1 AND he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. [ How dare he think that he is who he declares to be, we know his background. People are shocked by what Jesus is teaching and are trying to make sense of it. ]

4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

5 And he could there do no mighty work, [ Why could he not do great miracles here? Well because they had put limits on him because they thought that they knew who he was, the carpenters son. Verse 3. ] save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. [ Jesus was awestruck that they would put such limits on him because of who he was, or at least who they though that he was. ] And he went round about the villages, teaching.

7 ¶ And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:

9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.

10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.

11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

12  And they went out, and preached that men should repent. [ So Jesus has sent the disciples out and they go out from here. Mark does something really interesting with this story that we end up losing in Matthew. Matthew does not do the same thing because of the way he rearranges the stories. One thing that Mark loves to do sandwich a couple of stories together. He starts a story and then interrupts that story with another story only to come back to the first story. Doing this compels the reader to read those stories together, and he does that here. If we go back to just before Mark begins the story of the death of John the Baptist, if we start here, we get Jesus sending his apostles out to preach. Jesus had just finished explaining to them what their mission would be, endowing them with power to complete that mission, and sending them out. So here it says they went out and preached. Then that story is interrupted by this story of John the Baptist's death. As soon as we complete the story of John the Baptist's death, in Mark 6:29, the disciples of John the Baptist heard that he has been killed, they come, they take his corpse and lay it in a tomb, in Mark 6:29. Notice what Mark 6:30 says: "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told them all things, both what they had done and what they had taught." So the apostles have now returned from their mission and they share with Jesus everything that happened. So Mark takes the story of the disciples' mission and puts right in the middle of it the story of John the Baptist's death. Part of the reason Mark does this is to help us realize what is at stake, that discipleship to Jesus sometimes literally means giving your life. ]

13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

14 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.

16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.

17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. [ Herod Antipas has married his brother's wife, Herod Philip's wife, Herodias. ]

18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife. [ For John to Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him and would've killed him, but she could not, and it then explains the reason she could not is because Herod feared John and he knew that John had a following. So what is the law here? The Old Testament in Leviticus 18:16 it says, "Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife. It is thy brother's nakedness." Or Leviticus 20:21, "And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He hath uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless." John is pointing to these passages in Leviticus and critiquing Herod Antipas for breaking the Jewish law, saying, "You have gone against the law of Moses." ]

19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, [ John had quite a following which would have meant that many would have been talking negatively about Herodias, and she did not like that at all. ] and would have killed him; but she could not:

20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday [ Herod has a birthday celebration, a lot of his friends have gathered. ] made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;

22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, [ Salome (We learn her name from Josephus who records some of these events. Josephus, who is not Christian, he's a Jewish historian writing around 90 A.D.), his niece and daughter. Remember he married his brother's wife who had a daughter Salome. So she is both his niece and his step-daughter. ] and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.

23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. [ She must have performed quite the dance to give her half of the kingdom. Takes lap dances to a new level. ]

24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, [ Her mother Herodias. ] The head of John the Baptist. [ Said ask for the head of John. Remember this was something her mother wanted was to have John killed but could not make it happen on her own. ]

25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.

26 And the king was exceeding sorry; [ ] yet for his oath’s sake, [ The King had made an oath to do what she requested and so he honored his oath by beheading John. ] and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.

27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, [ A solitary place. ] and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: [ Mark includes the detail that they sat down in ranks by hundreds and fifties. Now it's interesting that Mark includes these particular details because both of these details hint back at passages we read in the Old Testament. If you turn to Numbers 27, beginning in verse 15, we get this, "Moses spake unto the Lord saying, 'Let the Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation which may go out before them and which may go in before them and which may lead them out and which may bring them in that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.'" Uses that exact same phrase, "As sheep which have no shepherd." "The Lord said unto Moses, 'Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thy hand upon him.'" So Joshua is then appointed to be Moses' secondhand man. Of course, Joshua ends up becoming in a way the new Moses. Moses is not allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land, it's Joshua who leads them into the Promised Land. This is actually really interesting, because in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is promised, God promises that God will raise up a prophet like Moses, and that is fulfilled in different ways over time, but one of the ways that's fulfilled is through Joshua. The reason we know that Joshua is a prophet like Moses is because Joshua does some of the sorts of things that Moses does. For instance, just as Moses parted the Red Sea to lead Israel out of Egypt, Joshua parts the river Jordan to lead Israel into the Promised Land at the beginning of the book of Joshua. So Joshua becomes this new Moses. Anyway, here's where it gets really interesting. Guess how you'd pronounce Joshua's name if it were written in Greek and then you were turning it into English? It's Jesus. Jesus' Hebrew name is Joshua, or Yehoshua, Yeshua, for short. The accounts if read in Greek of Joshua you will see Joshua called Jesus. So in the Old Testament you can see that it is Joshua (Jesus) who is parting the river Jordan and leading his people. That's significant for early Christians as well. If Joshua is the first prophet like Moses, then Jesus becomes this new prophet like Moses, and both have the same name. Already, Mark, in Mark 6:34, includes that detail that Jesus is moved with compassion towards them, Mark says, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, which suggests that Jesus needs to be this new Joshua, this new Moses, who is shepherding Israel. It also makes us think about the Old Testament. It makes us think in particular about the story of Israel in the wilderness, a time when God miraculously fed Israel by providing the manna, bread from heaven, in the wilderness. So these are details, miraculous feeding happening in the Old Testament and now again in the New. Once in the time of Moses and Joshua, now in the time of Jesus. ] and he began to teach them many things.

35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. [ So this newer Moses (Jesus) is doing what Moses was taught to do by his father in law Jethro. To put the people together in smaller groups as a way to organize them and administer to them. ]

40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

42 And they did all eat, and were filled.

43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, [ They were in Bethsaida and the Savior told his disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side to Capernaum. ] while he sent away the people.

46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, [ So when night came, the ship is in the middle of the sea. ] and he alone on the land.

48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; [ They are exhausted as they have been rowing against the wind all night long. They are wore out. But he could see them, and just knowing that he saw them, and that he see us as we row, we can apply this to our trials, to our problems, He sees us toiling and rowing in a contrary wind. sometimes we wish He'd come faster, but He sees us. That's a nice way to think about that. He sees everything you're going through. He knows what you're going through. ] for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night [ The fourth watch is what, between 3:00 and 6:00 AM . It's the fourth watch of the night, the night's almost over. So they've been doing this all night long. He did not come though all through the night. Why? Were there things that they needed to learn. He was there to make sure in a way that they were safe, but allowed them to be tested. He did not come until the fourth watch, meaning near dawn, yet He did come. Suggesting that miracles do come, though sometimes not until the fourth watch. ] he cometh unto them, [ He knows what is happening, there is nothing that does happen that he does not know. So he comes to them to comfort them. ] walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. [ something else that is relevant here to what we just saw here, and that is in Job. In Job 9:11, "Lo the Lord, he goeth by me and I see him not. He passeth on also and I perceive him not now." Here is why I think that passage is so relevant to understanding this. Just a couple of verses earlier in Job 9:8 it describes God as the one who stretches out the heavens and walks on the sea. In fact, Job 9:8 in the Greek translation makes it even more clear how miraculous this is. Here's the Greek translation, translated into English, of course. "Who alone has stretched out the heavens and walks on the sea as on firm ground?" That's a description of the Lord in Job, and here in Mark we see Jesus walking upon the sea and would have passed them by just like the Lord does time and again in the Old Testament. So they should have seen what was happening and said, "Oh my goodness, Jesus is the Lord." But instead they cry out, "It's a ghost!" ]

49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. [ How does the voice of the Master calm us? They are still in the middle of the storm and yet he suggests that they be of good cheer - right! We might ask what do we have to cheer about? We do have lot's to cheer about - that he has come, that he is here. "Be of good cheer." He said, "Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other. We need to speak hopefully, speak encouragingly, including about yourself. Try not to complain and moan incessantly." Then he jokes around, "As someone once said, even in the golden age of civilization someone undoubtedly grumbled that everything looked too yellow." ]

51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

52  For they [ The disciples. ] considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. [ The disciples still didn't understand what was going on. Matthew in Matthew 14:33, did not like Marks ending and ended his version of the story as such, "Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, 'Of truth, thou art the son of God.'" ]

53 And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.

54 And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him,

55 And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was.

56 And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.