The Friday after the Sixth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 1, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 8:13-21 (NKJV)
8:13 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?”
Devotion
The scribes and the Pharisees trusted in their own righteousness. Many people today are not much different. Mankind has a tendency to pat ourselves on the back for our good deeds. We are always comparing ourselves to other people. Usually, we are doing much better than other people in our own minds. It is easy for us to turn a blind eye to our own failings. We love to paint ourselves in the best light. We love to trust in our own righteousness. This is “the leaven of the Pharisees.” They teach men to look at one’s own works as a sign of one’s righteousness.
Our Lord would rather have us trust in Him. The disciples were worried about not bringing bread with them. They failed to learn the lesson our Lord taught through the miracles. Here our Lord sets it out in plain language. One needs only to trust in Him. He is the One who fed the thousands from a small amount of loaves and fishes. If He can feed thousands with just a little, can He not also supply the needs of the disciples?
The same is especially true of our Lord’s spiritual gifts. He richly and abundantly gives them to all who cling in faith to Him. It is His righteousness that truly saves. Let us not trust in ourselves, but cling to our Lord, whose righteousness is perfect, and will bring us to perfection in everlasting life.
Collect: Lord of all power and might, Who art the Author and Giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of Thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
