14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. 15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? 19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
Jesus Discusses the Pharisees
Throughout the gospels the primary opponents of Jesus have been the Pharisees. They keep challenging him and he keeps rejecting their authority. Here, Jesus contrasts himself with the Pharisees in an explicit manner not usually seen â€" and he does so with the now-common symbol of bread. In fact, the repeated use of “bread†should by this point alert us to the fact that the previous stories were never about bread at all.
Yes, it’s common for Christians to assume that the stories have some literal level at which they could be understood, but that’s unnecessary. We no more need to treat the multiplication of bread as a literal event than we need to think that “bread†in the above parable is meant literally â€" if Jesus can use parables to teach a lesson, who’s to say that the gospel authors can’t?
It is arguable that if they learned anything from Jesus, it would be the effectiveness of parable. Unfortunately, just as the disciples were too hard-headed to understand the point of the parables, many modern readers are similarly indisposed to understand that they are reading parables at all â€" they imagine that they are reading literal history.
If “bread†isn’t meant literally, then of course neither is “leaven.†Here, the term “leaven†refers to the principles or ideals of a belief system. The disciples are informed that the principles and attitudes of the Pharisees on one side and Herod on the other aren’t to be trusted. Such an interpretation appears to be beyond the understanding of the disciples, however.
The importance of “leaven†is further revealed when we take a closer look at the structure of Mark’s narrative. Right in the middle between the first and second stories of Jesus multiplying bread and feeding the masses, Jesus is challenged about the disciples’ failure to conform to tradition when it comes to washing hands before meals. Jesus then proceeds to explain that adherence to tradition has become more important than adherence to God’s commandments.
Here we find that theme revisited, with Jesus explaining that the “leaven†of the Pharisees (religious traditions) and the “leaven†of Herod (political power, perhaps?) are inferior to the “leaven†which he brings to people (presumably a personal relationship with God). Thus through the course of several diverse stories we can actually see a common theme being reinforced
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