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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?"
- Mark 8:11-21
Saturday, we read that in those day of Jesus' ministry, 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." Jesus is challenged to prove He's the Messiah, to prove He's "from heaven." This would mean some spectacular display of power. My study bible says that the time of the Messiah was expected to be accompanied by signs, but the Pharisees refuse to recognize the signs already performed by Jesus which we've read about in the Gospel so far in His ministry. Instead, they "up the ante," as the expression goes, demanding a greater "proof." Jesus will work according to the Father's will; He does not provide signs on demand for anyone. Jesus speaks of Herod here; in Luke's Gospel, when Jesus is presented before Herod, having been sent by Pilate for judgment, we're told that Herod eagerly sought to see a sign on demand, but was given none.
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?" Leaven, says my study bible, is used both positively and negatively in Scripture. (See Matthew 13:33 for a positive reference; here Jesus uses it negatively.) But leaven symbolizes a force that "gets into things." As my study bible puts it, it symbolizes a force "powerful enough (and often subtle enough) to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8)."
We have to think about how Jesus' ministry works, and what He is here for. We know that whatever He does, He is following the will of the Father. There's an unfolding that happens here, for a reason. His ministry is teaching everyone the things of God, the ways in which we're to think about what is holy, and what is good. But the crux of everything, the rock on which the Church will be built, is faith. Faith is a kind of key that unlocks everything about God, and it's the key to Jesus' ministry. We know that because of faith, great healings have happened. There is the healing of the woman with the twelve years' blood flow, which we read about in the same reading as the raising of Jairus' daughter (see Do not be afraid; only believe). In both of those healings, faith played a powerful role in the capacity for Jesus' holy power to work within the human beings who needed it. We have read that in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, there was so much cynicism about Him, and so little faith, that He could not perform the usual healings and great works that accompany His ministry. So the presence of faith produces signs of the presence of God, and the lack of faith means that Christ cannot work the great works of the holy power present with Him. This is a synergistic ministry; what is in us works hand in hand with God's power. Both things must be present. If we think about it, we know that God's power is always present, but it is our capacity for faith that somehow unlocks knowledge of God in us, provides the opportunity for God to work in us and with us. It is a relationship of love and trust. Where is the love and trust in the demand for a sign, in the demand for a proof? That implies a different sort of heart, one that is "hardened" against the things of God, in the language of the Scriptures. It's a heart that's looking for something else, somewhere else, looking to condemn, to find ways to hide from this love of God. This is the "leaven of the Pharisees." Coupled with these attacks on Him by the Pharisees, Jesus finds His own disciples with hearts "hardened" so that they don't understand His power, don't recognize it. They don't understand His words, either, His teachings which are also part and parcel of the "mysteries" of God to which disciples have access via faith. Jesus marvels, "How is it you do not understand?" because they think He's upset they didn't bring bread, when twice now He's fed thousands in the wilderness by multiplying what is on hand. There's another clue here, in the relationship of the words "leaven" and "bread" to Christ Himself. He brings to the world a faith that is like leaven: the kingdom of heaven He has likened to leaven in one parable (Matthew 13:33). He has already fed thousands on two occasions with blessed bread, multiplied through holy power (to which He refers in today's reading, the second occasion we can read from Saturday, above). These prefigure the Eucharist which will be given at the Last Supper. He is Himself the bread of life, the bread that came down from heaven. All of this is linked to faith: to trust and love, the roots of faith. And in some way we're all called to choose what we put our faith in, what we put our trust in. Jesus presents the disciples with a choice here: the leaven of the Pharisees or faith in Him. Are His works enough for them, or are their hearts hardened as in the doctrine of the Pharisees who demand a sign on their terms? It all comes down to whose love we trust in. That's the real root of faith. Do we respond to God's love for us, or to the leaven that teaches us to find ways to deny that love? Which do we think is true?
