Read Mark 8:22–38
Questions from the Scripture text: Where did Jesus come in Mark 8:22? What did they beg Jesus to do to the blind man? What did Jesus do by touching the man’s hand in Mark 8:23? Then what did Jesus do to the man’s eyes? When Jesus put His hands on the man again, what did He ask? How did the man answer (Mark 8:24)? What does Jesus do when He touches the man the third time (Mark 8:25)? Where does Jesus send the man in Mark 8:26? What does He tell him not to do? Where are Jesus and the disciples, when they have the conversation in Mark 8:27-33? What does Jesus ask them first (Mark 8:27)? What do they answer (Mark 8:28)? What does He ask them in Mark 8:29a? What does Peter answer (verse 29b)? What does He warn them in Mark 8:30? What does He begin to teach them in Mark 8:31? What does Jesus do to Him in Mark 8:32? What does Jesus call Peter in Mark 8:33? What explanation does Jesus give for that? Whom does He call to Himself for the rest of the lesson in Mark 8:34? What does He say someone who desires to follow Him must do? Whom does He say will lose his life in Mark 8:35? For what purpose does He say we should lose our life? What will we lose if we gain the whole world by being ashamed of Christ (Mark 8:36-37)? Of whom must we not be ashamed (Mark 8:38)? Of what must we not be ashamed? If are ashamed of Jesus and His words now, who will be ashamed of us and when?
What can believers expect in this life? Mark 8:22–38 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seventeen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers should expect crosses of their own, as they follow a crucified Christ.
Christ works in His own sovereign way. He could have healed the blind man, immediately, with a word—or even simply by willing it. But He takes many steps to heal him. He touches him, as He leads him by the hand out of town (Mark 8:23). He spits on his eyes. He touches him again, putting His hands upon him, when he asks him if he saw anything. He touches him a third time (Mark 8:25), when He puts His hands on his eyes, turning them upward. It’s quite the process!
Similarly, He works in His own sovereign way in our lives. Those who follow Him must deny themselves and take up their crosses to do so (Mark 8:34). Each disciple will have his own particular cross. His life is not his own anymore; he must lose it to Christ, in order to gain it by Christ (Mark 8:35). In particular, believers must be prepared (and willing) to be scorned for Christ’s sake (Mark 8:38).
Christ’s sovereign way is a perfectly saving way. It is not only in our lives that Christ often operates opposite our expectations. He did this especially in His own life. He did not come to be famous, but to die and rise again for sinners. He forbade the blind man to tell about Him (Mark 8:26). And after Peter confesses Him to be Christ (Mark 8:29), He also warns the disciples not to tell anyone about Him (Mark 8:30). He does not build His kingdom by impressiveness of reputation. He came to suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and after three days, rise again (Mark 8:31). By opposing this (Mark 8:32), Peter goes from confessing Christ to being a mouthpiece for Satan (Mark 8:33). And we know that it was in following His own perfect plan that He atoned for our sin, and conquered Satan and death.
Dear believing reader, whatever cross your Redeemer has assigned to you is the right and best one. He has already taken the atoning and redeeming one, and He carries you through only those crosses by which He applies that redemption.
In what current situation in your life has the Lord’s wisdom puzzled you? What, ultimately, is He doing?
Sample prayer: Lord, we praise You for Your perfect wisdom, and thank You for the glorious grace in which You gave Yourself to become a man, to suffer, to be scorned, and to die the accursed death of the cross for us. And we thank You for applying Your wisdom in how You sovereignly rule our lives. Please give us grace to be content under crosses—to trust You as You carry us through them.
Suggested songs: ARP22A “My God, My God” or TPH131A “Not Haughty Is My Heart”
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