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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?"
Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking." Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."
- Mark 8:11-26
In yesterday's reading, we were told 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." And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. My study bible tells us that "a sign from heaven is an indisputable, spectacular act, the kind Jesus rejected in His temptations [see Matthew 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." We see the interaction with the religious establishment, and begin to understand just how they will approach the concept of Messiah. Leaving the presence of the Pharisees, Jesus goes to the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, not far from Bethsaida.
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." My study bible points out to us that "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." Elsewhere, in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus uses the image of leaven as a parable to the work of the Kingdom. It depends on what and whose leaven He's speaking about to understand the action it has on others. The contrast gives us a clear understanding of the importance of our choice, our discernment.
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?" Jesus is right to warn about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod Antipas, those who seek signs. (Luke's Gospel refers to Herod Antipas' desire to see a miracle performed by Jesus.) My study bible says, "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."
Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking." Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town." My study bible says that "Jesus leads the man out of the town, to a private place once again, for another special healing. This man is healed in stages, just as our ability to know God grows gradually. Again, He wishes His messianic secret not to be revealed."
I think today's reading is interesting in the way the different stories interact with one another to teach us something essential about our faith, and about the disciples who follow Jesus. First of all, we have the Pharisees who are by now very interested in Jesus' ministry. They have heard, no doubt, all kinds of things about what is happening with this man who has done so many healings and has such great crowds following Him. Their ideas of messianic prophecy, combined with their desire to judge and regulate from their positions of leadership, have the effect of creating the sort of hard-heartedness we read about here. They demand signs, proofs, to be compelled to faith -- as if Jesus is a great ruler, come to impress with material power and weapons, numbers of men and chariots and horses, a powerful army, great wealth. But Jesus' ministry is entirely on a different footing, and to understand Christ, the heart must be functioning to receive this Good News of His ministry. The leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod Antipas is a shared understanding and desire for power that works in material ways; thus their blindness to the truth of Christ, incarnate as human being. It takes a different sort of perception to understand. The effects of this way of thinking are clear in the disciples -- especially as Jesus teaches them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. These leaders' interest is clearly in ruling, but even to understand Jesus as a leader it takes a different kind of perception and sight. Jesus will say that he who would be greatest of all must be the slave of all; this is an entirely different way of thinking than we are encountering in either the Roman or the Jewish leadership here. As Suffering Servant, Jesus goes unrecognized, in some very real sense, even by His own disciples when they fail to understand the feedings in the wilderness that are prompted by this Leader's compassion for the multitude (see the readings on the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand). We need the right set of eyes and ears to understand this Leader, and His type of leadership, His power, His real essence. And if we want to become a part of His Kingdom, we seek to become more like Him. This is the purpose of the Incarnation. And then finally, we come to the story of the blind man taken aside and healed, and we have the perfect correlation to our own lives on this journey of seeking true spiritual sight. "I see men like trees walking" is a metaphor for how we begin to see, to perceive with the heart, to understand Christ in a basic sense, a kind of outline, and over time, He fills in the spaces, the details, the things that are missing, all the substance of what faith can do in us. He makes things clear, but it is a process. And I think there's a very important key here, in the seeking of the signs. All around ourselves we can hear people, a whole world, demanding proofs. But faith is different, and it works differently, gradually, in us -- just as the disciples fail miserably to see Jesus' power in the miracles of feeding the crowds who are like sheep without a shepherd, stranded in the wilderness for their need of Christ, and must be fed. We're all like them, and we're all on that path. So often we seem to feel that if we're really His disciples we need to "prove it" all the time! Some spectacular deed, some great show of faith, or even sacrifice of compassion, or something miraculous working through us (like perhaps the stories of the great saints) will prove that we are truly faithful to others. But who are we trying to kid? To whom do we need to prove that we love Christ? We'd be far better off remembering these disciples who fail to understand, and this blind man who comes so gradually to sight, and alone, in private with Jesus, in a secret place, and admonished to keep this a secret. In our private prayers we really come to Jesus, and we bring our whole selves to the place where we need to be healed by Him. In the midst of the Church, in a liturgy or service, one also finds oneself alone with Christ even in the midst of the congregation -- truly in a place where we can ask what He wants of us. And that is how our faith must work, and how we must come to be good disciples. Our faith doesn't need to be proven to anyone, because it's right there in the heart where we meet Him. And where we meet Him is where we're told what He wants of us, how we need to change, what the measure of what we truly give to Him -- ourselves -- means in real value. Let's remember who the Judge is, and how His ministry worked, and how He "failed" to give the signs others demanded of Him. Let us remember His mission was always true to the wishes of the Father, and how He resisted the temptation to "prove" anything. Let us be there with Him, in the place He calls us to, whether anyone else knows it or not. That's how we really give of ourselves to Him.
