COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON NUMBER 88
“ Mark 8:18 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?”
(Mark 8:18-21; Matthew 16:9-12)
THE FRAILTY OF UNSPIRITUAL THOUGHT #2
INTRODUCTION
As they make their way to the other side of the sea of Galilee, Jesus has taken the occasion to teach His disciples by a different means. He knows nothing of keeping away from spiritual things in order to deal with practical matters, yet it appears to the disciples as though that is precisely what He has done. When they hear Him tell them to “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod,” they assume He is drawing attention to their failure to bring bread for their journey. Jesus asked them if they still did not perceive, and still had their hearts hardened (8:17). We learn from this that our spiritual condition is not ignored by the Lord Jesus. He will not always draw attention to our flaws publically, as He did with the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23). However, He will confront us with our own hardness and unbelief. As confirmed in our text, it is possible to be in the presence of Jesus, behold His marvelous works, and even participate in them, yet fail to grasp the significance of those works. One of the besetting conditions of the modern church is its failure to nurture spiritual understanding. A host of people are being raised up who have only a curious interest in the things of God. It is an interest that cannot be sustained, causing the people to waffle back and forth like the pre-Pentecost disciples. However, even before Jesus died, He did not pass over the slowness of His disciples. How much less does He do so now that sin has been put away, the devil destroyed, and the way to heaven opened? In this text we are being exposed to the heart and mind of the Lord Jesus. Blessed is the person who will be able to correlate this text with the situations of life, confirming that even very practical matters have a direct relationship to Christ’s work.
PROFITLESS EYES, EARS, AND MINDS
“ Mk 8:18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?”
Capacities, however minuscule they may appear, are a stewardship. The ability to see demands that we do, in fact, see. The ability to hear requires that we hear. The power to recall and remember makes it essential for us to do so. These capacities are granted to be used – employed in the acquisition of a correct perception of things. If this was true before “the day of salvation,” how much more true it is now.
One thing will become apparent in this text. Jesus does not allow for the disciples, or anyone else, to think of His requirements as something they simply cannot do. Men may look at this incident and excuse the disciples by saying they were not capable of seeing, or hearing, or remembering. A finely spun technical argument can be presented to support this conclusion. But when all is said and done, we must return to the assessment of Jesus. He did not overlook the failure of His disciples – even before they were born again.
When Jerusalem rejected Jesus, they were judged for doing so – even though they did not have a new heart and a new spirit (Lk 19:42-44). Even though the hearts of the citizens of Chorazin and Bethsaida had not been circumcised, Jesus pronounced a “Woe” upon them because they did not respond properly to the works of Himself (Matt 11:21-22).
What Jesus does do, is require that all men use what they have been given. Faithfulness in this matter will bring further advantages. In the case before us, we are confronting capacities that will assist a person in thinking with Divine aptitude in mind rather than human deficiencies or forgetfulness.
HAVING EYES. They were not blind – they had eyes, and could behold what Jesus had just done – feed a multitude of four thousand men. They saw Jesus take the bread and give it to them. They saw the multitude receive the bread and eat it. They personally saw the seven baskets of fragments they gathered up by themselves. Yet it appears that they did not think on what they saw. The eyes of their hearts did not see something worthy of much cogitation. Their minds did not dwell upon what they had seen with their eyes.
Elsewhere Jesus referred to this sort of thing as seeing, yet not perceiving (Mk 4:12). The Psalmist referred to this condition in these words, “eyes have they, but they see not” (Psa 115:5). Isaiah also wrote of seeing, yet not perceiving (Isa 6:9). Jeremiah also rebuked the people “which have eyes, and see not” (Jer 5:21).
For some of these people, the condition was a judgment from God (Psa 69:23; Isa 6:9-10; John 12:40; Rom 11:8). That judgment was owing to the rebellion of the people, and their refusal to hear God. That is not the kind of thing we are confronting in this text. This is more related to slothfulness than to stubbornness. However, this is the kind of condition that, if not corrected, will lead to stubbornness and rebellion.
HAVING EARS. This refers primarily to the natural capacity for hearing. Paul refers to this hearing when he writes, “Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” (Rom 10:18). They had heard Jesus say He had compassion on the multitude (8:2-3). They heard Him ask how many loaves they had (8:5). They heard Him command the people to sit down (8:6a). They heard Him give thanks for the bread and the fish before distributing them (8:6b). They heard His confrontation with the Pharisees who asked Him to show them a sign from heaven (8:11-12).
Yet, there were implications in Christ’s words that they did not hear. There was instruction in them that they did not perceive. There was a spiritual tone in them that escaped their attention. I wonder how many people are still being asked this question by Jesus.
REMEMBERING. These were events to which the disciples had been exposed that were designed to be remembered – to be recalled and mused upon. The Psalmist well said, “He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered”(Psa 111:4). In fact, it is in the remembrance, or recollection, of His works that the real benefit is realized. Knowing intellectually that Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt is one thing; remembering Lot’s wife is quite another thing (Lk 17:32). An intellectual grasp of the fact that Christ died is one thing, remembering Him is something else (Lk 22:19).
When men are exposed to the truth of God, there is a certain obligation laid upon them to revisit that truth in the hearts and minds. When this is done, the truth is heard the second time, and that is when the benefit is realized. This is precisely the experience to which the Psalmist referred when he wrote, “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God” (Psa 62:11). The wicked are described as a people who do not bring God into their thoughts: “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts” (Psa 10:4). In the text before us, we are not confronting wicked men, but men who, because of their surface view, did not ponder what they had heard.
JESUS ADMINISTERS A TEST
“ 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.”
WHEN I BRAKE THE FIVE LOAVES. Notice how the Lord Jesus calls attention to Himself: “when I brake the five loaves among the five thousand . . . the seven among the four thousand.” He reminds them how many loaves they started with on both occasions, and who it was that did the miraculous breaking of the bread. It is possible to behold what the Lord is doing, yet miss the significance of the One doing the work. In the case before us, the Person of Christ is what the disciples had not yet comprehended. That is why they could so easily forget the things He had done.
HOW MANY BASKETS FULL? Because the disciples had thought their present inadequacy of bread was the cause for Jesus’ words, He asks them about the overabundance of bread that followed both the feeding of the four thousand and the five thousand. When the ordinary things of life cannot be associated with the Living God, men will not be able to obtain insight into God’s “eternal purpose” (Eph 3:11), or “everlasting love” (Jer 31:3), or something that was determined “before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4).
There are still people who cannot properly assess left-overs, or more than what is needed, with the Lord. It is ever true that the Lord gives “seed to the sower, and bread to the eater” (Isa 55:10; 2 Cor 9:9-10). In the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand, this was more apparent than in the ordinary course of life. Yet the disciples had not pondered it.
YOU TOOK THEM UP. The irony of the situation is that the disciples themselves had gathered up the “fragments,” doing so after everyone had been filled. This is not something that was reported to them. They were the ones who gathered the fragments and knew first hand how many baskets they filled.
Is it possible to be an actual participant in what the Lord does, and yet fail to remember it? The Israelites, who knew firsthand what the Lord can do, provide an answer to this question. “They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law; and forgat His works, and His wonders that He had showed them” (Psa 78:10-11). And again, “They soon forgat His works; they waited not for His counsel” (Psa 106:13). And again, “They forgat God their Savior, which had done great things in Egypt” (Psa 106:21). It is remarkable how extensively the works of God can be wrought in the presence of people, and yet those works be forgotten. That is a commentary on the nature of the flesh and the frailty of the natural man.
THEIR ANSWERS. The answers of the disciples were precise and to the point. When asked how many baskets THEY gathered on each of the occasions mentioned, they responded, “Twelve,” and “Seven.” There is not an academic institution that would not be satisfied with those answers. However, Jesus will not be satisfied with these answers because they did not provoke a proper remembrance of what the Lord had done, or its significance.
NOT ABLE TO HANDLE THE TRUTH. What is being made known here is the disciples inability to “handle” the truth at that time. This is a limitation they would not have after Christ’s enthronement in glory. Matthew presents Jesus as addressing the matter from this perspective. “Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?” (Mat 16:9-10). They could not make an association of those events with their present condition – a malady that still afflicts the sons of men.
There are several dimensions to the working of the Lord. First, there is what is openly being done, and is perceptible to everyone. Second, there is the One who is doing the work, and that is not perceptible to everyone. Third, there is the revelation of Divine purpose in what is bring done, and this also is not discerned by everyone.
The lasting benefit of what is being done is realized at this third level – connecting with Divine will and purpose. Of course, that requires that men have some understanding of the One doing the work. He has to be more that a mere supplier of needs, or one who is sympathetic and tends to come to the aid of the people. Such a view of Christ can be easily forgotten, only being remembered in the hour of crisis, if, indeed, it is even remembered then.
As an example of the power of a proper understanding, consider the death of Christ. When Jesus died, all of the people saw it, with some of them being completely indifferent, and others even mocking the Christ. A few comprehended who it was that was dying – His mother and some of His disciples (John 19:25-27), the penitent thief (Lk 23:42), and the centurion who said “Truly this Man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39). But only when the purpose that constrained that death is comprehended is genuine benefit realized from it: i.e. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). The lack of that perception is the root of all unbelief and indifference.
A PENETRATING QUESTION
“ 21 And He said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?” Notice that Jesus does not brush aside their failure to understand, as though it was of no consequence. This is a Divine trait that we all do well to perceive. It is not unusual to confront professed Christians who ask us to overlook their spiritual inabilities, failure to grow up into Christ, and the remarkably long time they spend in spiritual infancy. Of course, such people have ready explanations for their condition.
The Savior, however, will not listen to them. He will confront them with the fact that they have lived beneath what they could do. He will not expect more of them than they are able to give – although He has been known to tell lame men to walk (John 5:8), a man with a withered hand to stretch it out (Matt 12:13), and a dead man to come out of the tomb (John 11:43). When the Lord Jesus asks us concerning our failure to do something, He is not looking for an explanation.
HOW IS IT? What a penetrating question? Of all people, why was it that these disciples did not understand? They were with the Lord when the need arose with these two groups. They were challenged by the Lord concerning what should be done with both hungry multitudes. They knew how many loaves they had to start with on both occasions – which, from the human point of view, were wholly inadequate. They knew what happened when, on both occasions, these loaves were placed into Jesus’ hands. Both times, they themselves had passed out the bread and fish. On both occasions, they personally saw the people all eat until they were filled. They also were the very ones who gathered up the fragments when both groups had been filled. Now Jesus asks them, “How is it that YE do not understand?” Of all people, why have you failed to comprehend?
How much truth does a person need to know in order to form some valid spiritual conclusions? Is this something that requires a protracted period of time? If the earthly ministry of Jesus was expected to produce some sound thinking, what about now, when He is ministering in the heavenly “sanctuary” (Heb 8:2)? When those who have been washed from their sins (Rev 1:5), made partakers of Christ (Heb 3:14), and of the Holy Spirit (Heb 6:4), fail to understand, what kind of reason can be provided for their ignorance?
NOT CONCERNING BREAD. “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?” (Matt 16:11). Jesus never does tell His disciples what He was talking about. He rather wisely draws them into more involvement. He candidly tells them He was not speaking “concerning bread” when He told them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” How will they respond to this very brief elaboration? Have they already received enough from Him to be able to reprocess what He said, reaching further into the realm of thought and deeper into their own hearts? Are they capable of more than has been evidenced to this point?
THEN THEY UNDERSTOOD. Matthew informs us that the disciples then became aware of what He really meant. “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” (Matt 16:12). Other versions read, “they saw,” BBE “they comprehended,” DARBY “they perceived,” WEYMOUTH “they realized,” MONTGOMERY and “they discerned.” AMPLIFIED
This is a most remarkable conclusion. I know of many professed “Christians” who could not possibly have arrived at this determination. It reveals that those who remain with Jesus are given more ability than they dare to imagine. To my knowledge, this is the only reference in all of the Bible to the “doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” There is not a solitary reference anywhere else to the Pharisees “teaching,” what they “taught,” or their “doctrine.” What the Sadducees said about the resurrection, angels, and spirits is mentioned (Matt 22:23; Mk 12:18; Acts 23:6). The disciples knew what the “scribes” said about the coming of Elijah “first” (Matt 17:10; Mk 9:11), and what they said about Christ being “the Son of David” (Mk 12:35). Once Jesus told His disciples to “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Lk 12:1). However, Jesus had not said a lot about the doctrine of either the Pharisees or the Sadducees. He asked them to remember how many baskets of bread they had taken up, but He did not ask them what He had told them about the doctrine of the Pharisees. That is something they would have to think out, and they proved equal to the occasion.
The disciples could not reach back in their memories making an association between leaven and doctrine. They could not recall specific teaching Jesus delivered concerning what the Pharisees taught. Yet, upon Christ’s declaration that He was not speaking about “bread,” the disciples immediately knew He was really talking about “doctrine.”
This is a sterling example of how people can be brought to think if they will listen to the Lord. There are very real associations that can only be discovered by reasoning upon the truth. All of the answers are not provided in clear and concise sentences. Some conclusions can only be reached by pondering what has been done and said, and perceiving their very real association.