Week 6 of Ordinary Time, Tuesday – 18th February — Gospel: Mark 8,14-21
Disciples’ constant misunderstanding
The dialogue between Jesus and his disciples takes place here when they journey in the boat. This is the third of the three incidents at sea in which the disciples fail to discover the real identity of Jesus. The first was in Mk 4,35-42 when Jesus calms the storm. There the disciples were astonished and raise a question, “Who then is this?” The second was in Mk 6,45-52 when Jesus comes walking towards the disciples on the water. Here the disciples were utterly astounded and their hearts were hardened, “for they did not understand about the loaves”. In this third incident they failed to understand Jesus once again (Mk 8,21). They misunderstood Jesus’ instruction and think Jesus is chiding them for not bringing along more food during their journey across the water. Through series of questions referring to the two feeding accounts, Jesus rebukes their hardness of heart. Like the Pharisees, they have closed their eyes and ears to who Jesus is and what he is able to do. They also failed to recall Jesus’ personal experiences in the sea and their involvement in the distribution of loaves and gathering them after feeding. Every time they were taken up by His stupendous power. But they always failed to perceive that He is able to provide anything for their need or that he is a prophetic sign of future bread for their nourishment.
