Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, February 13, 2024

Mark 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?”

Following the demand of the scribes and Pharisees for a sign in the heavens designating him as the Messiah, and the Lord’s refusal to give such a thing to them, he departs abruptly in a boat for another shore.  St. Mark next tells us that the Lord talked to the Apostles about the Pharisees and also the Herodians — and the dangers they posed to believers.  He says to them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  Leaven looks ineffective, almost like dirt, but a pinch of it kneaded well into flour will result in loaves of bread.  The dough, we say, rises, and then it is put into the oven for baking.  We would look in vain if we pulled the baked bread apart looking for the yeast, but its effect would be plain to see.  The Lord is warning that even the words of the Pharisees and the Herodians are like yeast that can affect the dough of faith.  It will distort it, change it, and, from the point of view of one who wished to make flat, unleavened bread, it would ruin it.  Indeed, in ancient times and into the Middle Ages people spoke of the “corruption” of bread dough caused by yeast, resulting in loaves.  The Lord Jesus spoke this warning and then left the Apostles to make what they could of his saying.  He meant to be alert to the tricks, traps, and false reasoning of the Pharisees by which they would attempt to subvert an discredit his own teachings.  The Herodians posed a different threat, that of convincing early believers that they shared the same basic cause, establishing Herod as the king of an independent Israel.

“They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread.”  That is, the Apostles were accustomed to buy supplies as they passed through the towns, since mostly they ate and slept in the countryside.  On this occasion, Jesus may have left their previous site so abruptly that they did not have time to buy bread or other provisions.  This is backed up by the fact that they were keenly aware of their lack of bread.  To their mind, the Lord was blaming the, for not making their purchases in a more expeditious fashion.  In other words, they assumed that it was “all about them”.

“When he became aware of this.”  Of course, the Lord knew what they were thinking before they though it.  as Psalm 139, 4 says: “Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O Lord, you know it altogether.”  But Mark is speaking of human appearances: When the Apostles saw that he was aware of this, etc.  “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened?”  It sounds to us that the Lord is upbraiding them, and in a way, he is.  But he is not angry with them.  He is making his points memorable to them: that they should think more deeply about the meaning of his words and not settle on the most shallow understanding they can come up with; and that they should trust him implicitly.  To this last point he gives them two examples, which he presents in the form of questikns: “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up? . . . When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?”  They answer like schoolboys: “Twelve . . Seven.”  They add nothing to their answers, no sign that they understood the meaning of those miracles.  “Do you still not understand?”  The Lord’s remonstrances would have thrown them back to dig deeper for his meaning.  The Lord does this time and again with them, forcing them to go beneath the surface of his teachings, miracles, and parables.  This humbles them, reminds them that they are students, and prepares them to be patient with those whom they will instruct one day.

St. Mark’s original audience would have felt consoled by seeing how even the Apostles struggled to understand the Lord’s meanings, for they were Jews and standing right next to the Lord as he taught them.  We can be consoled by this too.  Sometimes we do not understand what the Lord means, what he is teaching us because of cultural differences, translation issues, and a lack of ability on our part.  But the Lord in his mercy has given us the Holy Church and dedicated priests, religious men and women, and teachers within it to help us.  He does not want any of us left in the dark.