Scripture Daily

Context No. 2434 of 4322 · Mark

Context · Reflection

Mark 8:13-19: in context

13He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side. 14They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16They reasoned with one another, saying, “It’s because we have no bread.” 17Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet or understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Twelve.”

In the boat, Jesus warns the disciples to beware the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. They miss it entirely, muttering among themselves that it must be because they forgot to bring bread, having only one loaf with them. Jesus, hearing their worry, presses them with a string of questions: why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves and the twelve baskets left over?

The disciples are worried about bread while sitting next to the man who fed thousands from almost nothing. Their problem is not a short memory of facts, but a failure to let what they had seen shape what they now feared. Jesus does not scold them for lacking food; he asks whether they remember. Remembering is the cure for the anxiety. The God who has provided before is the same God facing today's shortage, and forgetting his past provision is what lets a small lack grow into a panic.

Am I panicking over today's lack while forgetting the times God has already provided out of far less?

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