Don't you get it, yet?

Mark 8:14-21—Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.  And he cautioned them, saying, watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.  They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.”  And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect? And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Time and again, the disciples struggled to “get it.”  Here they were, not long after the fishes and loaves miracle, and they are complaining that they have no bread.  There are two messages being conveyed here.  The first is the more literal message—obviously, if Jesus has provided for them in the past, He will continue to provide for them in the future.  Their doubts are an insult, especially because they have witnessed the miracles with their own eyes and ears.  They have been a part of the miracles.  The other message is more abstract.  When Jesus warns the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod, He is warning them not to rely on or be lifted up by hypocrisy (like the Pharisees) or by worldly obsessions and man-made religions (like the Herodians).  The Pharisees had already attempted to test Jesus by demanding more miracles, and here, Jesus is telling His disciples to be satisfied and not demand He continue to prove He is who He says  He is.  He is also encouraging them to fully trust Him to provide for them.  We are not so different from the disciples in this story.  We, too, struggle to get it, and we regularly find ourselves torn between the world and our spiritual lives. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, declare to God that you want to “get it.”  Pray that He would open your heart and mind to His desires.  Acknowledge your weaknesses and shortcomings before Him and pray that He would fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you might grow in faith and understanding.