The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod - Mark 8:14-21
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they replied.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
They answered, “Seven.”
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Reflection:
Jesus warns the disciples of the yeast of the Pharisees. Since bread was such a common staple and they did not yet have grocery stores yet, everyone would know how yeast worked. Someone would knead the dough and work it through the whole batch. Jesus likens the teaching of the Pharisees, which in a similar way would affect the whole batch. Notice a little bit of bad teaching can go a long way. As I have said a few times, a good heresy looks a lot like the truth. In the case of the Pharisees since they focused on the Law, it would seem to be good but the problem was they twisted it to meet their own ends.
Meanwhile, the disciples were stuck in their own brand of literalism. They couldn't read between the lines to understand the deeper meaning of what Jesus was teaching. Jesus was always using analogies and parables from modern day life to illustrate deeper spiritual truths. In the case of the disciples this is now the second time he has fed the multitudes on a few loaves. He is illustrating that when we offer what we have, as little as it might be, God can do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. But when the disciples failed to get it he asks them, "Do you have eyes, yet fail to hear? Do you have ears yet fail to hear?"
And of course they had eyes and ears, but they were not attenuated to the spiritual truth Jesus was teaching. Later they would understand in the power of the Holy Spirit, but for now in the natural man it was hidden from the. But yet Jesus seems frustrated with them. He thinks at some point they will start connecting the dots and at least start seeking the truth. He finishes by saying, "Do you still not understand?"
The question for us to ask today is if Jesus were hanging out with us would he say the same thing to us. Even after providing for us at every turn, when hard times come our tendency is to ask, "will we have enough bread?" God takes our meager offerings given up in faith each time and multiplies them over and over, maybe even in ways not even known to us on this side of heaven. The question for us today is where is God calling us to see the needs around us and rather than saying, "how can I meet that need", we say, "I can give five loaves or a few fish to help. And you can see how this could add up quite quickly if every Christian pitched in. For instance if each of the 2 billion Christian gave up 5 dollars, do the math that's ten billion dollars.
When we pray the Lord's Prayer we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread!", we pray not only that God would give us daily bread but that we would use our daily bread to feed others. Let the multiplying begin! Amen.
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they replied.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
They answered, “Seven.”
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Reflection:
Jesus warns the disciples of the yeast of the Pharisees. Since bread was such a common staple and they did not yet have grocery stores yet, everyone would know how yeast worked. Someone would knead the dough and work it through the whole batch. Jesus likens the teaching of the Pharisees, which in a similar way would affect the whole batch. Notice a little bit of bad teaching can go a long way. As I have said a few times, a good heresy looks a lot like the truth. In the case of the Pharisees since they focused on the Law, it would seem to be good but the problem was they twisted it to meet their own ends.
Meanwhile, the disciples were stuck in their own brand of literalism. They couldn't read between the lines to understand the deeper meaning of what Jesus was teaching. Jesus was always using analogies and parables from modern day life to illustrate deeper spiritual truths. In the case of the disciples this is now the second time he has fed the multitudes on a few loaves. He is illustrating that when we offer what we have, as little as it might be, God can do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. But when the disciples failed to get it he asks them, "Do you have eyes, yet fail to hear? Do you have ears yet fail to hear?"
And of course they had eyes and ears, but they were not attenuated to the spiritual truth Jesus was teaching. Later they would understand in the power of the Holy Spirit, but for now in the natural man it was hidden from the. But yet Jesus seems frustrated with them. He thinks at some point they will start connecting the dots and at least start seeking the truth. He finishes by saying, "Do you still not understand?"
The question for us to ask today is if Jesus were hanging out with us would he say the same thing to us. Even after providing for us at every turn, when hard times come our tendency is to ask, "will we have enough bread?" God takes our meager offerings given up in faith each time and multiplies them over and over, maybe even in ways not even known to us on this side of heaven. The question for us today is where is God calling us to see the needs around us and rather than saying, "how can I meet that need", we say, "I can give five loaves or a few fish to help. And you can see how this could add up quite quickly if every Christian pitched in. For instance if each of the 2 billion Christian gave up 5 dollars, do the math that's ten billion dollars.
When we pray the Lord's Prayer we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread!", we pray not only that God would give us daily bread but that we would use our daily bread to feed others. Let the multiplying begin! Amen.
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