Chapter 8 is the climax of Mark’s
gospel. Yes, there are 16 chapters in the gospel, so yes, there are still eight
chapters to go. Nevertheless, here at this midpoint — especially in these nine
verses — everything that has come before arrives at the point of fulfillment. What
will follow in this story of the earthly life of Jesus will flow directly out
of the understandings brought to completion here.
Right up to this point in the
gospel, others have confronted Jesus with a lack of comprehension coupled with
peremptory demands for a “sign.” He has fed 5,000 people in the wilderness with
five loaves of bread and two fish. Five loaves, two fish, 5,000 people — yet
there was enough to feed them all, plus 12 baskets left over. And just a while
after that, Jesus fed 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread, and there were
seven baskets of leftovers. After all this, Pharisees come to him seeking ... a
sign? Give us some kind of sign, they
say, to show us that you’re the real deal. Five thousand fed with five loaves
and two fish, with 12 baskets of leftovers; 4,000 served with seven loaves, and
seven baskets of leftovers. Still, they want a sign. Give us a real sign, they say — and Jesus sighs
and says that there will be no sign for this generation. It’s as if to say, if
the signs you’ve been given already aren’t enough, don’t bother looking for any
more.
Jesus’ 12 most faithful followers
aren’t much better. In a boat, crossing the sea after the second miraculous
feeding and the encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus talks to them about yeast,
and they think he’s talking about ... yeast! Well, okay, I suppose they might
be excused for that. But still, Jesus is speaking in metaphors, as he so often
does; he is feeding them signs, and they’re not reading them at all. “Truly I
tell you, no sign will be given to this generation,”1 is what he
says to the Pharisees and, I suppose, to anyone
seeking a sign. He might just as well have said, “I’ve been gi
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