He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side. They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them. He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
They reasoned with one another, saying, “It’s because we have no bread.”
Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet, neither understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Twelve.”
“When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Seven.”
He asked them, “Don’t you understand yet?”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 21 We must especially take heed of them which corrupt…
We must especially take heed of them which corrupt the word of God, what degree soever they be of, either in the Church, or in civil policy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 13 And he left them, and entering into the…
13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.
Ver. 13. And he left them] {See Trapp on "Mat 16:13"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v14 We met with this whole history, with some additions,…
We met with this whole history, with some additions, in Mat 16:5-12;
See Poole on "Mat 16:5", and following verses to Mat 16:12. It teacheth us both a lesson of human frailty, and what is our Christian duty: of our frailty, in not considering the works of the Lord for us, so as to make any use of them for the time to come. God doth his great works of providence to he had in remembrance, and that not only with respect to himself, that he might be glorified by us upon the remembrance of them, and this not only by our rejoicing in him, but also by our trusting in him, and not desponding under such like difficulties as God by any of them hath delivered us from. And also with respect to our duty, that we might in present exigences relieve ourselves from former experiences: and if we do not thus conceive of God’s dispensations, we do not perceive, nor understand, the meaning and will of God in them; though we have eyes we see not, though we have ears we hear not, and in remembering we remember not, our remembrance is of no benefit, no advantage at all unto us. Our Saviour, indeed, did not at all speak here of bodily bread; though he did bid them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, he spake to them about the doctrine of the Pharisees, and so Matthew tells us they (after this reproof) considered, though he (after his accustomed manner) spake to them under a parabolical expression. Saith he: What though you have forgotten to bring bread, do not you know, have not I, by two miraculous operations, taught you that I am able to furnish you with bread, though you have none, or such a quantity as is very insufficient? God expects of us that we should so keep in mind his former dispensations of providence to us, under straits and difficulties, as to trust in him when his providence brings us again into the like difficulties, yet not declining the use of any reasonable and just means for providing for ourselves. Thus David knew, and understood, that God had delivered him from the lion and the bear, while going against Goliath, 1Sa 17:31-58; he made it a ground of his confidence: so also Psa 116:8; and Paul, when he concluded God would deliver because he had delivered. God, when he brake the heads of leviathan in pieces, gave him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness, Psa 74:14; he intends former mercies to be food for his people in following straits and exigences.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v14 Observe here, 1. How dull the disciples of Christ…
Observe here, 1. How dull the disciples of Christ were under Christ’s own teaching, and how apt to put a carnal sense upon his words. They apprehended he had spoken to them of the leaven of bread, what he intended of the leaven of the Pharisees doctrine.
Observe, 2. The rebuke our Saviour gives his disciples for not understanding the sense and signification of what he spake. Christ is much offended with his own people, when he discerns blindness and ignorance in them, after more than ordinary means of knowledge enjoyed by them: How is it that ye do not yet understand?
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Observe, 3. The metaphor by which Christ sets forth the corrupt doctrines of the Pharisees and Herodians. He compares it to leaven; partly for its sourness, and partly for its diffusiveness. Now the leaven of Herod, or the Herodians, is supposed to be this: That because Herod was made king of the Jews, and lived at the time when the Messiah was expected, there were those that maintained the opinion that he was the promised Messiah; which opinion Christ compares to leaven, because as that diffuses itself into the whole mass or lump of bread with which it is mixed, so false doctrine was not only evil and corrupt in itself, but apt to spread its contagion farther and farther, to the infecting of others with it.
Learn thence, That error is as damnable as vice; and persons erroneous in judgment to be avoided, as well as those that are wicked in conversation; and he, that has a due care of his soul’s salvation, will be as much afraid of erroneous principles, as he is of debauched practices.
Observe, 4. Our Saviour does not command his disciples to separate from communion with the Pharisees, and oblige them not to hear their doctrine but only beware of their errors; which they mixed with their doctrine. We may and ought to hold communion with a church, though erroneous in judgment, if not fundamentally erroneous. For separation from a church is not justifiable upon any other grounds than that which makes a separation between God and that church, which is either apostasy into gross idolatry, or in point of doctrine, into damnable heresy.
Observe, 5. The fault observed by our Saviour in his disciples, hardness of heart; Have ye your hearts yet hardened? There may be, and oft-times is, some degree of hardness of heart in sincere Christians; but this is not a total hardness; it is lamented and humbled for, not indulged and delighted in. As Christ is grieved for the hardness of heart in sincere Christians; but this is not a total hardness; it is lamented and humbled for, not indulged and delighted in. As Christ is grieved for the hardness of his people’s hearts, so are they grieved also; it is both bitter and burdensome to them.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–21 And he left them,.... As a perverse and hardened…
And he left them,.... As a perverse and hardened generation of men, and as such with whom it was not worth while to discourse:
and entering into the ship again; which brought him over, and waited for him:
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departed to the other side; of the sea of Galilee, towards Bethsaida, Mar 8:22.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of…
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, or of the Sadducees; two opposite extremes.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v14 Verse 14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take…
Verse 14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread] See all this, to Mr 8:21, explained at large on Mt 16:4-12. In the above chapter, an account is given of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v14 Mar 8:14-21. The disciples had forgotten to take bread,…
Mar 8:14-21. The disciples had forgotten to take bread, &c. — For an explanation of this paragraph, see note on Mat 16:5-12. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod — By the leaven of Herod the doctrine of the Sadducees is intended, which was, in almost every point, in direct opposition to that of the Pharisees. Of the two sects, see the note on Mat 3:7. And they reasoned among themselves — They talked privately among themselves about the meaning of their Master’s exhortation, and agreed that it was a reproof for their neglecting to take bread along with them. When Jesus knew it — Which he did immediately, for the thoughts of their minds, as well as the words of their tongues, were all observed by him; he saith, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Why should your neglecting to take bread with you make you put such an interpretation upon my words? Perceive ye not yet, &c. — After having been so long with me, are ye still ignorant of my power and goodness? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Is no abiding impression made yet upon your minds by the many and great miracles I have performed, and the many discourses which you have heard me deliver? Having eyes, see ye not, &c. — As if he had said, My miracles being all the objects of your senses, no extraordinary degree of capacity was requisite to enable you to judge of them. How came it then, that, having the senses of sight and hearing entire, you were not struck with the two miracles of the loaves and fishes, so as to remember them, and derive instruction from them? Our Lord here, it must be observed, affirms of all the apostles, (for the question is equivalent to an affirmation,) that their hearts were hardened: that, having eyes they saw not, having ears they heard not; that they did not consider, neither understand; the very same expressions that occur in the xiiith of Matthew. And yet it is certain that they were not judicially hardened. Therefore all these strong expressions do not necessarily import any thing more than the present want of spiritual understanding.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v15 Of the leaven of Herod. In St. Matthew chap.…
Of the leaven of Herod. In St. Matthew chap. xvi. ver. 6, we read of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: we may conclude that Christ named all of them. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v13 § 71. — THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES, Mar_8:13-21.
§ 71. — THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES, Mar_8:13-21.
13. To the other side — That is, from Dalmanutha or Magdala he recrosses to Butaiha, on the northeast side.
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See notes on Mat_16:5-12.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21 13. he left them] “Justa severitas,” Bengel. “It was…
13. he left them] “Justa severitas,” Bengel. “It was His final rejection on the very spot where He had laboured most, and He was leaving it, to return, indeed, for a passing visit, but never to appear again publicly, or to teach, or work miracles.”
the other side] i. e. the eastern side of the Lake.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 17, 19 (13-21) See Notes on Mat_16:4-12.
(13-21) See Notes on Mat_16:4-12.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21 And he left them, and again embarking embav for…
And he left them, and again embarking embav for emba ploiondeparted to the other side. Again and again our Lord crossed this sea, that he might instruct the Galileans dwelling on either side; in fulfillment of Isa_9:1, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,... by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
Mar_8:14
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
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-
The leaven of the Pharisees
Our Lords warning against false doctrine.
I. A suggestive figure of speech. Leaven.
(1) A suggestive figure of the power of influence, good or bad.
(a) Aggressive.
(b) Subtle in its aggressiveness.
(c) Unless resisted, all-conquering in its subtlety.
(2) Our Lords suggestive use of this figure.
(a) To represent the powerful influence of erroneous doctrine.
(b) To represent the danger to which His disciples were exposed from erroneous doctrines, notwithstanding their superior advantages, arising from the instructions He gave them.
II. A suggestive example of the exercise of bad influence.
(1) Its agency. Pharisees.
(a) The secret of their power.
1. Their ecclesiastical, social, and political position.
2. Their great pretensions to piety-in fasting and prayer.
(2) Its method. Doctrine.
(a) Public teaching a great power for good or evil.
(b) As the respect felt for the Pharisees enhanced their power, so our respect for either the genius or supposed sincerity of a public teacher enhances his power.
(3) An imperative duty in view of this fact. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
The leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees
This caution was probably suggested by His late interview with the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
I. The doctrine of the Pharisees chiefly hinged upon two tenets.
1. Acceptance with God on the ground of legal performances.
2. The obligation of the tradition of the elders. These led to multiplied observances of a legal kind, pride and boasting, hypocrisy, laxity of morals.
II. The doctrines of the Sadducees, here called the leaven of Herod, were opposed to these. Notice only three, as having a practical influence. They denied-
1. The separate existence of the soul.
2. The resurrection of the dead.
3. The superintending providence of God.
These led to the removal of restraint to vicious indulgences. Sadduceeism characterized the generation which has disappeared. Phariseeism the present.
III. Their doctrines are compared to leaven.
1. They affect the whole character.
2. The whole mass of society. Take heed, etc. The one, sanctimoniousness; the other, licentiousness. (Expository Discourses.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v14 14–21. The disciples had forgotten to take bread. For…
14–21. The disciples had forgotten to take bread. For notes on the warning against the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, see Matt. 16:5–12. Matthew says “Sadducees” instead of “Herod.” Herod was a Sadducee, and the Sadducees generally were his supporters.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v13 Mar_8:17. Hardened.—Dulled. See on chaps. Mar_3:5; Mar_6:52.
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mar_8:17. Hardened.—Dulled. See on chaps. Mar_3:5; Mar_6:52.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_8:13-21
(PARALLEL: Mat_16:5-12.)
A warning against formality and indifference.—
I. What the caution refers to.—
1. A formal, hypocritical religion.
2. An indifference about all religion. The rich, the gay, the men of learning and philosophy, are too generally of this description.
II. Some reasons for this caution.—
1. Because of our proneness to these evils.
2. Because of their fatal tendency. Do they not work incessantly till they vitiate the whole man—blinding the understanding, perverting the will, sensualising the affections, and causing every part of one’s conduct to savour of ungodliness?
3. Because of their ultimate effect. Eternal happiness and eternal misery are too important to be trifled with.
III. The means whereby it may be rendered effectual for our preservation.—
1. Get your soul deeply impressed with the principles of the gospel.
2. Be careful whom you choose as your associates.
3. Endeavour to realise the thought of the Judgment.—C. Simeon.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mar_8:15. Of leaven in the Gospel I find three sorts interpreted to our hands, that we cannot mistake.
1. The Pharisees—of the leaven of superstition, consisting in phylacteries, phrases, and observances, and little else.
2. The Sadducees—of a leaven that smelt strong of profaneness, in their liberty of prophesying, calling in question angels and spirits and the resurrection itself.
3. The leaven of Herod—beware that too; many times it is the bane of true religion, when God’s truth and worship must be moulded up with Jeroboam’s and with Herod’s ends, squared to them, just as it is fittest to do their turns. Let all be abandoned—Pharisees’, Sadducees’, Herod’s—and the truth take their place (1Th_2:3-6; 2Co_11:3; Rev_22:15).—Bishop Andrewes.
Erroneous doctrine is like leaven—
1. In regard of the commonness.
2. In regard of the quantity—little (1Co_5:6).
3. In regard of the quality (Mat_13:29).
4. In regard of its spreading property (Act_20:30).
5. In regard of its effects—leaven soureth, heateth, swelleth (Mat_6:16; Col_2:21; Act_7:54; Act_7:57; Col_2:18).—E. Leigh.
Mar_8:16. The disciples’ misconception.—In wondering at the disciples’ curious misconception we ought to remember at least, as serving in a measure to account for it, how accustomed they were to hear our Lord speak in riddles, to have Him address them on many subjects in a mysterious and enigmatical way. Yet need we after all look further for an explanation of what seems to us a remarkable mistake than to the character of their mental preoccupation, when we reflect on the wonderful facility with which the mind discolours and distorts things in the atmosphere of its own broodings, and the illusions it creates in so doing. Only think, for instance, of the irresistible tendency of the self-conscious, self-regarding young gentleman in society to suspect that people are either laughing at or admiring him when there is not the slightest ground for the suspicion, when perhaps not an eye in the room notices him; or of our haste to read in the words and gestures of another a covert allusion to that secret wrongdoing of ours with the memory of which we are burdened, when no such allusion is intended or could be.—N. R. Wood.
Mar_8:21. Why it is that we “do not understand”—whether it be the principles of the Divine government, or the direction of the Divine purpose, or the meaning of the Divine oracles.
1. We do not always care enough to understand, and so will not be at the pains to discover.
2. We are too apt to discover and adopt only what is in sufficient harmony with our own preconceived opinions.
3. We do not use the right helps to enable us to understand; or, having the right helps, we do not use them in the right way. Reflexion, conversation, mingling with those who differ from us, etc.
4. We so seldom go to Scripture as the final tribunal of revealed truth, or place ourselves in the keeping of the Holy Spirit to be our Counsellor and Guide.—Bishop Thorold.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v13 Mat 16:4-12; Mar 8:13-21. “Leaving them, embarking again in…
PHARISAIC LEAVEN
Mat 16:4-12; Mar 8:13-21. “Leaving them, embarking again in a ship, He departed to the other side.” This voyage was from Magdala, on the northwest coast, over to the region of Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast coast. “And they forgot to take bread, and had but one loaf with them in the ship. And He admonished them, saying, See, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Mat 16:6. “And Jesus said to them, See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, It is because, we did not take bread. Jesus, knowing, said to them, Why are ye reasoning among yourselves? O ye of little faith, because you did not take bread? Do you not yet understand? Do you not remember the five loaves and the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves and the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How do you not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, To beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Leaven here and elsewhere, so frequently mentioned in the Bible, Old and New, is always true to its lexical meaning, zurne, “fermentation, corruption,” . . . making everything sour, having wonderful power of interpenetration, so that it literally permeates every atom of the mass into which it is introduced; in that respect pertinently illustrating the kingdom of heaven, as our Savior gives us a parable, setting forth the secret and incessant work of the Holy Ghost in the heart and the spread of the gospel throughout the whole world, using the simile of “leaven,” as He represents the omnipotence and independency of God by the “unjust judge, who neither feared God nor regarded man.” The leaven here, as you see, means the false, corrupt, dead religion of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the debauched politics of the Herodians, in harmony with its lexical meaning and constant Scriptural use, as Paul calls Christ the “Unleaven Bread of sincerity and truth” (1Co 5:7), exhorting us to become like Him, by getting rid of all leaven — i.e., all corruption, and everything that would make our religion sour; as we are warned by Wesley against sour godliness, which is Satan’s counterfeit sanctification. In this discourse, which our Savior preached to His disciples in the ship, we see that He warns them against the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. O how pertinent this admonitory exhortation comes this day to all Christendom! Now what is the leaven of the Pharisees? You are well apprised that they, as Paul tells us, were the “straightest sect” i.e., the orthodox denomination of the Jewish Church — so rigidly contending for every tenet of the Mosaic and prophetic doctrines, and so very punctilious in their pursuit of every ramification of not only Biblical, but even traditionary, teaching; conspicuously punctilious in keeping all of the commandments. Now this was not the leaven; for leaven means corruption, and this was right. Well what was their leaven? Our Savior defines it didache, from didasko, “to teach;” hence it means teaching. Well, what was their teaching? Why, they taught the people that salvation was obtained by keeping the commandments and conforming to the law.
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Hence, you see, Jesus warns us against the dead orthodoxy of the Pharisees. You may be straight as a crowbar, and still as dead and cold as a crowbar. You may be as orthodox as Wesley, Knox, and Bunyan, and still dead as a hammer and cold as an iceberg, only waiting to warm in hell. What was the leaven of the Sadducees? They did not believe all the Scriptures, and were not orthodox like the Pharisees, yet, you see, Jesus puts them in the same black catalogue, having the same trouble; i.e., they were spiritually dead, and neither of them had salvation. Now, what is the leaven of the Herodians? The Herodian family had long been the rulers of that country, through Roman patronage, the old king, who was on the throne of Judea when Jesus was born, having reigned thirty-eight years, and died while the infant Christ was in Egypt, being the last king of the Jews, according to prophecy; was an especial favorite of Caesar’s, who honored him with the title of king. Subsequently to his death, his sons had been kings and proconsuls of Judea, Galilee, Perea, Iturea, and Trachonitis, all being invested with their offices by the Roman emperor. Hence, the Herodians were a political party, in favor of Roman rule in that country. Though the Pharisees and Sadducees were in open hostility to all the sympathizers with Roman rule, and longing to regain their independence, yet in their malignant opposition to Jesus, they actually unite with the Herodians. Now how does this warning to beware of the Herodian leaven apply to us? The Roman Government was an awful military despotism, full of political intrigue and corruption. O how pertinent for the people of God at the present day to beware of the corrupt politics which inundate the country with intrigue, peculation, perjury, and an overflowing sea of vice and fraud, actually threatening the very stability of the Republic!
Now I think we understand our Savior’s salutary admonition to His disciples, aboard the ship crossing the sea of Galilee. Shall not all of us, who are sailing over time’s stormy sea on the good old Ship of Zion, heed this warning of our Prophet? Now what is it? Hear, and govern yourselves accordingly. Beware of dead orthodoxy, whether in Methodism, Baptistism, Presbyterianism, or Quakerism. Orthodoxy can never keep you out of hell. You must, with all your orthodoxy, have matter of fact, experimental, personal regeneration and sanctification; i.e., spiritual life and holiness. Beware of dead heterodoxy, like the Sadducees; and beware of politics — do not talk them, but talk about Jesus. Do not read political papers, but read your Bible and holiness literature. Go quietly to the polls, and vote on the Lord’s side of every question, knowing no politics, but “seeing Jesus only.”
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Mar 8:17 - Mar 8:18.
Mark
THE PATIENT TEACHER, AND THE SLOW SCHOLARS
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Mar 8:17 - Mar 8:18.
How different were the thoughts of Christ and of His disciples, as they sat together in the boat, making their way across the lake! He was pursuing a train of sad reflections which, the moment before their embarkation, had caused Him to sigh deeply in His spirit and say, ‘Why doth this generation seek after a sign?’ Absorbed in thought, He spoke, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,’ who had been asking that question.
So meditated and spoke Jesus in the stern, and amidships the disciples’ thoughts were only concerned about the negligent omission, very excusable in the hurry of embarkation, by which they had forgotten to lay in a fresh supply of provisions, and had set sail with but one loaf left in the boat. So taken up were they with this petty trouble that they twisted the Master’s words as they fell from His lips, and thought that He was rebuking them for what they were rebuking themselves for. So apt are we to interpret others’ sayings by the thoughts uppermost in our own minds.
And then our Lord poured out this altogether unusual-perhaps I may say unique-hail of questions which indicate how deeply moved from His ordinary calm He was by this strange slowness of apprehension on the part of His disciples. There is no other instance that I can recall in the whole Gospels, with the exception of Gethsemane, where our Lord’s words seem to indicate such agitation of the windless sea of His spirit as this rapid succession of rebuking interrogations. They give a glimpse into the depths of His mind, showing us what He generally kept sacredly shut up, and let us see how deeply He was touched and pained by the slowness of apprehension of His servants.
Let us look at these questions as suggesting to us two things-the grieved Teacher and the slow scholars.
I. The grieved Teacher.
I have said that the revelation of the depths of our Lord’s experience here is unexampled. We can understand the mood of which it is the utterance; the feeling of despair that sometimes comes over the most patient instructor when he finds that all his efforts to hammer some truth into, or to print some impression on, the brain or heart of man or boy, have been foiled, and that years, it may be, of patient work have scarcely left more traces on unretentive minds than remain on the ocean of the passage through it of a keel.
Christ felt that; and I do not think we half enough realise how large an element in the sorrows of the Man of Sorrows, and of the grief with which He was acquainted, was His necessary association with people who, He felt, did not in the least degree understand Him, however truly, blindly, and almost animally, they might love Him. It was His disciples’ misconception that stung him most. If I might so say, He calculated upon being misunderstood by Pharisees and outsiders, but that these followers who had been gathered round about Him all these months, and had been the subjects of His sedulous toil, should blurt out such words as these which precede the question of my text, cut deep into that loving heart. It was not only the pain of being misunderstood, but also the pain of feeling that the people who cared most for Him did not understand Him, and were so hard to drag up to the level where they could even catch a glimpse of His meaning, that struck His heart with almost a kind of despair; and, as I said, made Him pour out this rain of questions.
And what do the questions suggest? Not only emotion very unusual in Him, yet truly human, and showing Him to be our Brother; but they suggest three distinct types of emotion, all of them dashed with pain.
‘Why reason ye? Having eyes, see ye not? Do ye not remember?’ That speaks of His astonishment. Do not start at the word, or suppose that it in any degree contradicts the lofty beliefs that I suppose most of us have with regard to the Deity of our Lord and Saviour. We find in another place in the Gospels, not by inference as here, but in plain words, the ascription to Him of wonder; ‘He marvelled at their unbelief.’ And we read of a more blessed kind of surprise as having once been His, when He wondered at the faith of the heathen centurion. But here His astonishment is that after all these years of toil, and of sympathy, and of discipleship, and of listening and trying to get hold of His meaning, His disciples were so far away from any understanding of what He was driving at. He had to learn by experience the depths of men’s stupidity and ignorance. And although He was the Word of God made flesh, we recognise here the token of a true brother in that He was capable not only of the physical feelings of weariness, and hunger, and thirst, and pain, but that He, too, had that emotion which only a limited understanding can have-the emotion of wonder. And it was drawn out by His disciples’ denseness and inertness.
Ah! dear friends, does He not wonder at us? One of the prophets says, ‘Be astonished, O heavens!’ And be sure of this, that the manhood of Jesus Christ is not now so lifted up above what it was upon earth as that that same sensation-twin-sister to yours and mine-of surprise, does not sometimes visit Him when He looks down upon us; and has to say to us-as, alas! He has to say-what He once said to one of the Twelve, ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?’ Is not the same question coming to us? Why is it that we do not understand? Wonder, then, is the first emotion that is expressed in this question. There is another one: Pain. And there again I fall back not upon inference, but upon plain words of another part of the Gospels. ‘He looked round upon them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts.’ It seems daring to venture to say that the exalted and glorified humanity of Jesus Christ to-day is, in any measure, capable of feeling analogous to that; but it will not seem so daring if you remember the solemn charge of one of the Apostles, ‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.’ It is Christ’s disciples that pain Him most. ‘They vexed His Holy Spirit, therefore He fought against them.’ Brethren, let us look into our own hearts and our own lives, and ask ourselves if there is not something there that gives a pang even to the heart of the glorified Master, and makes Him sigh deeply within Himself? May I add one more emotion which seems to me to be unmistakably expressed by this rapid fusilade of questions? That is indignation. Again I fall back upon plain words: ‘He looked round about upon them with anger, being grieved.’ The two things were braided together in His heart, and did not conflict with each other There were infinite sorrow, infinite pity, and real displeasure. You must take all notions of passion and of malignity, and of desire to do harm to the subject, out of the conception of anger as applied to God or to Christ who is the revelation of God. But it seems to me that it is a maimed Christ that we put before the world unless we say that in the Love there lie the possibilities of Wrath. ‘Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and I beheld, and lo! a Lamb!’ Wrath and gentleness are in Him inseparably united, neither of them limiting nor making impossible the other.
So here we have a self-revelation, as by one glimpse into a great chamber, of the deep heart of Christ, the great Teacher, moved to astonishment, grief, and indignation.
II. Now let me say a word about the slow scholars.
I have spoken of these questions as being rapid and repeated, and as a rain of what we may almost call fiery interrogation. But they are by no means tautology or useless and aimless repetition. If we look at them closely, I think we shall see that they open out to us several different sides and phases of the fault in His disciples that moves these emotions.
There is, first, His scholars’ stolid insensibility, which moves Him to anger, to astonishment, and to grief. ‘Are your hearts yet hardened?’ by which is meant, not hardened in the sense of being suddenly and stiffly set in antagonism to Him, but simply in the sense of being-may I use the word?-so pachydermatous, so thick-skinned, that nothing can go through them. They showed it is a dull, stolid insensibility, and it marks some of us professing Christians, on whom promises and invitations and revelations of truth all fall with equal ineffectiveness, and from whom they glide off with equal rapidity. You may rain upon a black basalt rock to all eternity, and nothing will grow upon it. All the drops will run down the polished sides, and a quarter of an inch below the surface it will be as dry as it was before the first drop fell. And here are we Christian ministers, talk-talk-talking, week in and week out; and here is Christ, by His providences and by His word, speaking far more loudly than any of us; and it all falls with absolute impotence on hosts of people that call themselves Christians. Ah! brethren, it is not only unbelievers who have their hearts hardened. Orthodox professors are often guilty of the same. If I might alter the metaphor, many of us have waterproofed our minds, and the ingredients of the mixture by which we have waterproofed them are our knowledge of ‘the plan of salvation,’ our connection with a Christian community, our membership in a church, our obedience to the formalisms of the devout life. All these have only made a non-transmitting medium interposed between ourselves and the concentrated electric energy that ever flashes from Jesus Christ. Our hardened hearts, with their stolid insensibility, amaze our Master, and no wonder that they do.
But that is not all. There is not only what I have ventured to call stolid insensibility, but, as a result of it, there is the not using the capacities that we have. ‘Having eyes, see ye not? Having ears, hear ye not?’ We are not like children that cannot, but like careless, untrained schoolboys that will not, learn. We have the capacity, and it is our own fault that we are dunces in the school, and at the bottom of the class. Use the power that you have, and ‘unto him that hath shall be given, and he shall have in abundance.’ There are fishes in the caverns of North America that have lived so long in the dark, underground channels, that the present generation of them has no eyes. We are doing our best to deprive ourselves of our capacities of beholding by refusing to use them. ‘Having eyes, see ye not?’ Our non-use of the powers we have amazes and grieves our Master.
Further, the reason why there are this stolid insensibility and this non-use of capacity lies here: ‘Ye reason about the bread.’ The absorption of our minds and efforts and time with material things, that perish with the using, come in between us and our apprehension of Christ’s teaching. Ah! brethren, it is not only the rich man that is swallowed up with the present world; the poor man may be so as really. All of us, by reason of the absolute necessities of our lives, are in danger of getting our hearts so filled and crowded with the things that are ‘seen and temporal’ that we have no time, nor room, for the things that are ‘unseen and eternal.’ I do not need to elaborate that point. We all know that it is there that our danger, in various forms, lies. If you in the bows of the ship are reasoning about bread, you will misunderstand Christ in the stern warning against ‘the leaven of the Pharisees.’
The last suggestion from these questions is that the cure for all that stolid insensibility, and its resulting misuse of capacity, and the absorption in daily visible things, is remembrance of His and our past-’Do ye not remember?’ It was only that same morning, or the day before at the furthest, that one of the miracles of feeding the thousands had been performed. Christ wonders, as well He might, at the short memories of the disciples who, with the baskets-full of fragments scarcely eaten yet, could worry themselves because there was only one loaf in the locker. ‘Do ye not remember, when I broke the loaves among the thousands, how many baskets took ye up? And they said, seven. And He said, How is it that ye do not understand?’ Yes, Memory is the one wing and Hope the other, that lift our heaviness from earth towards heaven. And any man who will bethink himself of what Jesus Christ has been for him, did for him on earth, and has done for him during his life, will not be so absorbed in worldly cares as that he will have no eyes to see the things unseen and eternal; and the hard, dead insensibility of his heart will melt into thankful consecration, and so he will rise nearer and nearer to intelligent apprehension of the lofty and deep things that the Incarnate Word says to him. We are here in Christ’s school, and it depends upon the place in the class that we take here where we shall be put at what schoolboys call the ‘next remove.’ If here we have indeed ‘learned of Him the truth as it is in Jesus,’ we shall be put up into the top classes yonder, and get larger and more blessed lessons in the Father’s house above.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v15 leaven See note 4, (See Scofield "Mat 13:33")
leaven See note 4, (See Scofield "Mat 13:33")
Herod See margin ref., (See Scofield "Mat 14:1")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv14, 17 The disciples’ worry about bread:
The disciples’ worry about bread:
v. 14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
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v. 15. And He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod.
v. 16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.
The departure from the region of Dalmanutha or Magdala had been very hurried. Their course was directed to a country which did not offer much in the form of food. A single loaf, probably one left over from the previous day, was all the provisions the disciples had in the boat. Note: The Lord literally lived up to the precept He had given that the believers should take no thought for the morrow, just as He had taught them to pray for the food which was enough for this day, which would sustain life till the next morning. But that one lonely loaf of bread was on the mind of the disciples like a heavy load. Jesus, meanwhile was concerned about much more important things. The encounter with the Pharisees had given Him food for anxious thought with regard to His disciples. Here was a real danger menacing His disciples and the believers of all times. And so He turned to His fellow-passengers and charged them, gave them the earnest precept to keep their eyes open, to watch, to beware against the leaven of the Pharisees and also that of Herod. It was a figurative, proverbial saying, which was in general use among the Jews, since they often applied this word to something foreign to a substance, something that might cause fermentation and rotting, 1Co 5:6. "With this expression something should be indicated that in itself is small and insignificant, but when mixed with other things exerts a most extensive influence, which can scarce be resisted. The Lord warns against the pharisaic and Herodianic leaven. Theirs is a hypocritical manner, that emphasizes the external appearance, that pretends to be strict in worship and yet transgresses and sets aside God’s commandments; their blindness in spiritual things should be indicated, which they gloss over with a show of sanctity. Before one is aware of it, the whole heart is filled with it, even if one has made only the slightest concession. But just as earnestly the Lord feels constrained to warn against the leaven of Herod. This reigning family professed adherence to the tenets of the Jewish Church, but its members drove out the devil of Pharisaism with an equally wicked devil; they wanted to introduce among the Jews the heathenish, loose, dissolute life, of which we had an example in the birthday festival of Herod Antipas. Instead of a hypocritical religion they introduced the religion of the flesh. Also in this respect the disciples of Christ must beware of the slightest beginnings."
But the disciples were as dense as usual. They received the charge in silence and then talked the matter over among themselves quietly, lest the Master should hear. The conclusion they arrived at was this, that the words of the Lord were a reprimand because they had neglected to bring enough bread along. That one fact was worrying them. And, like them, the believers of all times find it very hard to separate their minds from the cares of this life. Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, was with them in the boat, but that did not reassure the disciples. He is with us just as surely, according to His promise, even though His physical. visible presence has been withdrawn, but our hearts are usually just as badly beset by our concern for daily food.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 20 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
While Jesus and his disciples are in a boat, they have a discussion about the lack of understanding among the Pharisees and Herod, though they had seen many signs.
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Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here the author tells background information about the disciples forgetting to bring bread. (See: Background Information)
no more than one loaf
The negative phrase "no more" is used to emphasize how small an amount of bread they had. AT: "only one loaf" (See: Litotes)
Keep watch and be on guard
These two terms have a common meaning and are repeated here for emphasis. They can be combined. AT: "Keep watch" (See: Doublet)
yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod
Here Jesus is speaking to his disciples in a metaphor they do not understand. Jesus is comparing the Pharisees' and Herod's teachings to yeast, but you should not explain this when you translate it because the disciples themselves did not understand it. (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
disciple
bread
watch
yeast
Pharisee
Herod Antipas
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21 8:14-21 This account of the journey across the Sea…
8:14-21 This account of the journey across the Sea of Galilee reflects on Jesus’ greatness, as manifested in the two feeding miracles, and emphasizes the dullness of the disciples, who do not see, hear, or understand because of their hardened hearts (see 4:9-20; 6:52).
8:14 The reference to having only one loaf of bread reminds readers of recent occasions when the disciples had not had enough bread and Jesus miraculously provided enough bread to feed thousands of people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.