Year 8, Day 155: Mark 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

When I read Mark 8, I am reminded again about humanity.  We are a glorious people; God made us this way.  We are a gloriously flawed people; we made ourselves this way.

The passage starts with a wonderful miracle.  Jesus feeds 4,000 people in much the same manner as He fed 5,000 people earlier.  Notice that once more Jesus invites the disciples into His work.  We are glorious because God imparts His glory into us.  We are glorious because God asks us to participate in His incredible grace and love.

Also notice that the disciples continue to wonder how Jesus was going to feed all the people.  We are gloriously flawed people.  For the life of me, I cannot figure out how the disciples didn’t connect the dots between the feeding of the 5,000 to the setup of the feeding of the 4,000.  However, I know that I have been similarly blind at times.  I can’t fault them any more than I can fault myself.  But the reality is that the disciples don’t get it.  Jesus invites them into the plan even though they are blind to what He is doing!

Furthermore, notice that as they leave the feeding of the 4,000 they forget to bring bread.  They start arguing about the fact that they forgot to bring some food.  They still don’t get it.  Jesus can make food appear in plentiful quantities!  The disciples are with Jesus.  People who are with Jesus do not need to fear the lack of basic needs.  Yet, the disciples don’t pick up on this fact.  They continue to quibble over who is at fault for forgetting food when they have the ultimate source of satisfaction in their presence!

This reality is made even more potent by the story about confessing Christ.  Peter says that he believes Jesus is the Christ, God’s Messiah.  He has the faith.  He believes in his heart.  Yet, he is a human being.  The same lips that professed Jesus as Christ argues about bringing bread along!  We get that Jesus is Christ in our hearts.  We get that we need a savior.  But we don’t often get Jesus in our heads.  We have faith in our hearts, we lack divinely inspired wisdom in our minds.

There’s one more way present in this chapter that demonstrates our glorious flaw.  Because we don’t often get Jesus in our heads, we ask for signs.  We need proof.  We need someone to explain it to us.  In this I am just as guilty as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.  How often have I asked God for a sign when making a decision?  How often have I asked God to make life simpler?  As glorious as God has made us, we are indeed gloriously flawed.

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