Mark 8:29

And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? For the exposition, see the notes at Matthew 16:13....

27-33 These things are written, that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. These miracles of our Lord assure us that he was not conquered, but a Conqueror. Now the disciples are convinced that Jesus is the Christ; they may bear to hear of his sufferings, of which Christ here begins to give them notice. He sees that amiss in what we say and do, of which we ourselves are not aware, and knows what manner of spirit we are of, when we ourselves do not. The wisdom of man is folly, when it pretends to limit the Divine counsels. Peter did not rightly understand the nature of Christ's kingdom....

Verse 29. _THOU ART THE CHRIST._] Three MSS. and some versions add, _the Son of the living God_....

See this passage illustrated in the notes at Matthew 16:13. Mark 8:32 HE SPAKE THAT SAYING OPENLY - With boldness or confidence, or without parables or figures, so that there could be no possibility of misunderstanding him. Mark 8:38 ASHAMED OF ME - Ashamed to own attachment to me on account of my lowly appearance and my poverty. AND OF MY WORDS - My doctrines, my instructions. THIS ADULTEROUS AND SINFUL GENERATION - This age given to wickedness, particularly to adultery. In the glor

EXPOSITION MARK 8:1, MARK 8:2 The opening words of the first verse seem to imply that our Lord remained for some time on this, the north-east, side of the Sea of Galilee. THE MULTITUDE BEING VERY GREAT. The word here rendered "very great" is παμπόλλου, a word not to be found anywhere else in the New Testament. But according to the best authorities, the true reading is πάλιν πόλλου; so that the words would run, _when there was again a great multitude. _It has been supposed with some reason that, as an old ecclesiastical Lection began with this chapter, this may have led to the substitution of παμπόλλου for πάλιν πόλλου, in order to make the Lection more complete in itself, avoiding this reference to the context. In the origina

AND HE SAITH UNTO THEM, BUT WHOM SAY YE THAT I AM?.... It was for the sake of this question he put the former; Matthew 16:15; AND PETER ANSWERETH AND SAITH UNTO HIM, THOU ART THE CHRIST; the Messiah that was long ago promised and so often prophesied of in the books of Moses and the prophets; and whom the Jews have so much and long expected. This confession of Peter's in which all the apostles agreed with him speaks out what Jesus really was, and exceeds the most exalted sentiments which the people had of him: he was not the harbinger of the Messiah but the Messiah himself; not Elias in whose Spirit his forerunner was to come and did come; nor any one of the prophets; but he who was spoken of by all the holy prophets; which have been since the beginning of the world. Not one of the various opinions of the people being just, and answering the true character o

Mark 8:1. _In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness._ Why did they not ask their Master what he could do in such an emergency as that» After so much experience of his power as they had already had, it is wonderful that they did not refer the matter to him, and say, «Lord, thou canst feed the multitude; we beseech thee do it.» But they did not act so wisely; instead, they began questioning about ways and means. «From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wi...

CHAPTER 8 __ 1. The feeding of the Four Thousand. (Mark 8:1. Matthew 15:32) 2. The Pharisees ask a sign. (Mark 8:10 .Matthew 16:1) 3. The Warning against the leaven of the Pharisees. (Mark 8:14 .Matthew 16:5 .) 4. The healing of the blind man. (Mark 8:22) 5. Peter's Confession. (M

MARK 8:27 TO MARK 9:1. THE GREAT CONFESSION, AND THE FIRST VIEW OF THE CROSS. Here opens a new section of the gospel. The tendency to seek retirement with the Twelve, pronounced from Mark 6:31 onwards, now dominates the story. Jesus devotes Himself to training the Twelve in the shadow of the Cross. This concentration on His disciples becomes possible when they pierce His secret. The full significance of the confession is only apparent if Jesus has not previously revealed Himself or been recognised as Messiah (_cf._ HNT). It constitutes a decisive development. The scene is laid near Cæ sarea Philippi (p. 32), a largely Gentile town on the east side of Jordan, not to be confused with Cæ sarea on the coast. The praise bestowed on Peter in...

COMPASSION AND CHALLENGE (Mark 8:1-10)...