1V těch dnech byl s ním zase velký zástup a neměli co jíst. Zavolal si učedníky a řekl jim: 2»Je mi líto zástupu, protože už tři dni jsou se mnou a nemají co jíst. 3Když je pošlu domů hladové, cestou je opustí síly, vždyť někteří z nich jsou zdaleka.« 4Jeho učedníci mu odpověděli: »Kde by kdo mohl tady v neobydleném kraji sehnat tolik chleba, aby je nasytil?« 5Zeptal se jich: »Kolik máte chlebů?« Odpověděli: »Sedm.« 6Rozkázal, aby se lid posadil na zem, vzal těch sedm chlebů, vzdal díky, lámal a dával učedníkům, aby je předkládali; předložili je tedy lidu. 7Měli také několik malých ryb. Požehnal je a řekl, aby i ty předkládali. 8A najedli se dosyta a sesbíralo se ještě sedm košíků zbylých kousků. 9Těch lidí bylo na čtyři tisíce. Potom je propustil. 10Hned pak vstoupil se svými učedníky na loď a připlul do dalmanutských končin. 11Přišli farizeové a začali se přít s Ježíšem; žádali od něho znamení z nebe, aby ho pokoušeli. 12Zhluboka vzdychl a řekl: »Proč toto pokolení žádá znamení? Amen, pravím vám: Tomuto pokolení žádné znamení dáno nebude!« 13A nechal je, vstoupil znovu na loď a odplul na druhý břeh. 14Zapomněli si vzít chleby a kromě jednoho chleba neměli s sebou na lodi nic. 15Ježíš je napomínal: »Dejte si pozor a varujte se kvasu farizejského a kvasu herodovského!« 16Ale oni uvažovali mezi sebou o tom, že nemají chleba. 17On to poznal a řekl jim: »O čem uvažujete? Že nemáte chleba? Ještě nerozumíte ani nechápete? Máte zatvrzelé srdce? 18Oči máte, a nevidíte, uši máte, a neslyšíte! Nevzpomínáte si už, 19když jsem rozlámal těch pět chlebů pro pět tisíc lidí, kolik košů plných kousků chleba jste ještě nasbírali?« Odpověděli mu: »Dvanáct.« 20A když těch sedm pro čtyři tisíce, kolik košíků plných kousků chleba jste ještě nasbírali?« Odpověděli mu: »Sedm.« 21Tu jim řekl: »Ještě nechápete?« 22Když přišli do Betsaidy, přivedli mu jednoho slepce s prosbou, aby se ho dotkl. 23On vzal toho slepého za ruku, vyvedl ho ven z vesnice, dotkl se slinou jeho očí, vložil na něho ruce a ptal se ho: »Vidíš něco?« 24On pozvedl oči a odpověděl: »Vidím lidi, vidím je jako stromy - a chodí.« 25Potom mu znovu vložil ruce na oči. Tu se mu projasnil zrak, byl uzdraven, takže viděl všechno úplně jasně. 26Poslal ho domů a řekl: »Ale do vesnice nechoď!« 27Ježíš vyšel se svými učedníky do vesnic u Césareje Filipovy. Cestou se ptal svých učedníků: »Za koho mě lidé pokládají?« 28Řekli mu: »Za Jana Křtitele, jiní za Eliáše, jiní za jednoho z proroků.« 29Zeptal se jich: »A za koho mě pokládáte vy?« Petr mu odpověděl: »Ty jsi Mesiáš!« 30Tu je přísně napomenul, aby to o něm nikomu neříkali. 31Potom je začal poučovat, že Syn člověka bude muset mnoho trpět, že bude zavržen od starších, velekněží a učitelů Zákona, že bude zabit, ale po třech dnech že vstane z mrtvých. 32A mluvil o tom otevřeně. Petr si ho vzal stranou a začal mu to rozmlouvat. 33On se však obrátil, pohleděl na učedníky a pokáral Petra: »Jdi mi z očí, satane! Neboť nemáš na mysli věci božské, ale lidské.« 34Ježíš si zavolal lidi i své učedníky a řekl jim: »Kdo chce jít za mnou, ať zapře sám sebe, vezme svůj kříž a následuje mě! 35Neboť kdo by chtěl svůj život zachránit, ztratí ho, kdo však svůj život pro mě a pro evangelium ztratí, zachrání si ho. 36Vždyť co prospěje člověku, když získá celý svět, ale ztratí svou duši? 37Neboť jakou dá člověk náhradu za svou duši? 38Kdo by se však styděl za mě a za má slova před tímto nevěrným a hříšným pokolením, za toho se bude stydět také Syn člověka, až přijde ve slávě svého Otce se svatými anděly.«
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 FOUR THOUSAND MIRACULOUSLY FED--A SIGN FROM HEAVEN SOUGHT AND REFUSED--THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES--A BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA RESTORED TO SIGHT. ( = Mat. 15:32-16:12). (Mark 8:1-26)
In those days the multitude being very great, &c.
2 I have compassion on the multitude--an expression of that deep emotion in the Redeemer's heart which always preceded some remarkable interposition for relief. (See
Matt 14:14;
Matt 20:34;
Mark 1:41;
Luke 7:13; also
Matt 9:36, before the mission of the Twelve; compare
Judg 2:18;
Judg 10:16).
because they have now been with me--in constant attendance.
three days, and have nothing to eat:
3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way--In their eagerness they seem not to have thought of the need of provisions for such a length of time; but the Lord thought of it. In Matthew (
Matt 15:32) it is, "I will not send them away fasting"--or rather, "To send them away fasting I am unwilling."
4 From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?--Though the question here is the same as when He fed the five thousand, they evidently now meant no more by it than that they had not the means of feeding the multitude; modestly leaving the Lord to decide what was to be done. And this will the more appear from His not now trying them, as before, by saying, "They need not depart, give ye them to eat"; but simply asking what they had, and then giving His directions.
5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven--It was important in this case, as in the former, that the precise number of the loaves should be brought out. Thus also does the distinctness of the two miracles appear.
9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away--Had not our Lord distinctly referred, in this very chapter and in two successive sentences, to the feeding of the five thousand and of the four thousand as two distinct miracles, many critics would have insisted that they were but two different representations of one and the same miracle, as they do of the two expulsions of the buyers and sellers from the temple, at the beginning and end of our Lord's ministry. But even in spite of what our Lord says, it is painful to find such men as NEANDER endeavoring to identify the two miracles. The localities, though both on the eastern side of the lake, were different; the time was different; the preceding and following circumstances were different; the period during which the people continued fasting was different--in the one case not even one entire day, in the other three days; the number fed was different--five thousand in the one case, in the other four thousand; the number of the loaves was different--five in the one case, in the other seven; the number of the fishes in the one case is definitely stated by all the four Evangelists--two; in the other case both give them indefinitely--"a few small fishes"; in the one case the multitude were commanded to sit down "upon the green grass"; in the other "on the ground"; in the one case the number of the baskets taken up filled with the fragments was twelve, in the other seven; but more than all, perhaps, because apparently quite incidental, in the one case the name given to the kind of baskets used is the same in all the four narratives--the cophinus (see on
Mark 6:43); in the other case the name given to the kind of baskets used, while it is the same in both the narratives, is quite different--the spuris, a basket large enough to hold a man's body, for Paul was let down in one of these from the wall of Damascus (
Acts 9:25). It might be added, that in the one case the people, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, would have taken Him by force to make Him a king; in the other case no such excitement is recorded. In view of these things, who could have believed that these were one and the same miracle, even if the Lord Himself had not expressly distinguished them?
Sign from Heaven Sought (
Mark 8:10-
Mark 8:13).
10 And straightway he entered into a ship--"into the ship," or "embarked."
with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha--In Matthew (
Matt 15:39) it is "the coasts of Magdala." Magdala and Dalmanutha were both on the western shore of the lake, and probably not far apart. From the former the surname "Magdalene" was probably taken, to denote the residence of Mary Magdalene. Dalmanutha may have been a village, but it cannot now be identified with certainty.
11 seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him--not in the least desiring evidence for their conviction, but hoping to entrap Him. The first part of the answer is given in Matthew alone (
Matt 16:2-
Matt 16:3): "He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather; for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowering [sullen, gloomy]. Hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" The same simplicity of purpose and careful observation of the symptoms of approaching events which they showed in common things would enable them to "discern the signs of the times"--or rather "seasons," to which the prophets pointed for the manifestation of the Messiah. The scepter had departed from Judah; Daniel's seventy weeks were expiring, &c.; and many other significant indications of the close of the old economy, and preparations for a freer and more comprehensive one, might have been discerned. But all was lost upon them.
12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit--The language is very strong. These glimpses into the interior of the Redeemer's heart, in which our Evangelist abounds, are more precious than rubies. The state of the Pharisaic heart, which prompted this desire for a fresh sign, went to His very soul.
and saith, Why doth this generation--"this wicked and adulterous generation" (
Matt 16:4).
seek after a sign?--when they have had such abundant evidence already.
There shall no sign be given unto this generation--literally, "If there shall be given to this generation a sign"; a Jewish way of expressing a solemn and peremptory determination to the contrary (compare
Heb 4:5;
Ps 95:11, Margin). "A generation incapable of appreciating such demonstrations shall not be gratified with them." In
Matt 16:4 He added, "but the sign of the prophet Jonas." (See on
Matt 12:39-
Matt 12:40.)
13 And he left them--no doubt with tokens of displeasure.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (
Mark 8:14-
Mark 8:21).
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf--This is another example of that graphic circumstantiality which gives such a charm to this briefest of the four Gospels. The circumstance of the "one loaf" only remaining, as WEBSTER and WILKINSON remark, was more suggestive of their Master's recent miracles than the entire absence of provisions.
15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees--"and of the Sadducees" (
Matt 16:6).
and of the leaven of Herod--The teaching or "doctrine" (
Matt 16:12) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees was quite different, but both were equally pernicious; and the Herodians, though rather a political party, were equally envenomed against our Lord's spiritual teaching. See on
Matt 12:14. The penetrating and diffusive quality of leaven, for good or bad, is the ground of the comparison.
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread--But a little while ago He was tried with the obduracy of the Pharisees; now He is tried with the obtuseness of His own disciples. The nine questions following each other in rapid succession (
Mark 8:17-
Mark 8:21) show how deeply He was hurt at this want of spiritual apprehension, and worse still, their low thoughts of Him, as if He would utter so solemn a warning on so petty a subject. It will be seen, however, from the very form of their conjecture, "It is because we have no bread," and our Lord's astonishment that they should not by that time have known better with what He took up His attention--that He ever left the whole care for His own temporal wants to the Twelve: that He did this so entirely, that finding they were reduced to their last loaf they felt as if unworthy of such a trust, and could not think but that the same thought was in their Lord's mind which was pressing upon their own; but that in this they were so far wrong that it hurt His feelings--sharp just in proportion to His love--that such a thought of Him should have entered their minds! Who that, like angels, "desire to look into these things" will not prize such glimpses above gold?
17 have ye your heart yet hardened?--How strong an expression to use of true-hearted disciples! See on
Mark 6:52.
18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not?--See on
Matt 13:13.
and do ye not remember?
19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand--"the five thousand."
how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? &c.
21 How is it that ye do not understand?--"do not understand that the warning I gave you could not have been prompted by any such petty consideration as the want of loaves in your scrip." Profuse as were our Lord's miracles, we see from this that they were not wrought at random, but that He carefully noted their minutest details, and desired that this should be done by those who witnessed, as doubtless by all who read the record of them. Even the different kind of baskets used at the two miraculous feedings, so carefully noted in the two narratives, are here also referred to; the one smaller, of which there were twelve, the other much larger, of which there were seven.
Blind Man at Bethsaida Restored to Sight (
Mark 8:22-
Mark 8:26).
22 And he cometh to Bethsaida--Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast side of the take, whence after this He proceeded to Cćsarea Philippi (
Mark 8:27).
and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him--See on
Mark 7:32.
23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town--Of the deaf and dumb man it is merely said that "He took him aside" (
Mark 7:33); but this blind man He led by the hand out of the town, doing it Himself rather than employing another--great humility, exclaims BENGEL--that He might gain his confidence and raise his expectation.
and when be had spit on his eyes--the organ affected--See on
Mark 7:33.
and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking--This is one of the cases in which one edition of what is called the received text differs from another. That which is decidedly the best supported, and has also internal evidence on its side is this: "I see men; for I see [them] as trees walking"--that is, he could distinguish them from trees only by their motion; a minute mark of truth in the narrative, as ALFORD observes, describing how human objects had appeared to him during that gradual failing of sight which had ended in blindness.
25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly--Perhaps the one operation perfectly restored the eyes, while the other imparted immediately the faculty of using them. It is the only recorded example of a progressive cure, and it certainly illustrates similar methods in the spiritual kingdom. Of the four recorded cases of sight restored, all the patients save one either came or were brought to the Physician. In the case of the man born blind, the Physician came to the patient. So some seek and find Christ; of others He is found who seek Him not.
26 Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town--Besides the usual reasons against going about "blazing the matter," retirement in this case would be salutary to himself.
