“Synodality” is becoming a much-used word in church circles. As far as I can tell it is an ecclesial word for “consensus.” The hope is to get every member (and non-member) of the Church to voice their opinions and see if there is a consensus on what is true and what needs to be done. Attached to this idea is that when there is consensus, it is the Holy Spirit speaking. We, of course, know that, though it is good to get everyone involved in dialogue, truth is not up for grabs and God’s system is not a democracy. From experience we know that the majority is not always right.
In today’s gospel reading we sense a little “synodality” brewing among Jesus’ disciples (Mark 8:14-21).
“The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.”
Isn’t this proof that the disciples of Jesus were men?
“Jesus enjoined them, ‘Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread.”
Jesus was well aware of the popular opinions being pushed by those in power–the Pharisees and Herodians. It would be easy for the disciples to get side-tracked from the truth that Jesus taught. Both the Pharisees and Jesus were “religious” people, and some of what they said might have sounded the same to outsiders. Jesus in fact, however, was on a completely different path than that of the religious leaders.
Did the disciples catch on to what Jesus was warning them against? When he said “leaven,” they thought of bread, which was the matter they had been talking about because no one remembered to bring any lunch. Assuming Jesus was on their wavelength, they interpreted Jesus’ comment to be a reprimand for their not bringing bread.
How did they come to this conclusion? They had a “mini-synod,” a consensus—and “concluded among themselves,” what Jesus really meant.
How did Jesus respond to this?
“Do you not understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?”
Though these men had spent days with Jesus, they still didn’t catch on to the message he was preaching. They were like Israel of old whose ears were closed to the words of the prophets. They had open stomachs and closed hearts. We can imagine how frustrated Jesus must have been with them.
“And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered “Seven.”
Seven and twelve were the perfect numbers that indicated completion. It was no accident that the baskets numbered twelve and seven. God was sending them a message that the days of prophetic fulfillment had arrived. They were watching the Kingdom happen right in front of their eyes. Yet they were unable to read God’s message in these two situations.
Like the disciples we talk among ourselves and try to figure out the truth. All the while we do this, we miss out on the subtle signs that God puts in front of us. In doing so, we become susceptible to the leaven of contemporary Pharisees and politicians.
It is good that we talk things over as long as we begin by listening to the voice of God. Truth comes from him, not from us.
