Mark 8 is the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains two miracles of Jesus, Peter's confession that he believes Jesus is the Messiah, and Jesus's first prediction of his own death and resurrection. It is the midchapter and the turning point of Mark between Jesus's last week and the rest of his life.

Feeding of the 4000 and the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida

Like Mark Mark 8 describes Jesus feeding a large crowd with hardly any food at all. He is teaching a large crowd in a remote place, "About four thousand men.." () and everyone is hungry but they only have seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Jesus takes the food, gives thanks to God, and the disciples then distribute the food. The text in Greek uses the word eucharistein to describe his actions. After everyone has eaten they find seven baskets of left over food. Matthew also records this in chapter but neither Luke nor John have this, yet both record the preceding feeding of the 5000. Skeptical scholars have concluded that this is just a doubling of the story in Mark 6 with only a few details, such as the number of loaves and baskets, changed. Luke goes right from the feeding of the 5000 to Peter's confession in Luke .

They leave in

Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?" ()

Jesus doesn't explain any further and they travel to Bethsaida where they come upon a blind man. He puts spit on the man's eyes and the man can partially see and then he touches his eyes again and he is totally healed. This miracle only occurs in Mark.

This entire sequence, along with the preceding chapter, shows Jesus's work with Gentiles. Jesus fed Jewish listeners in Mark 6 and he most probably feeds a Gentile crowd here.

Peter's confession and Jesus's prediction

Mark begins the second half of his book with Jesus and the disciples traveling to Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asks them who people think he is. John or Elijah, they reply. Jesus asks them what they think. Peter says he thinks Jesus is "the Christ", the Anointed One. Jesus tells them to keep it a secret.

Jesus tells them that he must be persecuted by the priests and teachers and killed and after three days rise again. Peter rebukes him but Jesus replies "'Get behind me, Satan!..You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'" () Peter has just said that Jesus is the Anointed One and then Jesus tells him that he has to die, which Peter can't believe. Mark then has Jesus call a crowd to listen to him, which assumes they had arrived at the city, or that Mark simply wants to show Jesus's reply to Peter applies to everyone else, including the reader, as well. He says:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life (or soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. ()

Peter's rebuke of Jesus and Jesus's answer could represent Mark's trying to dispel a reader's disbelief in Jesus's death and divinity. Mark says that anyone who loses his life for Jesus or the "gospel" will be saved. Jesus, after Peter has said he is the Messiah, calls himself the Son of Man, probably a quote from Daniel . This is from a purported prophetic dream that is used elsewhere, such as the Book of Revelation and . Mark is trying to show to the reader that even though they are about to read about Jesus's death, he is still the Messiah and that the Old Testament had forseen this as well as their own possible suffering as Christians. To "take up one's cross" has been a common idea of Christianity over the centuries. Mark bolsters Jesus's claim of divinity immediately in the following chapter with the Transfiguration.

Matthew has the same sequence of stories as this chapter in chapters and .

References

• Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament Doubleday 1997 ISBN 0385247672

• Kilgallen, John J. A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark Paulist Press 1989 ISBN 0809130599

• Accessed 29 November 2005