Matthew 16:1-12 and Mark 8:11-26
In discussing the feeding of the 4,000 in the area of the Decapolis I had wondered yesterday who might those people be who came from “far away”. We learn this morning that some in this “far away” crowd were Pharisees and Sadducees: And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. (Matthew 16:1) Here they are, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, far from both Jerusalem and any cities in Galilee, and they continue to follow Jesus. But their interest is only in testing Him, not listening to what He says.
The last item in today’s Mark reading has Jesus using His spit to cure a man’s blindness (Mark 8:23). It’s easy to gloss over the fact that this is the second time in two chapters where Jesus used His spit as a curative (see Mark 7:33). There is one other occurrence of Jesus using His spit, again curing a blind man in John 9. I don’t know what to make of it, but if you are interested in this topic online commentators have a lot to say.
See also: June 3 / Matthew 16:1-12; June 4 / Mark 8:11-26