A very interesting event happened between the Lord Jesus and the disciples that is not spoken about often (Mark 8). You will learn what “intelligent faith” means because God tells us to think (and not just believe). Faith does not disregard intelligence, and intelligence does not disregard faith.

The Lord Jesus had just multiplied the bread and fish in a distant place. It’s one of his most well-known miracles. When that moment was over, they got on a boat and went to the other side. The disciples forgot to take the bread and kept only one. Then, the Lord Jesus began to talk about the “leaven of Herod and the Pharisees” with the disciples. He was talking about a spiritual subject. The “leaven” was an analogy of “something that spreads”. The words of the Pharisees and Herod were like leaven inside the people who heard them, and the disciples should be careful with that “leaven”. To this day, it is like this (above all, because of the internet).

But the disciples, moved by their guilt at having forgotten the bread, said, “[…] It is because we have no bread” (Mark 8:16).

“But 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?” (Mark 8:17).

In other words, Jesus said: “why are you arguing for not having bread? Are you blind, are you deaf, don’t you remember? When we broke the bread between the 5,000, how much was left? I just multiplied the bread and fed the crowd. Do you think I’m going to make you hungry?”

In other words, it wasn’t even necessary for faith; it was just a little bit of thinking. That’s why the Lord Jesus was sometimes frustrated with the disciples. It was enough to think about it.

What lesson do we learn from this? It is easy to talk about the disciples, but how often do we worry about a similar situation with something we have already overcome through faith in God? We forget what is written in the Word and what we lived with Him.

 Some people forget in the sense of ingratitude (they forgot where God took them from), and some forget out of anxiety. The person doesn’t think. Jesus said: “Don’t you remember when I fed more than 5,000 people?”

 We have to remember the good things. And this will calm our soul, and let’s say: “God is faithful. I will rest in Him. From what I have seen and heard, even if only a loaf of bread is left, I will trust that He will meet my needs.”

 Join us tonight at your local Universal Church for the last study of the ‘Armour of God’ where you will reflect on what is good (His Word) and surrender your worries into God’s hands.

 Meditate on this message and watch the video below: