Beware of yeast and open your spiritual eyes!

Beware of yeast and open your spiritual eyes!

 

Mark 8:14-26

 

When the disciples forget to bring bread, Jesus tells them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. He scolds the disciples who misunderstood this as a matter of bread, so they had eyes but could not see, and had ears but could not hear, and mentioned how He fed 5,000 people and 4,000 people with five loaves and two fish and seven loaves and two fish. And He heals the blind man in two steps.

 

We must be careful of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod (15). The leaven of the Pharisees is a sense of authority and hypocrisy, and the leaven of Herod is a debauched life and lust for power. These blinded the disciples' spiritual eyes and hindered their enlightenment. If we have the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod within us, let us quickly throw it away.

 

Jesus heals the blind man in two steps (22-25). The blind man shows the spiritual state of the disciples who did not understand even after seeing many miracles. Just as a blind man gradually regains his sight through two steps, the disciples' eyes of faith will gradually become brighter. I pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten our eyes of faith.

 

God, help us to throw away the leaven of the Pharisees, their sense of authority and hypocrisy, and the leaven of Herod, their debauched life and lust for power! And may the Holy Spirit enlighten our eyes of faith so that we may become true disciples who deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow the Lord!