One day, Jesus and his disciples were in a boat on a journey across the Sea of Galilee. Every journey needs preparations and supplies. And we all know what it’s like to be 20 minutes into the trip and suddenly realize we forgot to pack the sandwiches. Mark tells it like this:
The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.”
He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Mark 8:14-21
I imagine the dumbfounded look on Jesus’s face. “Really? After all you’ve seen happen? I fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and you picked up twelve baskets of leftovers and then I did it again and you picked up seven baskets of leftovers. And you think I’m concerned about not having enough bread!?”
This is an example of our all-too-common dilemma of forgetting to remember which story the real drama is taking.
Jesus warns the disciples about the faith-destroying lure of political power. They thought he was concerned they forgot to remember the bread.
Of course, bread matters in life too. But if Jesus is warning you about something, it’s probably not that you don’t have enough bread. Yet is Jesus being too harsh here? Seems innocent enough of a confusion. He did talk about yeast. So why such a serious rebuke?
“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?”
I think when Jesus seems too harsh toward us, it’s probably because we’re being too dull toward him. Their concern was they forgot the bread, but Jesus knew that what they really forgot was the bigger story.
Their dull heart toward that story kept them from seeing and hearing and understanding and remembering a far greater reality.
Both Matthew and Mark include this story in their gospel accounts because they believed their readers needed to wrestle with Jesus’s rebuke too. You and I should see ourselves in this story.
Don’t make the mistake of getting too focused on the smaller story, while forgetting to remember the bigger story that really matters most.
Jesus specifically talks about this elsewhere:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? …But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
Matthew 6:25, 33
Anxiety, worry, fear, jealousy, envy, unhappiness, discontentment, and a thousand other things that crap up our lives are really about forgetting to remember the bigger story that matters most.
“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?”
Jesus is saying that our forgetting to remember is not a dullness of memory issue but a dullness of heart issue.
Our dullness of heart would rather talk about more “bread” — or sports, or politics, or celebrities, or vacations, or the kids — because we’re dull to remember where the real drama is. Because even our smaller stories get off track when our bigger story is off. So instead of remembering enough bread, we fear and worry that we won’t even have enough of that.
God tells us through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:
“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day…?”
Isaiah 51:12–13
Maybe “constant terror” is too strong a word for our fears and worries and anxieties and discontents, but you get the point.
The bigger story to remember is that the I AM, our Maker, who created and sustains this entire universe, is a far more glorious drama to live for than what any mere mortal can offer.
Get the bigger story right and the smaller story takes its proper place.
The good news is that we can remember not to forget. Helpful resources are more easily accessible now than at any other time in history.
May I recommend my podcast, A Bigger Life? In each episode, I give a short devotional from the Bible and then take a moment to let it sink deeper into your heart by leading a short prayer.
A new episode appears every Tuesday and Thursday. You can find it on your favorite podcast streaming platform by subscribing below.