Mark 8, a visual study from The Lampstand Project.
Who do you say that I am?
Four thousand fed. Pharisees demand a sign. The disciples argue about bread. A blind man sees in two stages. And then the question the whole Gospel has been building toward.
The turning point of the Gospel.
Mark 8 is the hinge. Everything before it has been building toward Peter’s confession. Everything after it turns toward the cross. At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks two questions: who do people say I am, and who do you say I am. Peter answers correctly — and immediately misunderstands what it means.
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“Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?”
Do you not yet understand?
Four thousand people, three days, seven loaves, a few fish — and seven baskets of fragments collected after everyone is satisfied. The Pharisees arrive demanding a sign from heaven. Jesus sighs deeply and refuses: no sign will be given. Crossing the sea, the disciples realize they forgot bread. Jesus warns: beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. They think he means actual bread. He questions them sharply: do you not remember the five thousand? The four thousand? How many baskets did you collect? Do you not yet understand? They have seen two feedings and they are still worried about bread. The eyes that need opening are not only the blind man’s.
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”
“And he laid his hands on his eyes again; and he saw everything clearly.”
I see people, but they look like trees, walking.
They come to Bethsaida. A blind man is brought to Jesus. He leads the man outside the village, spits on his eyes, lays his hands on him, and asks: do you see anything? The man looks up: I see people, but they look like trees, walking. Jesus lays his hands on him again. This time he sees everything clearly. This is the only miracle in the Gospels that happens in two stages. It is placed at the exact center of Mark, immediately before Peter’s confession. The disciples see — but not yet clearly. They, like this man, are partway through the process of receiving sight.
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.”
“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected.”
You are the Christ.
At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks: who do people say I am? John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. And you — who do you say I am? Peter: you are the Christ. Jesus charges them to tell no one, and immediately begins to teach: the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and killed, and after three days rise again. Peter takes him aside and rebukes him. Jesus turns and sees the disciples, then rebukes Peter: get behind me, Satan. You are setting your mind on the things of man, not the things of God. Peter got the title right and the content completely wrong. The Christ he expects is a conquering king. The Christ who stands before him is going to a cross.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Let him deny himself and take up his cross.
Jesus calls the crowd and the disciples and speaks openly: if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever would save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. What does it profit to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul? The word “cross” has not appeared in Mark before this moment. When Jesus’ listeners hear it they understand exactly what it means: Roman execution, public shame, total loss. He is not using it as a metaphor for difficulty. He is telling them what following him will cost.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
The two-stage healing of the blind man is the structural key to Mark 8. Peter sees — correctly: you are the Christ. But he sees like the blind man after the first touch: people like trees, walking. He has the right noun and the wrong picture. The second touch is still coming. It will come at the cross.
The hinge.
Everything in Mark before chapter 8 has been asking: who is this? Everything after chapter 8 answers: this is the one who must suffer. The two halves of the Gospel are not in tension — they are one movement.
Peter’s confession is correct and his rebuke is catastrophic. This is not hypocrisy. It is the condition of everyone who follows Jesus: we see truly, but not yet fully. The journey continues.
“And Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ.’”Mark 8:29 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV). A study from The Lampstand Project.