| Matthew 15:29 And
Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went
up into a mountain, and sat down there. 30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. 32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. 35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. 38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. 39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. |
Mark 8:1 In those days
the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his
disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. |
| It seems remarkable that the disciples had already seen Jesus feed a crowd of 5,000 men, plus that many or more women and children, yet they still questioned how this crowd was to be fed. One might think that these were two slightly different versions of the same story, except that Jesus himself references both in the following episode. Being with Jesus and seeing him do mighty works, though, was no guarantee of great faith; after all, every one of his disciples deserted him when he was arrested and tried. Two words that comes up over and over again in Jesus' experiences with his disciples are "little faith" God cannot do great things in our own lives, either, because of our "little faith". Intellectual knowledge of Jesus, and what he can do is not enough; we must also have the Holy Spirit's assurance as to what he will do. | |
| Matthew 16:1 The
Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he
would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. 5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. |
Mark 8:10 And
straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the
parts of Dalmanutha. 11 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. 13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. 15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? 19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? |
| Leaven was dough
that was allowed to sit until it began fermenting, and which served the same
purpose as yeast in causing other batches of bread to rise. Though not
true in every case, leaven usually represented sin, something impure that
caused a bad result. In this case, the leaven was the hypocrisy of the
Pharisees and Sadducees, the Jewish religious leaders. They pretended
to righteousness, but were corrupt to the core. They held others to
standards they had no intention of trying to keep themselves, especially in
the case of the Pharisees. Nothing can destroy our witness more
quickly than actions which betray our words, when we profess faith in Christ
but live something else. Seeking signs is the opposite of faith. Faith believes without seeing; unbelief responds only to what the eyes see, the ears hear, or other senses perceive. That's why so-called science can never come to a knowledge of the truth; it insists that anything that cannot be observed, measured, and quantified is not real. The attitude that asks for proof of the reality of Christ by some sort of visible sign is bred in wickedness, and grows in spiritual adultery, and idolatry. As indicated in the previous section, the disciples themselves had not reached the point of exercising faith, either. |
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