Warning about Yeast
TRANSLATION
(1) And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and, to test him, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. (2) He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ (3) And in the morning (you say), ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet you cannot interpret the signs of the times. (4) An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
(5) When the disciples reached the other side, (they realized that) they had forgotten to take bread. (6) “Be careful,” Jesus said to them, “and guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (7) They discussed this among themselves saying, “(It is because) we took no bread.” (8) And Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? (9) Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you gathered, (10) or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you gathered? (11) How is it that you do not grasp that I was not speaking to you about bread? Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (12) Then they understood that he was not telling them to be on guard against the yeast in bread but rather (to be on guard against) the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
OBSERVATIONS
Three times in this segment we find “the Pharisees and Sadducees” mentioned, twice with the words, “the yeast of” (vss. 1, 6, & 11). Jesus’ figurative use of “yeast” almost always carried a negative connotation. Here it spoke of the Jewish leaders’ skepticism regarding his ministry, manifested in their demand from him of a “sign from heaven” after he had performed numerous miracles and had healed many with diseases. Other repetitions included “sign” four times (in vss. 1, 3, & 4), “sky” three times (in vss. 2 & 3), “bread” five times and once with “yeast” (vss. 5, 7, 8, 11, & 12), “be on guard” three times (in vss. 6, 11, & 12), and “loaves,” “baskets,” and “gathered” each used twice (in vss. 9 & 10).
OUTLINE
I. The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus demanding an additional sign. (1-4)
II. Jesus warned his disciples to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (5-12)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus constantly had to deal with the skepticism of Israel’s spiritual leaders and the dullness of his disciples’ hearts.
APPLICATION
Jesus’ disciples always seemed to be more concerned about filling their stomachs than opening their hearts to spiritual truth. On this occasion, when Jesus had to respond to the hypocritical demand for a sign on the part of the Pharisees and Sadducees, his disciples failed to understand the meaning of his warnings, “Be careful and guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They had wrongly assumed that he was talking about the effect that yeast has on dough since what was uppermost in their minds was their having failed to bring enough food when they crossed the sea. Jesus was forced to explain that he had been speaking figuratively when he used the word “yeast” to warn them regarding the damaging effects of the Pharisees’ and Sadducees’ teaching.
Communication can be a complicated process, fraught with pitfalls and traps. What I think I meant by what I said can be far different from what you think I meant by what I said. Becoming a disciple of Jesus involves learning to discern what his words really mean and grasping the significance of his explanations and exhortations. Far too often we either think we’ve understood him when we’ve only grasped the surface meaning of a word or phrase or, on the other hand, we read far too much into what he really said. That is why we must rely on the Holy Spirit to help us discern the true meaning of his words. As Paul phrased it in 1 Corinthians 2, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12).