Mk. 8:13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
Mt. 16:5 And when the disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
Mk. 8:14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.
Mt. 16:6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
Mk. 8:15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Leaven is a term used in the Bible for “second best.” In chapter 23 of Matthew Yeshua will tell His disciples to obey the teachings of the Pharisees, but don’t do what they do because they preach one thing and do something else. In this case the “leaven” of the Pharisees is that He is not the Messiah because the miracles that He did were do to demon possession, even though their own teachings prove that He is the Messiah. The Sadducees try to claim that He is against the Temple and the Herodians claim that He is against the rule of Rome through the house of Herod. He wants His disciples to be aware of these things and not to accept any of these teachings.
Mt. 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
Mk. 8:16 So they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
Mt. 16:8 But when Jesus perceived it, He said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you brought no bread?”
Mk. 8:17a And Yeshua, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread?”
Here they are reprimanded by Yeshua. If you look real close, you can sense a change in the Lord’s attitude here. Before this, if the disciples made some mistake, He would patiently correct them and go on. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Now, the Lord gets on their case pretty good. The time is short. Yeshua is very disappointed that Israel has rejected Him. The disciples have now entered into an intensive period of training. They need to pay attention to what is going on around them. They have to learn to depend on Him for their physical needs so that they can concentrate on their training or the days when He won’t be with them physically will be the more difficult for them.
Mt. 16:9a “Do you not yet understand,”
Mk. 8:17b “Do you not yet perceive, nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?
Mk. 8:18 “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?”
Mt. 16:9b “Or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?”
Mk. 8:19 “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? They said to Him, “Twelve.”
Mt. 16:10 “Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?”
Mk. 8:20 “And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said, “Seven.”
Mt. 16:11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? — but you should beware of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Mk. 8:21 So He said to them, “How is it that you do not understand?”
With a few loaves and some small fish the Lord fed 5,000 men and their families in one situation. In another similar situation following that, He fed 4,000 men and their families. After witnessing these two events the disciples are now worried and murmuring among themselves because they have only one loaf of bread to divide among themselves.
Their concern is not where it should be. The feeding of 5,000 and then the feeding of the 4,000 should have been proof enough to the twelve that any physical need that they have the Lord is able to take care of. They must learn to depend on Him for their physical needs and concentrate their energies on the Kingdom work that He has for them.
Mt. 16:12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of the bread, but the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The job of combating the false teachings concerning Him by the Pharisees and Sadducees will be left to the twelve after He is gone. They need to be aware of what they are up against.
Mk. 8:22 Then He came to Beth Saida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.
Mk. 8:23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
It is again a private miracle. His miracles are not for the masses anymore. He will provide healing based on personal need through faith. This is the only miracle Yeshua performed that is found in two stages. First, the man’s blindness is partially removed. He has partial sight, but is also partially blind. He is able to see things. He looks at people, but they are blurred. They appear as trees that are walking. In the second stage of the miracle, Yeshua removes the blindness totally, and now he can fully see. The Bible does not give a reason for this miracle being accomplished in two stages. A very possible reason may have something to do with this man’s faith. The Bible says that he was brought to Yeshua. However, it says nothing about him “wanting” to see Yeshua. It is very possible that Yeshua had to do this miracle to help build his faith for him to an acceptable level to receive his miracle. He very well could have had a lot of doubt and unbelief blocking his way.
Mk. 8:24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
Mk. 8:25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
Mk. 8:26 And He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into town, nor tell anyone in the town.”
In this verse we see just how private Yeshua is trying to keep the miracle. He tells the man not to go into town, or even tell anyone in town. Israel has rejected their Messiah, so He has rejected them. They will always be God’s chosen people because of the covenants He has with them, but once again He must go to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous and come back to Him. His rejection of Israel is only temporary, but they will pay an awful price for it in about 40 years.
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