Posts
Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."
And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread." But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven." So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"
- Mark 8:11-21
On Saturday, we read that, in those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar." Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven." So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." My study bible says, "A sign from heaven is an indisputable, spectacular act, the kind Jesus rejected in His temptations. [See Matt. 4:6-7; Luke 4:9.] Jesus has given countless signs by this time: causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the dead to rise. But these are not good enough for the Pharisees. Jesus sighed deeply, for they seek a sign out of hardness of heart, daring Jesus to force them to faith." This isn't the only time Jesus will refuse to "perform on command," so to speak. At the time of His trial, Herod will also make demands, and Christ will refuse to comply.
And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. They are on their way back toward Bethsaida, to the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. It's really quite striking how we repeatedly have reminders that food somehow gets lost in the shuffle. We've been told in this Gospel that Jesus and the disciples are in a house that is so chaotic with His growing ministry, no one can even eat bread. At another time, just after Jesus has appointed apostles who've gone out on their first mission, we were told they are so busy they don't have time to eat. In that same reading, we read about the first feeding in the wilderness, when 5,000 men (together with more women and children) have followed Jesus to a deserted place, and there is seemingly no bread to give them. A similar story happens with the feeding of the four thousand.
Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." My study bible tells us, "Leaven is frequently (but not always) a negative image in Scripture, symbolizing evil. Here it represents the erroneous understanding and evil intent of the Pharisees and Herod Antipas. Though they completely misunderstand the revelation of God in Christ, the Pharisees influence the people. Their teaching is like leaven; it permeates the whole. Their blatant legalism and hypocritical actions damage those who listen to them."
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread." But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven." So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?" A note tells us, "Jesus is concerned about His disciples. Men who do not yet understand the Lord's provision for them in the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand are men whose hearts are still hardened. Discipleship without an understanding of Christ is unthinkable."
The Gospel is interesting in its reflection of a pattern of life. It's telling us a story not just about them, the disciples and other characters in the Gospels, but about ourselves, and about the spiritual life. Over and over again, the disciples themselves have been given plenty of signs about Jesus, about the ministry, about what is important and essential, and what is not. Going back again to the idea of "bread" or food, we can see all the times when it has featured as part of a teaching of importance. Ministry comes first, and all else is provided. In His temptation and hunger, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy: "Man does not live by bread alone; but by every word of God." Jesus has also taken away an emphasis on foods by teaching that there is something more defiling to a person than eating the wrong foods. Even after He has provided food and nourished groups of five and four thousand in the wilderness, the disciples still don't understand. Jesus' question, "How is it that you do not understand?" could possibly be rendered literally in American English, "You haven't put it together yet?" The Gospel contrasts the Pharisees (and Herod's) demand for a sign, with the disciples who have been given many signs. Yet they still haven't "put two and two together," so to speak. Why would He be upset about the bread? They fail to understand His reference to the "leaven" of the Pharisees and Herod. While others demand signs, the disciples who follow Christ everywhere still don't understand Him. The last thing He really needs to worry about is food, that will be taken care of. But spiritual understanding is something else altogether; that is the purpose of His mission. Without our real perception and focus, where is the meaning in our lives, what's the purpose? The disciples model for us our own lives. Perhaps there are times when we have that "Aha!" moment in which several experiences are put together so that they finally make sense. We finally "get it." They are at that place where they have had several experiences that should have taught them something, and yet they still don't get it, they still haven't put it together. In this we're given a strong and powerful message that, even as Jesus' patience is tested by them, even as He has to ask how they still haven't put things together, it's what is in their heart that matters. It all comes down to questions of faith. These disciples may not be all knowledgeable, but they haven't asked for proof. The Pharisees may be experts in the Scripture, but they can't see Christ with the eyes of faith at all. We go deeper into the heart here with this teaching, removed yet another step from our constant preoccupations with the purely material, with fears of scarcity, and anxieties and worries about things to a level that distracts us from a central purpose. Here in this place where the disciples are still slow to understand there is relationship, there is discipline, and there is patience. They're still responsible for what they fail to grasp, and He still remarks at their slowness of perceiving. But He bears on with them, and they persist with Him. In the times when we can't see the forest for the trees, let us remember that there is a purpose and a meaning behind the things that baffle us. We must keep moving forward and through it when we still don't "get it." It's faith that gets us through and keeps us in a place where we're ready to understand. Giving up, sitting back, and saying, "Give me proof" isn't really the place we need to be. Centering ourselves in this relationship with its patience and its love is the way. Sometimes "acceptance" is just the place we need to be. The Gospel gives us a gift by teaching us that, even for the disciples, there are times when we just don't have all the answers. But He will always be there to provide us with new opportunities to figure it out!
