13And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
16And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."
17But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
They said to Him, "Twelve."
20"Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
And they said, "Seven."
21So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"
I see three different points made in this text. First of all, Jesus says take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. In bread, leaven is the yeast that makes it rise. Yeast added to bread dough has a great influence on the bread, fills the bread with more than was intended. I think that here Jesus is warning the disciples to beware of the influence of the Pharisees and of Herod. They just met with the Pharisees who tried to test Jesus. Later Jesus will be presented to Herod. The questions they ask of Jesus will not seem unreasonable. Both the Pharisees, and Harod feel they are doing what seems right in their hearts. It is easy to fall prey to such influence. This influence over the people will be subtle but powerful.
There will be many authority figures present in our lives, some religious authority figures, some in government, some scholarly, some simply family or friends. We should listen to what authority figures have to say, but we must keep an open heart and try to listen to what God tells us at the same time. God is the ultimate authority. We should not simply let other authority figures lead us in our spiritual lives without trying to hear God for ourselves at the same time. Otherwise, their influence might lead us astray.
The next point I see is how we may easily interpret what we hear to mean what we want it to mean. Do we sometimes hear a message from God as these disciples had then applied it to our current want or need? The disciples realized they didn't have enough bread. They immediately interpreted Jesus words about the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod to be referring to bread - that maybe they shouldn't eat bread from the Pharisees or from Herod.
This is extremely hard to avoid doing. We often have our problems so close in mind that it is very easy to fall into this same trap. Even as I am currently working my way through this book of Mark I often wonder if I am doing the same thing. Am I interpreting the words into what I want or need to hear?
Again, the only real solution to this is to open your heart to really hear what is being said. Remove from your mind what you want to hear. God may be trying to tell you something more important than what you were hoping to hear about. Even though the disciples thought it would be good to hear instructions regarding their shortage of bread, Jesus was trying to give them instructions on how to guard their spiritual understanding. God knows what we need more than we do. We have to find a way to hear what he is really telling us.
The final point I see in this passage is: don't worry. Because the disciples were worried about their lack of bread, they didn't hear the real meaning of Jesus' warning. In fact, because they were worried, they forgot how this exact same need for food was taken care of for them in abundance in the feeding of the 5000 and the feeding of the 4000.
This is a strong message for me too. I tend to worry too much. Jesus has demonstrated that He will take care of our needs. The way He takes care of them might not be the way we would have chosen, but He knows what is best for us. If we can let Jesus take care of our worries, we will be better able to hear other instructions He is giving us. Don't worry, but keep your hearts opened to whatever God tells us.