Grow in Grace

Tonight at prayer meeting we will look at Mark 8:1-26. This passage tells of Jesus’ feeding of 4000 people with 7 loaves of bread (and a few small fish), followed by a visit from the Pharisees, who attempted to get Jesus embroiled in a discussion about signs from heaven. Later, Jesus warned his disciples–while they still had bread on their minds– to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod. His disciples discussed Jesus’ warning with each other, trying to understand what he meant, when Jesus, overhearing them, said, “Do you still not see or understand?”
Admittedly, Jesus seemed to be talking in riddles. But we do not have a record of every session they had already had with Jesus, when he probably had discussed at length the dangers they faced. Besides that, the miracles he was performing not only brought healing to people but also served as object lessons about deeper truths. If they would pay closer attention, and think deeply about what they were hearing and seeing, they would understand better.
I can see why they are called, “disciples,” this band of men who followed Jesus, because the word means, “learners.” Their teacher was Jesus. Following conversations like the one we just observed, one gets the feeling of being in a classroom as the professor whittles away at the ignorance, stimulating the class members to think for themselves. Even today, we get that feeling. Jesus is always teaching us, and, hopefully, we are always learning. We learn from experience as we try to apply the teachings of Jesus to our lives. I like the way Paul expressed this when he said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). We’re learning. We’re growing toward spiritual maturity. But it’s never easy.