Jesus and his disciples traveled by boat from the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Decapolis to its western shore at Dalmanutha (Mark 8:10b), which was south of Capernaum and northeast of Cana and Nazareth. There he was met by some Pharisees who demanded a sign (a miracle) from him. It isn’t clear from Mark’s narrative, whether Jesus began preaching before they demanded a sign, or whether they demanded a sign from him due to his presenting himself as the Messiah, or because he presented himself as the Bread that has come down from heaven, following the feeding of the 5000 (cp. John 6:29-30; 35, 38). If the Jewish authorities were merely demanding miraculous signs as proof of his Messianic office, they already had such signs, plenty of them, and they had no way in which they could deny Jesus’ miraculous works (cp. John 3:2; 9:16; 11:47-48). So, why did they ask for other miraculous signs to prove his claims? Moreover, if Jesus was willing to do miracles at all, such as feeding the 5000 and later the 4000, why would asking for another miracle be tempting him (Mark 8:11)? Finally, if the Pharisees really were tempting Jesus with their demand for a sign, wouldn’t requests for healing etc. (Mark 7:25-26, 32; 8:22; cp. John 11:1-3) also be tempting him?
What seems to be the problem is not the legitimate request for God to act on behalf of his people, but that the authorities wished to control the acts of God. They wanted God to act when they wanted, where they wanted, and how they wanted (cp. Exodus 17:2, 7)! In other words, God was to be their slave. During the first century AD, the Jewish authorities knew full well that Jesus worked legitimate miracles, but they believed they could keep the Messiah from assuming authority over the people, if they retained their authority by making demands of him that, effectively, kept them in command. That is, by demanding signs of his authority whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted and how or in what manner the sign would be executed (cp. Matthew 4:3, 4:6, 4:9), they could keep their authority and render the Messiah a mere figurehead, who moved and shook according to the strings they pulled.
Jesus sighed deeply in his Spirit (Mark 8:12), knowing their thoughts (cp. Numbers 14:22), and reiterated, as he had been doing for about two years, no sign would be given this faithless generation. Immediately afterward, Jesus and his disciples left that place in a boat, sailing toward Bethsaida (Mark 8:13, 22).
Mark tells us that the disciples had forgotten to buy any food for their journey (Mark 8:14), which demands the question: what happened to the seven baskets of food they had taken up after feeding the 4000 (Mark 8:8)? The fact that the disciples no longer were in possession of such a great amount of supplies seems to imply Jesus had told them to give it to the people who needed it for their journey home. Such a thing seems to oppose what religious organizations do today. Jesus’ compassion extended to the people (Mark 8:2; cp. 6:34), not necessarily to the organization that ministered to the people. On the contrary, the ministers of the Gospel were completely at the mercy of the folks they ministered to (cp. Mark 6:7-13).
While it is true that later great offerings were laid at the feet of the Apostles (Acts 4:33-35), it was so, not for their benefit, or for the benefit of those ministering the Gospel, but for those in need. I mention this not to criticize Christian support of the Gospel nor for those who live by the Gospel, but to say there is absolutely no support for today’s mega churches nor for the great wealth taken in by certain ministries who claim it is for the Lord’s use. That kind of thing has absolutely no support in the Gospel narratives.
I believe it is with this in mind that Jesus warned the disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. Remembering the fact that the disciples didn’t understand Jesus’ command in the beginning, I think we should ask ourselves: do we really understand Jesus’ warning (Mark 8:15-16)?[1]
When Jesus realized how his disciples were reacting to what he had just warned them about, he chided them about having a hard heart, meaning a heart with no understanding for the word of God (Mark 8:17-18) and even reminded them of how they were able to feed so many thousands with what little they actually had. In other words, the Lord is not helped by the supplies we have or limited by the supplies we lack. The work of God cannot suffer through the lack of supplies, because God is able to make what we have enough for the task at hand. Rather, it is the methods of organized religion and the state that we need to beware of (Mark 8:19-20; 16:12). We need to consider the fact that both the Pharisees (religious authority) and Herod (the state) are fearful of losing the power they possess, and will jealously guard it at the expense of the Gospel (cp. Mark 3:6; 6:17, 20, 27).
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[1] Usually, spiritual understanding is restored gradually. We often look back upon the Apostles and judge them for not understanding spiritual matters, but how often do we ignorantly overlook our own hard heartedness, because we simply are unable to see? One can’t judge a blind man, because he doesn’t see. He is to be pitied. The terrible reality is our own spiritual understanding is also gradual, and we keep forgetting the fact that we may not see properly enough, when we draw conclusions from the scriptures. Therefore, we need to keep going to the Lord for our understanding, and not simply depend upon what we think we know.
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