Mark 8:14-21 Reflection

Gospel Mk 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod."
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
"Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?"
They answered him, "Twelve."
"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?"
They answered him, "Seven."
He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Reflection

One philosopher would say, “do not be deceived by your senses.” Senses indeed can be deceiving. But it doesn’t mean that they cannot be trusted.  As human beings, we are totally dependent on our senses. Through them we get our knowledge, facts, proofs, ideas, feelings, etc. But how far can we trust our senses?

The disciples in our gospel reading today have shown us the opposite. They have been deaf, blind, and oblivious. In other words, they were simply stupid, as the gospel would portray. The leaven mentioned by Jesus relating to that of the Pharisees and Herod are contrasted to the leaven of God. They have not yet seen that it was Jesus himself who is the living bread. Therefore, they need not to worry anymore.

The boat would symbolize a journey. The disciples have been in quite a long journey with Jesus already and yet they still failed to understand. They have forgotten to use man’s greatest sense, faith.