Or do you not remember?

Mark 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’

Food for thought!

The incident in this gospel is very revealing of the disciples of Jesus. Although they had witnessed Jesus perform many miracles, they still had doubts about who He really was. Just as we have seen God work miracles in our own lives, yet we so easily forget them. Jesus says, “Don’t you remember” (Matthew 16: 9)?

And Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’

The Disciples were truly the closest men to the Son of God; yet, we see that even they were slow to learn about who Jesus really was. They saw with their own eyes all of the miracles He performed, but they still could not connect the dots. A little surprising… don’t you think?

What Jesus teaches here is the failure to learn from experience. The Pharisees were awhile ago demanding a sign from Jesus (as we saw yesterday) because they weren't seeing any sign of God from experience. They weren't learning anything from life; nothing! Why demand a miracle when miracles are all over?

This is the lesson that the disciples missed, just as we often do. Even after experiencing and witnessing the miracles of Jesus, they could not still connect the dots. They could think of nothing but the fact that they had forgotten to bring loaves, and that, unless something happened, they would go hungry. Jesus saw their preoccupation with bread. He reminded them that twice he had satisfied the hunger of huge crowds with food enough and to spare. It is as if he said, "Why all the worry? Don't you remember what happened before? Hasn't experience taught you that you don't need to worry about things like that if you are with me?" DO YOU STILL NOT GET IT?

The odd fact is that we learn only half the lessons of experience. Too often we too fail to learn from experience. Sorrow came--and we came through it still erect. Temptation came--and somehow we did not fall. Illness took us--and somehow we recovered. A problem seemed insoluble--and somehow it was solved. We were at our wits' end--and somehow we went on. We reached the breaking point--and somehow we did not break. We, too, are blind and slow learners. If we would only read the lessons of experience aright, they would teach us not pessimism but optimism; the things each one of us has gone thru, ought to teach us to trust God in the things yet to come; if God has brought us this far in safety, God can bring us through anything that may happen to us. Or you don't still get it?