed. In the past, the Pharisees had even condemned His miracles (Mark 3:1-6, 22-27), displaying irrational rejection of rational fact! Even if they'd received more proof, they would've rejected it.
We, then, need to be careful. Unlike the Pharisees, we have God's finished Word, written down right in front of us. And we have the Lord's continual providence, protection, and love reigning through our lives every minute of every day. Discontentment is absolute foolishness. Why would we demand more from God? Doesn't He sustain us?
"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32. See also Psa. 23:1; 34:10).
The final group of idiots is the disciples, and they might be the most obvious. First, they've immediately forgotten about Jesus gloriously feeding five thousand people; they've reverted back to unbelief, earth-mindedness, and ignorance. Then, in verses 14-21, they're blind to Jesus's parabolic message.3 Lastly, although they may proclaim Jesus as the Christ in verses 27-30, they don't understand what the Christ was coming to do, and it led Peter to foolishly rebuke the Creator of the universe.4
Again, we have to be watchful here. Would we have really done better in the disciples' place? Even today, we (1) tend to dwell too much on our own temporary, earthly needs; (2) are tempted to deal with spiritual topics flippantly; and (3) dangerously misunderstand God's will in our lives, and then fight against Him when that "reality" isn't realized.
"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).
After all of these failed responses, we arrive at Mark 8:33-38 where Jesus explains how we should actually respond to Him. And not only are these words insanely applicable, but they cut to the quick:
"Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?"
"You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself."
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"
Instead of using God for our own personal gain, we should be seeking to do God's will. Instead of being discontent, we need to be satisfied in what our Creator has given us.5 And instead of trusting in human words or human strength, we have to trust in the Almighty.
So what draws our attention? What do our hearts desire? What must our focus be? We cannot be complacent, satisfied with stagnancy, or lazy and selfish in our actions. If we have any ounce of intelligence in our sin-tattered brains, we should realize that there is nothing else worth living for. Everything else is temporary; everything else will fade. If you aren't living for the Lord of Hosts, then tell me, what is the point of your existence at all?
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
Before we finish, I wanna be clear: this shouldn't be all depressing or legalistic.
God knows that we will never be anywhere close to perfect. We will be blind, hypocritical, and foolish more times than we can count. However, we are not saved by how much we sacrifice to God, nor are we saved by setting our minds on heavenly things 24/7. We are saved by grace, through faith. The perfect Son of God didn't become a man—didn't live a sinless life, and die in our place, and come back to life and defeat death—for nothing. Praise God, He did it to save our wretched souls! That is where our joy and hope come from.
And if we're saved, then our faith should be growing stronger. God's grace is (to His glory) for our benefit, not for our abuse. So, dear Reader, if I can leave you with any single word of advice, it's this: cling to Christ!
If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave a comment or reach out privately. But either way, thank you for reading! I pray that you've been edified today, and that God has been (and will be) glorified, today and forevermore.
With love, Alec.
An edifying and thoughtful article, and a wonderful one to kick off the beginning of the Coven Chronicle blog too! Thank you for the message, super excited for what comes next.