Inductive Bible study (SOAP) is an approach to God’s Word focusing on three basic steps that move from a focus on specific details to a more general, universal principle. Through these three steps, we apply inductive reasoning, which is defined as the attempt to use information about a specific situation to draw a conclusion. The steps are observation (what does it say?), interpretation (what does it mean?), and application (what does it mean for my life?). Inductive Bible study is a valuable tool in understanding and applying the principles of God’s Word. In an inductive study everyone participates. We will be working through as much of a chapter of Marks Gospel each week, taking turns to do the following:
SOAP Meathod
S: SCRIPTURE: Read a section of scripture, then summarise in your own words (What does it say? What verse stuck out to you most?).
O: Observation: Read the related Companion material below, then summarise one point/observation in your own words (Is their an issue being addressed?)
A: Application: How do you apply this truth to your life? What does it mean for us today?
P: Prayer: Following the study we will spend time in small groups praying. How do you implement this verse into your life? finish with the quiz below.
Mission 119 Weekly Reading
Readings can be prepared for prior to the study by reviewing The Mission 119 accessed online or through the app. Create a login, click on “grow” (bottom tab) and search “Mark” from the top search bar. Review the chapter of study and 10 minute devotional provided in Mission 119.
This chapter contains seven incidents: 4000 are fed, Pharisees want a sign, lessons from the lack of bread, blind man in Bethsaida, Peter declares Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus predicts his death and some discipleship statements.
Reading Mark 8: 1 – 10 4000 Are Fed
In many ways, this incident is quite similar to the feeding of the 5000. There was a large crowd. They have been with Jesus listening to his teaching for three days. They are hungry and, if sent away, might faint during their journey home. Jesus was moved to action based on his own compassion.
This was an important truth to balance the miraculous incidents Mark had already recounted. Most healing miracles are initiated by the faith expressed by the sick person or their family and friends. Some miracles are initiated by Jesus because he was simply trusting his heavenly Father. Still other miracles are initiated by the opposition Jesus received from unclean spirits. But this one was initiated by Jesus purely because he had a compassionate heart.
This is a good reminder that the culture of the Kingdom of God is a caring and loving culture. Jesus as King (Messiah) really cares for his subjects, and his love for people moves him on many occasions to care for his people even when he is not recognised.
Jesus’ disciples reacted to this situation in a similar way to the one they faced when there were 5000 hungry men. They were focussed completely on how to solve the problem from a worldly perspective. Jesus therefore had to take control. There are seven loaves and some fish. Jesus spoke with his heavenly Father. He distributed the bread to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the seated crowd. The people ate and were completely satisfied. There were seven baskets of leftovers.
Jesus sent the crowd away. He and his disciples set off to cross the lake and land on the opposite shore, near the little village of Dalmanutha.
Dalmanutha was situated on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee at the southern end of the plain of Gennesaret, which was a village and area mentioned previously. Dalmanutha was a very small fishing village mentioned only here in all of Scripture.
The question often asked is: “Why did Mark give us an almost identical story?” Intrinsically, in itself, it teaches the apostles the same truths as noted with the feeding of the 5000. It is not until we get to the verses 13 – 21, we find it is a launching pad for some important teaching for the apostles.
Reading Mark 8: 11 – 12 Pharisees Want a Sign
This brief exchange between the Pharisees and Jesus showed for the first time an emotional reaction from Jesus to the Pharisees. The Pharisees argued with Jesus. Eventually, they demanded that Jesus does some kind of miraculous sign to prove himself. The topics of their argument with Jesus are not given, but we can assume they are concerned with his right to be a teacher, his identity as the Holy One of God, his miracles and the substance of his Kingdom teaching.
The comment that Jesus sighed deeply showed a personal witness by the Apostle Peter, and the depth of feeling Jesus was experiencing at being interrogated by these religious leaders. Given what was said later by Jesus in this chapter concerning his impending death, it was quite possible he was beginning to experience the pain of his approaching condemnation, false trial, torture and death.
The Pharisees weren’t asking Jesus to perform any kind of miracle; they wanted a sign from heaven. A healing miracle or even walking on water was not sufficient for them. They wanted Jesus to have God do something that proved to them God was indeed his heavenly Father. Such a sign would remove any need for faith. It would keep the ministry of Jesus locked into the religious understanding of fallen man. This was directly opposite to what Jesus was teaching about the Kingdom of God. Hence Jesus’ response, “No sign will be given to this generation.” The life of Jesus, his teaching of the Kingdom, his approaching death and resurrection would be sufficient atonement for people to exercise faith and so enter the Kingdom of God.
Reading Mark 8: 13 – 21 Lessons From the Lack of Bread
Verse 13 reminds us of just how often Jesus spent criss-crossing the Sea of Galilee. Again he was in the boat travelling. I’m sure this method of transport was preferred because it provided solace from the ever-present crowds. In hindsight, it may even have been why Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen. It gave him access to boats and skilled sailors to crew them.
The disciples noted they had set out with insufficient food. Maybe this remark came from the fishermen among them, who would have naturally or automatically take stock of their provisions for the day. Then Jesus made a remark about yeast, an essential ingredient in making bread rise. Yeast aerated the dense dough, so it became lighter and more pleasant to eat. Jesus said, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
The disciples automatically assumed Jesus said this because they’d been discussing their inadequate rations. But Jesus was still thinking of the previous discussion he’d had with the Pharisees whom they’d just left. In using the word “leaven,” Jesus was not just referring to the teaching of the Pharisees, and their rules and traditions; he was also concerned about their underlying religious philosophies. The Pharisees had motives that were worldly and not conducive to Kingdom living. Jesus also warned his disciples the Herodians also had a hidden agenda. The Herodians’ motives were different from the Pharisees’, but they were equally foreign to the Kingdom of God. Jesus was warning his disciples to look deeper than the surface when in discussions with people, and to sense their deeper motives or hidden agenda.
Jesus also rebuked his disciples for being concerned about their lack of provisions. He reminded them of God’s over-abundant supply of provisions for the 5000 and, then again, for the 4000. Jesus seemed to be disappointed with the disciples’ slowness to learn to depend totally upon their heavenly Father for all their provisions. Rather they should be concerned about the deeper spiritual realities of their opponents, not about their own problems of living in this fallen world.
Reading Mark 8: 22 – 26 Blind Man in Bethsaida
This was the last miracle recorded by Mark that occurred in the vicinity of Lake Galilee. In a sense, it was the end of the Galilean ministry of Jesus. From here he travelled north to Caesarea Philippi where he spent at least a week with his disciples. Then he headed southwards towards Judea, pausing briefly in Capernaum where no crowd was involved, before heading on to Jerusalem for the final phase of his public ministry. The road to Caesarea Philippi passed through Bethsaida, so Jesus was already on his way to Caesarea Philippi.
A blind man was brought to Jesus, and those who brought him begged Jesus to heal him. The friends’ action of begging Jesus showed the intensity of their faith. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and walked him out of the village. One wonders what Jesus and the man talked about on the way. It may have had something to do with the man’s expectation. What had the man heard about the ministry of Jesus? Did he expect to be healed? Or was the expectation only from his friends?
This might account for the two stages in the man receiving his sight. In the first stage, Jesus put spittle on the man’s eyes, placed his hands on the man and a partial miracle occurred. The man received “sight” but everything was blurred. Then the second stage occurred. Jesus put his hands on the man again and the man’s sight was perfectly restored.
When we recall the power of Jesus’ earlier miracles (eg the healing of the woman with a bleeding problem who, when she just touched Jesus, she sensed the power immediately coming from Jesus and was instantly healed), we can only wonder why the man walking hand-in-hand with Jesus wasn’t instantly healed. But then we recall that when Jesus was in Nazareth, he couldn’t do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. We are to conclude that for this blind man, there was a serious faith issue that severely hindered the flow of healing power. So this process Jesus took showed both Jesus’ compassion and the need for the man to develop his healing faith.
Reading Mark 8: 27 – 30 Peter: Jesus is the Messiah
Whether Mark designed this or not, it is quite remarkable that Peter’s declaration of the identity of Jesus as the Messiah is almost exactly midway through Mark’s gospel account of Jesus. It came at the end of Jesus’ public Galilean ministry. This statement of faith by Peter doesn’t occur in Galilee but in a town called Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi was about 100 kilometres north of Capernaum and the furthest distance north Jesus travelled with his disciples. When he arrived, he ministered in the villages of the area. But on the way there, Jesus asked his apostles the famous question, “Who do people say I am?” I’m sure Jesus knew the answer to that question, but it was a necessary first question to encourage the apostles to think for themselves concerning the identity of Jesus. Now that Jesus’ Galilean ministry to the crowds had come to an end, had the apostles and disciples come to a conclusion from the evidence they’d witnessed, as to his real identity?
The apostles recounted the standard gossip about Jesus’ identity, but Jesus was quite focussed, “But what about you, who do you say I am?” Peter gave the clear answer, “You are the Christ.”
Here it is, the high point in the gospel narrative. Jesus is the Messiah!
This led straight into the next incident.
Reading Mark 8: 31 – 33 Jesus Predicts His Death
Soon after Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus began the difficult task of retraining the disciples’ understanding of the role of the Messiah. He began by teaching the Son of Man (Messiah) must suffer greatly, he will be totally rejected by all in the religious establishment, he must be killed but after three days he would rise again. The text seems to imply that Jesus took some time to explain all this, yet the apostles had difficulty comprehending this entirely different understanding of the role and function of the Jewish Messiah.
Yet so distressed was Peter by this new teaching, he took Jesus aside to politely correct him. Jesus wasn’t about to be corrected for he knew the truth and what Peter was saying was false and, therefore, from Satan, who was the father of all lies. So, in no uncertain terms, in front of his disciples, Jesus severely rebuked Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! Your mind is not set on the things of God, but on the things of man.” What a great lesson for all the disciples of Jesus. When our ideas or understandings contradict the truth of Jesus, the Word of God, we are doing the work of the world and the work of Satan. (No wonder the Apostle Paul warned that teachers would be more harshly judged!)
Reading Mark 8: 34 – 38 Discipleship Statements
Verse 34 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Here, from the lips of Jesus, is one of the most challenging statements about discipleship anyone would want hear. It must have terrified those first listeners. Here was a call for those who would become his disciples to seek crucifixion. Crucifixion was a form of torture and death that any normal sane person would do anything to avoid. So what are we to make of it?
The phrase, “Take up his cross” was not to be taken literally. It was a metaphor of death. A disciple of Jesus must be willing to die. So let’s see in what ways this could be understood. Firstly, it means physical death. Being a disciple of Jesus may result in attracting such unwanted attention from the forces of evil in the world that a disciple may be killed. Just like John the Baptist, the Apostle James (later) and Stephen. Historically, thousands of Jesus’ disciples have been killed because they’ve proclaimed the Kingdom of God.
Secondly, it means denying oneself. People have a natural worldly tendency to preserve their dignity, ideas and personal loves. Taking up one’s cross teaches us: whatever things of this world we hold dear, we must be willing to let them go and deny ourselves of possessing them. There is no place in the Kingdom of God for worldly ideas, loves or possessions. This form of personal death is completely necessary in order to experience an unadulterated life and ministry in the Kingdom of God.
Thirdly, it teaches us: others are involved in our death. Crucifixion is always the work of others upon our lives. We are not capable of crucifying ourselves. It is physically impossible. It was for these reasons Jesus chose this metaphor. It is what makes this experience for the disciple of Jesus so psychologically and spiritually painful. Because sometimes God allows our friends and family to be the instruments of our crucifixion and, for this reason, it is most exquisitely painful.
There is one other thing we should note about taking up one’s cross: what it doesn’t teach. Even though this phrase is frequently used in this wrong sense, it doesn’t mean putting up with some kind of personal discomfort or tragedy caused by illness or injury brought about by living in this world.
The Phrase, “and follow me,” was also a binding condition upon would-be disciples. It was not sufficient simply to be willing to die and even experience the full force of metaphorical death, it was also necessary to follow Jesus. By this Jesus did mean he, himself, was going to die; thus, giving a clear example of what he meant by taking up one’s cross. But more importantly, it meant in every other way his disciples would follow him. This was not a once-off promise but a lifelong commitment to ministry that was the same as Jesus’. Christians are followers of Jesus. This was not simply an idea that was nice, nor a statement of belonging, but a genuine commitment to being a proactive disciple keen to do the things that Jesus did and teach the things that Jesus taught.
Verse 35 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” This statement from Jesus continued his theme of death but now with added encouragement. On the other side of death there is life. Here’s the thing. Worldly people (and here it would also include Pharisaic teaching), live their lives in such a way as to make themselves comfortable and life on earth as pleasurable as possible. Now because we are all different, we seek quite different ways to satisfy those deep worldly feelings. For example, while some might seek rest, others might seek work. Quite different, yet both satisfying deep worldly desires.
The truth Jesus was teaching his listeners was that living a life in order to “save” it actually results in losing it, in the long run. Or to put it differently, worldly living without consideration of your spiritual destiny will result in you not having an eternal, spiritual life (ie death).
On the other hand, Jesus said: “if you are willing to die to all the worldly attractions, you will in fact discover life— or better still, life eternal.”
Jesus then asked two question to focus the attention of his listeners. There was no gain in becoming really wealthy and losing your soul. Wealthy people are often admired; they exert great power, but this is of no value spiritually or eternally. Jesus was constantly pointing out the distinction between this world in which we live and the eternal spiritual world of the Kingdom of God.
The second question raised an interesting issue, “What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” This almost seemed to ask, “Is there another way to have my soul live eternally?” Can I give money, assets, time, or work and do enough to gain eternal life? The answer implied there was no alternate way into the Kingdom of God. Thus, the wealthy had no advantage over the poor when it came to their spiritual eternity. The only way was to be the disciple of Jesus. This was the reason Jesus came.
Then Jesus made a third statement.
Verse 38 “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
There are a few things we disciples need to note from this statement of Jesus.
We begin with the description Jesus gave of his contemporary Jewish society: “adulterous and sinful generation.” By his use of the word “generation,” Jesus was not only referring to his immediate Jewish community but was also including all of his contemporary societies: Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Persian. The word “generation” can also mean people of all time who have rejected God and chosen to live independently of him. This includes all who have chosen to worship man-made deities and philosophies. Thus, it was Jesus’ description of today’s Western society. We must accept his statement about us even though it is hurtful to our sense of personal fulfilment.
Now let’s consider this word “ashamed.” Jesus expected his disciples to be loyal to him in the same way that subjects are to be loyal to their crown. In the Kingdom of God, Jesus is King; and those of us who choose to be his followers will exhibit loyalty to him personally and to his teaching. His teaching is truth; therefore, we are ambassadors of his truth. If we feel ashamed of being his disciples, we are exhibiting more fear of the physical world around us than fear of the spiritual realm around us. This dishonours our Head. Jesus says our failure to be loyal and our fear of our contemporary world will result in him not recognising us in the future.
Jesus’ description of the future is exciting. It can be put this way: Jesus said, “I, as the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father and with the holy angels.” This is the first time in Mark we get a real sense of the eternal future. Until now, we may have thought Jesus was unaware of eternity, and that he was only focused on his earthly ministry. But now we see Jesus knew where he came from and where he was going, not just in the immediate future but in some distant future as well.
The word, “glory” used by Mark for the first time here, in its simplest meaning, speaks of a very intense, very bright, almost blinding light. The word, “effulgence” perhaps captures the meaning better, for it also means what is seen by this glorious light is of such beauty it makes the natural fallen world look dull by comparison!
Jesus was aware of the fact he pre-existed with his Father in this glorious spiritual realm and that, although he shed this glory to become human and live in this fallen world, a time would come when he would be reunited with his glorious Father. Then he, himself, would be re-clothed in this glory! Jesus, clothed in heavenly glory, will be on display for all the fallen world to see at some future time when he and the heavenly messengers are revealed.