Jeremiah
14:1-9, 17-22
Psalms
19, 46, 66, 67
Galatians
4:21-5:1
Mark
8:11-21
Mark 8:11-21
People haven’t changed much in 2000 years. When I read Mark 8:11-21, I can picture Jesus
as he “sighed deeply” and once again tried to explain his teachings to people
who just didn’t get it. First we find him
dealing with the Pharisees, clever lot that they are, who are badgering him for
a sign from heaven, another miracle.
Jesus refuses saying, “Why does this generation ask for a sign?” Can’t you just hear him saying that to us
today? He then gets into a boat with his
disciples, the trusted followers who have supported him every step of his
ministry. And what are they concerned
about at this moment? They are quarreling amongst themselves trying to figure out which one of them forgot to
bring enough bread for the group to eat.
Jesus promises them the bread of eternal life, and they can’t see past
their next meal. Jesus reminds them that
there has always been enough bread to go around. He even gives concrete examples of past
miracles he has performed illustrating this fact and asks, “Do you still not
understand?” They did not and neither do
we.
Fasting during Lent was something that was taken
very seriously when I was a child. In my
childlike mind, denying oneself food in order to actually feel that hungry feeling
seemed important. Giving up food you loved,
like chocolate, made it all the more meaningful. It felt like a real sacrifice. As I got older, I recognized the parallels
between physical hunger and spiritual hunger, a hunger only God can satisfy.
Often when we’re hungry, physically or spiritually,
we reach for things that are not healthy.
Jesus understands this all too well.
In Mark 8, he warns his disciples to be careful about the contaminating
yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. Of
course, they miss the point again.
They’re still too busy bickering over whom to blame for forgetting that
extra bread.
In 1 Corinthians 5:8-9, Paul also reminds us, “Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be
a new unleavened batch — as you really are.
For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with
the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.” (NIV)
Evelyn Snow