Mark 8:14-21 NASB
[14] And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. [15] And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” [16] They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. [17] And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? [18] Having EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember, [19] when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” [20] “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” [21] And He was saying to them,“ Do you not yet understand?” …
I love this particular story because it reminds me of how normal the apostles were. Jesus, as the Son of Man, lived by faith, but he was always discipling his disciples to live by faith, because that is how the kingdom of God operates. Remember, the story is about the apostles, and is about their journey in the school of Christ, learning to live by faith. Remember the context here, Jesus has just fed the 4000 with seven loaves and a few small fish, and after feeding them there were seven large baskets of broken pieces left over. In the verses above, he also references the fact that earlier he had previously fed the 5000, which is probably more like 10 to 15,000 counting the women and children. He fed them with five loaves and two small fish, and there were 12 baskets left over. After seeing all that happening as a result of Jesus by faith, drawing on the resources of heaven, they now find themselves in a boat and one loaf of bread among the 12, and they were discussing among themselves that there might not be enough for them to eat. Understand, it’s not like they were going to be in the boat for days. They were simply going across the lake to the other side, and therefore they were certainly not going to starve to death. Jesus asked them more than once, in light of their unbelief, “Do you not yet understand.” Jesus warned them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, which was the leaven of unbelief. Jesus had fed the 5000 by faith, and the 4000 by faith, yet they couldn’t believe that one loaf among just 12 of them would be enough. To me this is one of the funniest stories in all of Scripture. Unfortunately, isn’t that like us all in this school of faith that we have been enrolled in. If you walk with the Lord long enough, you have seen him do some pretty amazing big things, and then you find yourself in some small little issue that should be easy to believe him for, and your faith fails. What I want you here is this; don’t give up on yourself, and don’t get discouraged, because of your unbelief. These were the 12 that Jesus built the church on, and he did not stop believing in them and teaching them to live by faith. He did not throw his hands up in the air and give up on them, but he stayed committed to them, understanding that all of us are made of dust. If you are showing up every day to fight the good fight of faith, then don’t give up, or think somehow that God has given up on you because your faith failed in the latest battle. Jesus challenged them, in light of their failure, to understand better, and to see better. He wanted them to live by faith, and the next time they would face the situation, he wanted them to understand the circumstance and to see the battle through the eyes of heaven. That’s what faith is; it’s seeing things, and understanding things with the mind and the eyes of Christ. We are all learning, and growing in our faith, and even though failure to believe in a situation can be disappointing, it can also be an opportunity to understand better and to see better with the eyes of faith the next time. The good news is, Jesus keeps believing in us, and working with us, so don’t give up on yourself. You are learning, and he is patient.