A Small Group was Jesus’ Primary Discipleship Vehicle
In Mark 8:14-21 the disciples display a deficiency in their discipleship.
Mark 8
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they replied.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
They answered, “Seven.”
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
In these verses it becomes clear the disciples didn’t understand the significance of all they had experienced up to that point. They were spiritually blind.
Immediately after these verses, Mark includes Jesus’ response to their spiritual blindness with a section that starts and ends with the only two healings of blind people in the Gospel of Mark - Mark 8:22-26 and Mark 10:46-52.
This section is Mark 8:27 to 10:46 and in it almost every verse is either:
A Planned Small Group Meeting, or
An Impromptu Small Group Meeting held immediately after an event
This frequency of small group gatherings is a very different pattern from the first eight chapters of Mark. It demonstrates that Jesus’ primary vehicle for discipleship was a small group.
Recognising the small group gatherings
For many years I didn’t recognise that this section contained all of these small group gatherings. But when started reading this passage looking for the ways of Jesus I noticed these cues:
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them (Mark 8:27)
As they were coming down the mountain Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone (Mark 9:9)
After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately (Mark 9:28)
They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples (Mark 9:30)
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house he asked them (Mari 9:33)
When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus (Mark 10:10)
after the rich man had left ….Jesus looked around and said to his disciples (Mark 10:23)
Again he took the twelve aside (Mark 10:32b)
Jesus called them together and said (Mark 10:42)
Jesus was with his disciples in many settings like the synagogue, with crowds, on mountainsides, and visiting houses for meals. But it is clear that when he wanted to focus on their discipleship he met with them in a small group.