GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 8:21
An Aha Moment
One of the pleasures of teaching is seeing the spark in the eyes of a student when he or she gets it: the lesson clicks, the lesson locks into the mind—somewhat like radar locking onto its target. I was helping one of my grandsons with a particular welding process. Wearing the welding helmet, I watched his placement of the electrode and the spark when the weld began. I saw from the angle of the welding rod and its movement that he had it— he understood the process.
In Mark’s account of the voyage across the Sea of Galilee from Dalmanutha to Bethsaida, Jesus and the disciples got into a discussion about leaven and bread. Jesus led the disciples through a thinking process. He asked them to think through the two recent events where thousands of people were fed by a few loaves and small fish. Jesus wanted his disciples to guard against the empty yet rigorously practiced rituals of the Pharisees and understand the source of a true relationship with the Father. “And he said to them, ‘Not yet are you understanding?’” (Mark 8:21) In Mark’s account, it appears that Jesus rebuked the disciples; however, the wording of the phrase implies that Jesus expected a positive answer: “Aha, now we understand.” In his parallel account, Matthew said, “Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matt. 16:12) Those “Aha” moments are pleasant both to experience and to watch others experience them. The disciples apparently had an “Aha” moment with Jesus in the boat.
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