Jesus spent time alone with His disciples training them and preparing them. He taught them that He was going to be handed over to men who would kill Him and then after three days He would rise. They didn’t understand Him but were too afraid to ask Him what this all meant.
I don’t know why the disciples were too afraid to ask but pride is often the reason we don’t want to admit we don’t understand something. Don’t fall into that trap. The humble are able to ask and they gain wisdom (Prov 11:2).

On the way to Capernaum, the disciples were arguing with each other. When they arrived, Jesus asked them what they had been discussing. They didn’t answer Him because they had been arguing with each other about who would be the greatest. Jesus sat them down and told them, the one who wants to be first must be the last and servant of all. Then Jesus took a child in his arms and told them that the one who receives (with honour) a little child, receives Jesus and God who sent Him. To be great in God’s kingdom is to be rewarded. To be rewarded, we must deny ourselves in this life and serve others (Mark 8:35-36).

At another time John tells Jesus that they found someone casting out demons in His name and they tried to stop him because he was not following “us” (the twelve). They had the idea that they were the exclusive means for administering the power of God. But Jesus says that anyone who does things in Christ’s name is on our side. All who minister for Christ are on the same side. All service for Christ, even something as seemingly insignificant as giving another believer a cup of cold water, will not go unrewarded. Don’t think that you can only serve God if you do something great. The world only recognises those who do great things. In God’s kingdom, even the smallest thing done for Christ is recognised and rewarded. In what ways are you serving Christ in your life?

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John return to the rest of the disciples, they find a commotion. There is a crowd including scribes and they are arguing. When they see Jesus they seem excited because they know things will be resolved. Jesus asked what they were arguing about when a father comes out of the crowd and explains. He had brought his son to Jesus for healing because he was possessed by a spirit that made him mute and also caused him to have seizures. He had asked the disciples to cast out the spirit but they were not able to.

Jesus laments over the faithless generation. This incident serves as an illustration of the entire nation. They demand a sign and want the results of faith without having to exercise faith. Jesus has the boy brought to him and after discussing how long the boy has been suffering, the dad says “if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” He brought his son to be healed and the disciples were unable to help him. What faith the father had is now failing. Jesus tells him that all things are possible for the one who believes. The father admits that he has some belief but needs help with where his faith is lacking. Jesus then healed the boy.

In what area are you battling to trust God? Your faith will as you read the Bible and see stories where God comes through for those who trust Him. Your faith will grow when you listen to testimonies of those who have trusted God and He has answered their prayers. And it will grow when you use what little faith you have and experience that God is faithful in your life.

When the disciples asked why they couldn’t cast out this demon, Jesus reminded them that their failure was primarily a lack of dependency on God exercised through prayer. When the going gets tough, the weak get on their knees and pray!

Even though Jesus had just told the disciples that following Him was a life of sacrifice and suffering, He also told them that some of them would get to see the kingdom of God come in power before they died. That happened a week later when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain and He was transformed and revealed His glory to them. At the same time, Moses and Elijah appeared with Him and they spoke. Peter offered to build tents for them. He was probably thinking about the prophecy from Zechariah (Zech 14:16–19) which spoke of the nations worshiping the King by participating in the Feast of Tabernacles (tents) but he didn’t really know what to say because he was afraid. Then a cloud descended and the voice of God said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Then suddenly everything returned to normal. What an amazing scene punctuated by a profound sentence, how much have you paid attention to that? Jesus is God’s beloved Son and God says, “listen to him!” Are you doing that? In what areas are you not listening to what Jesus has said? What do you need to do to change that?

When they came down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell anyone about what they saw until after Jesus rose again. They obeyed Jesus even though at the time they didn’t fully understand what Jesus rising again meant. They also questioned the scribes teaching that Elijah must come before the Messiah and Jesus said that Elijah had come before (in John the Baptist) and just as he had died, so Jesus too would die.

Jesus asked His disciples who people thought He was. They told Him that some thought He was John the Baptist, others that He was Elijah, and others just a prophet. Jesus then asked them who they thought He was and Peter said, “You are the Christ.” Again Jesus tells them not to tell anyone. Even today people have different ideas about who Jesus is, but the only one that matters is the truth—Jesus is the Messiah, God as Man sent to save the world from their sins.

From this point on Jesus focussed on teaching the disciples and preparing them for His death and resurrection and their subsequent ministry. Peter didn’t want to hear the truth. Peter wasn’t interested in hearing about Jesus suffering and dying. Peter still thought they were going to rise up against Rome. He was following Jesus but still for His own purpose, not fully submitted to God’s way of doing things. Jesus points out that to follow Him is to deny yourself. To follow Jesus is to be prepared to die a death of humiliation (take up your cross). What does it help to preserve your way of life on earth only to lose it in eternity? What does it help to gain everything the world offers by living according to the world system only to lose out on the rewards eternity has to offer? Following Jesus has a significant cost in this life but comes with tremendous rewards in eternity. Are you thinking and acting with an eternal perspective or just the narrow perspective of your life on earth? (Psalm 90:12)

The Pharisees come to Jesus and they want to see a sign to validate His ministry. Not only had they completely ignored all the signs He had shown them but they had attributed His miracles to Satan (Mark 3:22). From this point Jesus was not going to show further signs. Jesus would continue to perform miracles, but only in response to faith.

Once again they find themselves in a boat and Jesus uses the opportunity to warn the disciples that the Pharisees and Herodians are like leaven. Their teaching has an infectious quality that can affect everyone (1 Cor 5:6). The disciples hear leaven and think bread. They miss Jesus’ point and are concerned that they haven’t brought enough bread with them. Jesus points out their spiritual misperception. Were they not there when He fed the five thousand from just five loaves with twelve baskets left over and when He fed the four thousand from just seven loaves and had seven baskets left over? How have they missed that Jesus will supply their need? When you find yourself in a difficult situation, are you turning to Jesus first for your provision? If not, why not?

The miracle of the blind man given his sight in two stages illustrates the blurred vision of the disciples as they fail to see clearly. Having eyes they do not see and having ears they do not hear.

Once again Jesus has a large crowd so focussed on His teaching that they forgo food. Jesus has compassion on them because they had been with Him for three days and if they left now they would likely faint on the way home. When He tells his disciples, they can’t think of how they could feed this crowd with bread in such a desolate place. (Have they so quickly forgotten that Jesus recently fed 5,000 men as well as women and children?) Again Jesus asks them how many loaves they have available. They have seven. Jesus again directs the crowd to sit down and again gives thanks, breaks the bread and continually gives to His disciples to distribute to the crowd. There were also a few small fish which Jesus also distributed those after blessing them. Again everyone ate to their satisfaction and there is so much food that seven basketfuls are collected afterward. This crowd likely consisted of both Jews and Gentiles because of the location and while Mark mentions 4,000 people, Matthew confirms it was 4,000 men apart from women and children (Mat 15:38).

Are you like the crowd, would you sit for three days devouring spiritual food while ignoring physical food? Is your hunger for spiritual nourishment that great? Should it be?
Or are you more like the disciples, not really paying enough attention to what God’s doing that you forget or simply don’t let your faith grow as He works in and through you? How could you pay more attention to what God is doing?

Once again we see Jesus needing some quiet but the desperate need of the people had them coming everywhere He went. A Gentile woman came to Jesus and begged Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. These are words of desperation yet Jesus told her that the children should be fed first and it would not be right to throw the children’s bread to the dogs. He was trying to spend time with His disciples and feed into their lives and she was interrupting. Her response was that even the house dogs get to eat at the same time as the children because they get the crumbs that fall to the floor during the meal. She showed humility and faith and because of that, Jesus healed her daughter and sent her on her way.
All this woman wanted was a crumb. She recognised Jesus’ power was vast and He could easily heal her daughter and she wasn’t going to leave without getting what she could. We have access to the full meal with Jesus, not just the crumbs. What are you doing about getting all the spiritual nourishment you can from Jesus today?

As Jesus moved on, a man was brought to him who was both deaf and mute. Those who brought him begged Jesus to lay His hand on him, to heal him. Jesus took him aside privately, put His fingers in his hears, spat on the ground and touched his tongue, and looked up to heaven and said, “Be opened.” Immediately he could hear and speak. Again Jesus told them not to tell anyone but the more he told them to stop, the more they proclaimed that he made the deaf hear and the mute speak. Jesus wanted to be known as more than just a popular miracle worker. The interesting method Jesus used to cure this man’s disability was possibly done so that the man could participate in faith. Jesus may have been using signs and easy to lip read language. A person who has not been able to hear would usually be unable to speak properly and yet this man was so completely healed that he was able to speak plainly as part of his healing.
It’s easy to see how someone might want to shout from the roof tops if they have been healed physically. Yet physical healing does nothing for one’s spiritual eternity. How much more should we be proclaiming our spiritual healing to everyone who would listen. How big a deal is it to you that you have been saved from eternal punishment, from the spiritual disability to hear and speak with God? Who have you told about this lately?

Jesus called those around him and explained that a person is not defiled or made unclean by anything he eats. Eating with hands that were not ceremonially washed wasn’t going to do anything either. Whatever goes into your mouth doesn’t go into your heart but into your stomach and then out the other end. In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.
It is what comes out of a person’s mouth that shows if he is defiled or not. Because when your heart is unclean, then what comes out from it are evil thoughts, evil actions, and evil words.
So what is coming from your heart? Are your thoughts, actions, and words proof of a clean or an unclean heart? The route to changing your heart is through changing your mind. You need a mind renewed from the way of the world, changed to God’s way of thinking (Rom 12:2).

The Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem came up to test Jesus. While there they notice that some of His disciples ate without first observing the ceremonial washing of hands that they practiced. This is not about hygiene, they would ceremonially wash before eating even if their hands were clean, this was about religious practice. The Pharisees and scribes wanted to know why the disciples weren’t observing the tradition of the elders. Jesus points out that Isaiah had prophesied about Israel’s religious leaders, that they would honour God with their mouths while their heart was not inclined toward Him. They would worship God in vain while elevating their own rules to the level of doctrine (God’s word). Jesus accused them of ignoring God’s word while following their traditions. Jesus pointed out that while God requires that we honour our father and mother, they had a tradition called Corbin which bypassed the requirement of honouring one’s parents. They would dedicate their money to the temple and that would exempt them from using it to care for their parents. This was only one example of traditions they had that overruled God’s word and made it void.

Where have you elevated tradition above God’s word? Sometimes we think a believer is only a true believer if they dress/speak/act a certain way. Sometimes we only think church is valid if it has the right actions/process/music/style. Is your worship just something you do with your mouth or does it come from a heart devoted to God?

The disciples have just been part of the miracle of Jesus feeding over five thousand people when He sends them by boat to Bethsaida, the other side of the sea. Jesus also dismissed the well-fed crowd and went up alone onto the mountain to pray. While Jesus was praying on the mountain, darkness began to set in and He saw that the disciples were battling to cross the sea because the wind was against them. Jesus continues to spend time alone in prayer and then at about 3 in the morning He went out to them walking on the water. They were still battling to move forward about six hours later. Jesus intended to walk past them but they saw Him and thought he was a ghost and were terrified. But Jesus spoke and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” As Jesus got into the boat with them, the wind calmed down and they were amazed. They had witnessed Jesus multiplying the loaves but had not recognised the significance because their hearts were heartened. They still did not understand that Jesus was God. His walking to them on the water was no greater a miracle than producing all that food. They had continued to struggle to do things in their own strength instead of calling to God in prayer. How much do you find yourself lacking in faith, or not even considering spiritual things, and struggling forward in your own strength against the metaphorical storms of life?

As soon as they arrived on the other side people recognised Jesus and brought their sick to Him for healing. They recognised, like the woman with the bleeding, that even touching His clothes would make them well and so wherever he went people would strain to touch even the edge of His cloak. Those who did were made well. Jesus’ cloak wasn’t magic, it was just that Jesus chose to recognise their expression of faith and made them well.