Get your eyes up!
How being distracted/anxious can lead us to miss the point entirely of what Jesus is trying to teach us.
Mark 8:13-21 NKJV
Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now [a]the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the [b]leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 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 [c]still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 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.”
20 “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.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
Let’s set some context for this passage if you aren’t familiar with what precedes this message. At the beginning of Mark, Chapter 8, Jesus has just performed a miracle of feeding a multitude of followers who numbered around 4,000 individuals. The multitude had followed Jesus for three days (and had no food) while he taught them. Jesus desired to feed the multitude but the disciples questioned how. Jesus then takes the 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish.that the disciples had — gives thanks, breaks the bread, and miraculously multiplies the bread and fish to feed the 4,000 that are with him. After they finish eating he sends the multitude away. He gets into his boat with the disciples and comes to the region of Dalmanutha (Which is the Western side of the Sea of Galilee).
Jesus encounters here the Pharisees (a religious group of leaders who are infamously known to be outwardly moral but inwardly wicked). The Pharisee’s confront Jesus and ask Him for a sign from heaven, attempting to test Jesus. Jesus, knowing their motivation, and knowing that even if He gave them a sign, they would not believe, simply tells them “.. no sign shall be given to this generation (v.12).”
Jesus leaves them and gets into his boat to depart to the other side. Following this encounter, He attempts to warn the disciples in verse 15, to give them a spiritual truth, about the Pharisee’s doctrine. He states, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Leaven, or yeast, is often used metaphorically to describe the permeating and corrupting influence of sin, and other kinds of false teaching and hypocrisy. Just as a small amount of yeast spreads throughout an entire batch of dough, so does sin/false teaching/hypocrisy spread throughout religious groups, leaders, etc. Matthew 16:5-12 recounts the same scene and we learn here, that Jesus is referring specifically to the doctrine of the Pharisee’s (one of hypocrisy, legalism, political opportunism, and spiritual hardness). So Jesus is attempting to warn the disciples/be aware of how this corruption can spread like wildfire.. if they let it.
The disciples are so relatable to us in this modern day — not by accident of course. One common theme throughout the bible is that God never chooses those who have it all together to work out the good of his purposes, and the disciples are no different. Mark and Matthew’s recounts of the story both let us know that the disciples forgot to bring any bread with them… saying they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat (Mark 8:14). Surely, would not enough to feed 12 full-grown men. So when Jesus gives them this warning about the leaven of the Pharisee’s, all they can do is think about the fact that they don’t have bread with them.
Their immediate thought is not who they have with them or the miracles He, quite literally, has just done, it is what they don’t have available to them.
Oh, how relatable this is to us in our daily walk throughout the day. Mom (or Dad) how many times do think worried thoughts about your kids throughout the day? How many times do you blame yourself and ask yourself questions like… “I didn’t have their favorite lunch food to pack and I wondering if they’ll even eat it or if they’ll be hungry.” “I didn’t pump enough milk at work today and I don’t know how I’m going to feed him/her later.” Or more generalized things like… “Are they safe?” “Did they drink enough water?” “Are they sleeping enough?” “Are they learning enough at school/daycare?” “Were they nice to their friends today?” “Are they being influenced by the wrong crowd?” “Are they being bullied?” “Do they have too much screen-time?” “Am I doing a good job as their parent?” …. and they list could go on and on.
The disciples first inclination (like many of us) was to consider what they did wrong and what they didn’t have, rather than to consider who was on their side and who was in their boat. Romans Chapter 8 is often called the Mount Everest of the Bible and, for good reason. Paul states there “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ….. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angles nor principalities nor powers, nor things present. nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-31, 38-39 NKJV).
We would do well to not follow in the footsteps of the disciples in this situation. Matt Chandler often speaks of something called “navel gazing” — essentially where we are too focused and busy looking at our own life and our own problems we face rather than focusing on and looking to the One who is able to overcome them, the One who holds all things together, and the One who is sovereign over it all. The disciples didn’t have spiritual discernment — or the ability to understand, recognize, and judge rightly between truth and error, good and evil, and God’s will versus human will — to understand what Jesus was trying to warn them of. They were too focused on their own problems and the mistakes that they had made. I think we often fall prey to this as well. How many times is the Lord trying to teach us something or speak to us in the quiet moments of our day and we can’t hear Him or discern what it means because we’re too busy navel-gazing on our current circumstances — what we did/didn’t do.
So Jesus asks them “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? Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up? How is it you do not understand?”
If I could paraphrase I think Jesus is saying to them … I am the LORD…. you WATCHED me create food out of thin air…. you WATCHED me fill these people’s stomach’s when their shouldn’t have been a way for me (if I were just a man, to do so)… you KNOW I have the power to do these things… and I try to warn you about the leaven of the Pharisee’s and you conclude that the reason I’m doing so IS BECAUSE YOU FORGOT TO BRING LOAVES OF BREAD….. I AM THE BREAD…. I AM THE LIFE… I AM THE LORD…. HOW DON’T YOU GET IT?! I am enough to fill you. I will not leave or forsake you. You have got to stop worrying (I HAVE YOU) and start PAYING ATTENTION… LISTEN/DISCERN what I am saying to you.
Parents, Grandparents, Caregivers, etc… God has gifted you that child. He will not leave or forsake them. The Lord is faithful through generations.
Psalm 100:5 (ESV) “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (emphasis added)
Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV) “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” (emphasis added)
My final plea is this … we (myself included) need to get our eyes up off of ourselves and look to Christ. We need not be fearful of the day when we have confidence in Christ… because come what may…. He is with us in it. If we are to grow in sanctification and grow in spiritual knowledge .. we must begin to trust the Lord with our situations, our children, our relationships, etc. Proverbs 12:5 stats “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” (ESV) — the emotional burden of worrying about our own circumstances, or our children, our spouses, etc… will weigh us down .. will cause us to miss what the Lord has for us and is saying to us … but meditating day and night (the conscious effort of thinking about and ruminating over) on who God is, the spiritual truths He gives us in His word… will lift us up and allow us to hear Him more clearly and know Him more deeply.
If Jesus is in your boat, you are not alone. He is the Bread of Life. He sees, He knows, and He will provide. Lift your eyes off of what you lack and onto Him who lacks nothing.
– Carley