Do You Have Eyes and Not See, Ears and Not Hear?

The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?” “Twelve,” they told him. “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?” “Seven,” they said. And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” Mark 8:14-21 CSB

This is an incredibly sobering passage of Scripture. I’m not sure how many times I must have read this section but didn’t hear what it was saying until after my car accident, and I’m so thankful for that.

Jesus is talking to His disciples here. Catch that? Disciples. Not the hypocritical Pharisees, Gentiles or anyone else. His disciples! These are the people Jesus chose, and there is only a handful of them. Minus Judas, the remaining eleven disciples were going to be the pillars of the church after Jesus is gone. I’m not a math guy, but in my mind, that’s not a whole lot of people to start a worldwide revolution! I mean, Jesus, you got to keep some of what you got: You have to be really nice to these few or they may leave you too! Jesus doesn’t see things the way I do. He is God, and He knows the heart of the issue.

So in this section, Jesus starts talking about how they need to watch out for the leaven of Herod and the Pharisees, which then prompts the disciples to discuss that they forgot bread. Let’s all be human for a second, we would probably be doing the same thing. Jesus then turns to them and says, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear?… Don’t you understand yet?” Basically saying “are you all forgetting? I am the Bread. I provide. Me, not you. I make things exist that do not exist. Do you all have eyes that do not see, ears that don’t hear? Hearts that are hardened? Don’t you understand?”

Jesus says to His disciples, “Do you have hardened hearts?”

The line, “Do you have hardened hearts” cut me. These are His disciples that He chose and He’s asking them if their hearts are hardened? The unrelenting ability of Jesus in this passage to drive home to them that He is the one that provides is mind-boggling. The wreck that I was in really did shake my sense of reality and pride. I needed that. In my daily readings, this passage was next for me to read after the car wreck and it released questions like: Who really provides, Austin? Have you been seeing God without truly and fully seeing God? Is your heart hardened, Austin? Do you think you got out of the wreck on your own? Do you think you’ve made it to this point of life on your own? Do you think all of those times your family should have lost everything was just because of your guys’ ability to finagle finances?… Don’t you understand yet?

Think about yourself for a moment… Who provides for you?

The fact that Jesus ends with an almost open-ended ending leaves room, I feel, for us to contemplate and to open our eyes and ears to Him. It doesn’t matter how seasoned you are, these were the disciples- Jesus’ right-hand men. We need to pray that God opens our eyes and ears, no matter the cost. This passage is so sobering, and so easily missed. I pray that you have eyes that see, ears that hear, and that your hearts won’t be hardened. Turn to Jesus for everything, He is the Provider. Our lives, every second while alive and into eternity, completely and fully depend on Him.

-Austin