Mark 8 - 9:1 - Seeing the Basileia in Power
Mark 8:1-13
1In those days again the crowd being great and not having anything they might eat, having called the disciples he says to them, 2'I have compassion1 on the crowd, because they continue with me now for three days and have nothing that they might eat. 3And if I should send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way2 —and some of them are come from a great distance.' 4And his disciples answered him, "From where can anyone satisfy these people with bread here in (this) wilderness place?' 5He was asking them, 'How much breads (loaves) do you have?' And they said, 'Seven.' 6Then he orders the crowd to recline down on the ground; and after taking the seven breads (loaves), and after giving thanks he broke them and was giving (them) to his disciples to set before (the crowd); and they set (them) before the crowd. 7They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he said that these too should be set before (the people). 8And they ate and were satisfied; and they took up the abundant broken pieces left over, seven large baskets full. 9There were now about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10And immediately having embarked into the boat with his disciples he came to the district of Dalmanultha.
11The Pharisees came and began to dispute with him, seeking from him a proof from heaven, testing him. 12And having sighed deeply in his spirit he says, 'Why does this generation ask for a proof? Truly I say to you, no proof will be given to this generation.' 13And having dismissed them, and having embarked (into the boat) again, he went across to the other side.
14And they had forgotten to take any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.3 15And he was commanding them, saying, 'Watch out—beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' 16And they reasoned with one another, 'It is because we have no bread.' 17And having known it, Jesus4 says to them, 'Why are you reasoning about having no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand?5 Is the heart6 of (all of) you hardened? 18Having eyes do you not see? And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?' They say to him, 'Twelve.' 20'And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?' And they say to him, 'Seven.' 21Then he said to them, 'Do you not yet understand?'
22 And he comes to Bethsaida. And they bring to him a blind (man) to him and beg him that he might touch him. 23 He having taken hold of the hand of the blind he led him out of the village, and having put7 saliva on his eyes and having laid the hands on him, he asked him, 'Can you see anything?' 24 And having begun to receive his sight he said, 'I see people8 , but they look like trees, walking.' 25 Then again he laid the hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently9 and was restored, and saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, 'Do not go into the village.'
1Ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις πάλιν πολλοῦ ὄχλου ὄντος καὶ μὴ ἐχόντων τί φάγωσιν, προσκαλεσάμενος τοὺς μαθητὰς λέγει αὐτοῖς· 2σπλαγχνίζομαι ἐπὶ τὸν ὄχλον, ὅτι ἤδη ἡμέραι τρεῖς προσμένουσίν μοι καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν τί φάγωσιν· 3καὶ ἐὰν ἀπολύσω αὐτοὺς νήστεις εἰς οἶκον αὐτῶν, ἐκλυθήσονται ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ· καί τινες αὐτῶν ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἥκασιν. 4καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι πόθεν τούτους δυνήσεταί τις ὧδε χορτάσαι ἄρτων ἐπ' ἐρημίας; 5καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά. 6καὶ παραγγέλλει τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἄρτους εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν, καὶ παρέθηκαν τῷ ὄχλῳ. 7καὶ εἶχον ἰχθύδια ὀλίγα· καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτὰ εἶπεν καὶ ταῦτα παρατιθέναι. 8καὶ ἔφαγον καὶ ἐχορτάσθησαν, καὶ ἦραν περισσεύματα κλασμάτων ἑπτὰ σπυρίδας. 9ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι. καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς. 10Καὶ εὐθὺς ἐμβὰς εἰς τὸ πλοῖον μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἦλθεν εἰς τὰ μέρη Δαλμανουθά.
11Καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν αὐτῷ, ζητοῦντες παρ' αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πειράζοντες αὐτόν. 12καὶ ἀναστενάξας τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ λέγει· τί ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη ζητεῖ σημεῖον; ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, εἰ δοθήσεται τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ σημεῖον. 13καὶ ἀφεὶς αὐτοὺς πάλιν ἐμβὰς ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸ πέραν.
14Καὶ ἐπελάθοντο λαβεῖν ἄρτους καὶ εἰ μὴ ἕνα ἄρτον οὐκ εἶχον μεθ' ἑαυτῶν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ. 15καὶ διεστέλλετο αὐτοῖς λέγων· ὁρᾶτε, βλέπετε ἀπὸ τῆς ζύμης τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ τῆς ζύμης Ἡρῴδου. 16καὶ διελογίζοντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὅτι ἄρτους οὐκ ἔχουσιν. 17καὶ γνοὺς λέγει αὐτοῖς· τί διαλογίζεσθε ὅτι ἄρτους οὐκ ἔχετε; οὔπω νοεῖτε οὐδὲ συνίετε; πεπωρωμένην ἔχετε τὴν καρδίαν ὑμῶν;
18ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες οὐ βλέπετε
καὶ ὦτα ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε;
καὶ οὐ μνημονεύετε, 19ὅτε τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους ἔκλασα εἰς τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους, πόσους κοφίνους κλασμάτων πλήρεις ἤρατε; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· δώδεκα. 20ὅτε τοὺς ἑπτὰ εἰς τοὺς τετρακισχιλίους, πόσων σπυρίδων πληρώματα κλασμάτων ἤρατε; καὶ λέγουσιν [αὐτῷ]· ἑπτά. 21καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· οὔπω συνίετε;
22Καὶ ἔρχονται εἰς Βηθσαϊδάν. Καὶ φέρουσιν αὐτῷ τυφλὸν καὶ παρακαλοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἵνα αὐτοῦ ἅψηται. 23καὶ ἐπιλαβόμενος τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ τυφλοῦ ἐξήνεγκεν αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς κώμης καὶ πτύσας εἰς τὰ ὄμματα αὐτοῦ, ἐπιθεὶς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῷ ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν· εἴ τι βλέπεις; 24καὶ ἀναβλέψας ἔλεγεν· βλέπω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὅτι ὡς δένδρα ὁρῶ περιπατοῦντας. 25εἶτα πάλιν ἐπέθηκεν τὰς χεῖρας ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ διέβλεψεν καὶ ἀπεκατέστη καὶ ἐνέβλεπεν τηλαυγῶς ἅπαντα. 26καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον αὐτοῦ λέγων· μηδὲ εἰς τὴν κώμην εἰσέλθῃς. (NA28)
Notes on the text
In those days…again… (vv1) Sounding biblical and solemn. The again specifically links this event to the previous feast.
Three days… (vv2) Three days links this act with the Passion. See 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-4, and also the temple not built with hands in 14:58 and 15:29. And see Hosea 6:2-3 "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him."
A great distance… (vv2) In LXX Joshua 9:6 and Isaiah 60:4 this means the travellers are Gentiles. In Joshua, for example, the visitors "said to Joshua and Israel, We are come from a far land..." (apo macrothen)
On the way… (vv3) This is the word hodon. Is it simply on the way home or is it on The Way Home with all the discipleship overtones of that metaphor?
Recline… (vv6) anapesein means to recline, and is the word for feasting. See also the comment above at "Reclined… on the green grass… they reclined." (vv6:39-40)
Set before… (vv6) A hint of something more than just distribution; perhaps also a visual placing before.10
Seven… (vv7, 8) "Seven is the most important number in the Bible and early Jewish texts11 ." Having said this, Marcus also says it is hard to prove a particular connection between seven and Gentile. Both he and Donahue12 mention the seven laws of the Noahic Covenant13 . Marcus suggests seven implies fullness or completion, relating back to the fullness of "he has made everything well" in Mark 7:37. (See my comments on this text above.) In other words, completeness includes Gentile people, and will not exist without them as equals.
Abundant… (vv8) perisseumata means an abundance or overflow, hence the common translation as left over, but the seven baskets suggests an abundance of left-overs.
Large… (vv8) The Greek spyridas was a large basket. Marcus14 notes that the basket which was big enough to let Saul down from the city wall was a spyridas. (Acts 9:25)
Dalmanultha… (vv10) The town appears not to have existed. Matthew 15:38 "corrects" the name to Magadan. Watts15 suggests Dalmanutha is a metonym, a pointer to something understood by Mark and his audience, but what that something might be is mostly speculation.
Argue… (vv11) There is probably a pun here which is completely opaque to English speakers. Argue is suzētein which has the same root as seek.(zētei)
Proof… (vv11) The Greek sēmeion would normally be translated as sign.16 But there have been signs;17 that is, pointers or indicators of Jesus' power already. What the Pharisees want is a proof from heaven, some miraculous act by God that verifies who Jesus is.
Dismissed… (vv11) apheis can mean simply to leave, but also has the meaning of dismissing. Donahue and Bratcher both suggest this meaning applies here, rather than Jesus simply leaving. "Left them should imply a degree of rejection or unfavourable attitude."18
Deep sigh… (vv12) This signifies a forthcoming prophetic utterance.19
God forbid… (vv12) Matthew 12:39 simply says a sign will not be given, as does Luke 11:29. Mark's construction is a little different: ei dothēsetai tē genea tautē , if there will be given to the generation this… It is an "abbreviated semiticism"20 such as 2 Kings 6:31: may God do to me and more if… Black says it implies that if a sign should be given "the consequences are literally unmentionable."21 So I have adopted Marcus' translation of God forbid.
And they had only one loaf with them… (vv14) The Greek is literally and if not one loaf not they had any with them. (… kai ei mē hena arton ouk eichon meth heautōn to tō ploiō.) It seems to be a complicated way to say something. Matthew and Luke do not have a simpler phrasing; they simply leave it out. Do they leave out a rhetorical signpost?
Commanding… (vv15) Diestelleto is stronger than cautioned.
Watch out—beware… (vv15) There is word play around seeing in these verses. Blepete will be used again in verse 18, as a question rather than an imperative. To beware is also to see, to be aware. Horate (Watch out) is often translated as see. The double imperative here matches similar exhortations in Mark 4:3, 24 and 7:4
Leaven… (vv15) Marcus notes that leaven is not yeast as such22 ; leaven is like a sourdough starter. We could say it is "infected" food, for it hides yeast, which was a symbol of corruption. Leaven is a "Jewish metaphor for … the destructive and anarchic impulse" within us that leads to sin.23
Reasoned, reasoning… (vv16,17) The word dialogizmai has the basic sense of discussing and working out what's going on in a situation. Interestingly, Mark has just used a cognate of this word in Chapter 7:21: the evil deliberations. See also the Pharisees in Mark 2:6. The words are used with a negative connotation.
Not yet… (vv17) NRSVa says do you still not perceive… although it translates oupō as not yet24 in 8:21.
Perceive… (vv17) cf Mark 7:18
Began to receive his sight… (vv24) anablepsas is not only to look up (NRSVa) but to receive sight.25
Comment
Following Chapter 6:30, there is a feast with the numbers and other characteristics emphasised, followed by a sea journey and healing of the sick. This is followed (in Chapter 7) with an attack by some Pharisees, a teaching on defilement, and then a journey into Gentile territory with more healing.
Now, in Chapter 8, there is a feast with the numbers and other characteristics emphasised, an attack by some Pharisees, two sea journeys, a teaching about "the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians" which becomes a savage criticism of the twelve disciples. And there will shortly be a healing.
It is clear that the two sequences are meant to be read with an eye to each other. One common reading is that the feeding of 5,000 reflects a fulfilment of God's grace towards Israel, and the feeding of 4,000, and its associated events and locations, points to the inclusion of Gentile folk in that same fulfilment of the Basileia of God.
But the drama is also moving us towards Peter's confession and first great failure where he, the one who perceives the Messiah is also a Satan! That event concludes a long reflection on the nature of discipleship and power, beginning at Mark 6:6b, just before Herod's feast. In Chapter 6 we see the power of the disciples, who proclaimed repentance and "cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them." (Mark 6:13)
As they leave on this journey, full of power, two ways of feasting, and two ways of being—being human—will be placed before them, and before us, the readers. These two ways ask, how we will feast; that is, how will we live well? The disciples bring much healing, yet at the end of it all, and after all the feasts, they seem completely blind to what is happening with Jesus; they "do not yet understand." (Mark 8:21) They are like the blind man who could only see figures like trees walking.
We have spoken of three feasts, so far: Herod's banquet, and Jesus' five and four thousands. But in Chapter 8 there is also a fourth feast! The disciples are in the boat with Jesus and again seem to have an inadequate amount of food, only one loaf. But they have Jesus and a loaf for Eucharist. What more do they need?
The corrupting leaven of the Pharisees and Herod is the temptation to seek more than the feast of the Eucharist; to seek some other kind of power, to focus on numbers, on political influence, on the spectacular: in short, proofs. Such foci are equivalent to the demand of the Pharisees shortly beforehand26 for a proof, some kind of event "from heaven" which will indicate Jesus' disagreements with them are valid. We see these temptations corrupting our congregations even now. In the drama on the boat, the disciples show themselves already leavened, for in response to Jesus they are reasoning with one another. Reasoning (dialogizmai) is cognate with the evil deliberations (dialogismoi) of the Pharisees of Mark 7:21.27 This talking to one's self or among one's companions is a trope that indicates conniving,28 not neutral reflection.
The irony of the situation, and the great warning to us, is that the Pharisees were those who had rejected the way of Herod and Rome! They were the exemplary followers of God whose persistent faithfulness would enable the survival of Judaism until today. Yet by demanding a proof this particular group of Pharisees ensured their own blindness: proof is never faith. A proof, and the demand for a proof, is us judging a situation—essentially taking control of it— by our saying we will decide who or what is a proof sent from Heaven. The shape of the pericope indicates that they come with their minds made up. They are incapable of seeing what the Eucharist points to. The leaven—the corruption—of the Pharisees and Herod blinds us to the real power of the one loaf. And like the Pharisees everywhere in the Gospels it stands as a warning of what we too often become.29
The Twelve disciples' total blindness at this point leads some scholars to think Mark has a "vendetta" against them, and is telling us they belong to "those outside."30 (cf Mark 4:11) Perhaps it is not that the disciples are "outside," but that "Mark wishes the reader to sense the disciples' gradual assimilation of certain characteristics of those who oppose Jesus,"31 which remains a constant risk for us.
The odd construction of "if not one loaf not they had with them (any)" annoys Matthew who leaves it out and specifies that the pericope is not about bread, but only about the Pharisees and Herodians.32 Mark is insisting on the importance of the bread, the one loaf. Further indication that the other gospel authors do not see what Mark is on about here is clear from the fact that the trees walking pericope is present only in Mark.
Seeing, (8:25) and hearing and seeing and speaking, (7:33) (as they symbolise insight into the Basileia) are things given by Jesus. People are brought33 to him but he is the one who heals so we perceive.
Along with the deaf man brought to Jesus in Mark 7:32, the pericope of the blind man brought to Jesus graphically illustrates the danger of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod: The power of empire makes us unable to perceive or understand the reality of the Basileia of God. The healing of this lack of understanding is similar to the vision of Isaiah, which Mark wants us to remember:
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy… (Isaiah 35:5-6)
Isaiah 35:8-10 goes on to speak of the highway called the Holy Way which will bring the ransomed of the Lord back to Zion. The blind man's healing in 8:25 begins Jesus' teaching about what it is that enables us to receive the Basileia and begin to return. He and Bartimaeus in Chapter 10 bookend more teaching by Jesus about the mystery of the Basileia which he first mentions in Mark 4:11.
The immediate link of this man to the teaching which follows is an unusual feature of the healing story: Jesus is not immediately successful34 , which may be why the other gospels omit this detail. Yarbro Collins35 suggests the difficulty in getting the disciples to see the mystery of the Basiliea matches the difficulty in getting the man to see. Peter will soon see, but not see clearly.
The drama now shifts from the warnings about leaven (corruption) to understanding what enables us to see clearly.
Mark 8:22 - 9:1
22 And he comes to Bethsaida. And they bring to him a blind (man) to him and beg him that he might touch him. 23 He having taken hold of the hand of the blind he led him out of the village, and having put36 saliva on his eyes and having laid the hands on him, he asked him, 'Can you see anything?' 24 And having begun to receive his sight he said, 'I see people37 , but they look like trees, walking.' 25 Then again he laid the hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently38 and was restored, and saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, 'Do not go into the village.'
1Ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις πάλιν πολλοῦ ὄχλου ὄντος καὶ μὴ ἐχόντων τί φάγωσιν, προσκαλεσάμενος τοὺς μαθητὰς λέγει αὐτοῖς· 2σπλαγχνίζομαι ἐπὶ τὸν ὄχλον, ὅτι ἤδη ἡμέραι τρεῖς προσμένουσίν μοι καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν τί φάγωσιν· 3καὶ ἐὰν ἀπολύσω αὐτοὺς νήστεις εἰς οἶκον αὐτῶν, ἐκλυθήσονται ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ· καί τινες αὐτῶν ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἥκασιν. 4καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι πόθεν τούτους δυνήσεταί τις ὧδε χορτάσαι ἄρτων ἐπ' ἐρημίας; 5καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά. 6καὶ παραγγέλλει τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἄρτους εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν, καὶ παρέθηκαν τῷ ὄχλῳ. 7καὶ εἶχον ἰχθύδια ὀλίγα· καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτὰ εἶπεν καὶ ταῦτα παρατιθέναι. 8καὶ ἔφαγον καὶ ἐχορτάσθησαν, καὶ ἦραν περισσεύματα κλασμάτων ἑπτὰ σπυρίδας. 9ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι. καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς. 10Καὶ εὐθὺς ἐμβὰς εἰς τὸ πλοῖον μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἦλθεν εἰς τὰ μέρη Δαλμανουθά.
For textual comments on Mark 8:22-26, please go to the section Mark 8:1-26 - Text above.
27Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he was questioning his disciples saying to them, ‘Who do people39 say that I am?’ 28And they said to him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29He was questioning them, ‘However, who do you say me to be?’ Peter says to him, ‘You are the Messiah.40 ’ 30And he vehemently warned they should tell no one about him.
31And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer much, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke41 him. 33But having turned and seen his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For your thoughts are not the (thoughts) of God, but the (thoughts42 ) of humans.'
34And having called the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone desires to follow after me, let them not worship themselves but take up their cross and follow me. 35For whoever might desire to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life on account of me and of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit a person43 to gain the whole world and to lose their life? 37Indeed, what can a person give as an exchange for their life? 38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, (so) the Son of Man will also be ashamed of them when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
9:1And he said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not at all taste of death until they see that the Basileia of God has come with power.’
27Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς κώμας Καισαρείας τῆς Φιλίππου· καὶ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἐπηρώτα τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ λέγων αὐτοῖς· τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι; 28οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ λέγοντες [ὅτι] Ἰωάννην τὸν βαπτιστήν, καὶ ἄλλοι Ἠλίαν, ἄλλοι δὲ ὅτι εἷς τῶν προφητῶν. 29καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπηρώτα αὐτούς· ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Πέτρος λέγει αὐτῷ· σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστός. 30καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ λέγωσιν περὶ αὐτοῦ.
31Καὶ ἤρξατο διδάσκειν αὐτοὺς ὅτι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πολλὰ παθεῖν καὶ ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ ἀποκτανθῆναι καὶ μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἀναστῆναι· 32καὶ παρρησίᾳ τὸν λόγον ἐλάλει. καὶ προσλαβόμενος ὁ Πέτρος αὐτὸν ἤρξατο ἐπιτιμᾶν αὐτῷ. 33ὁ δὲ ἐπιστραφεὶς καὶ ἰδὼν τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ ἐπετίμησεν Πέτρῳ καὶ λέγει· ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ, ὅτι οὐ φρονεῖς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
34Καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τὸν ὄχλον σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἀκολουθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. 35ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δ’ ἂν ἀπολέσει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ καὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου σώσει αὐτήν. 36τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖ ἄνθρωπον κερδῆσαι τὸν κόσμον ὅλον καὶ ζημιωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; 37τί γὰρ δοῖ ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ; 38ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν ἐπαισχυνθῇ με καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τῇ μοιχαλίδι καὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπαισχυνθήσεται αὐτόν, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν ἁγίων.
9:1Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰσίν τινες ὧδε τῶν ἑστηκότων οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσιν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐληλυθυῖαν ἐν δυνάμει.
Notes on the Text
Caesarea Philippi (vv27) The naming of the region sets what follows as a statement against the rule of Caesar, ie empire. It was named Caesarea in honour of Augustus by Philip the Tetrarch who added his own name to distinguish it from Caesarea Maritima on the coast. It was the site of massacres and of a grotto dedicated to the god Pan.44 That the Messiah is announced here is no accident!
Messiah (vv29) There was no universal understanding of the Messiah. One "can correctly speak of Judaisms and their messiahs," although it is likely that the idea here is of a Davidic king who will "restore justice and the good fortune" of God's people.45 A good deal of what follows in Mark is about what it meant that Jesus was Messiah46 . What preconceptions do we bring about what Messiah means?
And he vehemently warned47 they should tell no one about him (vv30) Although NRSV uses warned, I have followed Marcus in adding the modifier vehemently because the Greek epetimēsen is the same word used in Jesus' and Peter's argument where Jesus calls Peter a Satan. If nothing else, to be identified as "the Messiah" would be to attract the ire of the Jerusalem and Roman authorities.
No Pharisees… (vv31) The Pharisees are missing from the list of those who reject Jesus.48 From this point on in Mark they will appear only in Mark 12:13. The Jewish authorities are not charged with the murder of Jesus here, although Mark 10:33 notes their condemnation of him and that they hand him over to the Gentiles.
Must… (vv31) The word dei implies divine necessity.49
After three days… (vv31) After three days and on the third day are "equivalent phrases."50 (See Genesis 42:17-18, LXX Exodus 19:11-16, Esther 4:16-5:1 for examples.)
Rebuke… (vv32,3) Peter is not arguing with Jesus or beginning to "lecture51 " him. He is rebuking Jesus with the same intensity with which Jesus rebukes him. The Scholars Bible52 says Peter lectures, and Jesus reprimands. The different translation of the same word softens the fact that Peter seeks to treat Jesus as an equal. Peter claims to understand what it means to be Messiah as well as Jesus does.
But having turned and seen (vv33) I read this line saying not that Jesus turned to teach the disciples as well, but that he realises they are hearing what Peter was saying. His turning also implies that he turned away from the temptation Peter has placed before him.
Satan… (vv33) It is difficult to imagine how Jesus could be more abrupt and dismissive of Peter at this point. No wonder Matthew softens, and Luke deletes, the event!
Worship… (vv34) I take this from a Mixtec translation of Mark.53 We often read the denial of self as a kind of asceticism. This is not present in aparnēsasthō.
Take up their cross and follow me… (vv34) "To bind a Roman citizen is a crime; to flog him, an abomination. To slay him is virtually an act of murder. To crucify him is—what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe a deed so horrible."54 The cross is humiliating torture of the most savage kind.
Life (vv35-7) The Greek word psuchēn, or soul, which occurs four times in vv35-37, is used to translate the Hebrew word nephesh in the LXX. NRSV correctly calls the adam in Genesis 2:7 a living being. But a Greek mindset reads ψυχὴν ζῶσαν as a living soul. Bratcher's55 notes go into helpful detail here. The key understanding is that in Hebrew thought psuchēn would mean the whole being of a person, not a separable soul which may exist apart from their body. But life must mean more than simple physical existence. (Harrington says "The traditional rendering as 'soul' carries more philosphical … connotations than Hebrew athropology … can bear…"56 )
Son of Man… (vv38) Mark understands that this name is a self reference by Jesus. But given Jesus' vehement warning of 8:30, Mark may be using it to imply the listening crowd thought of the Son of Man as perhaps the human figure in Daniel 7:13.57
Not at all (vv9:1) ou mē is an emphatic double negative meaning, "not at all" or "by no means."
The Moment of Perception
We have come to the moment of perception. Through his contact with Jesus, like the man who was blind, Peter sees something: You are not a good and holy man, like John or Elijah or one of the prophets of God. "You are the Messiah." It is to this insight Mark is trying to bring those of us reading or listening to his words.
Matthew's commentary here is correct. Peter has not learned this for himself. He is brought to it by his contact with Jesus. As with the man who was blind, his in-sight has been given. It takes time for us to understand what we are seeing; not so long before, Jesus has been asking Peter and the others, "Do you still not perceive?"58 But while given, our perception also involves choice. Like Herod, and the religious authorities, we can choose not to see.
The parallel between Peter (who stands for us in this pericope) and the man who had been blind continues. Peter at first only sees "trees walking." He sees the Messiah and yet seriously misunderstands the nature of the Messiah. To be fair to Peter, we C21 readers can scarcely imagine how incomprehensible what Jesus is about to say was to Peter and those around him; we are used to the idea of a suffering Messiah. Although there were "many Judaisms and Messiahs,"59 fundamental to all of them was the understanding that the Messiah would be victorious. In fact the triumph of the Messiah was sometimes linked to the idea of an alliance with the high priest!60
A suffering Messiah does not make discipleship apolitical. The Messiah is announced at Caesarea Philippi. Phillip the Tetrarch had built the new city Caesarea Philippi near a shrine to the god Pan,61 and dedicated it to Caesar Augustus. He added Philippi to distinguish it from Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast and, of course, to big-note himself. The Jewish population of the region had suffered massacres at the hands of Titus' troops during the Jerusalem war. It is in this place that Mark has the Messiah announced, a sign of God's Basileia at hand despite the power of rampant empire.
But then we hear that this Jewish Messiah is not the Messiah of a Jewish empire. He will be rejected by the establishment, the elders, the chief priests and the scribes. He will be killed and rise again after three days. This Jesus, the Jesus Mark's community knows, is the Messiah. This Messiah is the Messiah of those who are outcast and suffering, and of those at risk of political violence. The suffering of the community which we will glimpse in Mark 13:9-20 is the experience of Mark's listeners. It is likely that these verses reflect not only Roman persecution but also the persecution suffered by Christians who refused to abandon their faith, and Jesus, and follow the messiahs of the rebellion against Rome.62
That experience shapes how they hear "Messiah." His power lies in accepting death, and in death not being able to contain him. But how did that sound to Mark's people? Their friends and family have accepted death, but there has been no rising to life. Jesus has accepted death, and there has been no visible rising to life, only a story! What can this mean?
The scandal of this, and its incomprehensibility still, is highlighted by the fact that the one who first perceives that Jesus is the Messiah, is also the one who immediately denies him.
Listen to the piety, and softening, of Mark's narrative by Matthew63 : "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." In Mark, Peter bluntly rebukes Jesus. The word epitimaō is also used to rebuke storms and evil spirits. Peter's rebuke seeks to impose his authority over Jesus; to correct the Messiah's own understanding of his person and work. It is in turn rebuked in the strongest terms: You are a Satan!
I say above that
I conclude that Satan is us, a quasi-being, a false being, which is nonetheless a real and concrete manifestation of our rivalry and violence… But Satan is more than us, more than the sum of our parts, as it were. Satan has formed us and underpins our social being … [Satan is] a real live force against which humanity struggles.64
By calling him Satan, Jesus says to Peter, in the strongest way possible, "With this mindset, you are empire personified." That is, Satan is "the thoughts of humans" which lead always to empire and its inhumanity. (ta tōn anthrōpōn, 8:33) He orders this Satan65 to get behind him. The order holds a two fold meaning. Firstly, "Get out of my sight," a dismissal of
the demonic. But it is also a clear call to Peter: "Follow behind me… after me."
We are programmed by our biological evolution, and by the enculturation of empire, to "know" that physical life is everything, and that without physical life we are nothing. “We undertake all things as if we were establishing immortality for ourselves on earth,"66 living in denial of our death. Therefore, the foreshadowed death of even the Messiah, reminds Peter of his own death. Peter is not merely lecturing Jesus about the nature of the Messiah; nothing so rational: he is reacting out of fear, even if his conscious self is in denial. For if even the Messiah will be rejected and killed, what hope is there for Peter?
Thus the blind man stands for each one of us; our fear of bodily death means we are programmed to see trees walking. That is, we may glimpse the importance of Jesus, or be drawn to his goodness and compassion, but we cannot see clearly. The idea that to follow him might cost us everything but give us life is incomprehensible. We remain tempted to worship ourselves; that is, being physically alive remains the most important thing for us. This is an idolatry.
How can we respond to what Jesus now says? There is a sense in which the unspeakable theophany of Chapter 9 already begins here as Jesus summons the crowd, claiming a universal reality for his words. I hear him say: "Life is only to be found by treading the pathway of death."67 In more detail: Life is all we have. Life is to be, to have any inkling of me being me. But it means nothing, comes to nothing but shame, if I will not give it up. I do not own myself. To hold onto my life means that I worship not life—much less Jesus, but myself. Life as I know it is but a glimpse of what is, and if I must hold on to my glimpses of what is, if I will not be led beyond them, then I will never enter into life's fullness. I will instead find myself in the thrall of empire, for empire is fundamentally about the preservation of life over everything and everyone else. As Herod shows us, it does this only by the taking of another's life.
Dorothea MacKellar contrasted the "ordered woods and gardens" of England, with Australia: "her beauty and her terror."68 In the end, empire seeks to domesticate life. But life gifts us with the beauty and terror of being, and if we will not embrace the terror, then we will lose it all. And what is the terror? It is the terror that we do not own ourselves, that we do not and cannot control life and destiny. That we cannot control God. That we are at God's mercy.
So, Jesus places an uncompromising challenge before us. If he is to be our Messiah, the Christ we follow, then death and rising again is a non-negotiable part of our faith. Both his death, and perhaps our own. We are uncomfortable with that which is uncompromising. It reminds us too much of the excesses of the Faith in previous times. Uncompromising feels like the worst of empire. And so we compromise: A reasonable faith, nothing too dogmatic, resurrection might be a… symbol. This is what Jesus and Mark call being ashamed of Jesus. It makes us part of "this adulterous and sinful generation." It enrolls us in empire.
Here is the call to faith. The call to step into the theological circle.69 Of course, the language of the Faith is sacramental and symbolic. It necessarily hints at, grasps for, and reaches beyond what we can know. Gives us glimpses of "the Basileia of God … come with power." Only glimpses. But these glimpses are all we can have.
I have learned this from the traumatic experience of a friend way out bush; a horrifying and terrifying night far from anywhere. I've felt touches of the same, and have reflected upon these experiences at length. There are two ways to reflect on such an experience or, indeed, upon the experience of transcendent joy. One is to explain it in the secular language of our time, psychological translations into something that our imaginaire70 can comprehend: stress, exhaustion, anxiety, superstition. Which strips it of its power and meaning. The other is to accept that the language of the First Nations people on whose land this happened—not so far from some of the language of the Faith, as it happens—is the only adequate language to use. What I am saying is that we need to read Mark 8:34-9:1, very literally, as true. Understanding that it is the language of glimpse, a glimpse of truth, which will be overwhelmed by the final reality. And giving credit to the self-critique of its authors whom I suspect were less naive and superstitious than we so conveniently want to believe.
Andrea Prior (August 2026)
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1. Cf Mark 6:34, ἐσπλαγχνίσθη
2. hodō
3. Lit. If not one loaf not they had with them (any)…
4. Gk. he
5. Cf Isaiah 40:28
6. Singular, not hearts.
7. Ptysas, spat
8. Anthrōpous, not male (anēr)
9. RSV see Bratcher, pp259
10. Bratcher, pp247
11. Marcus, pp489, pp497
12. Donahue, pp245
13. See Wikipedia for a brief outline. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noahidism retrieved 24/6/2026 BUT note that there is no first century evidence for this Jewish tradition. The first textual evidence comes from the first half of the second century "at the earliest." Cf Marcus, pp489
14. Marcus, pp489
15. See https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dalmanutha-has-not-been-found_b_3947850 (Retrieved 24/6/2026)
16. Cf Marcus, pp498-99 for notes on the appropriateness of asking for a sign.
17. Cf. Donahue, pp248 A sign here is not a symbol.
18. Bratcher, pp252, cf. Donahue, pp249
19. Moloney, pp185
20. Marcus, pp501, see also
21. Black, Mark pp186
22. Marcus, pp506. Yeast is the translation used by NRSVa.
23. Marcus, pp510
[24] Cf Marcus, pp508
25. Yarbro Collins, pp394. See also Scholars Bible, pp95, and Bratcher, pp258
26. One could argue that geographically the Pharisees were not at the feast in the boat but had remained in Dalmuntha. (8:10) But literarily, they come immediately after the third feast and just before the fourth feast, their request overflows with irony.
27. Amy Jill Levine said in a seminar in Adelaide (July 2026) that saying to oneself is a literary sign of connivance; the same seems to be likely when the disciples talk among themselves. At best, they do not understand, and worse, they may already be infected by empire.
28. I heard Amy Jill Levine say this at a 2026 seminar in Adelaide, with reference to the younger son in Luke's parable of the Profligate Father. But see also Levine, Amy-Jill and Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Luke (New Cambridge Bible Commentary), New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp438
29. It is critical here to remind ourselves that Pharisees were not bad people. These particular Pharisees were people like us, blinded like us. What we should perhaps remember when we see the word Pharisee in our New Testament is that first of all, we are talking about a person whose daily devotion exceeds that of most of us!
30. Marcus, pp511-512
31. Moloney, pp184
32. Matt 16:5-12 He also identifies the Herodians with the Sadducees, which is a fair interpretation.
[33] Cf, Mark 1:32, 7:32. 8:22, 9:17,20.
34. Donahue, pp257
35. Yarbro Collins, pp394
36. Ptysas, spat
37. Anthrōpous, not male (anēr)
38. RSV see Bratcher, pp259
39. Gk: anthrōpoi
40. Gk: Christos
41. Rebuke is the translation chosen by NRSV
42. In both cases here in brackets, the word thoughts is understood.
43. anthrōpon The passage is all masculine. It is about indiidual decision. Black pp196
44. Marcus, pp602-3
45. Donahue, pp261
46. So also Donahue, pp264. See also Black pp193
47. This follows Marcus' translation of Mark 8:30. See pp603
48. Black, pp195. Donahue, pp261.
49. Black, pp194
50. Marcus, pp605-6
51. See Scholars Bible Mark 8:32
52. See Scholars Bible Mark 8:32,33
53. See Bratcher's discussion pp265-6.
54. Cicero, Against Verres 2.66.170. Quoted in Black pp196 See also https://www.attalus.org/cicero/verres25_3.html
55. Bratcher, pp266-8
56. Harrington, pp263
57. Cf Marcus, pp619
58. Mark 8:17
59. Donahue, pp261
60. Marcus pp613-14
61. The place was originally called Panias.
62. Marcus pp612
63. Matthew 16:22
64. See "Mark 3:20-35 Text and Comments - Satan"
65. Marcus, pp623 calls it Peter's "demonic blindness."
66. John Calvin, quoted by Timothy Keller here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/tim-keller-growing-my-faith-face-death/618219/
67. Marcus, pp624.
68. See https://www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/my-country/ for the full poem.
69. Tillich.
70. See Glossary.
