DO YOU STILL NOT UNDERSTAND?
Mark 8:1–34 — Seeing Jesus Clearly
By the time we reach Mark 8, the disciples have seen a remarkable amount.
They have watched Jesus heal the sick.
They have seen Him cast out demons.
They have watched Him calm a storm.
They have seen Him raise the dead.
They have watched Him feed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread.
They have seen enough evidence to answer the question Mark has been asking from the beginning:
WHO IS JESUS?
And yet they still don't understand.
Mark 8 brings that problem into focus.
The disciples have eyes.
They can see.
But they do not yet see clearly.
JESUS FEEDS ANOTHER CROWD
A large crowd has been with Jesus for three days.
They have nothing to eat.
Jesus tells His disciples:
“I have compassion for these people.”
— Mark 8:2
That shouldn't surprise us.
We have seen this before.
Earlier Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish.
Now there are about 4,000 people and only seven loaves.
And the disciples ask:
“But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
— Mark 8:4
Wait a minute.
Haven't they been here before?
They have already watched Jesus feed an even larger crowd.
Yet faced with another hungry crowd, they still see no solution.
Jesus gives thanks.
The disciples distribute the food.
Everyone eats.
Everyone is satisfied.
And seven baskets of food remain.
The problem isn't that the disciples haven't seen Jesus' power.
THEY HAVE SEEN IT.
But they still haven't understood what it tells them about Him.
“SHOW US A SIGN”
Then the Pharisees arrive.
They begin questioning Jesus and ask Him for:
“a sign from heaven.”
— Mark 8:11
Mark tells us why.
They are testing Him.
Think about the irony.
Jesus has healed disease.
He has cast out demons.
He has controlled the wind and sea.
He has raised the dead.
He has fed thousands.
And now they demand a sign.
Jesus:
“sighed deeply in his spirit.”
— Mark 8:12
Their problem isn't simply a lack of evidence.
Their problem is what they are doing with the evidence they already have.
They are demanding a sign while standing before the One to whom the signs point.
Jesus refuses their demand and leaves.
BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN
Back in the boat, Jesus warns His disciples:
“Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
— Mark 8:15
Leaven works quietly.
A little spreads through the whole lump.
Jesus is warning His disciples about a dangerous influence.
The Pharisees have seen evidence but refuse to believe.
Herod heard John the Baptist but allowed pride, fear, and pressure from others to control him.
The disciples need to be careful.
But they completely miss Jesus' point.
They begin discussing something else:
BREAD.
They have forgotten to bring enough bread.
They have only one loaf in the boat.
And apparently they think Jesus is talking about lunch.
Consider what has just happened.
They watched Jesus feed 5,000.
They watched Him feed 4,000.
Now they are sitting in a boat with Jesus—
WORRIED ABOUT BREAD.
They still don't understand who is sitting in the boat with them.
“DO YOU STILL NOT UNDERSTAND?”
Jesus begins asking questions.
“Why are you talking about having no bread?”
“Do you still not see or understand?”
“Are your hearts hardened?”
Then He asks:
“Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?”
And then:
“Don't you remember?”
— Mark 8:17–18
That last question matters.
DON'T YOU REMEMBER?
Jesus takes them back through the evidence.
When He fed the 5,000, how many baskets were left?
Twelve.
When He fed the 4,000, how many?
Seven.
They remember the numbers.
They remember what happened.
But they haven't understood what the events mean.
Then Jesus asks:
“Do you still not understand?”
— Mark 8:21
Mark has brought us to an important point.
The disciples are not blind in the ordinary sense.
They have seen Jesus.
But spiritually, they aren't seeing clearly.
And notice what happens next.
A BLIND MAN BEGINS TO SEE
Some people bring a blind man to Jesus at Bethsaida.
Jesus takes him by the hand and leads him outside the village.
He spits on the man's eyes and places His hands on him.
Then Jesus asks:
“Do you see anything?”
— Mark 8:23
The man looks up and says:
“I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
— Mark 8:24
He can see.
But not clearly.
Jesus puts His hands on the man's eyes again.
This time:
“his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”
— Mark 8:25
That's unusual.
Jesus certainly wasn't lacking the power to heal him the first time.
So why does Mark tell us about a healing that happens in two stages?
Look at what comes immediately before it.
Jesus has just asked His disciples:
“DO YOU HAVE EYES BUT FAIL TO SEE?”
Now Mark shows us a man whose eyes are opened—
but at first he sees only partially.
Then he sees clearly.
And look at what happens immediately afterward.
PETER FINALLY SEES
Jesus asks His disciples:
“Who do you say I am?”
Peter answers:
“You are the Messiah.”
— Mark 8:29
There it is.
Peter sees it.
After everything the disciples have witnessed, someone finally says it plainly.
JESUS IS THE CHRIST.
But Peter's vision isn't clear yet.
Jesus begins explaining what kind of Messiah He is.
He must suffer.
He will be rejected.
He will be killed.
And after three days He will rise again.
Peter doesn't like that.
In fact:
“Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”
— Mark 8:32
Think about that.
Peter has correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah—
and then tells the Messiah that He is wrong about what the Messiah must do.
Peter sees.
BUT HE DOESN'T SEE CLEARLY YET.
Just like the blind man.
The two-stage healing becomes a remarkable picture of what is happening to the disciples.
They are beginning to understand who Jesus is.
But they don't yet understand what kind of Messiah He is.
EYES THAT DON'T SEE — EARS THAT DON'T HEAR
There is another connection worth noticing.
Just before this section, in Mark 7:31–37, Jesus healed a man who could not hear properly.
Now Jesus heals a man who cannot see.
And between those two stories Jesus asks His disciples:
“Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?”
That doesn't look accidental.
A deaf man needs Jesus to open his ears.
A blind man needs Jesus to open his eyes.
And the disciples need Jesus to open their understanding.
There is hope in that.
Jesus doesn't abandon them because they are slow to understand.
He keeps teaching them.
He keeps showing them.
He keeps opening their eyes.
MARK'S QUESTION IS CHANGING
For the first half of Mark, one question has dominated the story:
WHO IS JESUS?
Mark has given us evidence.
Jesus commands demons.
He forgives sins.
He heals disease.
He controls nature.
He raises the dead.
He feeds thousands.
He opens deaf ears.
He opens blind eyes.
Finally Peter answers:
“You are the Messiah.”
Correct.
But now Mark moves us to another question:
WHAT KIND OF MESSIAH IS HE?
Jesus' answer isn't what Peter expected.
He is the Messiah who suffers.
The Messiah who is rejected.
The Messiah who dies.
The Messiah who rises again.
And that leads immediately to another question.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FOLLOW HIM?
Jesus answers that too:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
— Mark 8:34
That isn't the kind of Messiah Peter expected.
And it isn't the kind of discipleship most people naturally choose.
HAVE WE SEEN CLEARLY?
The Pharisees see the evidence and reject it.
The disciples see the evidence but don't fully understand it.
Peter sees that Jesus is the Christ but doesn't yet understand His mission.
The blind man sees—
then sees clearly.
Mark has brought the question to us.
We have now seen what Jesus has done.
We have heard what He has said.
So the question isn't merely:
Have we heard about Jesus?
Or even:
Do we believe Jesus is the Christ?
The deeper question is:
DO WE SEE HIM CLEARLY?
Do we understand the Messiah who went to the cross?
And do we understand what He means when He tells us:
“Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow Me.”
The disciples weren't there yet.
But Jesus wasn't finished with them.
And Mark isn't finished with us.
Continue Your Study
Next Bible Study
Peter Was Right—So Why Did Jesus Rebuke Him?
Mark 8:27–33
Peter finally gives the right answer: “You are the Christ.”
Then, only moments later, Jesus rebukes him.
What did Peter understand—and what was he still unable to see?
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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