These small group studies of the gospel of Mark 8:22-33 contain commentary, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, and applications to encourage life change. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more practical studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.
Mark 8:22-33 Bible Study and Questions – Peter’s High and Lows
Outline
I. Jesus heals a blind man (22-26)
II. Peter’s highs and lows (27-33)
I. Jesus heals a blind man (22-26)
Discussion Questions
• Is there any spiritual significance in Jesus healing a blind man?
• Why do you think Jesus spit on his eyes?
• Why might Jesus have taken two steps to heal this man when He normally healed instantly?
• Are there any parallels between healing the blind and salvation?
• Why did Jesus ask him not to enter the village?
• Did Jesus not want more people to hear the good news?
Cross-References
2 Corinthians 4:4 – In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
John 8:12 – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 9 – This is John’s account of Jesus healing a man who was born blind.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. Jesus was always willing to heal – There are no cases mentioned in the gospels where Jesus refused to heal someone who asked Him. In one case, He originally said “No” to the Gentile lady, but finally healed her daughter after she demonstrated her faith (Mark 7:24-30).
In this case, it was the blind man’s friends who asked Jesus on his behalf. Could this man have been to discouraged to even ask Jesus? We don’t know. But it is a reminder that we should intercede for our friends and relatives.
Matthew 7:7-8 – Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
God happily answers our petitions according to what is good for us.
Reflect – Is it God’s will to heal everybody?
He will heal all believers one day. But He only promises to do that in heaven.
Revelation 21:4 – He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
Godly, mature believers many times are not healed in this world.
1 Corinthians 12:8-9 – Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Paul, a godly apostle, most likely suffered a physical ailment, perhaps bad eyesight. He was not healed.
Daniel 8:27 – And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Daniel, a righteous man was sick.
Philippians 2:25–27 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Epaphroditus, a co worker of Paul was sick.
2 Timothy 4:20 – Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.
Clearly many righteous and godly people are sick, not only in biblical times, but now as well. We all know scores of people who are following faithfully after God who are sick.
Reflect – Why does God allow sickness?
God has many reasons to allow sickness or other trials.
• It is sometimes a form of discipline (1 Corinthians 11:30).
• Trials are used by God to strengthen our faith and perseverance (Romans 5:3-5).
• Sickness can help us grow in humility and dependence on God.
• He can use sickness as a means to greater glorify Himself (John 9:3).
God does not always desire health and wealth for believers because it is in a lack of health and wealth that He works many great changes in our lives. Suffering and trials are tools in the hand of a divine and sovereign God, used for building up our character. God cares more about our character than our comfort and convenience.
“Men are undoubtedly more in danger from prosperity than from adversity. For when matters go smoothly, they flatter themselves and are intoxicated by their successes.” – John Calvin
Application – When you or a loved one is sick, by all means pray and ask for healing. God can, and often does, heal. But do not grow resentful if He does not.
Know that He will answer according to what is good for you.
James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
2. Jesus took this blind man out of the village – We cannot be sure of all the reasons for this. However, it is clear that Jesus was not craving publicity or He would have healed him inside the village. Perhaps Jesus wanted a more private place where He could communicate with the man on a deeper level.
It was common for Jesus to tell those He healed not to spread the news. And in this case, Jesus also told the man not to go back into the village.
In one case, a healed leper disobeyed Jesus and the resulting crowds made things so chaotic that Jesus could no longer enter the towns in that region to preach (Mark 1:42-45).
Many people seek the spotlight when they do good deeds. They want to make sure everybody knows the good that they are doing. It could be anything from proclaiming how much money you give to the church to making sure your wife knows you did the dishes. Jesus wasn’t like this. Even though He deserved glory, He did not seek it for Himself.
John 8:50 – Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.
Application – When you do a good deed, don’t advertise it to make sure people see and appreciate you. Jesus said that when we give, we should not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3).
3. Jesus healed this man in two steps – It is noteworthy that this seems to be the only instance where Jesus healed someone in two steps. There is no reason given for this.
Here are some theories.
• To test the blind man’s faith
• To prompt the man to demonstrate his own faith in Jesus
• To show the man that Jesus was healing him personally
• To show that the disciples still only saw in part and needed clearer vision of who Jesus was
4. The man was healed and could see clearly – How exciting this would have been for this man! When I was a kid, sometimes I tried closing my eyes for as long as I could to imagine what it would be like to be blind. I never made it very long!
This man lived that way day after day, possibly for his entire life. Being blind is living in another world. Did you ever think about how to explain what color is like to a person who is blind? It is not possible. There is no way to explain it in a way that they can understand because they do not have this shared experience.
If he was born blind, he never saw a beautiful sunrise, rainbow, flower in blossom, kids playing together in the rain, or a million other treasured sights. Now he could!
This is what Jesus does. He completely transforms people’s lives. The blind man’s life would never be the same again and he wouldn’t live a single day without remembering Jesus’ compassion and kind touch which gave Him sight.
In a similar way, Jesus transforms our spiritual lives. Without the power of God regenerating our hearts, we are also blind. We would no way to understand the spiritual things of God without Him first enlightening us.
1 Corinthians 2:14 – The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
To quote Amazing Grace, “I was lost, but now I’m found. I was blind, but now I see.”
Because of the grace of God, we too can see. He is the Light of the World and opens our eyes to see His truth, to see His creative and redemptive work across creation. Most people in the world are blind to this, having been blinded by Satan. We have been granted a great gift, the gift of sight.
Reflect – What are you going to do with this gift? What should you do today? Tomorrow? Next week?
5. Jesus told him not to enter the village – This is similar to other commands to certain people not to tell others how they had been healed. There were certain points in Jesus’ ministry when He purposefully tried to keep the crowds following Him from growing too large. Overly large crowds tended to be more disorderly and sometimes hindered Jesus from His more in-depth discipleship and teaching ministry.
II. Peter’s highs and lows (27-33)
Discussion Questions
• What was Jesus doing on the way to Caesarea?
• What insight does this give us into Jesus’ ministry?
• Are there any lessons or applications for us?
• What productive things can you do “on the way” to work or home?
• How can you apply this in teaching your children or discipling others?
• Why did Jesus ask the question, “Who do people say that I am?” since He already knew the answer?
• How did Jesus get them to think about who He really was?
• Who piped up with the answer?
• What can we learn about Peter from this passage?
• Do you think the other disciples agreed with Peter?
• When do you think that they had come to this conclusion?
• How important is this statement considering their weaknesses and lack of faith which we have seen in past chapters?
• Why should they not tell others?
• Why did Jesus tell them about His coming sufferings, crucifixion, and resurrection?
• Did they “get it?” How do you know?
• How did Peter react to Jesus’ statement?
• What can you learn about Peter from this? Are there any applications for us?
• Why was Jesus so harsh to Peter? Why did He call him Satan?
• What seems to be going on behind the scenes in this passage?
Cross-References
Matthew 16:13-20 – This is the parallel passage in the Gospel of Matthew.
Deuteronomy 6:7 – You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Isaiah 14:27 – For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
Job 42:2 – I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
John 2:4, 7:6,8, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 13:1 – These verses all mention the fact that Jesus’ “time” or “hour” had not yet come.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. On the way – Jesus’ teaching was not in a classroom. He didn’t have the disciples get twelve desks, twelve pencils, twelve textbooks, and then open their books to page number twelve. While there is a time and a place for this type of teaching, educating in real-world context is more powerful and relevant.
Generally, classroom teaching exists because it is not feasible for a teacher to teach each student in the context of daily life. Whenever real-life instruction is possible, it is the better alternative.
For many years, I was a teach for a training center focused on early childhood development. The school where I taught called this kind of teaching, “teachable moments.”
For a parent, “teachable moments could mean teaching a child about math while at the store buying groceries, about nature while walking in the park, about history while at a memorial, about geography while on a trip, etc. In 2024, our family went on a road trip to the Western part of the United Stated and visited many national parks. My children learned more about science, nature, geography, and God’s creation from that trip than they do from their schoolbooks.
There are opportunities every day to have teachable moments with our children about important Biblical issues.
For example, on one son’s birthday, I taught my other about sharing and giving. When we have guests over, we first have a family meeting and talk over what hospitality looks like.
Jesus modeled this type of effective teaching. Wherever He went, we can see Him engaging the disciples using real-life examples of things they saw every day. Not only is this type of teaching effective, but it is a very productive use of time. They had what some people might say was “time to kill” while they were traveling from one place to another. But Jesus didn’t kill or waste the time. He used it constructively by stimulating fruitful conversations on important topics.
Applications – Teachers, how can you implement this type of teaching in the classroom? Parents, how can you begin to do this more with your kids? If you are not a teacher or a parent, how can you apply these principles? What productive things can you do “on the way” to work or home? How can you make better use of time in the car? How can you influence conversations around a meal top make them more fruitful?
2. Jesus questioned His disciples – This is the second prong of Jesus’ teaching method. He doesn’t lecture them on the way. He questions them.
In this passage did Jesus teach?
All He did was ask questions. But learning was taking place. Critical thinking was happening. Jesus didn’t ask just one question. He asked a follow-up question. His questions were open-ended.
Mark 8:27-29 – And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Notice that they were not questions that could be answered either “yes” or “no.” Too often we as teachers like to “show off” our knowledge. We like talking. It might be easier to feed the answer to people and it is certainly faster, but it normally won’t help them remember it or obey it.
In a seminar on life coaching I attended, they said to “Let the silence do the work.”
This means that sometimes after a teacher asks a question there is an awkward silence. The teacher or coach may sense the awkwardness and seek to fill the dead air. It is recommended not to do that. During the silence, the listener is likely mulling over the question and formulating an answer. By interrupting this process, you stop the student from exercising critical thinking or forming conclusions and actually train that individual to not use her brain but wait for the answer.
Application – When you educate others, seek to follow Jesus’ example of question asking. Ask good open-ended questions and then follow-up questions. Give appropriate time for those you are sharing with to answer without interrupting them.
3. There was a wide range of opinions on who Jesus was –
Some of the popular opinions on Jesus’ identity were very clearly ill-informed.
Reflect – Which one of these answers is obviously false? Why?
Jesus clearly could not have been John the Baptist since their lives overlapped and they were born just a few months apart. They had even seen each other face to face on at least one occasion.
But all of the opinions had one thing in common. Everyone believed Jesus was somebody special and not just an ordinary man.
4. “You are the Christ.” –
Mark 8:29 – Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
This is a high point in Peter’s “career” as a disciple. Throughout the gospels, we see the weaknesses and flaws of the disciples under a magnifying glass. We have seen their hard hearts, fear, lack of faith, short-term memories, pride, and lack of understanding.
But this statement right here shows their heart. They believed in Jesus. Matthew gives the full version of what Peter said.
Matthew 16:16-18 – Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Reflect – What do we learn about Peter and the disciples from this statement?
Peter’s answer as spot on. Jesus praised His answer and it was at this point that Jesus started calling him, “Peter,” which means “rock.”
However, the people were fickle. They followed Jesus for many reasons. Some wanted healing. Others were curious. Some wanted to see miracles. Perhaps some just wanted a free meal.
Not so for the disciples. They gave up everything in order to follow Jesus. They did this because they believed He was the Son of God. He was worth it. It wasn’t just empty words. They put their money where their mouth was.
Application – Let us be bold about our allegiance to Jesus. When you are challenged by the world around you, what will you say? Will you make a bold statement of faith like Peter did? Or will you waffle?
We should make a strong confession like Joshua did.
Joshua 24:15 – But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
5. Jesus warned them not to tell others about this –
See cross-references from John (John 2:4, 7:6,8, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 13).
Jesus was much driven by the mission He had been given to finish. Within that mission, He had a very clear idea about the timetable He wanted to follow as He moved through it step by step. In the book of John, we often see this clearly as Jesus makes statements such as his “time” or “hour” had “not yet come.”
Perhaps going around proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah would have stirred up opposition too early. Or perhaps it would have led the people to try to make Jesus king by force as they attempted another time. We don’t know exactly what would have happened, but we do not that Jesus didn’t plan for it to happen yet and so restrained them.
There is a time and place for everything.
6. Jesus was up front with the disciples –
Mark 8:31-32 – And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly.
He didn’t promise them a utopian existence and then surprise them at the last minute with an “Oh, by the way, you will be killed first.” He was very direct with them about what He was going to suffer. Many times, He also warned them about the costs of following Him and how they too would suffer by association (John 15:18-25).
Application – It is important to be honest with seekers. Do not spend all your time in a gospel presentation on eternal life and heaven. They need to understand sin, repentance, lordship, and the cost of being a disciple.
Jesus was friends with the disciples.
John 15:15 – No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
That meant telling them about His plans and about what was going to happen so that they could be as prepared as possible when that time came. It seems, however, that no matter how much Jesus warned them about these things, they were never fully prepared. That was because a “them problem”, not a “Jesus’ problem”. There are some things that are almost impossible to prepare for.
Imagine trying to prepare a mother who is going to give birth soon. You might tell her that it is going to hurt… a lot. Yet I’m going to guess that no amount of preparation can fully prepare a mother for that moment because it is simply outside anything they have experienced before.
The disciples just couldn’t fathom what Jesus was telling them. Hadn’t He stopped the storm? Hadn’t He healed thousands of people? Hadn’t He walked on water? Wasn’t He going to save them?
7. Peter – This passage gives us a concise character study of Peter. What do you learn about Peter from this passage?
• He liked to answer questions.
• He was the disciple’s spokesman.
• He wasn’t shy.
• He didn’t mince words.
• He had strong faith in Jesus and wasn’t afraid to say so.
• He was bold.
• Sometimes he was too confident.
• Sometimes he acted without thinking (He had just said Jesus was the Son of God and now he is rebuking Jesus???)
• He liked taking the lead.
• He didn’t fully grasp Jesus’ plan.
• He was rash.
Sometimes he followed up a “high” spiritual moment with a “low” one. He was somewhat of a roller coaster spiritually.
We should be careful that after a spiritual high we don’t let down our guard.
1 Corinthians 10:12 – Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
7. Peter rebukes Jesus – Peter took it upon himself to rebuke Jesus for suggesting that He was going to killed.
Matthew 16:22 – And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
He even had the gall to call Jesus “Lord” while rebuking him. Jesus had just named him “Rock.” It seems that title may have gone to Peter’s head a little bit. He fancied himself as the leader of the disciples. It was up to him to talk some sense into Jesus! But he forgot his place and became a tool of Satan to discourage Jesus from going through with the most important mission in the history of the world. Our salvation depended on Jesus going through with the plan and offering His life as a sacrificial substitute.
Reflect – Do you ever rebuke God? Perhaps we don’t do this verbally, but do we ever set ourselves up as a judge over God, judging His action or inaction?
8. Jesus’ response –
Mark 8:33 – Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.
Peter started off rebuking Jesus, but it ended up being Peter who was rebuked by Jesus. This as harsh a rebuke as you can get and as strongly as Jesus ever spoke to any of the disciples.
Reflect – Why did Jesus respond so strongly?
It seems that Satan was attempting to use Peter as a way to discourage Jesus from going through with His plan. Jesus was having no part in it. He shows us that there is a time and a place for a strong rebuke. Sometimes it takes a strong rebuke to knock the sense back into someone who has lost it.
Yet we see that Jesus’ rebuke is a corrective one. He doesn’t simply scold Peter. But He gives Peter the reason why he is wrong. He shows Peter that the way back is to stop setting his mind on his own interest, but instead set his mind on God’s.
Application – What do you learn from Jesus’ response to Peter?
What can you apply from the passage to your life this week?
Leave A Comment