This scene has, of course, certain features connected with it which cannot be imitated by ordinary persons, or by mere men. Christ exercised a Divine insight and authority. But there are certain principles illustrated. We see -

I. HOW IT PRESENTS ITSELF.

1. Under the guise of friendship. The love may be real in the individuals who are the instruments of temptation, but their knowledge is not sufficient, or their moral character not so, high as it should be. Many of the most terrible moral trials of life owe their power to this circumstance.

2. With great assumption of reasonableness. In Peter there was a domineering, "superior" tone. He spoke as one who knew the world, and the impracticableness of his Master's ideas. But even where this is absent there may be a latent contempt for religious aims, and an unconscious appeal to the utilitarian standards of conduct. With many persons the test of reasonableness in moral action is the immediate advantage of those immediately concerned, or the most directly pleasant course of procedure, or the attainment of some recognized worldly object.

II. HOW IT IS TO BE DETECTED.

1. By the aid of the Divine Spirit. There are necessarily many occasions for moral decision in which it would be impossible to assign reasons for the steps taken, because these are not clearly discerned; yet there may be moral certainty. It is the Spirit of God that is to guide us in such cases.

2. By comparing spiritual things with spiritual, e.g.:

(1) In moral questions we should distrust proposals which too readily fall in with our own desire for ease, or a pleasant life, or worldly advantage. It is not usual for great duties so to approve themselves.

(2) Suggestions are to be rejected which stand in the way of personal consecration, or interfere with moral duties and Divine impulses.

III. How IT IS TO BE OVERCOME.

1. By distinguishing between the agent or instrument and the inspirer. It was a painful thing for Christ to do, but he did not shrink from denouncing the spirit to which the suggestion was due, and the evil one who had used Peter as his tool. This detection, whether it be declared or not, is a great part of the victory.

2. With promptitude and decision. Christ turned his back upon the tempter. There must be no dallying or temporizing. Upon every moment that follows discovery of evil an eternity hangs.

3. By casting one's self upon the Spirit of God. In prayer: "Deliver us from the evil one." In abiding union and voluntary submission: "Not my will, but thine, be done." "Minding" the things of God, and having the whole attention and affection absorbed by them. - M.

Let us not overlook this loving rebuke; for

(1)it cures Peter's presumption;

(2)sets him to learn a new lesson on the heavenliness of sacrifice;

(3)prevents the greatness of his faith being spoiled by the earthliness of his hopes.Faithful are the wounds of a friend: but the wounds which the Saviour inflicts are kindest of all. From Peter's weakness let us learn how hard it is to see all truth at once. From Christ's rebuke let us learn that the "heavenly thing" is not to seek for glory, but for usefulness, even if we can reach it only through a cross.

(R. Glover.)

It is charged with practical truths.

1. Man's shortsightedness.

2. Man's sentiment exaggerated.

3. Man's audacity to think he can help or save Christ.On Christ's side:

1. He rebukes the oldest.

2. He rebukes the wisest — it was Peter who said, "Thou art the Christ."

3. He shows that men are only worthy of Him in proportion as they enter into His spirit.

(Dr. Parker.)

I. What there is TO MARK THE TIME which our blessed Saviour thus selected, for giving prominence to a new and unwelcome subject of discourse. In the third year of His public ministry. Up to this time our Lord left the great truth of His Godhead to work its way rote the minds of His apostles. Now they had arrived at the conviction that He was none other than the ever-living God. What inducement led to, and what instruction may be gathered from, the recorded fact, that when Jesus had drawn from His disciples the acknowledgment of His Divinity, then, and not before, "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Now the apostles could have had none but the most indistinct apprehensions of the office and mission of our Lord, so long as they were ignorant of the death which He had undertaken to die. This made it appear remarkable, that our Lord should so long have withheld the express mention of His sufferings, As much as to say, "It will be of no avail to speak to them of My death till they are convinced of My Deity. So long as they only know Me as the Son of Man, they will not be prepared to hear of the cross; when they shall also know Me as the Son of the living God, then will be the time to tell of ignominy and death." "Oh, how strange," you may exclaim, "that the moment of discovering a Divine person in the form of a man should be the right moment for the being informed that this person should be crucified! To discover a Divine person is to discover what death cannot touch; and yet Christ waited till this discovery in regard of Himself, that He might then expressly mention His approaching dissolution." But do you not observe, my brethren, what a testimony our Lord hereby gives to the fact, that the truth of His Godhead alone explains — alone gives meaning or worth to — His having died on the cross? He will say nothing of His death whilst only believed to be man; He speaks continually of His death, when once acknowledged as God. Are we not taught by this, that they only who believe Christ Divine, can put the right construction on the mystery of His death, or so survey it as to draw from it what it was intended to teach? Then we perceive, that He must have died as a sacrifice; then we understand that He must have died as an atonement to be the propitiation for our sins, to reconcile the world unto God. He could not have died for such ends had He been only man; but being also God, such ends could be answered and effected by His death, though nothing less, so far as we can tell, could have sufficed. Therefore, again and again, we say, Christ's Divinity is the explanation of Christ's death. We seem quite justified in gathering from the text, that hence forward our Lord made very frequent mention of His cross. If you examine, you will find so many as nine instances spoken of by the evangelists; though it was a topic which He had not before introduced. And what is very observable is, that it seems to have been upon occasions when the disciples were likely to have been puffed up and exalted, that ever after our Lord took special pains to impress upon them that He must be rejected and killed. Ah! my brethren, ought we not to learn from this keeping the cross out of sight till faith had grown strong and high privilege been imparted, that it is the advanced Christian who has need of persecution; and that grace, in place of exempting us from, is to fit us for trial? The disciples must have well known that if suffering were to be their Master's lot, it would also be theirs. If, then and thence, Jesus spake of afflictions which should befall Himself, He must have been understood as likewise speaking of afflictions which would befall His apostles; and He abstained, you see, from dwelling on the tribulation which would be the path to His kingdom, till He found His followers strong in belief of His actual Divinity. And then take one more lesson from the peculiarity of the occasions on which, as we bays shown you, Christ made a special point of introducing the mention of His sufferings; occasions on which the disciples were in danger of being puffed up and exalted. Learn to expect, and be thankful for, something bitter in the cup, when faith has won the victory, and you have tasted, in no common measure, the powers of the invisible world. You may say, however, that it militates against much that we have advanced, that in point of fact, Christ's mentioning His sufferings at the time when He did, produced not on the disciples the effect which our statement supposes. We have but too good proof, that though our Lord deferred so long as He did speaking of His sufferings, the apostles were still unprepared for the saying, and could neither understand it nor receive it. Even St. Peter, who had just made the noble confession which proved him ready and willing to hear tidings from Christ, no sooner hears of his Saviour being rejected and killed, than he begins presumptuously to rebuke Him; saying, "Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee." Yet let it not be thought that Christ chose an unseasonable time, or tried an unsuitable means. The medicine may be what we want; but we, alas! may reject it, as not being what we like. The ease may be precisely such, that from that time forth, it is wholesome that we be admonished of appointed tribulation. We may only the more prove how the admonition is needed, by treating it with dislike, and trying to disbelieve it. When we find that there was such repugnance in St. Peter and his brethren to the cross, though Christ had waited so patiently for the fittest time to introduce it, we ought to learn the difficulty of taking part with the suffering Saviour, and submitting ourselves meekly, and thankfully, to the scorn and the trial of sharing His afflictions. And this lesson from man's aversion to, and how much more the bearing of, the cross, should bring home to us with great force, our need of being continually disciplined by the Spirit of God. And yet it is not to pure and unmingled sorrow, that Christ would consign the more faithful in His Church. As St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, "as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." How beautiful is it in our text, that if Jesus then began to tell His disciples how He should die, He then began also to tell them how He should rise again from the dead. It is our unbelief, or our impatience, which makes us overlook the one statement in our eagerness to get rid of the other. If God lead you into the wilderness, it is, as He saith by the prophet Hosea, that there He may "speak comfortably to you, giving you vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope."

(H. Melvill, B. D.)

Elias, Elijah, Herod, Jesus, John, PeterBethsaida, Caesarea Philippi, Dalmanutha, Decapolis, Sea of GalileeAdversary, Behind, Disciples, God's, Interests, Man's, Men's, Mind, Mindest, Peter, Rebuked, Round, Satan, Savorest, Savourest, Saying, Seeing, Setting, Sharply, Thoughts, Turning1. Jesus feeds the people miraculously;
10. refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees;
14. admonishes his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod;
22. gives a blind man his sight;
27. acknowledges that he is the Jesus who should suffer and rise again;
34. and exhorts to patience in persecution for the profession of the gospel.

Mark 8:33

     2009   Christ, anger of
     4121   Satan, enemy of God
     4122   Satan, tempter
     4125   Satan, agents of
     6157   fall, of Satan
     8225   devotion
     8228   discernment, examples
     8737   evil, responses to

Mark 8:31-33

     5822   criticism, against believers
     6252   temptation, and Christ
     7632   Twelve, characters of

Mark 8:32-33

     2075   Christ, sinless

The Religious Uses of Memory
'Do ye not remember!'--Mark viii. 18. The disciples had misunderstood our Lord's warning 'against the leaven of the Pharisees,' which they supposed to have been occasioned by their neglect to bring with them bread. Their blunder was like many others which they committed, but it seems to have singularly moved our Lord, who was usually so patient with His slow scholars. The swift rain of questions, like bullets rattling against a cuirass, of which my text is one, shows how much He was moved, if not …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Patient Teacher, and the Slow Scholars
'And when Jesus knew It, He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18. Having eyes, see ye not? having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?'--Mark viii. 17,18. How different were the thoughts of Christ and of His disciples, as they sat together in the boat, making their way across the lake! He was pursuing a train of sad reflections which, the moment before their embarkation, had caused Him to sigh …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gradual Healing of the Blind Man
'And Jesus cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. 23. And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon Him, He asked him if he saw ought. 24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 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.'--Mark viii. 22-25. This miracle, which is only recorded …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Cross, and Ours
'And Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29. And He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ. 30. And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. 31. And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Words of the Gospel, Mark viii. 34, "If any Man Would Come after Me, Let Him Deny Himself," Etc. And on the Words 1
1. Hard and grievous does that appear which the Lord hath enjoined, that "whosoever will come after Him, must deny himself." [3157] But what He enjoineth is not hard or grievous, who aideth us that what He enjoineth may be done. For both is that true which is said to Him in the Psalm, "Because of the words of Thy lips I have kept hard ways." [3158] And that is true which He said Himself, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." [3159] For whatsoever is hard in what is enjoined us, charity makes …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Mark viii. 5, Etc. , Where the Miracle of the Seven Loaves is Related.
1. In expounding to you the Holy Scriptures, I as it were break bread for you. Do ye in hunger receive it, and break [3135] forth with a fulness of phrase from the heart; and ye who are rich in your banquet, be not meagre in good works and deeds. What I deal out to you is not mine own. What ye eat, I eat; what ye live upon, I live upon. We have in heaven a common store-house; for from thence comes the Word of God. 2. The "seven loaves" [3136] signify the seven-fold operation of the Holy Spirit; the …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Profit and Loss
We shall divide our text, and consider, in the first place, the gain a man would get if he gained the whole world; in the second place, the fearful loss if a man should lose his soul; and then, afterwards, we will try to finish up by some practical lesson. 1. In the first place, WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED IF HE SHOULD GAIN THE WHOLE WORD? Many Christian people, who do not exactly talk common sense, sum this all up by saying, that to gain the whole world is to gain nothing at all. Perhaps they are right, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Measure of Sin.
7th Sunday after Trinity. S. Mark viii. 2. "I have compassion on the multitude." INTRODUCTION.--In to-day's Gospel we see the tender compassion of our Lord for those who came into the wilderness to hear Him. This is only one example out of many of His great love and mercy: and indeed "His mercy is over all His works." "Thou, O Lord," says David, "art full of compassion and mercy, long-suffering and truth." This is a verity of which we are so convinced that it is quite possible we may overlook …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Religious Dangers
(Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1861, for the London Diocesan Board of Education.) St. Mark viii. 4, 5, 8. And the disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? . . . How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. . . . so they did eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. I think that I can take no better text for the subject on which I am about to preach, than that which the Gospel for this …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

The Cause of Spiritual Stupidity.
How is it that ye do not understand?'--ST. MARK viii. 21. After feeding the four thousand with seven loaves and a few small fishes, on the east side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, having crossed the lake, was met on the other side by certain Pharisees, whose attitude towards him was such that he betook himself again to the boat, and recrossed the lake. On the way the disciples bethought them that they had in the boat but a single loaf: probably while the Lord was occupied with the Pharisees, one …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Final Controversies in Jerusalem
177. The early Christians were greatly interested in the teachings of Jesus and in his deeds, but they thought oftenest of the victory which by his resurrection he won out of seeming defeat. This is proved by the fact that of the first two gospels over one third, of Luke over one fifth, and of the fourth gospel nearly one half are devoted to the story of the passion and resurrection. This preponderance is not strange in view of the shock which the death of Jesus caused his disciples, and the new …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

Prayer --The All-Important Essence of Earthly Worship
Where the spiritual consciousness is concerned--the department which asks the question and demands the evidence--no evidence is competent or relevant except such as is spiritual. Only that which is above matter and above logic can be heard, because the very question at issue is the existence and personality of a spiritual and supernatural God. Only the Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit. This must be done in a spiritual or supernatural way, or it cannot be done at all.--C.L. Chilton The …
Edward M. Bounds—The Reality of Prayer

Eight Easter Lessons Learned at Emmaus. Luke xxiv. 13-35.
I.--When friends speak of good things, Jesus draws near. "These things" which concern Jesus. Even if men speak sorrowfully, if it is of Jesus they speak, He is nigh. If He were the subject of conversation more, His friends would have more of His company. If you are shy of Him, He will be shy of you. II.--Unbelief manufactures sorrow for the godly. Jesus said they looked "sad." It is a pity to employ unbelief; he does not know how to make a smile. When he tries it is a misfit. If the disciples …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The Second Touch
"After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up."--Mark viii. 25. C. P. C. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Lo! a Hand amidst the darkness Clasped mine own-- Led me forth the blind and helpless, Led me forth alone; From the crowd and from the clamour To a silent place; Touched mine eyes--I looked upon Him-- Saw Him face to face. Saw Him, as the dawning swiftly risen O'er the valleys grey; I had passed from midnight of my prison Forth into the day. Lo! again His mighty Hand hath …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Epistle xxiii. To John, Bishop.
To John, Bishop. Gregory to John, Bishop of Prima Justiniana in Illyricum. It is clearly a manifest evidence of goodness that the consent of all should concur in the election of one person. Since, then, the account which we have received from our brethren and fellow-bishops declared that you are summoned to the position of priesthood by the unanimous consent of the whole council and the will of the most serene Prince, we have rendered thanks with great exultation to Almighty God our Creator, who …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The General Service to a Monk-Martyr.
At the Vespers, for O Lord, I have cried, the Stichera, Tone 6. Similar to: Of three days... Let us, O faithful, in dutifully praising the exploits of the wise abstainer and the pains of the soldier of Christ, cry out unto the Lord: Through his intercessions, O Christ the God, deliver us from every calamity. An abundance of the most noble peace will be given of God unto thee, O holy father (mentioned by name), that hast endured the frightful storm of torments, thou invincible warrior and intercessor …
Anonymous—The General Menaion

The Four Thousand
"In those days, when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and some of them are come from afar. And His disciples answered Him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And He asked them, How many loaves …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Leaven of the Pharisees
"And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And He left them, and again entering into the boat departed to the other side. And they forgot to take bread; and they had not in the boat with them more than one loaf. And He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Men as Trees
"And they come unto Bethsaida. And they bring to Him a blind man, and beseech Him to touch him. And He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village; and when He had spit on his eyes, and laid His hands upon him, He asked him, Seest thou aught? And he looked up, and said, I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking. Then again He laid His hands upon his eyes; and he looked stedfastly, and was restored, and saw all things clearly. And He sent him away to his home, saying, …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Confession and the Warning
"And Jesus went forth, and His disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi: and in the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am? And they told Him, saying, John the Baptist: and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets. And He asked them, But Who say ye that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ. And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

the Rebuke of Peter
"And He spake the saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him.". . . . "But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.' And when He had called the people to Him, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Zealous Protestants
Tuesday, May 3.--I rode to Birr, twenty miles from Atlone and, the key of the session house not being to be found, declared "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" in the street, to a dull, rude, senseless multitude. Many laughed the greater part of the time. Some went away just in the middle of a sentence. And yet when one cried out (a Carmelite friar, clerk to the priest), "You lie! You lie!" the zealous Protestants cried out, "Knock him down"; and it was not sooner said than done. I saw some bustle, …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

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