“Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod” (Mark 8:15). I have a leaven test. 1) Am I using religion to quell my anxiety about not being in control of the world around me? 2) How angry have I become because people are not following my religious beliefs? 3) How hard has my heart become in response to the people who don’t believe the same way I do?
The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about and thought it had something to do with the fact that they didn’t have any bread. You can hear Jesus’ frustration in what He said to them. “Why are you discussing that you do not have any bread. Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened? Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear?” (Mark 8:17,18). He went on to remind them about how He miraculously fed the multitude with enough left over to care for them.
I came up with my leaven test because while I was writing this devotional I was wrestling with my own Pharisaical tendencies. How do I know that I was acting like a Pharisee? I was angry with someone for not following what I believed was right, and my heart was hardened in the process. I was blinded to the fact that I was doing this. I didn’t understand until, as I was studying this passage, I began to pray and ask Jesus to heal my blindness, take away my deafness, softened my heart and help me understand.
After Jesus miraculously fed the five thousand with twelve baskets left over, the disciples found themselves at night in the middle of the sea fighting against the wind. Jesus came to them walking on the water, and they were terrified! He told them, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Mark 6:50). The disciples were completely astounded, because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
Jesus mentions this problem about a hardened heart again after He fed the four thousand and His disciples are worried that they don’t have enough bread on the boat. So what is the cure for this hardening of the heart? What is the cure for the leaven that Jesus is warning them about? I believe that cure can only come when Jesus miraculously removes our spiritual blindness so that we can see who He truly is. I believe that only when He takes away our spiritual deafness so that we can hear and understand Kingdom truths will we at last be released from our religious anxiety and desire for control.
Thank you for sharing your heart! The closer we get to our Lord Jesus, the more we are conformed to His image, the more our hearts beat with His, and the more tender our hearts become. I see this in you.
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