Don’t you understand yet? That is a question that Jesus asked His disciples at a certain point in their journey. Jesus had just miraculously fed a second crowd from scant provisions. Let’s walk through the few steps between that miracle and Jesus’ question.
Mark records, “The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him. Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” (Mark 8:11–12, CSB) Can you hear Jesus’ exasperation? Notice that the Pharisees are coming to Jesus out of a sense of superiority instead of teachable inquiry. They argued and demanded instead. I get the feeling that nothing would be enough to satisfy them.
Departing the Pharisees, Jesus got in the boat with the disciples and left for the other side (verse 13). And then the disciples discovered their next crisis. They only had one loaf of bread. You can imagine the arguments that broke out. Why didn’t you? How could you? It was your turn. Now what are we going to do? In the middle of all of this, Jesus gave them a cryptic command. “Then he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (Mark 8:15, CSB)
This caught the disciples by surprise. Since their current context was food and bread, they missed what Jesus was saying. Let’s think about Jesus’ command for a moment. What is the leaven or yeast of the Pharisees and Herod? To understand, we must recognize the purpose of yeast in the context of bread. A lot is going on when bread rises due to yeast. But the most obvious thing is that the dough is puffed up. The Pharisees and Herod were both puffed up with self-pride.
The disciples thought Jesus’ command about this self-pride of the Pharisees and Herod was because they forgot to bring food. “They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:16–18, CSB) Now Jesus is exasperated with the disciples. I can hear the same heavy sigh as when the Pharisees confronted him. Jesus is giving them spiritual food, but they are stuck on their physical problem.
Jesus then quizzed them on recent events. “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?” “Twelve,” they told him. “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?” “Seven,” they said.” (Mark 8:19–20, CSB) In both cases, Jesus supplied more than enough.
“And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” (Mark 8:21, CSB) We are told how the disciples responded or reacted to Jesus’ teaching moment. Do you understand yet?
We all have problems. For the disciples, it was the failure of self-reliance. They forgot to bring food. For the Pharisees (and Herod) it was the failure of self-pride that puffed up to the point of demanding a sign from Jesus. Neither group understood who Jesus was.
We do the same things. Some will lean towards self-reliance instead of reliance on Jesus. He is more than enough. Some will lean towards self-pride and make demands on Jesus that are above their station. Jesus invites us to bring our trials, troubles, stresses, and problems to Him. But to demand a particular answer in a certain way at a specific time reeks of self-pride instead of humble submission. Bring your troubles to Jesus; He’ll take care of the rest.
“And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” (Mark 8:21, CSB)
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