Mark 8:14-21

 Hey!

It’s been a long time since I wrote, huh? 😅 My goal was to write when God led me to do so—so here I am.

Lately, I’ve been reading the Gospel of Mark, and it has been speaking to me a lot. I’ve read the chapters very carefully and focused on the words. But today I’m here to talk about how Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of understanding (Mark 8:14–21).

It starts with the disciples and Jesus on the boat, when the disciples realize that they don’t have much bread with them (verse 14). Jesus responded, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (verse 15). This means we should avoid sin and evil at all costs—because when you add leaven to the dough, it affects the whole dough. A little bit of evil can affect us a lot. That was a command, not a suggestion.

But the disciples were still discussing the fact that they didn’t have bread, while Jesus was trying to teach them something very important. They were worried (verse 16). Jesus saw them and said:

“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And 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 did you take up?”

They said to him, “Twelve.”

“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?”

They said to him, “Seven.”

And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (verses 17–21).

We tend to forget what Jesus has done in our lives. Jesus asked if their hearts were hardened—are our hearts hardened against Jesus? We have eyes but don’t see; we have ears but don’t hear. And we also don’t remember. Let’s open our hearts, eyes, and ears to Jesus!

Jesus reminded them what He had already done—twice—when they also had little bread. Sometimes Jesus has brought us out of the same situation again and again, and yet we still don’t focus on what He’s already done for us. When they were missing bread in both situations (the 5,000 men and the 4,000 men), they ended up with leftover bread—thanks to Jesus.

We need to remember what Jesus has done in moments of our weakness. We can’t be focused on our worries. We need to focus on how wonderful Jesus is and remember that with Him, we’ll always have leftover bread. 😉

God bless 🪽

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