Mark 8:14-22

Mark 8:14-21 New International Version (NIV)

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?”

Personal Insights

As we read this story in Mark it is easy to judge the disciples for missing Jesus’s point. The disciples were focused on the physical but Jesus was talking about the spiritual.

In the Bible yeast is often associated with sin. It only takes a little yeast to puff up the dough of the bread. Sin is no different. Just a little bit of sin spreads and infects the whole person. The sin of the Pharisees was pride and spiritual authority. Herod’s sin was power and authority but not in a Godly way. They had the wrong idea of what Kingdom work Jesus had come to do.

We don’t know how Jesus said the following words in 17ff but He gets His point across. All this time the disciples had spent with Jesus and some truths they just hadn’t understood. Jesus was not talking about their physical needs but their spiritual. Sometimes we are more concerned with our physical needs than our spiritual. This should not be so.

When I was studying at Moody Bible Institute I had a few classes throughout my time there on Systematic Theology. Some of the concepts were not easy to grasp and so I had talked to my Professor about one in particular. His words to me were “You need to think deeper”. That was not the answer I was looking for. I wanted it to be an easy fix but it wasn’t. It was going to require more time spent wrestling with the deep things of life.

The disciples needed to put into action what they were learning from Jesus at a deeper level; on a spiritual level. This message is not only for the disciples but for many of us too. May we long for a deeper understanding of God and His Word and put the work in to understand the truths that God wants to share with us.