Tuesday, February 15, 2022                                      (today’s lectionary)
Tis a gift to be simple
The disciples had forgotten to bring bread and they only had one loaf with them in the boat.
But Jesus is preoccupied with the frustrating conversation with the Pharisees just before he got on the boat. So he broached a metaphor with his friends.
Watch out! Guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the King.
Meaning … what? Well, the disciples didn’t get it. But then he still doesn’t explain his metaphor. He gets upset with them, first the Pharisees, then the disciples. After the thousands are fed with almost no food, I guess Jesus is exhausted.
Do you not yet understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
He asks them a simple question and they answer it. How much leftover bread was there? Much more than what we started with.
They answered him, “Twelve.” … They answered him, “Seven.”
Well, guys, we have one loaf here among us. I think that will be enough, don’t you? If thousands were fed, don’t you think we’ll get fed too? And anyway, there are more important matters here than bread. Man does not live on bread alone, but on the words that come from the mouth of God.
The Pharisees have done far too much to “leaven” those words, and Jesus is here to help us all get back to basics. Just simple bread. Unleavened. Just simple words of God. Not mishrashed to death, not translated into unloving rules that carry no compassion or mercy.
Jesus wants us to see this. He wants us to learn this way of obedience without rationalizing, so we can teach others as he is teaching them.
Do you still not understand?
Jesus’ brother James wrote later, but he gets at the same point.
Do not be deceived, brothers and sisters. All good giving (bread for example) and every perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
Our constantly changing interpretations of the word of God can quickly get in the way. The weather and seasons change, and that is often refreshing. Keeps us from getting bored. Because there are so many choices, I might change toothpaste every time I buy it. I can become addicted to seeing a fresh new set of teeth on each new tube.
Screwtape says to his fellow demon, “We pick out the natural pleasantness of change and twist it into a demand for absolute novelty. This demand is entirely our workmanship” (from Screwtape Letter #25).
Jesus would call out the Pharisees the same way. Stop fixing what isn’t broke, just for the sake of change. In time this preoccupation will distract you from your allegiance to the constant, unchangeable, everlasting Father of lights. And then what kind of a witness will you be, “leavened” beyond recognition, always thinking outside the box, always caught up in your own clever ideas about God?
Our Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jesus calls us to born again by the word of truth. The Pharisees refused; the disciples did not. Every day I get to make the same choice. Keep it simple, David. Be obedient and let the word of God dwell richly in your soul.
(James 1, Psalm 94, John 14, Mark 8)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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