Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?” “Twelve,” they told him. “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how man baskets full of pieces did you collect?” “Seven,” they said. And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” 8:17-21
You can sense the frustration of Jesus in this most stinging rebuke in the book of Mark. It is easy to sympathize with Jesus because He has demonstrated His power and care for people over and over again. Not only did the crowds benefit from his compassion, but even the disciples themselves took away more than they needed from those miracles. Yet, in the moment, they still fret over the day to day worries of life. While there is no excuse for their obtuse behavior, I doubt if we would have fared much better had we been in the boat with them. Mark is a fast-paced, compact book and it feels like things happened quickly. Yet, it spans Jesus’ three-year ministry and there were spaces of time between those events where the memory and excitement of a miracle likely faded in the minds of His followers. Also, there was constant pressure on Jesus and His disciples from the crowds who always needed help, and from the religious leaders who always stood in opposition. Life on the road (or in the boat) with Jesus was not always easy and carefree. I can easily see where human nature (sin) and a lack of understanding of what was really happening in this ministry of Jesus could cause those who followed him to waver at times.
But let’s just be gut-level honest; how many times have we seen Jesus be faithful in our lives? How many times have we seen Him come through and provide miraculously… save the day… change the course of our lives? But, when a new day comes and the pressure is on, we are right there in the boat with Him discussing the fact that we have no bread. The bread of life, the owner of everything, the God of the universe lives in our hearts… but we worry, we fret, we lose hope and we try to solve our problems with our own strength and our own wisdom. We are constantly guilty of forgetting His faithfulness in the past and His presence with us in the moment. God forgive us!
There is good news, though. Jesus ends verse 21 with a word of hope. He says, “Don’t you understand yet?” That word “yet” is what I am clinging to in this moment of self-realization. Jesus was frustrated with them, but He had not given up on them. He alludes to a time when they will get it and when they will do better and when they will come through. This rag-tag group of misfits were the ones who become the Apostles in Acts and who took the gospel to the world. They become some of the great heroes of the faith. They didn’t understand in the boat, but they did “eventually” get it. That means there is hope for us as well. Let’s remember His faithfulness in the past and let’s be aware of His presence with us in this moment; let’s walk in that awareness in such a way that our “yet” begins today!
