“No Need For Signs!”

“No Need For Signs!”(Mk.8:10-22).
“He got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.’ Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. 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?'”
Both the Pharisees and the disciples of Jesus were myopic in the reality of his divinity. The Pharisees want a sign as proof of his divine nature. Meanwhile, his disciples failed to use their eyes to see, their ears to hear and their failure to learn through memory that he was divine.
“The yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod” is their evil disposition that should be guarded against. They appear like sheep, asking seemingly innocent questions, but they are actually “wolves in sheep’s clothing!” They came to test him.
But here, Jesus refused to give them any sign. Sadly, when he tells his disciples that they should be careful of the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod, the disciples think he is talking about their failure to bring enough bread.
They failed to catch the metaphor. Generally, we need to have a grasp of literary devices to be able to interpret the figurative expressions that abound in scriptures. When we take all scripts at face value, we will continue to understand at cross-purposes, and this leads to unintended consequences. Such unintended consequences are often the reason for heresies.
The text ends with Jesus expecting that from his Socratic kind of questioning, they have been led to the knowledge of what he meant when he said, “Be careful of the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
That is why he asked in conclusion, “Do you still not understand?”
If we may add, “Did they understand?” The text does not say so!
My friend, try to see and understand. Do not harden your heart. Use your eyes to see and your ears to hear. Go down memory lane to learn through the things that happened out of the ordinary. Then you will know that the yeast of the Pharisees is the evil disposition that one has to eschew! Sin does not come in large quantities. It’s just like a little yeast that changes a large quantity of flour!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, inspire us to be able to read the signs of the time. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
26/03/2025.