Mark 6

Study Guide 95: Mark 6:1-8:30 JESUS’ CONFLICTS Overview The first few chapters of Mark show us that Jesus is the authentic Son of God. Still, the people to whom Jesus came and showed His powerful proofs did not acknowledge Him! Why? In two cycles of stories, Mark reveals the reason for Israel’ s rejection, and demonstrates the response that all must make to Jesus, the Son of God. In these chapters Mark invites us to look at two kinds of hearts. There is the hardened heart of Jesus’ followers, who could not seem to grasp the meaning of what they saw. And there are the distant hearts of Jesus’ enemies, who refused to even look. Yet Mark also shows us faith, a principle which can open our eyes and our hearts to spiritual reality. Here, as in the rest of his Gospel, Mark’ s style is not to preach. Mark simply tells what happened, carefully linking story with story to lead us to discover in Jesus alone a power that can cleanse and renew us. HEART. The theological meaning of “ heart” is established in the Old Testament. The “ heart” is the conscious self, the inner core of the individual. Jeremiah portrayed the heart as “ deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Every dimension of the human personality has been infected by sin. But only the willfully hardened or distant heart is beyond the power of Christ to change.

Commentary There has never been any real question about Jesus’ authority. The question has always been how human beings will respond to Him. Many throughout history have heard the evidence and hesitated. Others have heard and actively opposed the Gospel. But always one key alone has released the power of the Saviour to operate in the life of the individual.

The Issue Drawn: Mark 6:1-44Unbelief (Mark 6:1-6). After Jesus’ reputation had been well established, He returned to His hometown of Nazareth. When Jesus taught in the synagogue, His words created the familiar “ amazement,” an amazement linked with doubt rather than faith. As Jesus’ fellow-townsmen listened they began to resent Him. How was Jesus better than they? Wasn’ t He just the village carpenter? Didn’ t His mother and brothers live next door? Why should Jesus be given such wisdom, and the power to do miracles? Mark says they “ took offense at Him.” The word is a strong one. It indicates anger, shock, and even revulsion. Among these friends and neighbors Jesus did no miracles, except for a few healings. And Mark comments, “ He [Jesus] was amazed at their lack of faith.” In this short story Mark established the theme of this section of his Gospel. Mark would examine the response of people to Jesus the Son of God. And he would go about explaining their amazing lack of faith. The Twelve instructed (Mark 6:7-13). Jesus continued traveling, teaching from village to village. Then He determined to send out the Twelve, giving them authority over evil spirits. Jesus gave them significant instructions. They were to carry nothing for the journey, but depend on those to whom they came. But “ if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave as a testimony against them” (Mark 6:11). The disciples were to preach the Word. Each person was free to welcome or reject the message. But the disciples were to “ leave” those who would not respond, and were to “ shake the dust off your feet . . . as a testimony against them.” The disciples went out, teaching, healing, and driving out devils. With such abundant evidence of the authority and compassion of Jesus, who would refuse to believe? Belief is not faith (Mark 6:14-29). Mark interrupted his narrative to tell a story which established a vital principle. Belief, as the realization that certain things are true, must never be confused with “ faith.” As more and more stories about Jesus reached King Herod, speculation about Him grew. Some said that Jesus was Elijah; others, another of the ancient prophets. But Herod was convinced that Jesus was John the Baptist, raised from the dead. Herod had imprisoned John who condemned the king for an illicit relationship he established with his brother’ s wife. The woman, Herodias, hated John and wanted to kill him. But Mark tells us that Herod “ feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man” (Mark 6:20). But when Herodias’ daughter danced at Herod’ s birthday party, and he offered her any reward, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod looked around. All his guests had heard his promise. Their opinion seemed terribly important to him then. Though he didn’ t want to do it — and though he knew it was wrong — Herod ordered John’ s execution. In Greece, hundreds of years before Christ, the philosopher Plato speculated that if only a person knew “ the good,” he would do it. Herod’ s act showed how wrong Plato was. It is not enough to know what is good. It is not enough to believe the right things. A person must commit himself to what he knows is right. A person must trust God enough to believe that He exists, and that it is God’ s opinion that counts; that His will must guide ours. Herod believed that John was a prophet. He even liked to listen to John’ s teachings, just as the people of Israel believed that Jesus was a Prophet and crowded around to hear Him speak and to witness His miracles. But when the time for decision arrived, mere belief must be transformed into faith. There must be commitment! A person must not look around, and try to please those who are watching. A person must face the fact that only God’ s opinion counts, and in the firm conviction that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, that person must commit himself to what is right. See the Son of God (Mark 6:30-44). Now Mark told another story, one that linked the authenticating marks of Jesus’ divine sonship which we noted in the first five chapters. Crowds followed Jesus out into a wilderness place. Out of compassion He taught them until late in the day. Then, realizing the people must be hungry, Jesus fed some 5,000 men, plus uncounted women and children, from five small loaves and two fish. Jesus’ miracle combined the power and the compassion of God, and reminded Mark’ s readers that this One truly is the Son of God. Surely we cannot only believe in Jesus; in total faith we can commit ourselves fully to Him as God’ s only begotten Son. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Introduce Plato’ s notion that one who truly knows “ the good” will choose it. Do your group members think this is true, or false? Why? After discussion, ask them to read Mark’ s report of the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29). From the story discuss: “ What did Herod know as ‘ the good’ ? What evidence is there that he had this knowledge? How did Herod choose against what he himself believed? What in the text suggests Herod’ s motives for his choice?” Sketch the progression in Mark 6:1-44 to show how this story is linked to Mark’ s theme.

A Matter of the Heart: Mark 6:45-7:37 Hardened hearts (Mark 6:45-56). Jesus sent His disciples ahead by boat so He might have time alone to pray. When the wind came up later that night, Jesus went to join His followers, walking on the water. When the disciples saw His figure amid the waves, they cried out in fear, thinking He was a ghost. Jesus moved toward them, speaking reassuringly. When He reached them, He climbed over the side into the boat, and the winds died down. Then Mark gave stunning information: “ They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51). Even Jesus’ disciples, who had witnessed every miracle and heard every teaching, did not fully realize who Jesus is! We shouldn’ t be surprised that the crowds who heard Him and witnessed a few of His miracles hesitated to commit themselves to Jesus. We shouldn’ t be surprised that the religious leaders were skeptical. Even those closest to Jesus did not fully grasp who this Person they had committed themselves to truly is! With this story Mark focuses our attention on the heart. As we noted in the overview of this passage, the heart in Hebrew thought is the sum total of the personality, the essence of the individual. It is the testimony of Scripture that the heart of man was tragically warped by the Fall. Sin has darkened human understanding, twisted human motives, crippled human will, distorted human emotions. The grip of sin on each of us is deadly, trapping us in a dark realm of illusion where we can hardly glimpse the truth. Even the disciples of Jesus, who had been so close to Him, were crippled by darkened and hardened hearts. It is not enough for Jesus to show Himself to be the Son of God. Somehow Jesus must deal with deadened, hardened human hearts. Distant hearts (Mark 7:1-23). There was no accusation of malice or willful ignorance implied in Jesus’ diagnosis of the disciples’ hardened hearts. But when the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the Law came to observe Jesus, Christ diagnosed them as victims of an even more terrible spiritual disease. These men, who took pride in keeping the Law’ s most minute detail, noted that Jesus’ disciples ate with “ unclean” hands. Mark explained for his Gentile readers. They were eating with ceremonially unwashed hands. This ceremonial washing was not part of the Mosaic Law. It was instead an interpretation, an application. But the Pharisees held that such oral traditions had the same force as Scripture itself, and so religiously followed the rite. Hands were dipped in water, then raised so that the water ran down the arms and off the elbows. And this was repeated a prescribed number of times. It was unthinkable for the Pharisee to eat until he had completed the required ablutions. The Pharisees immediately challenged Jesus. As a Rabbi (a Teacher) with His own disciples (students, followers), Jesus was responsible for their behavior. So in asking why His disciples did not wash, the Pharisees were really attacking Jesus. How could Jesus permit them to abandon the traditions of the elders and violate the oral law to which the Pharisees were committed? Jesus bluntly called them hypocrites and quoted a passage of Isaiah which He said spoke of them: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. Mark 7:6-7The Pharisees had substituted man-made rules for relationships with God. And their rules actually “ set aside” the commands of God! Jesus illustrated. God commanded everyone to honor father and mother. But one interpretation of a regulation about dedicating possessions to God allowed the individual to technically “ give” his possessions to God, while using them throughout his lifetime! However, since what he possessed was technically dedicated to the Lord, he was released from any obligation to help needy parents financially. But this interpretation, this “ tradition of the elders” clearly violated both the letter and intent of one of God’ s Ten Commandments! How could “ religious” people invent such subterfuges? Only if their hearts were far from God; only if they were using religion for their own purposes rather than acting out of real dedication to the Lord. Jesus went on to explain. In essence, “ clean” and “ unclean” aren’ t concerned with externals at all! It isn’ t what affects the body that makes a person “ unclean.” No, “ what comes out of a man is what makes him ‘ unclean.’ For from within, out of men’ s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘ unclean.’” The Pharisees, with their exaltation of externals and ignorance of the inner meaning of the Law, demonstrated by the very traditions they held so dear that their own hearts were far from God. The tradition of corban (dedication of property to God) revealed that their hearts were full of greed, deceit, and evil thoughts. And when Jesus held up the mirror of truth to these men whose hearts were so far from God, they hated Him! Faith, the key (Mark 7:24-37). The disciples’ hearts had been willing, but hardened. The Pharisees’ hearts had been unclean, tragically far from God. What can be done to heal such sin-infected hearts? The answer most Jews of Jesus’ time would have given was simply to appeal to the covenant. God had made promises to Abraham, and the Jews of Jesus’ day were Abraham’ s descendants. Thus the Jews believed that, because of their physical descent from Abraham, God owed them! They were His people, weren’ t they? As long as they kept the Law (as best they could) everything would be all right. And then Mark told of a meeting with a pagan woman, a Greek, born in the Phoenician (coastal) part of Syria. This woman had no basis for any claim on Jesus. She was not a descendant of Abraham. And yet she came to Christ to beg Him to drive a demon from her daughter. At first Jesus refused. It wasn’ t right to take what belonged to the family and toss it to their dogs. The Jews did have a special claim on God through the covenant promises He had made! But the woman answered, “ Even the dogs under the table eat the children’ s crumbs.” What the children would not eat, but let fall to the ground, could be eaten by others. Jesus dismissed her, “ You may go; the demon has left your daughter.” And the woman went home to find her daughter healed. What had happened? The disciples, the crowds, and the Pharisees had seen Jesus’ miracles and heard His teaching, and still held back. They would not eat this spiritual food spread so generously on their tables. But this woman had believed! Driven by her need, she came to Jesus and acknowledged Him as “ Lord.” She knew He could heal and expected Him to be gracious even though she had no claim on His grace. This, and this alone, is the key. We must recognize Jesus as Lord. We must come to Him, recognizing that we have no claim on His grace, but expecting Him to be gracious. When we do, Jesus Himself will heal our diseased hearts, and bring us new life. Mark concludes this section with yet another story. Jesus was brought a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. His physical senses were as blocked as the spiritual senses of Israel! Jesus took the man aside and said to his senses, “ Be opened.” And they were! His senses were functioning at last; he was in touch with the world and able to speak. How wonderful that this same Jesus changes our hearts, and opens our spiritual senses. Those who come to Him with faith, acknowledging Him to be Lord, will be spiritually healed and made truly well. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Summarize the meaning of “ heart” and briefly discuss the disciples’ “ hardened” hearts. Then have your group examine Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees (Mark 7:1-23). Divide into teams, each of which is to answer the following questions: “ What characterizes the ‘ heart far from’ God? How did Jesus recognize people with such hearts? How does one’ s approach to religion indicate his or her heart is far from God?”

The Focus of Faith: Mark 8:1-30Mark again let events speak for themselves, and marshaled his evidence in logical sequence. He began by showing us the striking reaction of the people in Jesus’ hometown. Christ’ s teaching and the report of His miracles had stimulated active resentment rather than praise and faith! Why? The story of Herod’ s relationship with John the Baptist illustrated. Herod knew that John was a “ righteous and holy man” (Mark 6:20). But Herod had acted against this knowledge and ordered John executed. His belief that John had been sent by God had produced no inner commitment to do the will of God. Belief in Herod had not been transformed into faith. As for Jesus, He continued to perform compassionate miracles. Those who came and who saw what He did had to believe. But would they respond with faith? In another cycle of stories Mark noted that even Jesus’ disciples struggled with hardened hearts that could not fully grasp the impact of what they saw. The natural hardness of sin-infected hearts made faith’ s full commitment difficult even for those who loved and followed Jesus. We should not be surprised that it was so difficult for those who witnessed what Jesus did to make life’ s most significant decision and fully commit themselves to Him. But for some, more than simple hardness of heart was the problem. For the religious leaders the problem lay in the fact that their hearts were “ far from” God! Their religion was an external thing; their traditions were masks for their unwillingness to obey God’ s commands. And their hearts, as revealed in their traditions and acts, were filled with greed, deceit, arrogance, and a host of other evils. How different they were from the pagan woman who came to Jesus so humbly and begged His aid. She did not trust in her relationship with Abraham; she had none. She did not mention the Law. She simply came to Jesus, acknowledged Him as Lord, and hoped in His grace. Now, in a final sequence of stories, Mark brought the issue into clear focus, and taught that we must respond to Jesus with faith. Another miracle (Mark 8:1-13). Mark re ported another familiar miracle. Jesus was followed for three days by crowds who now had nothing to eat. Moved by compassion, He shared His concern with the disciples. They were upset since they were in a remote place. Even if they had the money, where would they get enough bread to feed so many? Again Jesus multiplied a few loaves and a few small fish, and fed thousands — with basketfuls left over. This miracle again expressed both the power and compassion which marked Jesus clearly as the Son of God. And Mark tells us that “ the Pharisees came. . . . To test Him, they asked Him for a sign from heaven” (Mark 8:11). The word “ sign” means “ miracle.” And Jesus’ whole ministry had been marked by miracle after miracle, as these men well knew! Mark said that Jesus sighed deeply. These men had all the evidence they needed, yet they would not believe. The yeast of the Pharisees (Mark 8:14-21). In a boat with His disciples Jesus warned the Twelve against the “ yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” The disciples, who had forgotten to bring lunch, misunderstood. Exasperated, Jesus reminded them of His miracles multiplying the bread and fish. “ Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? . . . Do you still not understand?” What was Jesus speaking of? The “ yeast” of the Pharisees and of Herod are those heart attitudes which distort and permeate the personality. The externalism of the Pharisees, and the concern for the opinion of others that both they and Herod showed, are enemies of faith. For true faith calls on us to make a full commitment to our God, and to make the choices which please Him. Beginning to see (Mark 8:22-26). Mark told a significant story. A blind man was brought to Jesus. Jesus spat on the man’ s eyes and touched him. “ Do you see anything?” Jesus asked. The blind man looked around. “ I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’ s eyes. His sight was restored, and then he “ saw everything clearly.” How like Jesus’ relationship with His disciples! These followers of Jesus did see. It was simply that because of hardened hearts, they did not yet see clearly. But the Pharisees, like Herod, whose hearts were far from God, could not see at all! Who is Jesus? (Mark 8:27-30) Then came the final incident, which both ended this section of Mark’ s Gospel and began the next. Jesus asked His disciples, “ Who do people say I am?” The Twelve reported the views of the crowds. Everyone agreed that Jesus was one of the prophets; they disagreed on which one Christ most closely resembled. Then Jesus asked, “ But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Peter answered for them. “ You are the Christ.” And with this response, Peter focused on the central issue of our faith. Who is Jesus? When we, with Peter, have faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, we have established a personal relationship with God. Like the blind man and like the disciples themselves, we may not see clearly at first. But as we continue to trust Jesus and respond to Him, our hearts will melt, and our vision clear. We will know the truth and do it, for Jesus and Jesus alone can transform the human heart.

Teaching Guide Prepare Make notes on the relationship of each incident Mark reports to the others in this section of his Gospel.

Explore

1. Have group members discuss: “ Why do so many people not believe the Gospel?” Jot down the theories suggested on a chalkboard.
2. Give a minilecture on the heart. If you wish to include more information than is provided in this study guide, see: Matthew 6:21; Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:18-19; Romans 1:21-32; Romans 10:8-13; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 4:6.

Expand

1. Divide into teams to study Herod’ s execution of John the Baptist. Use the process outlined in “ link-to-life” above. Be sure that your group members note the basic difference between belief and faith. Belief acknowledges certain things to be true. Faith involves a commitment to what is believed in, so that a person acts on it out of a desire to please God.
2. Or divide into teams to study the Pharisees, and the “ heart far from God” which they illustrate. The “ link-to-life” above structures this study.
3. Return to the question with which you launched the session. What now seem to be the most likely reasons why many who hear the Gospel do not respond?

Apply Mark 5:24-30 and Mark 8:27-30 focus our attention not on faith in general, but on faith in a Person. It is coming to Jesus and acknowledging Him to be Lord that is the key to our transformation. The hardened heart will melt and spiritual sight be restored as we commit ourselves to Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and follow Him. Close in brief sentence prayers, in which each group member can express to Jesus faith, trust, or renewed commitment.