‘Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread’, Mark 8. 14

‘Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread’, Mark 8. 14

It is of note that the verse that accompanies our cover picture sits in the context of Mark’s account of the feeding of the four thousand. In that narrative of the miracle, and from the meagre provision of seven loaves, we are told that the multitude ‘did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets’, Mark 8. 8. Apart from the fact that all were fed, seven loaves became seven baskets of fragments!

Perhaps that event, a fresh memory of the Saviour’s power, or the abruptness of their departure, led the disciples to take so little in the way of provision for the journey across the sea. Thus, when the Lord warned His followers of ‘the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod’, v. 15, they immediately jumped to the conclusion that their forgetfulness had drawn the Lord’s warning. Whilst human logic and thinking can be a valuable tool in certain circumstances, we need to be careful. Although ‘they reasoned among themselves’, v. 16, suggesting a conclusion shared by them all, they were still wrong! When they should have sought clarification from the Lord, they did not. Hence, the Lord had to explain what He meant and to indicate that their assumption that His reference to leaven meant bread was not a safe one!

As we may well know, leaven is something that permeates and affects dough to make it rise. Its actions are relatively swift but silent and, starting small, it affects a large amount of dough. Thus, the Lord challenges His disciples, then and now, to keep a watchful eye on the things around us and their potential influence upon us.

It is interesting that two leavens are mentioned, v. 15. At one extreme, the Pharisaic legalism and ritualism was hypocrisy, designed for self-promotion. At the other edge, Herod’s materialism and hedonism was to protect his status and influence, and was equally corrupt. As they ultimately joined forces against the Lord, both were poisonous! The teaching and way of life of these leaders needed to be challenged, and the Lord asked the disciples to put what they heard and what they saw to the test. It was not that they should do that once only, but that they should repeatedly weigh these things in the balance of the word of God. Here is a charge that we might apply to ourselves, as ritualists and rationalists continue to challenge the word of God in our day.