Day 46, Mark 8
Food, Hypocrisy, and Revelation!
Mark recounts some of the same events from our readings at the end of last week: feeding 4000 men (plus women and children) with seven loaves and a few fish, plus Peter’s revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah. Mark also includes Peter’s demonstration of lack of revelation; correcting Jesus for saying He’s going to die and be raised from the dead!
In between these events, Mark also records the way Jesus warns His disciples against the twin evils of religious power and political power: the Pharisees and Herod. Both are described as having yeast in them. This metaphor would be understood to represent sin and contamination - the Jews were meticulous in removing yeast in the preparation for the Passover. The omission of yeast represented having no time for anything but complete dependence on God. No time to let other influences work their way in and gradually puff up the people.
Herod and the Pharisees have both missed the mark (which is what sin is) by allowing their thirst for power to leaven their lives subtly, yet fully. Their hypocrisy is a dangerous influence. Only those on guard against it would be able to resist its effects.
It is interesting to note that Jesus fed crowds twice. When I was first reading the New Testament I thought this second occasion was less important because fewer people were fed with more loaves, but I was wrong: this miracle was performed for a crowd that was mostly gentiles, and there was a huge basket left over from each loaf! Seven is the number that symbolizes perfect fulfillment, and this miracle shows Jesus reaching out further than He did to the Jewish crowd of 5000 earlier.
Another item in Mark’s chronology, that differs from the other accounts at this point, is the healing of the blind man. Jesus takes him away from his friends to heal him in solitude. And the healing is gradual - it is only after the second intervention from Jesus that the man’s sight is fully restored. I love the honesty in this account, and the implication that Jesus never heals in the same way twice. We know this is because He only does what His Father is doing, and Father God is infinitely creative while valuing every individual.
Finally, Jesus challenges the crowd and His disciples with the cost of following. Losing your life (as in no longer holding on to power, but depending only on God) is the way to gain life. Anything less will lead to loss, just as yeast in the camp before the Passover would be a disaster. Let’s be those who make a leap of faith and trust Jesus completely, whatever it costs! Jesus promises that the outcome will be worth it!
Have a great day!
Mark.