A Study Through the Gospel of Mark: Unbelief in the Disciples

Introduction

The Differences in Misbelief, Disbelief, and Unbelief

We will start this study today by looking at three different types of belief. Let’s start with some definitions.

Misbelief - a wrong or false belief.

Disbelief - refusal to accept that something is true or real.

Unbelief - an absence of faith.

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Misbelief is sometimes easy to identify. If someone believes the sky is green and the grass is blue we would say that they are crazy. Like last week as I shared about this man that I was sharing the Gospel with and helping. When the man began to tell me that he was a prophet and an angel I knew that he had some misbeliefs about himself. I knew that even more so when he said he was born a virgin like Jesus. He had some clear misbeliefs.

Unbelief is all around us. If you go out and proclaim the Gospel at all then this is a very real statement to you. There are a lot of ideas that people don’t have faith in. I have faith that Big Foot is real. Albeit for me it is more hopeful than actual belief. I would be very excited to find out Big Foot does exist and sometimes I playfully argue his existence. But this belief is considered unbelievable to most. Flat Earth theory is considered unbelievable by most sane people. We can see unbelief in a variety of different ideas, events, and things.

Disbelief may be one of the more divisive beliefs because you are refusing to accept that something is true or real. The Pharisees would be in this category I believe. The facts are in front of their faces. They have witnessed the power of Jesus Christ up close. The Pharisees have heard His claims and have witnessed the proof of His ministry.

In Mark 2:8-12 “And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!””

Jesus tells them that He has authority on earth to forgive sins. He forgives the paralytic man of all his sins because he had faith in Christ. Jesus demonstrates the spiritual healing with a physical one and the Pharisees refuse to believe. They remain as enemies of Jesus.

The Disbelief of the Pharisees (8:11-13)

We pick up this week where we left off last week. The Pharisees had come to Jesus to argue with Him. They were seeking for signs or proofs of Jesus’s claims. There eyes were closed and having ears they don’t hear. They continue to disbelieve and fall into the category of spiritual blindness which is found in Isa 6:9-10.

“And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.””

The cause of spiritual blindness is our own sin. We are broken. That means our hearts are deceptive, our minds are unreasonable, and our natural will is to defy the living God. The problem for the Pharisees is that they did not have faith. Like the people of Israel in Isaiah who had great claims of piety they put themselves on display for self exaltation. All the while they were exploiting the poor of the land and so focused on their religiosity that they missed the mark. As God says in Isaiah 29:13:

And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,”

They had taught men to do religious acts, but none of them had faith. Faith is the only qualifier for righteousness for God. He counts us righteous freely because of faith in Him. They must have misunderstood their Father Abraham. When reading the Scriptures and you will find as early as Genesis 15:6, “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” The Lord counts us righteous on His behalf, not by our religious acts. The Pharisees had no faith and so the result is to be spiritually blind. Having eyes but not seeing, having ears but not hearing, and hardened hearts that don’t understand. We might be tempted to think that people like the Pharisees are the only ones who could respond this way. We will come to find out that even the closest people to Jesus struggle with spiritual hardness.

The Wrong Focus (8:14-16)

Let’s read the passage of text for today:

Mark 8:14-21 “Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?””

We are seeing the following scene after Jesus and His disciples leaving the disbelieving Pharisees on a boat. The disciples are concerned over a lack of bread when they had just witnessed Jesus feed the 5000 men and then again feed the 4000 people. You would think that they wouldn’t be concerned at all, but this concern leads Jesus to confront their disbelieving hearts. Jesus categorizes them in the same boat as the Pharisees. The disciples had surely fallen under the scope of judgment in Isa 6:9-10. They had eyes but didn’t see; ears, but didn’t hear; and hearts but they were hardened to be able to understand. The disciples had the wrong focus. They weren’t focused on the object of their faith, Jesus Christ.

Focused on the Physical (v.14,16)

The disciples were caught up on the physical. It is common for us to do the same. We go from day to day on the same schedule. We show up to work at the same time every day and go home about the same time. We eat around the same times every day. We all have a bedtime that we try for. If we have anything that interrupts the pattern of our life it distracts us. The disciples had something interrupt their focus. They clearly disbelieved what happened when Jesus fed all of those people because they were worried about bread. They had forgotten to get bread and there was no way they could turn around to get more. There have been times in my life where I wasn’t turning around to get something. I think it was last year we were almost to the Davis exit heading to Tulsa. We noticed that we forgot to bring the key lime bars that Torie had made for Christmas at her parents. As soon as we realized I made the statement that I wasn’t turning around because we were already too far away. The boat wasn’t turning around for the disciples. They were hungry and they only had one loaf of bread to divide between them. The lack of food had distracted them from Jesus. It is easy for us to become distracted when there is an inconvenience in life. Whenever it happens we take our eyes off of Him and put them on the problem. How can I fix this? Distractions in life cause us to forget the God we serve. Distractions keep us from trusting in Him and relying on Him for all of our needs.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Distracted from the Danger of the Leaven (v.15)

Mark 8:15 “And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.””

I. Mark inserts in between the disciples’ dilemma a warning. This warning isn’t just a warning, but a command to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. The warning given amongst their distraction. This warning seems out of place to the disciples I am sure. They aren’t understanding the situation very well at the moment. They are so focused on the physical that they have missed the point entirely. To the point of which when they hear the warning from Christ they respond, “We have no bread.” You have to have bread to have leaven. The leaven is what makes the bread rise into a loaf. But Jesus wasn’t talking about physical leaven. He was talking about leaven that could only be seen with eyes of faith.

II. Leaven is portrayed almost completely in a negative light in Scripture. Leaven is used to convey evil in Scripture. We see imagery of it first before the Passover. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is in remembrance of God commanding the people of Israel to remove all of the leaven in their house before the Passover. If any leaven was eaten they would be cut off from Israel. So, leaven was seen as very bad in this event. This event was the catalyst to their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the Passover are symbols of what has happened to us now. The community of Israel is the dough and sin or leaven is the bad thing in it. The only means of removing the leaven is conversion and an utter disgust of the leaven. The converted soul is the pure dough, the new life in Christ is the feast, and it is all made possible by the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ. We are called to continuously remove the leaven from our lives. (Col 3:9; Eph 4:22)

III. Leaven is used as an example to describe the effects of sin by Paul. In 1 Cor 5:7-8 it says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Paul’s use of this is in regard to a young man in the church was living in open egregious sin. Sin is so serious in this case that Paul commands the church of Corinth to remove the young man from the congregation. The saying, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” is true. A little yeast is used for a lot of flour. A little sin is enough for you to go to Hell. A little sin is enough for God to cast angels out of Heaven. A little sin is enough to corrupt you. Sin is serious and we shouldn’t deal with it lightly. Once the yeast starts working it becomes harder and harder to remove it.

IV. Jesus’s warning should be heeded and obeyed. The little leaven of the Pharisees had already started working in the boat. The leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod find their place in their disbelief in the ministry of Jesus. The disbelief of the Pharisees and their demanding of signs had already had an effect on the disciples. Like Ezekiel, Jesus is a prophet in exile among His own people. Eze 12:2, ““Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.”

The Wrong Heart (8:17)

Mark 8:17 “And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?”

Your Intentions Need to be Questioned (v. 17a)

Jesus questions their intentions. “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?” This is something that we should be questioning in ourselves daily. Why are we thinking the way we are thinking. Why are we doing what we are doing. Why are we saying what we are saying. Intentions can be veiled by great action, but our heart reveals our motives. We can get into the habit of reading the Bible, praying, and going to church. But does any of this affect the way you think, the way you act, or the way you speak? When you are confronted with someone else’s disbelief in the Gospel, do you fold? Sin will naturally hurt us. The greatest hurt sin could cause is to harm your faith. The enemy is looking for an opportunity to make you disbelieve something about Jesus. When we find ourselves disbelieving is the moment we should find ourselves on our knees asking God to show us the sin in our hearts.

Your Understanding Helps Your Faith (v. 17b)

I am going to quote a passage out of the Pillar New Testament Commentary by James R. Edwards:

“The faith for which Jesus appeals is a faith born of understanding and insight. The disciples are not chastised for not believing but for not seeing and understanding.”

Our faith is developed through understanding more and more about Jesus. He opens our eyes more and more as we walk with Him. As we deal with sin and repent of it we grow into mature believers. The maturity of the believer is seen in the man who isn’t wavered by another man’s disbelief. They are able to hear statements of disbelief and stand firm in what they know is true.

Your Disbelief Hardens Your Heart (v.17c)

I am going to quote the rest of the passage out of the Pillar New Testament Commentary by James R. Edwards:

“The hardened heart is a particular problem for religious and moral people (e.g., Rom 2:5). An ignorant heart cannot harden itself. Only a knowing heart can harden itself, and that is why those closest to Jesus—the Pharisees (Mk 3:5–6) and the disciples (Mk 6:52; 8:17)—stand in the gravest danger. The disciples mirror humanity-at-large, which is so stuck in its own world and cares that it is blind and deaf to God. The disciples are anxious about lack of bread, but Jesus is concerned about their lack of faith.”

Hardness of heart happens to a knowing heart. When we are close to Jesus we stand in grave danger of this. We can abandon our faith just as easily as the disciples when a worldly care comes up. We can blind our eyes and deafen our ears so very easily. We see it every day in our lives how easy it is for us to get distracted. It is so hard for us to remain focused on Christ when problem after problem come up throughout the day. It is only through the disciplined training of following Christ and trusting in Him that you can win the battle. We must be quick to remember all that Christ has done for us. We mustn’t forget.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

The Wrong Understanding (8:18-21)

Mark 8:18-21 “Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?””

The Understanding of Israel (v.18)

The understanding of Israel is revealed in Jesus’s questioning of the disciples. Jer 5:21 ““Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.” The people of Israel in Jeremiah had followed after other gods. They would not listen to Jeremiah who was calling them to repent. They would listen to the false prophets who preached the opposite message. The people of Israel had blinded themselves to the truth and would receive a just punishment. The disciples were acting in the same way. They were so focused on everything else that they were not understanding.

The Understanding of the Disciples (v.19-20)

The understanding of the disciples was pretty basic. Jesus asks them about the baskets of broken pieces and they remember how many baskets were leftover at each feeding. Jesus is reminding them of the miracle they had witnessed. They had no reason to worry about bread. They were with the Bread of Life. He fed 5000 men with 5 loaves of bread and they are worried about splitting one loaf among the disciples. The leaven of the Pharisees had taken a toll on them. They were struggling in disbelief even though they had witnessed it. We know that Jesus will take care of us so we shouldn’t get caught up in anxieties. We should cast them onto Jesus; He is able.

The Understanding of Jesus Christ (v.21)

The understanding of Jesus can only be found in Him. Jesus asks them, “Do you not YET understand?” The word yet is so very sweet to me. It brings hope to my heart that the things that I don’t understand now will be revealed to me by Jesus eventually. There is so much grace in the word “yet.” We can know that we can find understanding in Christ. He will help us to see what we don’t see and hear what we don’t hear. He is more than able to keep our dough pure whenever we allow corrupt leaven in. We just throw ourselves back into His capable hands while we repent of our wickedness and trust in Him.