The parabolic habit of mind of Christ was essential to the setting forth of Divine truth to the comprehension of men; but as yet the persons who might have been expected to understand his teaching most thoroughly, were continually mistaking it. Whilst their Master discoursed of heavenly things, the thoughts of the disciples were upon the earth. There is nothing so reveals the moral and spiritual distance of persons from one another as the difference in their habits of mind.

I. HOW TOO GREAT A REGARD FOR OUTWARD THINGS BETRAYS ITSELF.

1. In over-anxiety. The disciples had by inadvertency omitted to take in a supply of bread ere leaving the shore, and their minds were full of trouble. They began to forecast the inconvenience to which it might expose them. Over-carefulness is a common feature of worldly character. It arises from too great self-dependence and too little faith in God. A certain, moderate attention to earthly wants is a duty, and will be bestowed by every well-regulated mind; but there are limits to be observed. "Be not anxious for your life," etc. (Matthew 6:25). It is a great aim of the spiritual life to be free from this bondage to minute worries and cares.

2. In failure to attend to or understand Divine things. The disciples were so taken up with this little matter that they utterly failed to perceive Christ's meaning, when he warned them against the Pharisees and Herodians. That they should be so was also a proof that they had forgotten the teaching of the two miracles of the loaves and fishes. For this Christ reproved them. His cross-questioning elicited the fact that the details of these miracles were still recollected; but the spiritual lessons had been completely lost. So to speak, these spiritual tours de force had been thrown away upon them. How hard a race has the Divine life with earthly concern and anxiety in the soul! There is a littleness in such habits of thought that effectually prevents the great ideas of the Divine kingdom from entering the mind. Herein is to be found the explanation of the failure of many services and sermons, which in themselves may have been faithful and devout enough: the hearers are occupied with worldly cares. "The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful" (Mark 4:19).

II. THE DANGER TO WHICH IT EXPOSES.

1. Christ, referring to the doctrine of the Pharisees and Herodians, warned against that conception of the Messiah, as one who was to be an earthly king, establishing a temporal dominion, which the leaders of Judaism held. The state of mind of the disciples was eminently favorable to such a view. In them it was only a tendency, in the Pharisees a fixed point of view; and thus the latter wholly missed the spiritual element in the Saviour's teaching. They were filled with visions of national restoration and individual aggrandizement; and failing to receive encouragement from Christ in these, "they were offended in him," and began to seek his destruction. The same danger still haunts the Church of Christ, the absolutely spiritual nature of the Divine kingdom having been one of the most slowly developed of Christian doctrines.

2. The power and the insidiousness of this point of view are suggested by the figure of "leaven." Leaven works slowly, but a very little affects a large amount. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." To minds already prepared by habit and tendency in that direction, it would be a comparatively easy thing to adopt the worldly interpretation of prophecy given forth by the Pharisees. Indeed, if they were only let alone, the "leaven" was already within them, and would assuredly develop into the same fundamental heresy. To think thus of Christ and his kingdom is "to come short of it," to our own hurt and ruin; "for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). - M.

Their reasonings very plainly and painfully proved how very little real benefit they had yet derived from intercourse with Christ. What a display of ignorance, forgetfulness, and unbelief! So it always has been in the history of God's dealings with men. And so it is now, among ourselves, notwithstanding all the superior advantages we enjoy. How often do all of us misunderstand the meaning of our Master's words! How often do we distrust His Providence! And why is this? The main reason is that we are forgetful of the lessons of experience. Like the first disciples, we do not thoughtfully and prayerfully ponder what He has taught us, and what He has done for us. Consider the days of old. Remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee. Gather up into the basket of memory all the fragments of the past, carry them along with you, and make use of them day by day as occasion may require.

(A. Thomson.)

"The first time I went to a Christian missionary," said a Chinese evangelist, "I took my eyes. I stared at his hat, his umbrella, his coat, his shoes, the shape of his nose, and the colour of his skin and hair; but I heard not a word. The next time I took my ears as well as my eyes, and was astonished to hear the foreigner talk Chinese. The third time, with eyes and ears intent, God touched my heart, and I understood the gospel."

With the disciples, as with the rich youth, it was things that prevented the Lord from being understood. Because of possession the young man had not a suspicion of the grandeur of the call with which Jesus honoured him. He thought he was hardly dealt with to be offered a patent of heaven's nobility — he was so very rich! Things filled his heart; things blocked up his windows; things barricaded his door; so that the very God could not enter. His soul was not empty, swept, and garnished, but crowded with meanest idols, among which his spirit crept about upon its knees, wasting on them the gazes that belonged to his fellows and his Master. The disciples were a little further on than he; they left all and followed the Lord; but neither had they yet got rid of things. The paltry solitariness of a loaf was enough to hide the Lord from them, to make them unable to understand Him. Why, having forgotten, could they not trust? Surely if He had told them that for His sake they must go all day without food, they would not have minded! but they lost sight of God, and were as if either He did not see, or did not care for them. In the former case it was the possession of wealth, in the latter the not having more than a loaf, that rendered incapable of receiving the Word of the Lord: the evil principle was precisely the same. If it be things that slay you, what matter whether things you have, or things you have not? The youth, not trusting in God, the source of his riches, cannot brook the word of His Son, offering him better riches, more direct from the heart of the Father. The disciples, forgetting who is Lord of the harvests of the earth, cannot understand His Word, because filled with the fear of a day's hunger. He did not trust in God as having given; they did not trust in God as ready to give. We are like them when, in any trouble, we do not trust Him. It is hard on God, when His children will not let Him give; when they carry themselves so that He must withhold His hand, lest He harm them. To take no care that they acknowledge whence their help comes, would be to leave them worshippers of idols, trusters in that which is not.

(G. Macdonald, LL. D.)

Let me suggest some possible parallels between ourselves and the disciples, maundering over their one loaf — with the Bread of Life at their side in the boat. We, too, dull our understandings with trifles, fill the heavenly spaces with phantoms, waste the heavenly time with hurry. To those who possess their souls in patience come the heavenly visions. When I trouble myself over a trifle, even a trifle confessed — the loss of some little article, say — spurring my memory, and hunting the house, not from immediate need, but from dislike of loss; when a book has been borrowed of me and not returned, and I have forgotten the borrower, and fret over the missing volume, while there are thousands on my shelves, from which the moments thus lost might gather treasures, holding relation with neither moth, nor rust, nor thief; am I not like the disciples? Am I not a fool whenever loss troubles me more than recovery would gladden? God would have me wise, and smile at the trifle. Is it not time I lost a few things when I care for them so unreasonably? This losing of things is of the mercy of God; it comes to teach us to let them go. Or have I forgotten a thought that came to me, which seemed of the truth, and a revealment to my heart? I wanted to keep it, to have it, to use it by and by, and it is gone! I keep trying and trying to call it back, feeling a poor man till that thought be recovered — to be far more lost, perhaps in a notebook, into which I shall never look again to find it! I forget that it is live things God cares about — live truths, not things set down in a book, or in a memory, or embalmed in the joy of knowledge, but things lifting up the heart, things active in an active will. True, my lost thought might have so worked; but had I faith in God, the Maker of thought and memory, I should know that, if the thought was a truth, and so alone worth anything, it must come again; for it is in God — so, like the dead, not beyond my reach; kept for me, I shall have it again.

(G. Macdonald, LL. D.)

Elias, Elijah, Herod, Jesus, John, PeterBethsaida, Caesarea Philippi, Dalmanutha, Decapolis, Sea of GalileeBasketfuls, Baskets, Bits, Broke, Broken, Fed, Filling, Fragments, Full, Hampers, Hand-baskets, Large, Loaves, Pick, Pieces, Portions, Seven, Thousand1. Jesus feeds the people miraculously;
10. refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees;
14. admonishes his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod;
22. gives a blind man his sight;
27. acknowledges that he is the Jesus who should suffer and rise again;
34. and exhorts to patience in persecution for the profession of the gospel.

Mark 8:14-21

     4554   yeast

Mark 8:16-21

     4418   bread

Mark 8:17-21

     1466   vision
     8281   insight
     8832   testing

Mark 8:18-20

     5854   experience, of God

Mark 8:19-20

     1655   hundreds and thousands

The Religious Uses of Memory
'Do ye not remember!'--Mark viii. 18. The disciples had misunderstood our Lord's warning 'against the leaven of the Pharisees,' which they supposed to have been occasioned by their neglect to bring with them bread. Their blunder was like many others which they committed, but it seems to have singularly moved our Lord, who was usually so patient with His slow scholars. The swift rain of questions, like bullets rattling against a cuirass, of which my text is one, shows how much He was moved, if not …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Patient Teacher, and the Slow Scholars
'And when Jesus knew It, He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18. Having eyes, see ye not? having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?'--Mark viii. 17,18. 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 …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gradual Healing of the Blind Man
'And Jesus cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. 23. And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon Him, He asked him if he saw ought. 24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25. After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.'--Mark viii. 22-25. This miracle, which is only recorded …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Cross, and Ours
'And Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29. And He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ. 30. And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. 31. And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Words of the Gospel, Mark viii. 34, "If any Man Would Come after Me, Let Him Deny Himself," Etc. And on the Words 1
1. Hard and grievous does that appear which the Lord hath enjoined, that "whosoever will come after Him, must deny himself." [3157] But what He enjoineth is not hard or grievous, who aideth us that what He enjoineth may be done. For both is that true which is said to Him in the Psalm, "Because of the words of Thy lips I have kept hard ways." [3158] And that is true which He said Himself, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." [3159] For whatsoever is hard in what is enjoined us, charity makes …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Mark viii. 5, Etc. , Where the Miracle of the Seven Loaves is Related.
1. In expounding to you the Holy Scriptures, I as it were break bread for you. Do ye in hunger receive it, and break [3135] forth with a fulness of phrase from the heart; and ye who are rich in your banquet, be not meagre in good works and deeds. What I deal out to you is not mine own. What ye eat, I eat; what ye live upon, I live upon. We have in heaven a common store-house; for from thence comes the Word of God. 2. The "seven loaves" [3136] signify the seven-fold operation of the Holy Spirit; the …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Profit and Loss
We shall divide our text, and consider, in the first place, the gain a man would get if he gained the whole world; in the second place, the fearful loss if a man should lose his soul; and then, afterwards, we will try to finish up by some practical lesson. 1. In the first place, WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED IF HE SHOULD GAIN THE WHOLE WORD? Many Christian people, who do not exactly talk common sense, sum this all up by saying, that to gain the whole world is to gain nothing at all. Perhaps they are right, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Measure of Sin.
7th Sunday after Trinity. S. Mark viii. 2. "I have compassion on the multitude." INTRODUCTION.--In to-day's Gospel we see the tender compassion of our Lord for those who came into the wilderness to hear Him. This is only one example out of many of His great love and mercy: and indeed "His mercy is over all His works." "Thou, O Lord," says David, "art full of compassion and mercy, long-suffering and truth." This is a verity of which we are so convinced that it is quite possible we may overlook …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Religious Dangers
(Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1861, for the London Diocesan Board of Education.) St. Mark viii. 4, 5, 8. And the disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? . . . How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. . . . so they did eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. I think that I can take no better text for the subject on which I am about to preach, than that which the Gospel for this …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

The Cause of Spiritual Stupidity.
How is it that ye do not understand?'--ST. MARK viii. 21. After feeding the four thousand with seven loaves and a few small fishes, on the east side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, having crossed the lake, was met on the other side by certain Pharisees, whose attitude towards him was such that he betook himself again to the boat, and recrossed the lake. On the way the disciples bethought them that they had in the boat but a single loaf: probably while the Lord was occupied with the Pharisees, one …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Final Controversies in Jerusalem
177. The early Christians were greatly interested in the teachings of Jesus and in his deeds, but they thought oftenest of the victory which by his resurrection he won out of seeming defeat. This is proved by the fact that of the first two gospels over one third, of Luke over one fifth, and of the fourth gospel nearly one half are devoted to the story of the passion and resurrection. This preponderance is not strange in view of the shock which the death of Jesus caused his disciples, and the new …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

Prayer --The All-Important Essence of Earthly Worship
Where the spiritual consciousness is concerned--the department which asks the question and demands the evidence--no evidence is competent or relevant except such as is spiritual. Only that which is above matter and above logic can be heard, because the very question at issue is the existence and personality of a spiritual and supernatural God. Only the Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit. This must be done in a spiritual or supernatural way, or it cannot be done at all.--C.L. Chilton The …
Edward M. Bounds—The Reality of Prayer

Eight Easter Lessons Learned at Emmaus. Luke xxiv. 13-35.
I.--When friends speak of good things, Jesus draws near. "These things" which concern Jesus. Even if men speak sorrowfully, if it is of Jesus they speak, He is nigh. If He were the subject of conversation more, His friends would have more of His company. If you are shy of Him, He will be shy of you. II.--Unbelief manufactures sorrow for the godly. Jesus said they looked "sad." It is a pity to employ unbelief; he does not know how to make a smile. When he tries it is a misfit. If the disciples …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The Second Touch
"After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up."--Mark viii. 25. C. P. C. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Lo! a Hand amidst the darkness Clasped mine own-- Led me forth the blind and helpless, Led me forth alone; From the crowd and from the clamour To a silent place; Touched mine eyes--I looked upon Him-- Saw Him face to face. Saw Him, as the dawning swiftly risen O'er the valleys grey; I had passed from midnight of my prison Forth into the day. Lo! again His mighty Hand hath …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Epistle xxiii. To John, Bishop.
To John, Bishop. Gregory to John, Bishop of Prima Justiniana in Illyricum. It is clearly a manifest evidence of goodness that the consent of all should concur in the election of one person. Since, then, the account which we have received from our brethren and fellow-bishops declared that you are summoned to the position of priesthood by the unanimous consent of the whole council and the will of the most serene Prince, we have rendered thanks with great exultation to Almighty God our Creator, who …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The General Service to a Monk-Martyr.
At the Vespers, for O Lord, I have cried, the Stichera, Tone 6. Similar to: Of three days... Let us, O faithful, in dutifully praising the exploits of the wise abstainer and the pains of the soldier of Christ, cry out unto the Lord: Through his intercessions, O Christ the God, deliver us from every calamity. An abundance of the most noble peace will be given of God unto thee, O holy father (mentioned by name), that hast endured the frightful storm of torments, thou invincible warrior and intercessor …
Anonymous—The General Menaion

The Four Thousand
"In those days, when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and some of them are come from afar. And His disciples answered Him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And He asked them, How many loaves …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Leaven of the Pharisees
"And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And He left them, and again entering into the boat departed to the other side. And they forgot to take bread; and they had not in the boat with them more than one loaf. And He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Men as Trees
"And they come unto Bethsaida. And they bring to Him a blind man, and beseech Him to touch him. And He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village; and when He had spit on his eyes, and laid His hands upon him, He asked him, Seest thou aught? And he looked up, and said, I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking. Then again He laid His hands upon his eyes; and he looked stedfastly, and was restored, and saw all things clearly. And He sent him away to his home, saying, …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Confession and the Warning
"And Jesus went forth, and His disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi: and in the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am? And they told Him, saying, John the Baptist: and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets. And He asked them, But Who say ye that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ. And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

the Rebuke of Peter
"And He spake the saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him.". . . . "But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.' And when He had called the people to Him, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Zealous Protestants
Tuesday, May 3.--I rode to Birr, twenty miles from Atlone and, the key of the session house not being to be found, declared "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" in the street, to a dull, rude, senseless multitude. Many laughed the greater part of the time. Some went away just in the middle of a sentence. And yet when one cried out (a Carmelite friar, clerk to the priest), "You lie! You lie!" the zealous Protestants cried out, "Knock him down"; and it was not sooner said than done. I saw some bustle, …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

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