Mark 8:13-21 -- Teaching the Life of Faith

Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side. And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 

They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes do you not see? 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 broken pieces you picked up?" 

They said to Him, "Twelve." 

"When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" 

And they said to Him, "Seven." 

And He was saying to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

Mark is now concluding his subject of the disciples’ ignorance.  They quickly leave the region where the Pharisees argued with Jesus, and Jesus gives them a warning about the Pharisees and Herod.  The symbol of leaven is used to describe a thing easily overlooked that becomes pervasive (cf. Matthew 13:33).  A Jewish tradition is to search for leaven all throughout the house on the day before Passover to make sure that none accidentally enters the bread (based on Exodus 12:15).  Jesus is warning about the Pharisees and Herod in this.  What is the leaven?  It could be looking for signs (as in the last story), as Herod might be known to seek signs (Luke 23:8).  In the context of Mark, however, what both Herod and the Pharisees have in common is a seeming to be religious or seeking God, but not actually having the reality of it.  Thus in Luke’s version, the leaven is called “hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). 

However, the disciples, when the heard the saying, completely misunderstood it.  They were thinking about the bread they had forgotten to bring on the journey across the sea.  When Jesus mentioned “leaven” they spoke of this concern.  For Jesus, this was the last straw.  

Back in 4:11-2, Jesus separated his disciples from the crowd due to their faith.  This faith, Jesus explained, was to give them greater understanding than the crowds.  However, when Jesus taught them about the provision of God, in two separate episodes, the disciples didn’t get it.  They were still thinking in a “poverty mentality”—that there is never enough for the need.  Jesus had been trying to look at God’s supply, which should free them up to do God’s work, whatever it may be.  Now Jesus is comparing them with the crowds, who were judged with ignorance so that they would not understand.  Jesus is seeing his disciples in the same situation, because he had taught them something clearly two times—even granting huge baskets of excess in order to make his point—but the disciples were still in fear of not having enough.  In his exasperation he has them repeat his lessons, and after they give the correct answer, he asks, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus has made it clear that faith is a lifestyle, not a doctrine.  In practice, this is exactly what most Christians believe.  That if a person becomes a Christian, they need to conform to a certain kind of lifestyle, and then they belong to the in group.  

Unfortunately, most Christians misunderstand what lifestyle Jesus is talking about, just as much as the disciples misunderstood what "leaven" Jesus was talking about.

Most Christians think that the "right" lifestyle is a morally conservative lifestyle.  People who don't drink, who don't smoke, who don't use foul language.  People who have sex the right way, who follow copyright laws, who who put their grocery carts back in the proper places.  People who go to church every week, pray everyday, read their Bibles, follow the proper fasts and do everything their clergy tells them to do.  It's nice, and there's some good things there, but it's not the way of Jesus.

What Jesus had been trying to teach the disciples is the pattern of a faith-based lifestyle.  This is a life that steps out and takes chances based on God's power, love and promises.  It is a life that expects God to do crazy things to display His mercy and compassion.  The faith life expects God to act in unexpected ways and sees it happen.  The faith life prays, not out of duty, but out of expectation that God will fulfill his promises, even if it seems unlikely.  

The faith life can feed people from almost nothing.

The faith life can heal people without insurance.

The faith life can provide housing when it doesn't make sense.

The faith life gives out of love when there is nothing left.

The faith life loves when no love can be expected in return.

The faith life needs no resources, because God is enough.

The faith life empowers the weak, upholds the imprisoned, enriches the poor and restores the sick.

This is the life that Jesus showed us.

This is the life he expects us to live.