THEY DIDN'T GET IT

  Jesus had fed the five-thousand and later the four-thousand with bread and fishes. Jesus in the first miracle had broke five loaves, fed 5000, and took up twelve baskets of left-overs. Later, Jesus fed the 4000 with seven loaves, and they took up seven baskets of remnants. The Jews had seen those two miracles, yet the Pharisees and Sadduccees asked to have a sign. Jesus questioned their hearing and vision. They could not add two plus two and get four.
  Bread takes leaven to rise. Jesus increased five and seven loaves to feed 5000 and 4000 respectively plus had twelve baskets and seven baskets left over. Jesus’s “leaven” was those two miracles which they had seen and heard about. Leaven increases the size of bread. Jesus increased the amount of bread without it losing its yeast. Yeast is the leavening agent for natural bread, but in this case, Jesus was the leavening “Agent.” Yeast is impure, but Jesus is pure. The Jews had seen two great signs, but asked for another.
  Those two groups, knowing the Talmud quite well, knew about Moses well. They knew that Moses saved them from Pharaoah and Egypt, representing Satan and sin, respectively, but needed another sign. They always, throughout history, needed signs to convince them. God would work miracles, and yet they would still not believe.

  The rich man in Hell was discussing Hell with Abraham. He wanted to convince his brothers to change. Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” (Luke 16:29-30) Obviously, the Pharisees and Sadduccees should have looked at Moses for their signs. In fact, Moses and the Exodus was symbolic of Jesus and salvation. The Jews had not connected the dots and wanted another sign.

  Years ago, I connected the dots. I wondered about Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his only remaining son for the sins of the Jews. With that dot down, I connected many of the dots. I soon realized that the exodus from Egypt represented salvation from the Devil, and it was by the blood of Christ. Soon I began to connect many more dots until I said to myself, “The Old Testament is all about Jesus, and is not old at all; it’s the same “testament” to Jesus and salvation was always for everyone and by grace.” Incidentally, that is the “mystery of Christ” of which Paul spoke (Rom 16:25). God revealed the mystery to me, but the Jews, represented by the Pharisees and Sadduccees were still blind to the mystery.

  When the Pharisees asked for a sign, Jesus sighed (they had not connected the dots), as you shall see in the next passage:

¹¹ And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. ¹² And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. (Mark 8:11-12)

  Not only did they know about Moses, but saw and heard about both miracles of the loaves. They just did not get it because they lacked discernment. Their spirit was disharmonious to Jesus’s and had been to the Holy Spirit all along. Jesus called them out, if the sigh was not enough:

⁴ A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. (Math 16:4)

  The Sadduccees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Mat 22:23), and surely were making doubters of the Pharisees who did. Those of that generation already had a sign, but failed to understand. Jonah’s three days in the belly of a great fish was representative of Jesus’s stay in the tomb before he was resurrected. Jonah was given a second chance, and the Jews would be given the same with resurrection. Paul validated that:

²² For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: ²³ But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness (1 Cor 1:22-23)

  Gentiles would consider the resurrection as irrational; thus “foolishness.” Because Jews did not recognize all the signs throughout the ages, Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection would make them stumble. They thought their works would save them, and missed the point that Moses holding up the dead Serpent in his tree of knowledge was what would save them (John 3:15).
  Jesus was harsh on the Jews, but the Gentiles were foolish. Greeks, especially at that time, thanks to Plato and others, used reason in their doctrines of Stoicism and Epicureanism. Plato even questioned reality! How can a second life be real if the first life may not be?
  The Pharisees and Sadducees were somewhat Hellenized around the south shore of the Sea of Galilee. They reasoned just as the Greeks would, but were not so good at it, according to Jesus. Examine that conversation:

¹⁷ And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?  ¹⁹ When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. ²⁰ And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. (Mark 8:17:20)

  Jesus was saying, I leavened the bread and I did it without yeast! Yeast in the Bible represents sin, or more precisely the law of the world which Paul called the “Law of Sin.” That “law” is in the flesh of mankind (Rom 7:23). Jesus’s leavening was pure, and was from the “Law of God.” Natural leavened bread took yeast, but spiritually “leavening” was by the blood of Jesus in that unleavened bread is to be used in remembrance of Jesus’s death.
  The Jews knew their scripture, but failed to understand that the Torah had provided them all the signs they needed. Indeed, the entire gospel can be found in Genesis Chapter three alone if one looks for it there! Test yourselves; go do that.  Jesus pointed to two numbers in regard to His “leavening” — twelve and seven. Let’s look at the easiest one first (seven);

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. (Exod 12:15)

  In Egypt, just as in Judea, Jesus… yes, JESUS)…  was about to save the Jews by blood on the “cross” of the wooden Hebrew doors. In preparation for salvation and the resurrection of the Hebrews, Moses would lead them out safely because of His confidence in Jesus… and yes, Moses had spoken with JESUS… The Hebrews would eat unleavened bread for seven days. They would eat bread that represented the Bread of Life, Jesus by Name. The lack of leaven represented Jesus’s pure Flesh.
  It was by grace the Hebrews were saved. That was one “mystery of Christ.” The doctrine of Jesus is that He is the “Leaven” in the Showbread. The natural leavening was yeast, and that was the doctrine of the Pharisees:

And he charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”  (Mark 8:15)

  The leaven of the Pharisees was works, and by the way, reason. They apparently were beginning to believe the reasoning of the Sadducees. And how about Herod? Herod Antipas was king at the time. He was essentially an Epicurean; that philosophy was the pleasure principle, which by the way, was two of the three temptations of the Tree of Knowledge (Gen 3). I believe that Jesus was implying, Leaven works to raise the bread, I can raise bread and my own Bread. Don’t you get it yet? The leaven of the Pharisees was salvation by works, and with the miracles of the loaves, Jesus did the work.
  How about the twelve baskets? Jesus fed the multitude, but there were twelve baskets left over. I believe those baskets represent the 144,000 remnant of the Jews who will be saved at the Great Tribulation. God, by grace, shall resurrect them as well, of course after the multitude of Christians are fed:

And had a wall great and high (New Jerusalem), and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel (Rev 21:12)

  Perhaps, Jesus was indicating that you Jews are represented by the remnant of bread in the twelve baskets, just as the multitude was represented by the seven baskets. Because the miracle of the loaves was in an area that was heavily Gentile and quite Hellenized (like the Greeks), that the multitude was mostly Gentile. They had ample bread left over for those who knew the Law so well.

  I use “perhaps” in my conclusions. I’m sure that the Pharisees knew much better what Jesus was implying than what I do, but they rejected His Purpose. I do not! He is the Bread of Life, and in the end, a remnant of the Jews will come to understand what the miracle of the loaves is all about!
  How about the fish? Jesus is represented as a “fish” because he was born under that sign. The sign of the Antichrist is Aquarius. “Jesus” was in those baskets, symbolized by both the bread and fish.

(picture credit: GentlyHewStone,com)