Mark 8 All

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Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8: Scrip. "Scrip" (Greek pera) in verse 8 refers to a wallet or small leather bag.

• Mark 6:11. The second sentence of verse 11 ("Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.") is not included in all manuscripts. It is often omitted from modern translations.

• Mark 6:14. It appears from verse 14 that John the Baptist had become extremely well-known and was recognized as a prophet by many.

• Mark 6:14-29. Mark seems to place great importance on John the Baptist, not only opening his gospel with an account of him but also devoting 16 verses here to his death.

• Mark 6:26. It is interesting that Mark's account of John the Baptist's death seems surprisingly sympathetic to King Herod. Mark notes that Herod felt bad about having to have John killed (verse 26), and that Herod in fact respected John. It is as if Herod's sin isn't one of murder but one of naivete over what Herodias was willing to ask for. Mark certainly doesn't justify the killing, but neither does he condemn it in a way that might be expected. This approach is in keeping with Mark's style, which is almost journalistic, presenting the facts with little direct interpretation (in contrast with, for example, John's gospel, which is highly interpretive).

• Mark 6:30-34. The picture painted in verses 30-34 is one of Jesus and his disciples wanting to get away for a much-needed rest. Spending some time away from the crowds is apparently their intent until Jesus sees the crowd of people. Here, their need isn't one of physical healing, but of being taught, so Jesus obliges.

• Mark 6:30-44. See "Loaves, Fishes, and Understanding" by Julie Smith at the T&S blog for a discussion of the miracle recounted here in light of that miracle recounted in Mark 8:1-9.

• Mark 6:34. As in verse 34, in Matthew 9:36 it is stated in a different context that Jesus had compassion on people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. These are the only two instances in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) where Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, although the term is used several times in the gospel of John. Examples in John include John 10:11 and John 10:14, where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

• Mark 6:36-37. This may have been a lesson for the 12 disciples as much as the people present. After Jesus told them (verse 36) to get something for the people to eat, their response is almost a sarcastic one (verse 37), something along the lines of "What are we supposed to do? Go spend $10,000 getting these people something to eat?" Clearly, they did not know what would happen next.

• Mark 6:37. The word translated as "pennyworth" is the Greek denarii, plural of denarius, a silver coin weighing almost 4 grams. It is believed to be the amount a common worker would earn in about a day.

• Mark 6:44. The word translated as "men" in verse 44 is aner, which usually refers to adult males specifically, rather than anthropos, which in the King James Version is translated the same way but usually refers to people in general. So, as indicated in Matthew 14:21, there were additionally many women and children who were fed.

• Mark 6:48. The "fourth watch of the night" would have been between 3 and 6 a.m.

• Mark 6:49. The Greek word translated as "spirit" is phantasma, a ghost. It is not the same word as pneuma, which is used, for example, to refer to the Holy Spirit.

• Mark 7:3: Hand washing. In their ritual cleaning, the scribes and Pharisees in this story went far beyond what the law of Moses required, but they put compliance with these rituals on the same level as complying with the law that had been revealed. As Jesus notes later (verse 8), they were following human tradition. Jesus doesn't criticize the following of such traditions per se, but rather the hypocrisy in this case of the way it was done.

• Mark 7:6: Hypocrites. Our English word "hypocrites" is little changed from the Greek word (hupokrites). The Greek word earlier referred to a stage actor and came to mean someone who pretends to be someone or something he is not.

• Mark 7:11: Corban. Corban is a Hebrew word referring to something set aside as a gift to God, and this is the only place in the New Testament where the word is used. Jesus is referring to a practice at the time where someone would pronounce certain money or goods as corban, meaning that the resources would be irrevocably committed to God and thus unavailable for other purposes including the honoring of one's parents.

• Mark 7:14-23. In verses 14-23, Jesus shows that he is far more concerned about what is going on inside of a person, about the person's inner qualities, than he is about outside conformity with rules that aren't all that important. He does this in quite strong language, even suggesting (in verse 19) that the Jewish dietary laws are irrelevant. His railings are directed most against the hypocrisy of those who follow the details of some laws while ignoring what's more important.

Of the sins listed in verses 21-22, some are sins of behavior (murder, sexual immorality), while others are sins of the heart (covetousness, pride, foolishness). But Jesus emphasizes that all of them are first and foremost something that happens from within. Jesus here isn't calling for stricter adherence to law, but rather for inner change that manifests itself in righteous living.

• Mark 7:15: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 15 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:19: Draught. "Draught" (Greek aphedron) refers to a place where human waste is dumped. Modern translations of the word include "waste," "latrine" and "sewer." "Purging" is the Greek katharizo (related to the English "catharsis"), meaning to purify or make clean. In essence, Jesus is saying that (ritually) unclean foods don't hurt people, because they end up going in the waste anyway.

• Mark 7:20, 23: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 20 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:24-30. This is one of the more interesting stories in Mark, both because of the somewhat unusual behavior of Jesus as well as the insight it gives into the times.

First, it should be noted that it was unusual in this culture for women to approach men with direct requests such as this. At best, she would have been seen as pushy. In fact, from the account given in Matthew, it appears that the disciples were annoyed with her and merely wanted to get rid of her. Since there would have been little reason for a Greek woman to learn Aramaic, she probably wasn't even speaking their language. (This story is one indication that Jesus may have spoken Greek in addition to his native Aramaic.)

Jesus here is no less accommodating at first. In the Matthew account, he doesn't even answer her. Here he suggests that his ministry is toward the Jews, and he compares non-Jews to dogs. To a casual observer, Jesus and the disciples would have even appeared rude, and it would have appeared that the woman wasn't going to get the help she so desperately wanted for her daughter.

And then the story changes, and it is the woman who changes it. She very easily could have become rude in response. Instead, she responds with a witty retort — but even the dogs get something. At this point, one can almost imagine Jesus and his disciplines doing a double-take; this wasn't the likely response, and it was one that certainly would get attention.

So Jesus heals her daughter and praises the woman for what she has done. This follows a pattern of what we have seen in Mark, that Jesus heals people because of the faith they (or their relatives) have shown.

• Mark 7:34. The word ephphatha is Aramaic.

• Mark 8:16ff. The disciples are portrayed here as being very slow to learn. After seeing Jesus twice make sure that thousands were fed, they still worry about not having enough to eat.

Unanswered questions

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Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8-9. Why did Jesus insist that the disciples go out with the barest of essentials?

• Mark 6:52. Why were the disciples' hearts hardened?

• Mark 8:4. Why do the disciples have to ask the question of verse 4? After the feeding of the 5,000, surely they should have known that the food would be provided.

• Mark 8:11. What type of sign were the Pharisees looking for in verse 11? It seems like Jesus had already given plenty of signs. And what does Jesus mean when he says no sign would be given in this generation?

• Mark 8:15. What is Jesus warning about in verse 15?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

Previous page: Chapters 3b-6a                      Next page: Chapters 8b-10

Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 1-8a > Chapters 6b-8a / Verses 6:7-8:21
Previous page: Chapters 3b-6a                      Next page: Chapters 8b-10

This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8: Scrip. "Scrip" (Greek pera) in verse 8 refers to a wallet or small leather bag.

• Mark 6:11. The second sentence of verse 11 ("Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.") is not included in all manuscripts. It is often omitted from modern translations.

• Mark 6:14. It appears from verse 14 that John the Baptist had become extremely well-known and was recognized as a prophet by many.

• Mark 6:14-29. Mark seems to place great importance on John the Baptist, not only opening his gospel with an account of him but also devoting 16 verses here to his death.

• Mark 6:26. It is interesting that Mark's account of John the Baptist's death seems surprisingly sympathetic to King Herod. Mark notes that Herod felt bad about having to have John killed (verse 26), and that Herod in fact respected John. It is as if Herod's sin isn't one of murder but one of naivete over what Herodias was willing to ask for. Mark certainly doesn't justify the killing, but neither does he condemn it in a way that might be expected. This approach is in keeping with Mark's style, which is almost journalistic, presenting the facts with little direct interpretation (in contrast with, for example, John's gospel, which is highly interpretive).

• Mark 6:30-34. The picture painted in verses 30-34 is one of Jesus and his disciples wanting to get away for a much-needed rest. Spending some time away from the crowds is apparently their intent until Jesus sees the crowd of people. Here, their need isn't one of physical healing, but of being taught, so Jesus obliges.

• Mark 6:30-44. See "Loaves, Fishes, and Understanding" by Julie Smith at the T&S blog for a discussion of the miracle recounted here in light of that miracle recounted in Mark 8:1-9.

• Mark 6:34. As in verse 34, in Matthew 9:36 it is stated in a different context that Jesus had compassion on people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. These are the only two instances in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) where Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, although the term is used several times in the gospel of John. Examples in John include John 10:11 and John 10:14, where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

• Mark 6:36-37. This may have been a lesson for the 12 disciples as much as the people present. After Jesus told them (verse 36) to get something for the people to eat, their response is almost a sarcastic one (verse 37), something along the lines of "What are we supposed to do? Go spend $10,000 getting these people something to eat?" Clearly, they did not know what would happen next.

• Mark 6:37. The word translated as "pennyworth" is the Greek denarii, plural of denarius, a silver coin weighing almost 4 grams. It is believed to be the amount a common worker would earn in about a day.

• Mark 6:44. The word translated as "men" in verse 44 is aner, which usually refers to adult males specifically, rather than anthropos, which in the King James Version is translated the same way but usually refers to people in general. So, as indicated in Matthew 14:21, there were additionally many women and children who were fed.

• Mark 6:48. The "fourth watch of the night" would have been between 3 and 6 a.m.

• Mark 6:49. The Greek word translated as "spirit" is phantasma, a ghost. It is not the same word as pneuma, which is used, for example, to refer to the Holy Spirit.

• Mark 7:3: Hand washing. In their ritual cleaning, the scribes and Pharisees in this story went far beyond what the law of Moses required, but they put compliance with these rituals on the same level as complying with the law that had been revealed. As Jesus notes later (verse 8), they were following human tradition. Jesus doesn't criticize the following of such traditions per se, but rather the hypocrisy in this case of the way it was done.

• Mark 7:6: Hypocrites. Our English word "hypocrites" is little changed from the Greek word (hupokrites). The Greek word earlier referred to a stage actor and came to mean someone who pretends to be someone or something he is not.

• Mark 7:11: Corban. Corban is a Hebrew word referring to something set aside as a gift to God, and this is the only place in the New Testament where the word is used. Jesus is referring to a practice at the time where someone would pronounce certain money or goods as corban, meaning that the resources would be irrevocably committed to God and thus unavailable for other purposes including the honoring of one's parents.

• Mark 7:14-23. In verses 14-23, Jesus shows that he is far more concerned about what is going on inside of a person, about the person's inner qualities, than he is about outside conformity with rules that aren't all that important. He does this in quite strong language, even suggesting (in verse 19) that the Jewish dietary laws are irrelevant. His railings are directed most against the hypocrisy of those who follow the details of some laws while ignoring what's more important.

Of the sins listed in verses 21-22, some are sins of behavior (murder, sexual immorality), while others are sins of the heart (covetousness, pride, foolishness). But Jesus emphasizes that all of them are first and foremost something that happens from within. Jesus here isn't calling for stricter adherence to law, but rather for inner change that manifests itself in righteous living.

• Mark 7:15: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 15 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:19: Draught. "Draught" (Greek aphedron) refers to a place where human waste is dumped. Modern translations of the word include "waste," "latrine" and "sewer." "Purging" is the Greek katharizo (related to the English "catharsis"), meaning to purify or make clean. In essence, Jesus is saying that (ritually) unclean foods don't hurt people, because they end up going in the waste anyway.

• Mark 7:20, 23: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 20 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:24-30. This is one of the more interesting stories in Mark, both because of the somewhat unusual behavior of Jesus as well as the insight it gives into the times.

First, it should be noted that it was unusual in this culture for women to approach men with direct requests such as this. At best, she would have been seen as pushy. In fact, from the account given in Matthew, it appears that the disciples were annoyed with her and merely wanted to get rid of her. Since there would have been little reason for a Greek woman to learn Aramaic, she probably wasn't even speaking their language. (This story is one indication that Jesus may have spoken Greek in addition to his native Aramaic.)

Jesus here is no less accommodating at first. In the Matthew account, he doesn't even answer her. Here he suggests that his ministry is toward the Jews, and he compares non-Jews to dogs. To a casual observer, Jesus and the disciples would have even appeared rude, and it would have appeared that the woman wasn't going to get the help she so desperately wanted for her daughter.

And then the story changes, and it is the woman who changes it. She very easily could have become rude in response. Instead, she responds with a witty retort — but even the dogs get something. At this point, one can almost imagine Jesus and his disciplines doing a double-take; this wasn't the likely response, and it was one that certainly would get attention.

So Jesus heals her daughter and praises the woman for what she has done. This follows a pattern of what we have seen in Mark, that Jesus heals people because of the faith they (or their relatives) have shown.

• Mark 7:34. The word ephphatha is Aramaic.

• Mark 8:16ff. The disciples are portrayed here as being very slow to learn. After seeing Jesus twice make sure that thousands were fed, they still worry about not having enough to eat.

Unanswered questions

This section is for questions along the lines of "I still don't understand ..." Please do not be shy. The point of these questions is to identify things that still need to be addressed on this page. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8-9. Why did Jesus insist that the disciples go out with the barest of essentials?

• Mark 6:52. Why were the disciples' hearts hardened?

• Mark 8:4. Why do the disciples have to ask the question of verse 4? After the feeding of the 5,000, surely they should have known that the food would be provided.

• Mark 8:11. What type of sign were the Pharisees looking for in verse 11? It seems like Jesus had already given plenty of signs. And what does Jesus mean when he says no sign would be given in this generation?

• Mark 8:15. What is Jesus warning about in verse 15?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

Previous page: Chapters 3b-6a                      Next page: Chapters 8b-10

Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 1-8a > Chapters 6b-8a / Verses 6:7-8:21
Previous page: Chapters 3b-6a                      Next page: Chapters 8b-10

This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8: Scrip. "Scrip" (Greek pera) in verse 8 refers to a wallet or small leather bag.

• Mark 6:11. The second sentence of verse 11 ("Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.") is not included in all manuscripts. It is often omitted from modern translations.

• Mark 6:14. It appears from verse 14 that John the Baptist had become extremely well-known and was recognized as a prophet by many.

• Mark 6:14-29. Mark seems to place great importance on John the Baptist, not only opening his gospel with an account of him but also devoting 16 verses here to his death.

• Mark 6:26. It is interesting that Mark's account of John the Baptist's death seems surprisingly sympathetic to King Herod. Mark notes that Herod felt bad about having to have John killed (verse 26), and that Herod in fact respected John. It is as if Herod's sin isn't one of murder but one of naivete over what Herodias was willing to ask for. Mark certainly doesn't justify the killing, but neither does he condemn it in a way that might be expected. This approach is in keeping with Mark's style, which is almost journalistic, presenting the facts with little direct interpretation (in contrast with, for example, John's gospel, which is highly interpretive).

• Mark 6:30-34. The picture painted in verses 30-34 is one of Jesus and his disciples wanting to get away for a much-needed rest. Spending some time away from the crowds is apparently their intent until Jesus sees the crowd of people. Here, their need isn't one of physical healing, but of being taught, so Jesus obliges.

• Mark 6:30-44. See "Loaves, Fishes, and Understanding" by Julie Smith at the T&S blog for a discussion of the miracle recounted here in light of that miracle recounted in Mark 8:1-9.

• Mark 6:34. As in verse 34, in Matthew 9:36 it is stated in a different context that Jesus had compassion on people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. These are the only two instances in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) where Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, although the term is used several times in the gospel of John. Examples in John include John 10:11 and John 10:14, where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

• Mark 6:36-37. This may have been a lesson for the 12 disciples as much as the people present. After Jesus told them (verse 36) to get something for the people to eat, their response is almost a sarcastic one (verse 37), something along the lines of "What are we supposed to do? Go spend $10,000 getting these people something to eat?" Clearly, they did not know what would happen next.

• Mark 6:37. The word translated as "pennyworth" is the Greek denarii, plural of denarius, a silver coin weighing almost 4 grams. It is believed to be the amount a common worker would earn in about a day.

• Mark 6:44. The word translated as "men" in verse 44 is aner, which usually refers to adult males specifically, rather than anthropos, which in the King James Version is translated the same way but usually refers to people in general. So, as indicated in Matthew 14:21, there were additionally many women and children who were fed.

• Mark 6:48. The "fourth watch of the night" would have been between 3 and 6 a.m.

• Mark 6:49. The Greek word translated as "spirit" is phantasma, a ghost. It is not the same word as pneuma, which is used, for example, to refer to the Holy Spirit.

• Mark 7:3: Hand washing. In their ritual cleaning, the scribes and Pharisees in this story went far beyond what the law of Moses required, but they put compliance with these rituals on the same level as complying with the law that had been revealed. As Jesus notes later (verse 8), they were following human tradition. Jesus doesn't criticize the following of such traditions per se, but rather the hypocrisy in this case of the way it was done.

• Mark 7:6: Hypocrites. Our English word "hypocrites" is little changed from the Greek word (hupokrites). The Greek word earlier referred to a stage actor and came to mean someone who pretends to be someone or something he is not.

• Mark 7:11: Corban. Corban is a Hebrew word referring to something set aside as a gift to God, and this is the only place in the New Testament where the word is used. Jesus is referring to a practice at the time where someone would pronounce certain money or goods as corban, meaning that the resources would be irrevocably committed to God and thus unavailable for other purposes including the honoring of one's parents.

• Mark 7:14-23. In verses 14-23, Jesus shows that he is far more concerned about what is going on inside of a person, about the person's inner qualities, than he is about outside conformity with rules that aren't all that important. He does this in quite strong language, even suggesting (in verse 19) that the Jewish dietary laws are irrelevant. His railings are directed most against the hypocrisy of those who follow the details of some laws while ignoring what's more important.

Of the sins listed in verses 21-22, some are sins of behavior (murder, sexual immorality), while others are sins of the heart (covetousness, pride, foolishness). But Jesus emphasizes that all of them are first and foremost something that happens from within. Jesus here isn't calling for stricter adherence to law, but rather for inner change that manifests itself in righteous living.

• Mark 7:15: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 15 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:19: Draught. "Draught" (Greek aphedron) refers to a place where human waste is dumped. Modern translations of the word include "waste," "latrine" and "sewer." "Purging" is the Greek katharizo (related to the English "catharsis"), meaning to purify or make clean. In essence, Jesus is saying that (ritually) unclean foods don't hurt people, because they end up going in the waste anyway.

• Mark 7:20, 23: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 20 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:24-30. This is one of the more interesting stories in Mark, both because of the somewhat unusual behavior of Jesus as well as the insight it gives into the times.

First, it should be noted that it was unusual in this culture for women to approach men with direct requests such as this. At best, she would have been seen as pushy. In fact, from the account given in Matthew, it appears that the disciples were annoyed with her and merely wanted to get rid of her. Since there would have been little reason for a Greek woman to learn Aramaic, she probably wasn't even speaking their language. (This story is one indication that Jesus may have spoken Greek in addition to his native Aramaic.)

Jesus here is no less accommodating at first. In the Matthew account, he doesn't even answer her. Here he suggests that his ministry is toward the Jews, and he compares non-Jews to dogs. To a casual observer, Jesus and the disciples would have even appeared rude, and it would have appeared that the woman wasn't going to get the help she so desperately wanted for her daughter.

And then the story changes, and it is the woman who changes it. She very easily could have become rude in response. Instead, she responds with a witty retort — but even the dogs get something. At this point, one can almost imagine Jesus and his disciplines doing a double-take; this wasn't the likely response, and it was one that certainly would get attention.

So Jesus heals her daughter and praises the woman for what she has done. This follows a pattern of what we have seen in Mark, that Jesus heals people because of the faith they (or their relatives) have shown.

• Mark 7:34. The word ephphatha is Aramaic.

• Mark 8:16ff. The disciples are portrayed here as being very slow to learn. After seeing Jesus twice make sure that thousands were fed, they still worry about not having enough to eat.

Unanswered questions

This section is for questions along the lines of "I still don't understand ..." Please do not be shy. The point of these questions is to identify things that still need to be addressed on this page. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8-9. Why did Jesus insist that the disciples go out with the barest of essentials?

• Mark 6:52. Why were the disciples' hearts hardened?

• Mark 8:4. Why do the disciples have to ask the question of verse 4? After the feeding of the 5,000, surely they should have known that the food would be provided.

• Mark 8:11. What type of sign were the Pharisees looking for in verse 11? It seems like Jesus had already given plenty of signs. And what does Jesus mean when he says no sign would be given in this generation?

• Mark 8:15. What is Jesus warning about in verse 15?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

Previous page: Chapters 3b-6a                      Next page: Chapters 8b-10

Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 1-8a > Chapters 6b-8a / Verses 6:7-8:21
Previous page: Chapters 3b-6a                      Next page: Chapters 8b-10

This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

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• Mark 6:8: Scrip. "Scrip" (Greek pera) in verse 8 refers to a wallet or small leather bag.

• Mark 6:11. The second sentence of verse 11 ("Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.") is not included in all manuscripts. It is often omitted from modern translations.

• Mark 6:14. It appears from verse 14 that John the Baptist had become extremely well-known and was recognized as a prophet by many.

• Mark 6:14-29. Mark seems to place great importance on John the Baptist, not only opening his gospel with an account of him but also devoting 16 verses here to his death.

• Mark 6:26. It is interesting that Mark's account of John the Baptist's death seems surprisingly sympathetic to King Herod. Mark notes that Herod felt bad about having to have John killed (verse 26), and that Herod in fact respected John. It is as if Herod's sin isn't one of murder but one of naivete over what Herodias was willing to ask for. Mark certainly doesn't justify the killing, but neither does he condemn it in a way that might be expected. This approach is in keeping with Mark's style, which is almost journalistic, presenting the facts with little direct interpretation (in contrast with, for example, John's gospel, which is highly interpretive).

• Mark 6:30-34. The picture painted in verses 30-34 is one of Jesus and his disciples wanting to get away for a much-needed rest. Spending some time away from the crowds is apparently their intent until Jesus sees the crowd of people. Here, their need isn't one of physical healing, but of being taught, so Jesus obliges.

• Mark 6:30-44. See "Loaves, Fishes, and Understanding" by Julie Smith at the T&S blog for a discussion of the miracle recounted here in light of that miracle recounted in Mark 8:1-9.

• Mark 6:34. As in verse 34, in Matthew 9:36 it is stated in a different context that Jesus had compassion on people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. These are the only two instances in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) where Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, although the term is used several times in the gospel of John. Examples in John include John 10:11 and John 10:14, where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

• Mark 6:36-37. This may have been a lesson for the 12 disciples as much as the people present. After Jesus told them (verse 36) to get something for the people to eat, their response is almost a sarcastic one (verse 37), something along the lines of "What are we supposed to do? Go spend $10,000 getting these people something to eat?" Clearly, they did not know what would happen next.

• Mark 6:37. The word translated as "pennyworth" is the Greek denarii, plural of denarius, a silver coin weighing almost 4 grams. It is believed to be the amount a common worker would earn in about a day.

• Mark 6:44. The word translated as "men" in verse 44 is aner, which usually refers to adult males specifically, rather than anthropos, which in the King James Version is translated the same way but usually refers to people in general. So, as indicated in Matthew 14:21, there were additionally many women and children who were fed.

• Mark 6:48. The "fourth watch of the night" would have been between 3 and 6 a.m.

• Mark 6:49. The Greek word translated as "spirit" is phantasma, a ghost. It is not the same word as pneuma, which is used, for example, to refer to the Holy Spirit.

• Mark 7:3: Hand washing. In their ritual cleaning, the scribes and Pharisees in this story went far beyond what the law of Moses required, but they put compliance with these rituals on the same level as complying with the law that had been revealed. As Jesus notes later (verse 8), they were following human tradition. Jesus doesn't criticize the following of such traditions per se, but rather the hypocrisy in this case of the way it was done.

• Mark 7:6: Hypocrites. Our English word "hypocrites" is little changed from the Greek word (hupokrites). The Greek word earlier referred to a stage actor and came to mean someone who pretends to be someone or something he is not.

• Mark 7:11: Corban. Corban is a Hebrew word referring to something set aside as a gift to God, and this is the only place in the New Testament where the word is used. Jesus is referring to a practice at the time where someone would pronounce certain money or goods as corban, meaning that the resources would be irrevocably committed to God and thus unavailable for other purposes including the honoring of one's parents.

• Mark 7:14-23. In verses 14-23, Jesus shows that he is far more concerned about what is going on inside of a person, about the person's inner qualities, than he is about outside conformity with rules that aren't all that important. He does this in quite strong language, even suggesting (in verse 19) that the Jewish dietary laws are irrelevant. His railings are directed most against the hypocrisy of those who follow the details of some laws while ignoring what's more important.

Of the sins listed in verses 21-22, some are sins of behavior (murder, sexual immorality), while others are sins of the heart (covetousness, pride, foolishness). But Jesus emphasizes that all of them are first and foremost something that happens from within. Jesus here isn't calling for stricter adherence to law, but rather for inner change that manifests itself in righteous living.

• Mark 7:15: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 15 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:19: Draught. "Draught" (Greek aphedron) refers to a place where human waste is dumped. Modern translations of the word include "waste," "latrine" and "sewer." "Purging" is the Greek katharizo (related to the English "catharsis"), meaning to purify or make clean. In essence, Jesus is saying that (ritually) unclean foods don't hurt people, because they end up going in the waste anyway.

• Mark 7:20, 23: Defile. The Greek verb for "defile" (koinoo) as in verse 20 generally means to make something ritually unclean.

• Mark 7:24-30. This is one of the more interesting stories in Mark, both because of the somewhat unusual behavior of Jesus as well as the insight it gives into the times.

First, it should be noted that it was unusual in this culture for women to approach men with direct requests such as this. At best, she would have been seen as pushy. In fact, from the account given in Matthew, it appears that the disciples were annoyed with her and merely wanted to get rid of her. Since there would have been little reason for a Greek woman to learn Aramaic, she probably wasn't even speaking their language. (This story is one indication that Jesus may have spoken Greek in addition to his native Aramaic.)

Jesus here is no less accommodating at first. In the Matthew account, he doesn't even answer her. Here he suggests that his ministry is toward the Jews, and he compares non-Jews to dogs. To a casual observer, Jesus and the disciples would have even appeared rude, and it would have appeared that the woman wasn't going to get the help she so desperately wanted for her daughter.

And then the story changes, and it is the woman who changes it. She very easily could have become rude in response. Instead, she responds with a witty retort — but even the dogs get something. At this point, one can almost imagine Jesus and his disciplines doing a double-take; this wasn't the likely response, and it was one that certainly would get attention.

So Jesus heals her daughter and praises the woman for what she has done. This follows a pattern of what we have seen in Mark, that Jesus heals people because of the faith they (or their relatives) have shown.

• Mark 7:34. The word ephphatha is Aramaic.

• Mark 8:16ff. The disciples are portrayed here as being very slow to learn. After seeing Jesus twice make sure that thousands were fed, they still worry about not having enough to eat.

Unanswered questions

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Prompts for life application

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Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 6:8-9. Why did Jesus insist that the disciples go out with the barest of essentials?

• Mark 6:52. Why were the disciples' hearts hardened?

• Mark 8:4. Why do the disciples have to ask the question of verse 4? After the feeding of the 5,000, surely they should have known that the food would be provided.

• Mark 8:11. What type of sign were the Pharisees looking for in verse 11? It seems like Jesus had already given plenty of signs. And what does Jesus mean when he says no sign would be given in this generation?

• Mark 8:15. What is Jesus warning about in verse 15?

Resources

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Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

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Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 8b-10
Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

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Summary

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Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Mark 8b-10: Major themes: Jesus as the Christ, and the reader as a disciple

• In Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, little has happened that could not also be true of a great prophet (excepting the confessions of the unclean spirits that Jesus commands to be silent). Jesus has taught and has performed miracles. But great prophets such as Moses and Elijah also did these things. Here in this transition section of Chapters 8b-10, Mark tells us in clear terms that Jesus is not just a great prophet, but is in fact the "Christ," THE anointed one.

Also in Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, Jesus's teachings have focused on eliminating the many rules that the scribes had imposed upon the people that missed the spirit of the Law of Moses, such as forbidding healing on the Sabbath. But here in this group of chapters Jesus makes several clear statements about the cost of discipleship. This begins with the statement to take up one's cross, and continues with teachings about persecution, wealth, humility and service.

Mark's emphasis on these two themes in Chapters 8b-10, absent from earlier chapters, sets this section apart from what has gone before and serves as a transition that prepares the reader to understand and appreciate what will follow during Passion Week.

This group of chapters both begins and ends with the blind receiving their sight. In Mark, people routinely fail to understand what they see. But in this group of chapters Mark will make it so clear that his readers cannot fail to see.

Next comes Peter's confession. Jesus asks "Who do men say that I am?" The answer is that people think Jesus is one or another of the great prophets. But Jesus than asks "But whom do YE say that I am?" and Peter responds with the answer "Thou art the Christ."

Mark then relates three separate occasion on which Jesus explained to his disciples what it meant for him to the Christ. First, it meant that he would need to go to Jerusalem and die. Second, it meant that he was not a great hero who was to be served, but was in fact a humble servant of all.

Mark also explains, for the first time in these chapters, that there is a cost associated with being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The rich young man was required to sacrifice his wealth. James and John were required to sacrifice their ambition. And Jesus would sacrifice his life.

Once we reach the end of this section, we are ready to under the events of Passion Week, in which the Jews will destroyed for rejecting not merely a great prophet, but the son of God, and in which Jesus will do things that are beyond the ability of a mere prophet and can only be accomplished by the Christ, namely the atonement and resurrection. Those events of Passion Week make much less sense, or none at all, if the reader skips from the middle of Chapter 8 directly the triumphal entry in Chapter 11.

Mark 8:22-26: Healing a blind man in Bethsaida

Mark 8:27-30: Peter's confession

• Mark 8:29: Christ. In verse 30 (and elsewhere in the New Testament), the Greek word for "Christ" (christos) means "messiah" or "anointed one."

The word 'Christ' is used to refer to Jesus only five times in the gospel of Mark. So use of the term here is significant. The word appears in the opening verse of the gospel, but then does not appear again until here with Peter's confession in Verse 8:29. Jesus affirms this identity here in these chapters in Verse 9:41 with his explanation "... because ye belong to Christ." The term 'Christ' is then again used to specifically refer to Jesus twice more in his trial before the high priest (14:61) and while he is on the cross (15:32). (The term also appears four times in a non-specific manner in [Verse 12:35 and in the Olivet Discourse in [Verse 13:6, 21-22).

A major theme in Mark is the failure to understand who Jesus is. This is the verse in which Mark sets aside any misunderstanding about whether Jesus is the Christ. And this verse appears at the beginning of Chapters 8b-10 in which mark also explains what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, and what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

Mark 8:31-9:1: Jesus foretells his death #1; discipleship is sacrifice

• Mark 8:34: Deny. The Greek word translated as "deny" (aparneomai) in verse 34 may be stronger than the translation suggests. It is the same word used in places such as Mark 14:30ff, where Peter acts as if he doesn't even know about Jesus.

• Mark 8:36: Man. The word translated as "man" in verse 36 is anthropos, which includes females.

Mark 9:2-13: Mount of Transfiguration

• Mark 9:2: Transfigured. The Greek word translated as "transfigured" is metamorphoo (a cousin of the English word "metamorphosis"), which means to change to another form. The word is rare in the New Testament.

• Mark 9:3: White. The phrase "so as no fuller on earth can white them" is given in modern translations as "whiter than any bleach on earth could make them" or something similar.

• Mark 9:4: JST. Verse 4 appears in the Joseph Translation thusly: "And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, or in other words, John the Baptist and Moses; and they were talking with Jesus."

• Mark 9:4: Elijah. Elias is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Elijah.

• Mark 9:4: Elias. See Who was the Elias of D&C 110? by Kevin Barney at BCC

• Mark 9:13. Verse 13 is given in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "Again I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, but they have done unto him whatsoever they listed; and even as it is written of him; and he bore record of me, and they received him not. Verily this was Elias."

Mark 9:14-29: Casting out an unclean spirit

• Mark 9:19. Jesus in verse 19 is growing increasingly frustrated. He has performed miracle after miracle, and yet people still don't believe.

• Mark 9:23: Faith and healing. The theme that healing can come for those who believe has been dominant throughout much of the gospel of Mark to this point. In verse 23, Jesus makes the principle explicit: "all things" are possible for those who believe.

• Mark 9:28. Verse 9:28 suggests that the disciples, not just Jesus, have been healing people. Their inability to heal the boy in this case apparently wasn't a matter of lack of faith, but a lack of prayer.

• Mark 9:29: Fasting. Not all Greek manuscripts include the phrase for "and fasting" in verse 29.

Mark 9:30-37: Jesus fortells his death #2; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 9:34. The disciples' silence in verse 34 suggests that they knew Jesus wouldn't approve of them arguing over who would be the greatest.

Mark 9:38-41: He that is not against us is for us

• Mark 9:40: Choosing sides. Verse 40 (which says, in essence, that those not against Jesus are on his side) and Matthew 12:30 (which says that those who are not for Jesus are against him) seem like they may be contradictory. But an examination of the context of these two verses indicates that they may be complementary.

One reason we may tend to see the verses as contradictory is because when we say someone is "not for" or "not against" us, we tend to think of people who are more or less neutral. But Jesus in neither case appears to be talking about people who are neutral. In Matthew, the verse comes just before verses where Jesus is talking about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and just after verses where people were attributing Jesus' miracles to Beelzebub. These people weren't just "not for" Jesus; they were antagonistic to his ministry.

In the story in Mark, however, the people being discussed aren't opposing Jesus. They're healing people in his name, apparently without being given authority to do so. There is no indication in Mark that they are doing this in order to harm Jesus' ministry. In fact, it is possible that they were sincere and may have even believed they were doing the work that Jesus wanted them to do. At the very least, according to Jesus' words, they were people that were doing good things and would soon be unable to speak against Jesus. Again, these people in being "not against" Jesus weren't neutral; at the very least, they were leaning toward Jesus and thus could be counted on his side.

For modern Latter-day saints, this passage can serve as a lesson that we shouldn't reject out of hand other Christians who do good things, even heal people, even though they haven't been given direct authority. It is clear from this passage that there are people outside of the church who nevertheless help the mission of Christ and will receive their reward for doing so.

Mark 9:42: Offending little ones

Mark 9:43-50: Cost of discipleship

• Mark 9:43, 45, 47: Hell. The Greek word for "hell" in verses 43, 45 and 47 is gehenna. The word originally referred to a valley where garbage was burned.

• Mark 9:48. Not all the Greek manuscripts include verse 48.

Mark 10:1-12: Marriage and divorce

• Mark 10:2. The Greek verb translated as "tempting" (peirazo) in verse 2 refers not to tempting someone to do evil, but to testing someone, in this case to see if he will give the right answer.

Mark 10:13-16: Receiving heaven as a little child

Mark 10:17-31: The rich young man and wealth

• Mark 10:25: Pluck out thine eye. Over the centuries, some people have attempted to soften the words of Jesus in verse 25. Some have said that the reference is to the Needle's Eye, an especially tight passageway in Jerusalem; however, there is no evidence that such a passageway existed at the time of Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples' response to Jesus indicates that they understood Jesus to mean exactly what he was saying, and Jesus himself said in verse 27 that for people getting saved is indeed impossible. The point here is that salvation is possible only through God.

• Mark 10:27: Men. The Greek word translated as "men" in verse 27 is anthropos, which includes women.

• Mark 10:27: JST. Verse 27 in rendered in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men that trust in riches, it is impossible; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake, for with such all these things are possible."

Mark 10:32-45: Jesus foretells his death #3; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 10:44: Servant. The Greek word doulos, translated as "servant" in verse 44, is given in some modern translations as "slave," "bondman" or "bondservant." It suggests someone who is totally subject to the wishes of another.

• Mark 10:45: Ransom. The Greek word lutron, translated in verse 45 as "ransom," appears in the New Testament only here and in a parallel passage in Matthew 20:28. It refers to the price paid to redeem a slave or someone held captive.

Mark 10:46-52: Healing blind Bartimaeus

• Mark 10:52: Faith and healings. As in previous healings in the gospel of Mark, Jesus connects the healing of the blind man directly with the faith he has shown.

Unanswered questions

This section is for questions along the lines of "I still don't understand ..." Please do not be shy. The point of these questions is to identify things that still need to be addressed on this page. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 8:22-26. Why does it take two steps to completely restore the man's sight?

• Mark 8:32. Why does Peter rebuke Jesus?

• Mark 8:33. Why does Jesus use such strong language to rebuke Peter?

• Mark 9:2-13. Why Moses and Elijah?

• Mark 9:2-13. If Elias here is understood to refer to John the Baptists per the Joseph Smith Translation and this is not an improper use of the term "Elias", then what strong reasons do we have to presume that other accounts of this event are using the word Elias to refer to Elijah? What strong reasons do we have to presume that Elijah was even here?

• Mark 9:13. When Jesus says (verse 13) that Elias already has come, what is he referring to? The Transfiguration? John the Baptist?

• Mark 9:13. What connection does this selection have to do, if anything, with D&C 110, where Elijah and Elias are presented as separate people?

• Mark 10:9. Whom has God "joined together"?

• Mark 10:9. According to this passage, when is divorce wrong?

• Mark 10:13-16. What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God "as a little child"?

• Mark 10:17. The rich man asked what he could do to inherit eternal life. In his answer, Jesus told him what he could do to have treasure in heaven (verse 21). Are these the same thing?

• Mark 10:21. When Christ says take up the cross, what does that phrase mean to this young man when the Savior had not yet been crucified?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 9:28: Prayer and fasting. See this post at the FPR blog for some discussion of this verse (why Jesus says prayer and fasting is required, but doesn't pray or fast himself).

• Mark 9:42: Millstone. The Juniper Tree recorded by the Brothers Grimm (use of millstone paralleling this text)

• Mark 10:34-35: Secret Gospel of Mark insertion. See this article for an insertion between these verses from the so-called "Secret Gospel of Mark."

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 8b-10
Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Mark 8b-10: Major themes: Jesus as the Christ, and the reader as a disciple

• In Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, little has happened that could not also be true of a great prophet (excepting the confessions of the unclean spirits that Jesus commands to be silent). Jesus has taught and has performed miracles. But great prophets such as Moses and Elijah also did these things. Here in this transition section of Chapters 8b-10, Mark tells us in clear terms that Jesus is not just a great prophet, but is in fact the "Christ," THE anointed one.

Also in Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, Jesus's teachings have focused on eliminating the many rules that the scribes had imposed upon the people that missed the spirit of the Law of Moses, such as forbidding healing on the Sabbath. But here in this group of chapters Jesus makes several clear statements about the cost of discipleship. This begins with the statement to take up one's cross, and continues with teachings about persecution, wealth, humility and service.

Mark's emphasis on these two themes in Chapters 8b-10, absent from earlier chapters, sets this section apart from what has gone before and serves as a transition that prepares the reader to understand and appreciate what will follow during Passion Week.

This group of chapters both begins and ends with the blind receiving their sight. In Mark, people routinely fail to understand what they see. But in this group of chapters Mark will make it so clear that his readers cannot fail to see.

Next comes Peter's confession. Jesus asks "Who do men say that I am?" The answer is that people think Jesus is one or another of the great prophets. But Jesus than asks "But whom do YE say that I am?" and Peter responds with the answer "Thou art the Christ."

Mark then relates three separate occasion on which Jesus explained to his disciples what it meant for him to the Christ. First, it meant that he would need to go to Jerusalem and die. Second, it meant that he was not a great hero who was to be served, but was in fact a humble servant of all.

Mark also explains, for the first time in these chapters, that there is a cost associated with being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The rich young man was required to sacrifice his wealth. James and John were required to sacrifice their ambition. And Jesus would sacrifice his life.

Once we reach the end of this section, we are ready to under the events of Passion Week, in which the Jews will destroyed for rejecting not merely a great prophet, but the son of God, and in which Jesus will do things that are beyond the ability of a mere prophet and can only be accomplished by the Christ, namely the atonement and resurrection. Those events of Passion Week make much less sense, or none at all, if the reader skips from the middle of Chapter 8 directly the triumphal entry in Chapter 11.

Mark 8:22-26: Healing a blind man in Bethsaida

Mark 8:27-30: Peter's confession

• Mark 8:29: Christ. In verse 30 (and elsewhere in the New Testament), the Greek word for "Christ" (christos) means "messiah" or "anointed one."

The word 'Christ' is used to refer to Jesus only five times in the gospel of Mark. So use of the term here is significant. The word appears in the opening verse of the gospel, but then does not appear again until here with Peter's confession in Verse 8:29. Jesus affirms this identity here in these chapters in Verse 9:41 with his explanation "... because ye belong to Christ." The term 'Christ' is then again used to specifically refer to Jesus twice more in his trial before the high priest (14:61) and while he is on the cross (15:32). (The term also appears four times in a non-specific manner in [Verse 12:35 and in the Olivet Discourse in [Verse 13:6, 21-22).

A major theme in Mark is the failure to understand who Jesus is. This is the verse in which Mark sets aside any misunderstanding about whether Jesus is the Christ. And this verse appears at the beginning of Chapters 8b-10 in which mark also explains what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, and what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

Mark 8:31-9:1: Jesus foretells his death #1; discipleship is sacrifice

• Mark 8:34: Deny. The Greek word translated as "deny" (aparneomai) in verse 34 may be stronger than the translation suggests. It is the same word used in places such as Mark 14:30ff, where Peter acts as if he doesn't even know about Jesus.

• Mark 8:36: Man. The word translated as "man" in verse 36 is anthropos, which includes females.

Mark 9:2-13: Mount of Transfiguration

• Mark 9:2: Transfigured. The Greek word translated as "transfigured" is metamorphoo (a cousin of the English word "metamorphosis"), which means to change to another form. The word is rare in the New Testament.

• Mark 9:3: White. The phrase "so as no fuller on earth can white them" is given in modern translations as "whiter than any bleach on earth could make them" or something similar.

• Mark 9:4: JST. Verse 4 appears in the Joseph Translation thusly: "And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, or in other words, John the Baptist and Moses; and they were talking with Jesus."

• Mark 9:4: Elijah. Elias is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Elijah.

• Mark 9:4: Elias. See Who was the Elias of D&C 110? by Kevin Barney at BCC

• Mark 9:13. Verse 13 is given in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "Again I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, but they have done unto him whatsoever they listed; and even as it is written of him; and he bore record of me, and they received him not. Verily this was Elias."

Mark 9:14-29: Casting out an unclean spirit

• Mark 9:19. Jesus in verse 19 is growing increasingly frustrated. He has performed miracle after miracle, and yet people still don't believe.

• Mark 9:23: Faith and healing. The theme that healing can come for those who believe has been dominant throughout much of the gospel of Mark to this point. In verse 23, Jesus makes the principle explicit: "all things" are possible for those who believe.

• Mark 9:28. Verse 9:28 suggests that the disciples, not just Jesus, have been healing people. Their inability to heal the boy in this case apparently wasn't a matter of lack of faith, but a lack of prayer.

• Mark 9:29: Fasting. Not all Greek manuscripts include the phrase for "and fasting" in verse 29.

Mark 9:30-37: Jesus fortells his death #2; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 9:34. The disciples' silence in verse 34 suggests that they knew Jesus wouldn't approve of them arguing over who would be the greatest.

Mark 9:38-41: He that is not against us is for us

• Mark 9:40: Choosing sides. Verse 40 (which says, in essence, that those not against Jesus are on his side) and Matthew 12:30 (which says that those who are not for Jesus are against him) seem like they may be contradictory. But an examination of the context of these two verses indicates that they may be complementary.

One reason we may tend to see the verses as contradictory is because when we say someone is "not for" or "not against" us, we tend to think of people who are more or less neutral. But Jesus in neither case appears to be talking about people who are neutral. In Matthew, the verse comes just before verses where Jesus is talking about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and just after verses where people were attributing Jesus' miracles to Beelzebub. These people weren't just "not for" Jesus; they were antagonistic to his ministry.

In the story in Mark, however, the people being discussed aren't opposing Jesus. They're healing people in his name, apparently without being given authority to do so. There is no indication in Mark that they are doing this in order to harm Jesus' ministry. In fact, it is possible that they were sincere and may have even believed they were doing the work that Jesus wanted them to do. At the very least, according to Jesus' words, they were people that were doing good things and would soon be unable to speak against Jesus. Again, these people in being "not against" Jesus weren't neutral; at the very least, they were leaning toward Jesus and thus could be counted on his side.

For modern Latter-day saints, this passage can serve as a lesson that we shouldn't reject out of hand other Christians who do good things, even heal people, even though they haven't been given direct authority. It is clear from this passage that there are people outside of the church who nevertheless help the mission of Christ and will receive their reward for doing so.

Mark 9:42: Offending little ones

Mark 9:43-50: Cost of discipleship

• Mark 9:43, 45, 47: Hell. The Greek word for "hell" in verses 43, 45 and 47 is gehenna. The word originally referred to a valley where garbage was burned.

• Mark 9:48. Not all the Greek manuscripts include verse 48.

Mark 10:1-12: Marriage and divorce

• Mark 10:2. The Greek verb translated as "tempting" (peirazo) in verse 2 refers not to tempting someone to do evil, but to testing someone, in this case to see if he will give the right answer.

Mark 10:13-16: Receiving heaven as a little child

Mark 10:17-31: The rich young man and wealth

• Mark 10:25: Pluck out thine eye. Over the centuries, some people have attempted to soften the words of Jesus in verse 25. Some have said that the reference is to the Needle's Eye, an especially tight passageway in Jerusalem; however, there is no evidence that such a passageway existed at the time of Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples' response to Jesus indicates that they understood Jesus to mean exactly what he was saying, and Jesus himself said in verse 27 that for people getting saved is indeed impossible. The point here is that salvation is possible only through God.

• Mark 10:27: Men. The Greek word translated as "men" in verse 27 is anthropos, which includes women.

• Mark 10:27: JST. Verse 27 in rendered in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men that trust in riches, it is impossible; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake, for with such all these things are possible."

Mark 10:32-45: Jesus foretells his death #3; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 10:44: Servant. The Greek word doulos, translated as "servant" in verse 44, is given in some modern translations as "slave," "bondman" or "bondservant." It suggests someone who is totally subject to the wishes of another.

• Mark 10:45: Ransom. The Greek word lutron, translated in verse 45 as "ransom," appears in the New Testament only here and in a parallel passage in Matthew 20:28. It refers to the price paid to redeem a slave or someone held captive.

Mark 10:46-52: Healing blind Bartimaeus

• Mark 10:52: Faith and healings. As in previous healings in the gospel of Mark, Jesus connects the healing of the blind man directly with the faith he has shown.

Unanswered questions

This section is for questions along the lines of "I still don't understand ..." Please do not be shy. The point of these questions is to identify things that still need to be addressed on this page. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 8:22-26. Why does it take two steps to completely restore the man's sight?

• Mark 8:32. Why does Peter rebuke Jesus?

• Mark 8:33. Why does Jesus use such strong language to rebuke Peter?

• Mark 9:2-13. Why Moses and Elijah?

• Mark 9:2-13. If Elias here is understood to refer to John the Baptists per the Joseph Smith Translation and this is not an improper use of the term "Elias", then what strong reasons do we have to presume that other accounts of this event are using the word Elias to refer to Elijah? What strong reasons do we have to presume that Elijah was even here?

• Mark 9:13. When Jesus says (verse 13) that Elias already has come, what is he referring to? The Transfiguration? John the Baptist?

• Mark 9:13. What connection does this selection have to do, if anything, with D&C 110, where Elijah and Elias are presented as separate people?

• Mark 10:9. Whom has God "joined together"?

• Mark 10:9. According to this passage, when is divorce wrong?

• Mark 10:13-16. What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God "as a little child"?

• Mark 10:17. The rich man asked what he could do to inherit eternal life. In his answer, Jesus told him what he could do to have treasure in heaven (verse 21). Are these the same thing?

• Mark 10:21. When Christ says take up the cross, what does that phrase mean to this young man when the Savior had not yet been crucified?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 9:28: Prayer and fasting. See this post at the FPR blog for some discussion of this verse (why Jesus says prayer and fasting is required, but doesn't pray or fast himself).

• Mark 9:42: Millstone. The Juniper Tree recorded by the Brothers Grimm (use of millstone paralleling this text)

• Mark 10:34-35: Secret Gospel of Mark insertion. See this article for an insertion between these verses from the so-called "Secret Gospel of Mark."

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 8b-10
Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Mark 8b-10: Major themes: Jesus as the Christ, and the reader as a disciple

• In Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, little has happened that could not also be true of a great prophet (excepting the confessions of the unclean spirits that Jesus commands to be silent). Jesus has taught and has performed miracles. But great prophets such as Moses and Elijah also did these things. Here in this transition section of Chapters 8b-10, Mark tells us in clear terms that Jesus is not just a great prophet, but is in fact the "Christ," THE anointed one.

Also in Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, Jesus's teachings have focused on eliminating the many rules that the scribes had imposed upon the people that missed the spirit of the Law of Moses, such as forbidding healing on the Sabbath. But here in this group of chapters Jesus makes several clear statements about the cost of discipleship. This begins with the statement to take up one's cross, and continues with teachings about persecution, wealth, humility and service.

Mark's emphasis on these two themes in Chapters 8b-10, absent from earlier chapters, sets this section apart from what has gone before and serves as a transition that prepares the reader to understand and appreciate what will follow during Passion Week.

This group of chapters both begins and ends with the blind receiving their sight. In Mark, people routinely fail to understand what they see. But in this group of chapters Mark will make it so clear that his readers cannot fail to see.

Next comes Peter's confession. Jesus asks "Who do men say that I am?" The answer is that people think Jesus is one or another of the great prophets. But Jesus than asks "But whom do YE say that I am?" and Peter responds with the answer "Thou art the Christ."

Mark then relates three separate occasion on which Jesus explained to his disciples what it meant for him to the Christ. First, it meant that he would need to go to Jerusalem and die. Second, it meant that he was not a great hero who was to be served, but was in fact a humble servant of all.

Mark also explains, for the first time in these chapters, that there is a cost associated with being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The rich young man was required to sacrifice his wealth. James and John were required to sacrifice their ambition. And Jesus would sacrifice his life.

Once we reach the end of this section, we are ready to under the events of Passion Week, in which the Jews will destroyed for rejecting not merely a great prophet, but the son of God, and in which Jesus will do things that are beyond the ability of a mere prophet and can only be accomplished by the Christ, namely the atonement and resurrection. Those events of Passion Week make much less sense, or none at all, if the reader skips from the middle of Chapter 8 directly the triumphal entry in Chapter 11.

Mark 8:22-26: Healing a blind man in Bethsaida

Mark 8:27-30: Peter's confession

• Mark 8:29: Christ. In verse 30 (and elsewhere in the New Testament), the Greek word for "Christ" (christos) means "messiah" or "anointed one."

The word 'Christ' is used to refer to Jesus only five times in the gospel of Mark. So use of the term here is significant. The word appears in the opening verse of the gospel, but then does not appear again until here with Peter's confession in Verse 8:29. Jesus affirms this identity here in these chapters in Verse 9:41 with his explanation "... because ye belong to Christ." The term 'Christ' is then again used to specifically refer to Jesus twice more in his trial before the high priest (14:61) and while he is on the cross (15:32). (The term also appears four times in a non-specific manner in [Verse 12:35 and in the Olivet Discourse in [Verse 13:6, 21-22).

A major theme in Mark is the failure to understand who Jesus is. This is the verse in which Mark sets aside any misunderstanding about whether Jesus is the Christ. And this verse appears at the beginning of Chapters 8b-10 in which mark also explains what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, and what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

Mark 8:31-9:1: Jesus foretells his death #1; discipleship is sacrifice

• Mark 8:34: Deny. The Greek word translated as "deny" (aparneomai) in verse 34 may be stronger than the translation suggests. It is the same word used in places such as Mark 14:30ff, where Peter acts as if he doesn't even know about Jesus.

• Mark 8:36: Man. The word translated as "man" in verse 36 is anthropos, which includes females.

Mark 9:2-13: Mount of Transfiguration

• Mark 9:2: Transfigured. The Greek word translated as "transfigured" is metamorphoo (a cousin of the English word "metamorphosis"), which means to change to another form. The word is rare in the New Testament.

• Mark 9:3: White. The phrase "so as no fuller on earth can white them" is given in modern translations as "whiter than any bleach on earth could make them" or something similar.

• Mark 9:4: JST. Verse 4 appears in the Joseph Translation thusly: "And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, or in other words, John the Baptist and Moses; and they were talking with Jesus."

• Mark 9:4: Elijah. Elias is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Elijah.

• Mark 9:4: Elias. See Who was the Elias of D&C 110? by Kevin Barney at BCC

• Mark 9:13. Verse 13 is given in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "Again I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, but they have done unto him whatsoever they listed; and even as it is written of him; and he bore record of me, and they received him not. Verily this was Elias."

Mark 9:14-29: Casting out an unclean spirit

• Mark 9:19. Jesus in verse 19 is growing increasingly frustrated. He has performed miracle after miracle, and yet people still don't believe.

• Mark 9:23: Faith and healing. The theme that healing can come for those who believe has been dominant throughout much of the gospel of Mark to this point. In verse 23, Jesus makes the principle explicit: "all things" are possible for those who believe.

• Mark 9:28. Verse 9:28 suggests that the disciples, not just Jesus, have been healing people. Their inability to heal the boy in this case apparently wasn't a matter of lack of faith, but a lack of prayer.

• Mark 9:29: Fasting. Not all Greek manuscripts include the phrase for "and fasting" in verse 29.

Mark 9:30-37: Jesus fortells his death #2; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 9:34. The disciples' silence in verse 34 suggests that they knew Jesus wouldn't approve of them arguing over who would be the greatest.

Mark 9:38-41: He that is not against us is for us

• Mark 9:40: Choosing sides. Verse 40 (which says, in essence, that those not against Jesus are on his side) and Matthew 12:30 (which says that those who are not for Jesus are against him) seem like they may be contradictory. But an examination of the context of these two verses indicates that they may be complementary.

One reason we may tend to see the verses as contradictory is because when we say someone is "not for" or "not against" us, we tend to think of people who are more or less neutral. But Jesus in neither case appears to be talking about people who are neutral. In Matthew, the verse comes just before verses where Jesus is talking about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and just after verses where people were attributing Jesus' miracles to Beelzebub. These people weren't just "not for" Jesus; they were antagonistic to his ministry.

In the story in Mark, however, the people being discussed aren't opposing Jesus. They're healing people in his name, apparently without being given authority to do so. There is no indication in Mark that they are doing this in order to harm Jesus' ministry. In fact, it is possible that they were sincere and may have even believed they were doing the work that Jesus wanted them to do. At the very least, according to Jesus' words, they were people that were doing good things and would soon be unable to speak against Jesus. Again, these people in being "not against" Jesus weren't neutral; at the very least, they were leaning toward Jesus and thus could be counted on his side.

For modern Latter-day saints, this passage can serve as a lesson that we shouldn't reject out of hand other Christians who do good things, even heal people, even though they haven't been given direct authority. It is clear from this passage that there are people outside of the church who nevertheless help the mission of Christ and will receive their reward for doing so.

Mark 9:42: Offending little ones

Mark 9:43-50: Cost of discipleship

• Mark 9:43, 45, 47: Hell. The Greek word for "hell" in verses 43, 45 and 47 is gehenna. The word originally referred to a valley where garbage was burned.

• Mark 9:48. Not all the Greek manuscripts include verse 48.

Mark 10:1-12: Marriage and divorce

• Mark 10:2. The Greek verb translated as "tempting" (peirazo) in verse 2 refers not to tempting someone to do evil, but to testing someone, in this case to see if he will give the right answer.

Mark 10:13-16: Receiving heaven as a little child

Mark 10:17-31: The rich young man and wealth

• Mark 10:25: Pluck out thine eye. Over the centuries, some people have attempted to soften the words of Jesus in verse 25. Some have said that the reference is to the Needle's Eye, an especially tight passageway in Jerusalem; however, there is no evidence that such a passageway existed at the time of Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples' response to Jesus indicates that they understood Jesus to mean exactly what he was saying, and Jesus himself said in verse 27 that for people getting saved is indeed impossible. The point here is that salvation is possible only through God.

• Mark 10:27: Men. The Greek word translated as "men" in verse 27 is anthropos, which includes women.

• Mark 10:27: JST. Verse 27 in rendered in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men that trust in riches, it is impossible; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake, for with such all these things are possible."

Mark 10:32-45: Jesus foretells his death #3; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 10:44: Servant. The Greek word doulos, translated as "servant" in verse 44, is given in some modern translations as "slave," "bondman" or "bondservant." It suggests someone who is totally subject to the wishes of another.

• Mark 10:45: Ransom. The Greek word lutron, translated in verse 45 as "ransom," appears in the New Testament only here and in a parallel passage in Matthew 20:28. It refers to the price paid to redeem a slave or someone held captive.

Mark 10:46-52: Healing blind Bartimaeus

• Mark 10:52: Faith and healings. As in previous healings in the gospel of Mark, Jesus connects the healing of the blind man directly with the faith he has shown.

Unanswered questions

This section is for questions along the lines of "I still don't understand ..." Please do not be shy. The point of these questions is to identify things that still need to be addressed on this page. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 8:22-26. Why does it take two steps to completely restore the man's sight?

• Mark 8:32. Why does Peter rebuke Jesus?

• Mark 8:33. Why does Jesus use such strong language to rebuke Peter?

• Mark 9:2-13. Why Moses and Elijah?

• Mark 9:2-13. If Elias here is understood to refer to John the Baptists per the Joseph Smith Translation and this is not an improper use of the term "Elias", then what strong reasons do we have to presume that other accounts of this event are using the word Elias to refer to Elijah? What strong reasons do we have to presume that Elijah was even here?

• Mark 9:13. When Jesus says (verse 13) that Elias already has come, what is he referring to? The Transfiguration? John the Baptist?

• Mark 9:13. What connection does this selection have to do, if anything, with D&C 110, where Elijah and Elias are presented as separate people?

• Mark 10:9. Whom has God "joined together"?

• Mark 10:9. According to this passage, when is divorce wrong?

• Mark 10:13-16. What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God "as a little child"?

• Mark 10:17. The rich man asked what he could do to inherit eternal life. In his answer, Jesus told him what he could do to have treasure in heaven (verse 21). Are these the same thing?

• Mark 10:21. When Christ says take up the cross, what does that phrase mean to this young man when the Savior had not yet been crucified?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 9:28: Prayer and fasting. See this post at the FPR blog for some discussion of this verse (why Jesus says prayer and fasting is required, but doesn't pray or fast himself).

• Mark 9:42: Millstone. The Juniper Tree recorded by the Brothers Grimm (use of millstone paralleling this text)

• Mark 10:34-35: Secret Gospel of Mark insertion. See this article for an insertion between these verses from the so-called "Secret Gospel of Mark."

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

Home > The New Testament > Mark > Chapters 8b-10
Previous page: Mark 7                      Next page: Chapters 11-13

This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Mark 8b-10: Major themes: Jesus as the Christ, and the reader as a disciple

• In Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, little has happened that could not also be true of a great prophet (excepting the confessions of the unclean spirits that Jesus commands to be silent). Jesus has taught and has performed miracles. But great prophets such as Moses and Elijah also did these things. Here in this transition section of Chapters 8b-10, Mark tells us in clear terms that Jesus is not just a great prophet, but is in fact the "Christ," THE anointed one.

Also in Mark's account of Christ's ministry up to this point, Jesus's teachings have focused on eliminating the many rules that the scribes had imposed upon the people that missed the spirit of the Law of Moses, such as forbidding healing on the Sabbath. But here in this group of chapters Jesus makes several clear statements about the cost of discipleship. This begins with the statement to take up one's cross, and continues with teachings about persecution, wealth, humility and service.

Mark's emphasis on these two themes in Chapters 8b-10, absent from earlier chapters, sets this section apart from what has gone before and serves as a transition that prepares the reader to understand and appreciate what will follow during Passion Week.

This group of chapters both begins and ends with the blind receiving their sight. In Mark, people routinely fail to understand what they see. But in this group of chapters Mark will make it so clear that his readers cannot fail to see.

Next comes Peter's confession. Jesus asks "Who do men say that I am?" The answer is that people think Jesus is one or another of the great prophets. But Jesus than asks "But whom do YE say that I am?" and Peter responds with the answer "Thou art the Christ."

Mark then relates three separate occasion on which Jesus explained to his disciples what it meant for him to the Christ. First, it meant that he would need to go to Jerusalem and die. Second, it meant that he was not a great hero who was to be served, but was in fact a humble servant of all.

Mark also explains, for the first time in these chapters, that there is a cost associated with being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The rich young man was required to sacrifice his wealth. James and John were required to sacrifice their ambition. And Jesus would sacrifice his life.

Once we reach the end of this section, we are ready to under the events of Passion Week, in which the Jews will destroyed for rejecting not merely a great prophet, but the son of God, and in which Jesus will do things that are beyond the ability of a mere prophet and can only be accomplished by the Christ, namely the atonement and resurrection. Those events of Passion Week make much less sense, or none at all, if the reader skips from the middle of Chapter 8 directly the triumphal entry in Chapter 11.

Mark 8:22-26: Healing a blind man in Bethsaida

Mark 8:27-30: Peter's confession

• Mark 8:29: Christ. In verse 30 (and elsewhere in the New Testament), the Greek word for "Christ" (christos) means "messiah" or "anointed one."

The word 'Christ' is used to refer to Jesus only five times in the gospel of Mark. So use of the term here is significant. The word appears in the opening verse of the gospel, but then does not appear again until here with Peter's confession in Verse 8:29. Jesus affirms this identity here in these chapters in Verse 9:41 with his explanation "... because ye belong to Christ." The term 'Christ' is then again used to specifically refer to Jesus twice more in his trial before the high priest (14:61) and while he is on the cross (15:32). (The term also appears four times in a non-specific manner in [Verse 12:35 and in the Olivet Discourse in [Verse 13:6, 21-22).

A major theme in Mark is the failure to understand who Jesus is. This is the verse in which Mark sets aside any misunderstanding about whether Jesus is the Christ. And this verse appears at the beginning of Chapters 8b-10 in which mark also explains what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, and what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

Mark 8:31-9:1: Jesus foretells his death #1; discipleship is sacrifice

• Mark 8:34: Deny. The Greek word translated as "deny" (aparneomai) in verse 34 may be stronger than the translation suggests. It is the same word used in places such as Mark 14:30ff, where Peter acts as if he doesn't even know about Jesus.

• Mark 8:36: Man. The word translated as "man" in verse 36 is anthropos, which includes females.

Mark 9:2-13: Mount of Transfiguration

• Mark 9:2: Transfigured. The Greek word translated as "transfigured" is metamorphoo (a cousin of the English word "metamorphosis"), which means to change to another form. The word is rare in the New Testament.

• Mark 9:3: White. The phrase "so as no fuller on earth can white them" is given in modern translations as "whiter than any bleach on earth could make them" or something similar.

• Mark 9:4: JST. Verse 4 appears in the Joseph Translation thusly: "And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, or in other words, John the Baptist and Moses; and they were talking with Jesus."

• Mark 9:4: Elijah. Elias is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Elijah.

• Mark 9:4: Elias. See Who was the Elias of D&C 110? by Kevin Barney at BCC

• Mark 9:13. Verse 13 is given in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "Again I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, but they have done unto him whatsoever they listed; and even as it is written of him; and he bore record of me, and they received him not. Verily this was Elias."

Mark 9:14-29: Casting out an unclean spirit

• Mark 9:19. Jesus in verse 19 is growing increasingly frustrated. He has performed miracle after miracle, and yet people still don't believe.

• Mark 9:23: Faith and healing. The theme that healing can come for those who believe has been dominant throughout much of the gospel of Mark to this point. In verse 23, Jesus makes the principle explicit: "all things" are possible for those who believe.

• Mark 9:28. Verse 9:28 suggests that the disciples, not just Jesus, have been healing people. Their inability to heal the boy in this case apparently wasn't a matter of lack of faith, but a lack of prayer.

• Mark 9:29: Fasting. Not all Greek manuscripts include the phrase for "and fasting" in verse 29.

Mark 9:30-37: Jesus fortells his death #2; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 9:34. The disciples' silence in verse 34 suggests that they knew Jesus wouldn't approve of them arguing over who would be the greatest.

Mark 9:38-41: He that is not against us is for us

• Mark 9:40: Choosing sides. Verse 40 (which says, in essence, that those not against Jesus are on his side) and Matthew 12:30 (which says that those who are not for Jesus are against him) seem like they may be contradictory. But an examination of the context of these two verses indicates that they may be complementary.

One reason we may tend to see the verses as contradictory is because when we say someone is "not for" or "not against" us, we tend to think of people who are more or less neutral. But Jesus in neither case appears to be talking about people who are neutral. In Matthew, the verse comes just before verses where Jesus is talking about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and just after verses where people were attributing Jesus' miracles to Beelzebub. These people weren't just "not for" Jesus; they were antagonistic to his ministry.

In the story in Mark, however, the people being discussed aren't opposing Jesus. They're healing people in his name, apparently without being given authority to do so. There is no indication in Mark that they are doing this in order to harm Jesus' ministry. In fact, it is possible that they were sincere and may have even believed they were doing the work that Jesus wanted them to do. At the very least, according to Jesus' words, they were people that were doing good things and would soon be unable to speak against Jesus. Again, these people in being "not against" Jesus weren't neutral; at the very least, they were leaning toward Jesus and thus could be counted on his side.

For modern Latter-day saints, this passage can serve as a lesson that we shouldn't reject out of hand other Christians who do good things, even heal people, even though they haven't been given direct authority. It is clear from this passage that there are people outside of the church who nevertheless help the mission of Christ and will receive their reward for doing so.

Mark 9:42: Offending little ones

Mark 9:43-50: Cost of discipleship

• Mark 9:43, 45, 47: Hell. The Greek word for "hell" in verses 43, 45 and 47 is gehenna. The word originally referred to a valley where garbage was burned.

• Mark 9:48. Not all the Greek manuscripts include verse 48.

Mark 10:1-12: Marriage and divorce

• Mark 10:2. The Greek verb translated as "tempting" (peirazo) in verse 2 refers not to tempting someone to do evil, but to testing someone, in this case to see if he will give the right answer.

Mark 10:13-16: Receiving heaven as a little child

Mark 10:17-31: The rich young man and wealth

• Mark 10:25: Pluck out thine eye. Over the centuries, some people have attempted to soften the words of Jesus in verse 25. Some have said that the reference is to the Needle's Eye, an especially tight passageway in Jerusalem; however, there is no evidence that such a passageway existed at the time of Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples' response to Jesus indicates that they understood Jesus to mean exactly what he was saying, and Jesus himself said in verse 27 that for people getting saved is indeed impossible. The point here is that salvation is possible only through God.

• Mark 10:27: Men. The Greek word translated as "men" in verse 27 is anthropos, which includes women.

• Mark 10:27: JST. Verse 27 in rendered in the Joseph Smith Translation thusly: "And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men that trust in riches, it is impossible; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake, for with such all these things are possible."

Mark 10:32-45: Jesus foretells his death #3; discipleship is humble service

• Mark 10:44: Servant. The Greek word doulos, translated as "servant" in verse 44, is given in some modern translations as "slave," "bondman" or "bondservant." It suggests someone who is totally subject to the wishes of another.

• Mark 10:45: Ransom. The Greek word lutron, translated in verse 45 as "ransom," appears in the New Testament only here and in a parallel passage in Matthew 20:28. It refers to the price paid to redeem a slave or someone held captive.

Mark 10:46-52: Healing blind Bartimaeus

• Mark 10:52: Faith and healings. As in previous healings in the gospel of Mark, Jesus connects the healing of the blind man directly with the faith he has shown.

Unanswered questions

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Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 8:22-26. Why does it take two steps to completely restore the man's sight?

• Mark 8:32. Why does Peter rebuke Jesus?

• Mark 8:33. Why does Jesus use such strong language to rebuke Peter?

• Mark 9:2-13. Why Moses and Elijah?

• Mark 9:2-13. If Elias here is understood to refer to John the Baptists per the Joseph Smith Translation and this is not an improper use of the term "Elias", then what strong reasons do we have to presume that other accounts of this event are using the word Elias to refer to Elijah? What strong reasons do we have to presume that Elijah was even here?

• Mark 9:13. When Jesus says (verse 13) that Elias already has come, what is he referring to? The Transfiguration? John the Baptist?

• Mark 9:13. What connection does this selection have to do, if anything, with D&C 110, where Elijah and Elias are presented as separate people?

• Mark 10:9. Whom has God "joined together"?

• Mark 10:9. According to this passage, when is divorce wrong?

• Mark 10:13-16. What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God "as a little child"?

• Mark 10:17. The rich man asked what he could do to inherit eternal life. In his answer, Jesus told him what he could do to have treasure in heaven (verse 21). Are these the same thing?

• Mark 10:21. When Christ says take up the cross, what does that phrase mean to this young man when the Savior had not yet been crucified?

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

• Mark 9:28: Prayer and fasting. See this post at the FPR blog for some discussion of this verse (why Jesus says prayer and fasting is required, but doesn't pray or fast himself).

• Mark 9:42: Millstone. The Juniper Tree recorded by the Brothers Grimm (use of millstone paralleling this text)

• Mark 10:34-35: Secret Gospel of Mark insertion. See this article for an insertion between these verses from the so-called "Secret Gospel of Mark."

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

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