Mark 8:13-21

¹³ And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.

¹⁵ Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

¹⁶ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”

¹⁷ 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?

¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

¹⁹ When 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.”

²¹ So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

Also found in Matthew 16:5-12.

He left them (v.13) = sent away, sent from one’s self, bade to go away — used in the sense of “let alone, disregard, to not discuss now.” He abruptly terminated the conversation with the Pharisees.

He charged them (v.15) = He repeatedly charged them

take heed (v.15) = become acquainted with by experience, use your head, put the teaching of the Pharisees to the test of experience — Tense is “begin to do this and continue doing it.”

beware (v.15) = perceive by the mind’s eye, consider. “Be constantly keeping a watchful eye open to consider and take heed of.”

leaven (v.15) — Leaven, or yeast, is a substance which ferments in order to produce its effect and spreads throughout every fiber of the dough. The diffusion of this souring substance illustrates and evil quality of false teachers. — KJBC, page 1248

In Scripture, leaven always refers to evil in some form.

reasoned among themselves (v.16) — Tense indicates an ongoing discussion, deliberation

Why do you reason? (v.17) — He wasn’t asking what they were reasoning about and whether it was about having no bread. He knew they were reasoning about having no bread and asked why they would reason about that.

Do you not yet perceive (v.17) — tense indicates continuous action. Jesus said this repeatedly, half speaking to them and half to Himself. Matthew wrote that Jesus finally had to explain to them that He was speaking about the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Is  your heart still hardened? (v.17) — The tense speaks of a process that went on in past time which reached its state of completion, and whose results exist in the present time. The hardening process in the disciple’s hearts had progressed to the state of completeness, and the present results constituted them as men who were in a state of settled hardness. — Wuest, page 163.

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Jesus’ recent miracles with the five thousand and the four thousand showed He need not be concerned over a lack of bread. His recent explanation about the true source of defilement should have been fresh in the disciples’ minds. Just a moment of reflection would have shown them that He was talking about spiritual defilement. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians all had distorted ideas about the Kingdom. — Thomas, page 114.

The picture I get here is that, as the boat crossed the lake, the Lord was still thinking about the discouraging conversation He’d had with the Pharisees. His thinking caused Him to warn the disciples about false teaching. But the disciples had stopped thinking about what Jesus had said and begun worrying about what they were going to eat. Which was silly because they had just see Jesus multiply bread to meet everyone’s needs. Jesus was even more discouraged because His followers had so quickly turned to physical concerns and weren’t thinking about spiritual things.