Matthew 16:9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many basket ye took up
Everything is new to those who do not remember. We have a little one here on the Bill Rice Ranch who was born a couple of months ago. His name is Jack. Jack is a smart little guy, but Jack doesn’t remember anything because Jack doesn’t know anything. By the time he is old enough to remember 2022, he won’t remember it anymore! The same is true with people. It doesn’t matter how much you know if you don’t remember any of it. Everything is new to those who do not remember. Everything is like a new discovery. That might be good when you are one year old, but it is not good when you get a little further on in life.
In Matthew 16 Jesus is teaching His disciples an important lesson. He has been confronted by the Sadducees and Pharisees who are testing, tempting, and denying Him. He says to His disciples, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Leaven is an ingredient in bread, but it is also an illustration of the evil of these groups of people, the Pharisees and Sadducees who were against Christ from the beginning. So, He is trying to teach them a lesson, but the moment He says, “Leaven,” they are totally distracted from the lesson that Jesus is trying to teach and are obsessed with bread. The Gospel of Mark tells us that just prior to this they had realized that they had not brought any food with them except one loaf of bread. So, they reasoned among themselves, “Well, the reason He is talking about leaven is because we haven’t had any bread.”
Now, Jesus had just recently fed a multitude of over 5,000 people. Then, he had fed a multitude of over 4,000 people. Now they have one loaf of bread for thirteen people and the disciples seem to be concerned that Jesus is going to be in over His head. That seems improbable, but it is exactly what happened. They had seen Jesus provide, yet they are concerned that He is going to be taken up short by this need of bread for thirteen people.
When Jesus saw what was going on, He said, “O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?” Basically, He is saying, “How are you missing what I am trying to say? Are you really worried that I cannot provide for thirteen people when I’ve just provided for thousands of people?” The fact is, they totally missed the lesson that Jesus was trying to teach that day because they had forgotten the lesson He had very graphically taught them prior, specifically the lesson of God’s provision for them.
The lesson of God’s provision is a wonderful lesson! God will provide and He cares for you. Jesus is able. But it is not as if it is the only lesson in the world, yet it is the same lesson they kept coming back to over and again because the disciples just did not get it. They had forgotten what Jesus had done and therefore what He could do. It is almost as if there was a book proposal for the Bible. In Matthew 14 the lesson was supposed to be about the provision of the Lord. Matthew 15 was to be the lesson about provision of the Lord, and Matthew 16 was going to be about the danger of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, namely their leaven. But that lesson was hijacked. We get one verse into the lesson when the disciples instantly think about their stomachs, and we never really come back to this lesson. It is almost like we have gone from one lesson to Jesus reminding them of what they should already have learned.
The takeaway is that we fear our future when we forget our past. The future is unknown and I understand our fear because I face this like you do. It is easy to fear. We fear our future when we forget our past, but there are a couple practices that can help us. Practice gratitude. I say practice because gratitude is not natural or normal. It is always normal to know what you need. It is not normal to remember what you have been given. But, if you do the one, you will have grace for the other. If you can remember what God has done, you can have confidence in what God is able to do. So, practice gratitude.
Second, pay attention. Don’t relegate God to your past. Realize that He is already in the future, and be ready for new lessons. The lesson of God’s provision is a wonderful lesson, but it is not the only lesson. There is more to life than bread and food. Jesus said quoting Moses, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” It is easy to think that the sum and substance of our life is bread, food, survival, and God’s provision for us tomorrow. God will provide for you tomorrow, but remember that nothing is new to the Lord even though it may be new to you.
We fear our future when we forget our past. So, practice gratitude and pay attention so you will be better equipped for whatever may be in your path today.