Bible Study series: Mark 8:14-21. False teaching nowadays is everywhere.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together how to apply these truths to our lives.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
If you would like to see the original Greek, please click here:
At that link, I also offer more commentary and a Summary and Conclusion, geared towards discipleship. Scroll down to the bottom and check it out!
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 8:14-21
14 They forgot to take bread. They did not have bread with them in the boat except one loaf. 15 He gave orders to them, saying, “Look, and watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16 They discussed with each other that they did not have bread. 17 Knowing this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing whether you have no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Do you have a hard heart?
18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? [Jer. 5:21, Ezek. 12:2, Is. 6:9-10];
Do you not remember? 19 When I broke seven loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you pick up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And for the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you pick up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:14-21)
Comments:
New English Translation points out that of all the Gospels, Mark has the most passages that portray the disciples as dull and incapable of understanding the point of Jesus’s miracles and teaching: 6:51-52; 7:17-19; 8:1-10, 14-21, 27-30, 33; 9:5, 10, 33; 10:28, 35-45; 14:19, 29-31, 32-37, 50, 66-72. I wonder whether we would have done any better, before Pentecost (or even afterwards).
France says that vv. 11-21 are a “bridge passage” that moves us away from Galilee. Then Jesus and the disciples will be on their way to Jerusalem.
14:
This verse sets up the scene. No doubt Jesus saw what they forgot to do, and now he was about to find out if they could look beyond the natural world and perceive the spiritual meaning of yeast and bread.
Also noted that the disciples did the practical things for Jesus. The twelve (including Judas’s replacement Matthias) will apply this lesson when it is their turn to lead. They will appoint seven deacons, while the twelve will devote themselves to teaching the word alone (Acts 6). Nowadays, pastors do it all: they are corporate managers and oversee many departments. But they are not following Scripture, which says to devote themselves only to Scripture and prayer. Now the teaching behind the pulpit is shallow because the pastors don’t have the time study the Bible. No, one day is not enough.
15-16:
“yeast”: it may be better translated as “leaven” instead of yeast, for at this time, new bread was leavened with a small lump of the previous week’s dough, which raised the lump of new bread. In most instances, leaven or yeast is considered evil or a bad influence (Matt. 16:6-8; 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:6). In Exod. 12:39, leaven was to be removed from the house in connection with not waiting for the bread to rise; they had to leave in haste. However, in some instances it symbolizes a positive or neutral influence (see Matt. 13:33 // Luke 13:21).
“Pharisees”: please see v. 11 for more comments. Their teaching was too stringent and strident, and most people could not keep up. They also misunderstood who the Messiah will be: not a conquering hero (their belief), but a dying savior (the right belief).
“Herod”: His leaven represents political opposition. Mark already recorded Herod’s concern about Jesus (6:14-16), and in 3:6, the Pharisees and Herodians conspired against him (Wessel and Strauss’s comments on v. 15). Both the Pharisees and Herod saw Jesus as a threat to their authority.
Jesus speaks of the literal word yeast or leaven, but he adds to the physical object (tiny yeast) a spiritual or metaphorical meaning. Can the disciples catch on?
No, they did not catch on to the nonliteral meaning. I feel for them. I wonder whether I would have caught on to deeper truths at that time.
“discussing”: “reasoning” is also a valid translation. They were using their intellects that were tied down to the literal meaning of yeast. They could not transition from the physical (yeast) to the metaphorical or spiritual (doctrine or teaching).
17:
Jesus perceived what they were discussing. Did he perceive this by a supernatural knowledge? The Greek word is a very common verb to know, so the answer cannot be settled by that. My hunch: he overheard them.
18a:
Jesus often says that those who have ears—let them hear (4:9, 23; Matt. 11:13; 13:9, 15-16, 43; Luke 8:8; 14:35)! He again uses the physical ears and eyes to explain metaphorical or spiritual hearing and seeing. He is doing the same with the “yeast” of the Pharisees and Herod.
This idea of having eyes and ears but not spiritual ears and eyes is reflected in Jer. 5:21 and Ezek. 12:2 and conceptually in Is. 6:9-10.
18b-20:
Jesus gives them a review of the recent miracles. The yeast has nothing to do with bread, because Jesus could multiply the bread. So what does “yeast” mean?
In Matthew’s version (16:5-12), the disciples caught on. He was talking about the teaching or doctrine of the Pharisees (and Sadducees).
In Jesus’s day it was the doctrine of the Pharisees, who represented Judaism, and Herod, who represented politics. In our day, some Christ’s followers are pushing old Judaism too hard and too far into the church. Other strange doctrines are circulating around the church. The best antidote is sound teaching.
GrowApp for Mark 8:14-21
1. How hard is your heart about the things of the kingdom? What don’t you perceive or understand? How do you grow deeper in kingdom truths?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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