Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

 

 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 that 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."   A sign from heaven, my study Bible explains, means a spectacular display of power.  It says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but the Pharisees have not recognized the sign already being performed by Jesus, because their hearts were hardened.  They thus ignored the works happening all around them.  A sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God, my study Bible adds.  

 

 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 that you do not understand?"    My study Bible explains that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, it notes, leaven is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as it is here.  In either case, it explains, leaven symbolizes a force powerful enough -- and frequently subtle enough -- to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  

 

In today's reading, we have two kinds of "hard-heartedness" or lack of belief that we read about.  One is of the Pharisees and Herod.  They seek a sign, and it must somehow be proven to them that Jesus is a truly holy man, let alone the Christ.  It doesn't matter how many "signs" are present in Christ's ministry, doesn't matter how much of what He does is a reflection of God the Father, they won't believe.  Clearly, they don't want to, and have particular interests to guard that might be threatened by the holiness of Christ and His ministry.   Essentially, they want to be "manipulated" into faith, shall we say; that is, forced into it by some spectacular act that will leave no doubt.  But this is not Christ's mission nor ministry.  He seeks those with eyes to see and ears to hear (Isaiah 6:9-10).   What we call hard-heartedness seems to take on two forms.  There is first of all the kind of hardness of heart that Jesus refers to when He speaks to the disciples in today's reading, asking them, "Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?"   This is based on a Scriptural understanding of "the heart" as the seat of understanding and perception.  This "heart" is the door upon which Christ knocks when we read, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20).  In this sense, a hardened heart is one that will not open to truth, will not open to the perception of spiritual truth and understanding to receive Christ, who is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  Then there is the "hardness of heart" that has developed as an understanding of the passage given in St. Mark's 3rd chapter, when Jesus is challenged over healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.  The text tells us that Jesus entered the synagogue, watched over by the Pharisees to see whether or not He would heal on the Sabbath, something they had already faulted.  Jesus asked them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent.  Then we're told that Jesus look around at them with anger, and was grieved by the hardness of their hearts.  This incident led to the Pharisees plotting with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (see Mark 3:1-6).  This hardness of heart has come to mean a kind of cruelty, that in a modern secular usage seems to be divorced from the things of God.  But, in essence, we're speaking about quite similar things.  The message seems to be that a heart divorced of the things of God, will be divorced from even what is naturally good to us, like the healing of a man with a withered hand.  So, hard-heartedness in today's reading takes the form of this demand by the Pharisees whom Jesus condemns in their asking for some great sign -- but also in the form of Christ's questioning of His own disciples, when they fail to grasp what He tells them about "the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod."  They, the disciples, have certainly seen enough to know that He would not be complaining to them for lack of bread!  Here is the place where we have affirmed that the feeding of five thousand, and later of four thousand (see Saturday's reading, above), are clearly two separate incidents, in Jesus' words here to the disciples.  But the near-incredulity we can read into Christ's questions to the disciples teaches us that even He seems somewhat mystified at their lack of understanding, as if these feeding miracles had never happened.  We can think of at least one reason that might explain their repeated lack of understanding, and that is the encroachment of a threat from the religious authorities and the state against Christ.  It will be a long road toward their acceptance and understanding of what is to come ultimately in Christ's ministry, in His Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.  So let us consider "hard-heartedness" as a term that means a lack of perception of the things that belong to God, the natural goodness of human beings, and the love that we know is of God (1 John 4:8).  For the text shows us that although we might stumble as human beings, there is redemption in the long road of faith, as for the disciples -- while there are still others who have no sense of repentance nevertheless.  Let us ask ourselves where our own hearts are hardened, and what thing we may need to learn to accept today, even if it is difficult for us.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull

 

 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to the, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  

 

"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

     'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, 

    And seeing you will see and not perceive;

    For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

    Their ears are hard of hearing,

    And their eyes they have closed,

    Lest they should see with their  eyes and hear with their ears,

    Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

    So that I should heal them.'

 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

 

- Matthew 13:10-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after a confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

  And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to the, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  My study Bible says that the mysteries of the kingdom are not simply obscure concepts or some religious truths only for the elite.  Additionally, the understanding the parables is not simply an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find this message hared to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible adds, it's the simple and innocent who are open to its message.  

 

"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their  eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary on Christ's use of this passage from Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10) that this prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It's a figure of speech common in Scripture that reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).   It means that God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They didn't "see and not perceive" because God spoke through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.

So what makes a person "blessed," with "eyes to see and ears to hear?"  Why is it that some have this capacity while others don't?  Surely it comes down to a matter of a heart that is open, or at least one that longs for the things of God.  Moreover, Jesus says to the disciples that "many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  How is that possible?  It seems to suggest that they are the ones who are fortunate to be called at this time to this Kingdom, in the presence of Christ as incarnate human being.  It is Christ coming into the world and calling those who respond that makes this possible.  And so, we should think ourselves, that we are fortunate to have what so many of our spiritual ancestors that fill the pages of the early books of the Bible did not have, Christ.  We are the ones who reap the benefits from God's grace and mercy, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and especially His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  In Pentecost, the energies of God make themselves known and present in the capacity of the disciples to suddenly be understood by all in their own languages.  God's presence has made itself more closely manifest to us than to our spiritual forbears.  And yet, so many would dismiss even this.  In a fashionable or modern setting, how many people consider the wisdom of Christ and what it adds to human life?  One thing we can certainly discern from the parable of the Sower, even before we get to Christ's explanation (in tomorrow's reading), is the value of the word.  That is, the true blessedness of the seed He's sowing, the thing He offers to all of creation?  How many cherish that word, and understand that it is gift to help us to grow, and to reap a spiritual harvest through discipleship in our own lives?  We are taught to care about many things, and to chase after the things which we consider make life good and livable.  But how many of us seek this word -- nurturing the seed it plants within us -- as a highest priority, that can change the quality and meaning of everything else, and shape values in our lives?  For not only does it seem we need discernment to understand the parable, but the parable is teaching us that it is Christ's seed, the Sower's word, that rewards us with real discernment and spiritual values in the first place.  So, in this consideration, we can begin to see what it means that people's hearts have grown dull.  For, indeed, if such is the case, how will we know what's good and what to value?  How will we know and learn what's worthwhile to pursue, or even what to teach our children?  If our hearts have grown dull, we might miss altogether the things that save our souls, nurture them, and make them grow and expand.  Let us take His words seriously.  

 

 

 

How is it you do not understand?

 

 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."  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?"  Once again, has Jesus has returned to Jewish territory (in our recent readings, Jesus has spent much time evading the Pharisees as He was in the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, and then the Greco-Roman culture of the Decapolis).  So, in today's reading, we again feel the influence and scrutiny of the Pharisees, whom Jesus had quite possibly been evading after His last dispute with them.  My study Bible comments that the leaven of the Pharisees to which Jesus refers is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, it points out, "leaven" is used both positively and negatively.  A positive example is in the parable of the Leaven found in Matthew 13:33.  Most often, however, it is found as a negative image, as in this case.  But, either way, my study Bible says, leaven symbolizes a force which is powerful enough -- and frequently subtle enough -- to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  

We note how seemingly slow the disciples are to understand Jesus' language, and what He is driving at.  It's almost a comical scene, a sort of play on words, to see how Jesus is speaking of leaven as a metaphor for the Pharisees' subtle, permeating influence as they demand a sign, while the disciples are focused on the mundane matters of organizing this ever-moving ministry.  "It is because we have no bread," they reason among themselves.  "He must be upset because we have no bread!"  We can all picture ourselves in such circumstances:  while we're busy trying to organize and follow a plan, the one with the real vision is trying to tell us something much, much more significant.  Indeed, part of the somewhat comical nature of what we read here today is just simply that which follows in Jesus' perhaps incredulous reminder to them of the two (not just one, but two!) feedings in the wilderness which they've so recently experienced.  We notice how Jesus goes through it piece by piece, and step by step, to work them through remembering what they seem to fail to grasp here:  "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."  It's like they are children who really, really need to be led bit by bit into this lesson.  We can almost hear the plaintive note in Christ's question that follows:  "How is it you do not understand?"  While in a completely rational and quasi-perfect world, in which every experience would lead to a completely logical conclusion, this might seem a little much.  But in terms of the true experience of human beings and the way our minds tend to work, this does not at all sound unusual.  In fact, what the Gospels give us so frequently, as perfect teaching tool, is a mirror of the common things we all do and experience, and even the difficulties of grasping the truly extraordinary nature of our faith. For, at heart, really, is not so much the miraculous nature of the feedings which Christ has given with meager resources to multiply, and through which we're given an early glimpse of the Eucharist, and so much more.  Rather, the depth of the matter here is the almost unbelievable concept that God became human, that the Man they know as Jesus, as their Teacher, is also divine.  How can our minds grasp this, really?  We might know it as an intellectual concept, as a given tenet of the faith, but in terms of really getting a hold of just how contradictory the concept is, it would in truth be hard to underestimate this reconciliation of impossible antithetical things in one Person.  And that is really the ever-continuing drama of our faith in the world.  It remains with us as the "stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks" in St. Pauls' words (1 Corinthians 1:23).  It's not just the Crucifixion that gives us this stumbling block and foolishness, but the whole of the almost stupefyingly difficult concept of the 'irreconcilable reconciled' in Christ Himself -- that God became human. No matter what the disciples have truly experienced in their day-to-day, hands on, time-bound material experience of life with Jesus, they still have not been able to process this extraordinary but nonetheless true picture of the reality which God has offered us in the Person and ministry of Jesus Christ.  It is the very thing at the heart of every struggle we might have with our faith, no matter what it is.  The disciples themselves passed out the bread to thousands of people from a handful of loaves, twice.  And yet, they still do not have the eyes to see nor the ears to hear the true message here:  that the things they think they know of their faith, the reality the Pharisees would present to them undermining the ministry of Christ by demanding a convincing sign,  is a kind of poisonous influence, and one that seeks to take away the gift of Christ's true reality presented to the world.  It is similar to Christ's response to St. Peter, when he cannot accept the message of the Crucifixion, later in this chapter.  Jesus' response is, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" (Mark 8:33). It is perhaps more dramatic, but yet another instance where it is the divinity of Christ that is the stumbling block, for it is only in that understanding that we know the Crucifixion will serve as the trampling of death by death.  Here, Jesus refers to the leaven of the Pharisees, the doubtful, insidious chipping away at our capacity for grasping the things of God, the gifts inherent in the paradox of Jesus and His ministry.  Jesus asks, seemingly bewildered, "How is it you do not understand?"  It is as if we hear God asking, how He could do so much to show us, His creatures,  God's reality, and yet we still don't get it.  But it is a question we always need to ponder for ourselves, for so often we lose sight of the importance of this noetic capability within ourselves -- the place of spiritual eyes and ears -- and the need to strengthen our capacity for faith through the practices we inherit from our traditions:  prayer, worship, liturgy, the saints, the angels, and the whole reality of God within Whom "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  How could Jesus multiply loaves and fish to feed a multitude two times?  How can God become human?  How do we understand the paradox of faith?  This is where we start and where we finish, and it is the place to which we always return.  It is the place where we need to come to find Him, and even paradoxically, to truly find ourselves, the Alpha and Omega of life. 

 

 

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand

 

 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

And seeing you will see and not perceive;

For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.'

"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . . "

 

- Matthew 13:1-16 

 

We have been recently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 -7).  On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught:  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the  way that leads into destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."   

 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Today the lectionary skips forward in Matthew's Gospel, from chapter 7 to chapter 13, in which Jesus will begin teaching in parables.  We note that by now there are great multitudes who are coming to see Him; this has a great deal to do with why He begins to speak in parables.  

Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"   This is Jesus' first parable that works as a kind of foundation for the rest of them.  My study Bible explains that in the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5, Jeremiah 31:27-30; Hosea 2:21-23; Joel 3:12-14), as this was a part of daily life.  In this parable, Jesus reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, the sower in the earth, who had been prophesied in Isaiah 55:10-13.

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."  Here Jesus begins to reveal to the disciples the purpose of speaking in parables.  My study Bible explains that the mysteries of the kingdom are not merely obscure concepts or some religious truths which are only for the elite, nor is the understanding of the parables just an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find this message hard to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible says that it is the simple and innocent who are open to its message.  

For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, snd seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . . "  The quotation is from Isaiah 6:10.  This quotation also appears in John 12:37-41, in the context of those many who gathered to Christ for His signs, but had no faith.  Here, as Jesus speaks to such a great multitude that He must sit in a boat off the shore, His parables are also aimed toward those who will hear and develop faith, out of the multitudes who will not.  My study Bible notes that according to St. John Chrysostom, the prophecy of Isaiah quoted here does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  This is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture, revealing God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).    What is meant by He has blinded, my study Bible explains, is that God has permitted people's self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  People did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah; it is Isaiah who gave his prophesy because he foresaw their blindness. 

As we have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7; beginning with this reading from May 9), Jesus has been speaking to His disciples.  That is, He has been addressing His sermon to those who would be His followers, speaking of the particular type of blessedness that belongs to this Kingdom, to those who have faith in Him, teaching His gospel message.  He has been teaching us what it means to be a disciple, to engage in discipleship, to follow Him.   But in today's reading, we skip to chapter 13, where the parables begin, and the lectionary will be giving us these parables in preparation for Ascension Day (which, generally speaking, for the West is Thursday this week, and for the Eastern Churches  falls on Thursday next week).  In tomorrow's reading, we'll receive Jesus' explanation of this foundational parable which He gives to His disciples.  But for today, let us consider what He teaches them here, in response to their question about why He has chosen to begin to speak in parables.  For us today, it remains an important concern to understand why it is that membership in our churches seems to fluctuate so.  Popular ideas in the West have long followed a trend toward a belief in a very materialist-oriented perspective on life.  A false understanding of science seems to imply that we must only trust in what has been proven to us scientifically, but nevertheless there are those who seem to adopt this attitude.  (All science is based on hypothesis; if scientists only accepted that existence was limited to what had already been proven, there would be no science at all; nor would there be constant new discoveries which, in fact, render mistaken what had been previously understood to have been proven.)   In some sense, this "misdirection" of perception, or failure to grasp the mysteries of which Christ speaks, remains entirely pertinent to what we're being taught in the quotation of the prophesy of Isaiah.  Jesus gives us a hint about the failure to hear and see the things He is offering, the lack of perception of the value in the things He teaches.  Although Israel, and particularly its leadership contemporaneous with Christ, is steeped in preparation for the Messiah, in scholarship on the Old Testament, together with tremendous resources from the Second Temple period which was rich in possibility to accept Christ as divine, there are those who cannot nor will not see and hear what He is offering, with faith.  Jesus has spoken of the hypocrisy which keeps us from faith during His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, for which He will repeatedly indict the religious leadership.  There is the aspect of life lived purely for show, for the praise of other people, which He repeatedly mentions in this context -- and we can surely see at least some of this pattern reflected in a world which now bases so much of its common social exchange on consumed image through social media, or identity which seems to rest solely on how it is reflected back to us through the eyes of others.  It seems common today that there are so many who do not see and do not hear these realities of which Christ speaks, the blessedness of God and mysteries of God's kingdom.  Faith asks us for a perception that comes from a deeper place within ourselves, something subtle, but also essential to identity which is hidden from those without this capacity for perception.  From this perspective, it seems there is something missing from the development which enables us to participate in mystery and to receive what mystery offers us as part of identity and personal growth.  Just as Jesus taught us to rebuke hypocrisy by praying in secret to our Father who is in the secret place and who sees in secret (and to do likewise with practices of almsgiving and fasting), so we must come to understand that a life lived entirely with a consumerist orientation is going to miss out on what is to be grasped from within, in a secret place, even with no one else watching or seeing.  There are things which cannot be apprehended simply by consuming or absorbing what is outside of us or around ourselves.  This is what the parables point to:  images hidden within the story, which feed us something more than the easy fare of spectacle.  That is, things which engage us in a deeper way than the narcissistic drive for competing image or comparing ourselves to others, something other than the tremendous focus only on what appears to us in a material way.  There is a deeper place where life is for us, where we understand that who we are comes in relationship to God and to the righteous way of life to which God calls us in our relations to others, regardless of social demands.  If we think about it, this is part of the reason why the poor (or the poor in spirit) are always dear to God, for their perception is not based solely on what they possess materially.  We start there, in this parable of the Sower, to build an awareness of what this means and what it offers, who the Sower is, and how important it is that we find this way to perceive what is of true value and gives value to all else.  As Jesus teaches, there is a law to this type of awareness, and the kind of abundance He offers:  "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."   In Jesus' final statement in today's reading, it is as if we are given another Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount, and another lesson about what it means to live a blessed life:  "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . ."

Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod

 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 that 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

Yesterday we read that in those days of Christ's 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."  My study bible tells us that a sign from heaven indicates a spectacular display of power, some overwhelming "proof" of Christ's divine identity.  It says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, the but these men are hypocrites, who have not recognized the signs which have already been performed because their hearts were hardened.  They ignored the works which were already happening all around them.  Christ seeks faith, not hardened hearts which demand to be convinced against their own willful denial.

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 that you do not understand?"   My study bible tells us that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12), and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, my study bible reminds us, "leaven" is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33), and negatively, as Jesus uses it here.  In both cases, leaven is a symbol of a force which is powerful enough (and frequently subtle enough as well) to permeate and to affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  Let us note also that even the the disciples are susceptible to a lack of understanding, and possibly to the "leaven of the Pharisees."

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 the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (Matthew 11:21), and so, therefore, Jesus leads the blind man out of the town in order to heal him -- so that the people would not scoff at the miracle, and in so doing, bring upon themselves greater condemnation.  It is very interesting that the text tells us the blind man was healed in stages.  My study bible says this indicates that the man  had only a small amount of faith, for healing occurs according to one's faith (6:5-6).  But even this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Christ.  My study bible adds that Christ's command not to return to the town symbolizes that we must not return to our sins once we have been forgiven.

Faith:  how do we think about faith today?  Over the course of the past several days and weeks, the world has watched a pandemic unfold.  We have various ways in which we can approach it, measures we can take, means to combat the virus.  And, of course, there are terrible and sad calculations of harm, loss, suffering, and death which have already resulted.  But let us for today consider the impact of our faith throughout this period.  First of all, it is the time of Lent, and Lent is always and at once a time of internal emphasis, a time of withdrawal for prayer and contemplation, but cutting back on the things which take up our time and energy and interest in order to focus more fully on the things of God.  It is a time for consideration of our own behaviors:  what we can do better, how we can more potently develop our own discipline and discernment.  It is a time to consider what our responsibility is in terms of our own behavior, and how we can improve.  This is also called repentance, for repentance indicates simply change, and change for the better.  It is a time to consider how we might shape up, and put into action the things to which we're called by God, and within the space of dialogue in our prayer time, both in corporate worship (such as it is in these days, possibly virtually and online) and in the private place where our Father in the secret place sees in secret (Matthew 6:6).  It is a time for the cultivation of both prudence and discernment.  It is a time when we watch what we say, what we watch, and the things to which we're willing to pay attention.  Most of all, we must try to cultivate our faith, if we pay any attention at all to the things discussed and which Jesus' actions and words teach in today's reading.  For today is a reading that particularly emphasizes the connection between the existence of our faith (and its quality), and the positive outcomes that we so desire.  For those without faith, life looks increasingly dire.  Material outcomes are always dismaying.  Potentials which are contained in what remains possible are highly likely to be distorted to the point of non-existence.  Hope is not something which a lack of faith puts much stock in.  And where is God's love and guidance to be found except in faith?  It is faith that encourages us to always keep trying, through all things, to not give up hope, to seek God's positive will and possibilities even in the midst of what is bleak, and to carry on with our proper discipline even when others seem to discourage all possible hope.  For our Lenten practices, let us be even more diligent in putting into place our discipline at this time, especially that of regular prayer.  St. John Chrysostom, in his famous Homilies on the Statues, given in a period of Lent in the fifth century, reminds us that at this time we fast from all kinds of things, and not simply food.  We fast from all the things that are unhelpful to faith and therefore to our mental discipline and courage at this time.  He said, "For let not the mouth only fast, but also the eye, and the ear, and the feet, and the hands, and all the members of our bodies."  He meant that we fast from envy, from spreading gossip, from going places where we should not be going, from grasping and avarice, and all the things we need to put a watch on for ourselves.  At this time, let us consider that, in addition to gossip, we should fast from dire prediction of woe or the fainthearted feeling that this will not pass.  Already there is good news in many places of the rates of epidemic infection dying down, new hospitalizations reduced, and possible helpful drugs tested.  Above all, let us remember that in our reading today, not even Jesus could do any good work where there was not faith present.  Even Christ takes away the blind man from the town in order to shore up the faith necessary for his healing.  Let us remember, perhaps especially, His warning to the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.  This is the leaven that demands proof for faith, that demands to be convinced even as it offers endless rejections.   This is the leaven of the hard-heartedness that does not rejoice at healing, at possibilities for well-being, and quite possibly seeks failure in order to defeat hope and enact secret agendas that benefit from calamity.  Let us not, also, harden our hearts.  Let us pay attention and be vigilant!

How is it that you do not understand?

 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 that you do not understand?"

- Mark 8:11-21

On Saturday, we read that in those days, when Christ was in the Decapolis, 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."  In our recent readings (of Friday and Saturday), Jesus has been first in the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon, north of Galilee, and then in the Decapolis, a mixed region of Jews and Gentiles.  He traveled there after disputing with the Pharisees and some scribes (see Thursday's reading), in order to avoid further conflict and conspicuousness within the Jewish homelands.  But here, He's clearly back in Jewish territory, and we can see His understanding of what would happen once He returned -- the Pharisees have come out to dispute with Him again.  This time, they're back with another demand, and it calls to the questions about His authority to do what He does, and to teach as He does.   They're demanding a sign from heaven.  A sign from heaven, according to my study bible, means a spectacular display of power.  They want to be convinced by signs that He's the Messiah.  But clearly there have been plenty of signs given in His ministry, all kinds of healings which we've read about so far in Mark's Gospel, and Jesus is not going to perform a special sign just to convince those whose hearts are too hardened to grasp what He's about and what is happening in His ministry.  Once again, they demand, and He responds.  He's looking for faith, not coercion.

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 that you do not understand?"   My study bible tells us that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  Now it's Jesus' turn to be incredulous as His disciples still have failed to grasp the miraculous two feedings in the wilderness, of the five thousand, and four thousand.  Do they really think He is complaining because they have no bread, after those two experiences?  Do they think He's literally speaking about lacking bread?   How is it that they do not understand?  As is true of many occasions in the Gospels, the disciples take what He's saying literally and miss the meaning -- this time, to His exasperation.  My study bible says that in Scripture, leaven is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as it is here.  In both cases, leaven symbolizes a force which is powerful enough (and frequently subtle enough) to permeate and to affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

We're given a very interesting contrast through today's reading.  There are first of all the Pharisees, who have got hold of a bone to pick with Jesus, and they are not going to let it go.  Over and over again, questions of His authority will come up.  Where does He get the authority to teach in the temple?  When He comes to Jerusalem during Holy Week, and is greeted by the crowds as befits the Messiah, He will go to cleanse the temple -- and again, the demand will arise.  Where does He get the authority to do what He does?   Right from the beginning, Jesus teaches not as a disciple of a famous rabbi, not as a scribe, but speaking with His own authority, and this astonishes people.  It enrages those whose work it is to regulate and guard the faith, especially as He disputes with them and gives back as good as He gets.  He will not back down from His own mission and ministry, and what He's been sent  to do.  Where does that authority come from?  He wants people who will discern the answer to that question through faith, through the spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear with, as the Gospels so often remind us, citing Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:9-10).  The Pharisees demand to be convinced through some spectacular sign, as if there are not already abundant signs in the ministry Christ has been given.  But they don't want to see, and they don't want to hear.  They want to demand conditions, proofs, and assert their own authority to judge Him.  By contrast, we have the apostles.  Growing in faith, they still struggle.  And remarkably -- even to Jesus -- they also fail to grasp things that have been done right in front of them!  They think He's complaining about a lack of bread, when they have just experienced two miraculous feedings in the wilderness from a handful of loaves.  We've given the contrast of the deliberate hard-heartedness of the Pharisees, jealous of any challenge to their authority and position, and the disciples, whose minds simply cannot and will not take in something as stupendous as the multiplication of the loaves in the wilderness -- even though it's happened twice already.  One party demands proofs for belief, the other simply hasn't gotten there yet (even to Jesus' apparent consternation).  The text gives us this contrast in a lack of faith.  One side suffers from hypocrisy and hard-heartedness, and clearly is charged with knowing better.  The other shows us human frailty and limitation -- following Jesus in discipleship, but still failing to grasp what is being plainly shown to them.   But they are on a journey of faith, and what makes the difference is our capacity for enlightenment vs. our hard-hearted refusal to receive a truth that will challenge who we are.  The disciples know they have something to learn, but the leadership as a whole refuses humility in this sense.  Everything depends upon our understanding of mystery -- that there are things beyond what we know and can immediately grasp, and moreover, that we are called to that place of mystery.  We are called to grow in it, to experience it, and to be stretched -- to have our hearts expanded to what we don't expect and don't yet know.  Jesus will carry the disciples on to places they literally could never imagine, to experiences absolutely beyond their expectations.  But that is what our faith is like, if we truly follow them, and in their footsteps.  That is where He calls us as well.  But we need eyes to see and ears to hear, a humility that assumes there is always more we need to learn, from an authority much greater than ourselves -- which does not suit itself to our expectations.   "For," as Isaiah writes, "'My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord.  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod

 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!