DAMAGING YEAST

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 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.

Matthew 16:5-12

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Mark 8:14-21

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Luke 12:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The recent death of Charles Manson brought to mind the danger that often exists within cults. By definition, a cult is “great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work” and in the case of “The Family” in 1967, those following Manson, their devotion resulted to him led to nine people being murdered as he attempted to instigate a race war. The horrific incidents showed how people can be misled and misguided if they dedicate themselves to the wrong people.

In the 1970’s, over 900 members of a cult called the People’s Temple, led by Jim Jones, died after ingesting poison-laced kool aid in what constituted one of the largest mass suicides in history. This was followed by another significant cult suicide event in 1997 as 39 Heaven’s Gate cult members took their own lives, believing that they would reach a spaceship following in the wake of the Hale-Bopp Comet, a spaceship that never materialized. In both these instances, people willingly and willfully took their own lives believing in someone who never really had their best interests in mind.

Why all this talk about cults while we are studying the Gospels?

Because Jesus touches on the matter as He addresses His disciples. Look again at His words here from the Book of Matthew:

When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 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.  Matthew 16:5-12

Here the disciples become confused as Jesus tries to teach them using figurative speech. This should come as no surprise because it certainly isn’t the first time we find this happening, especially when Jesus was telling parables.

As we look at the scriptures, we find Jesus speaking on the heels of an oversight by the disciples who forgot to bring bread before they set sail across the lake. This served as a confusion factor as Jesus said this:

“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

As we see, the disciples got so hung up on the matter of bread so much that they thought the yeast Jesus spoke of was the actual yeast used in making bread rise. Their misinterpretation brought a rebuke from their Master who said:

“You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?”

The disciples were thinking in worldly terms. Jesus expected them to think in spiritual terms when He was teaching them, in a way that transcended common knowledge. They were to reach transcendent levels of understanding much like the small number of loaves and fish transcended any conventional expectations when it came to feeding the masses. If they had elevated their level of comprehension in this instance, they would have fully known that Jesus wasn’t talking about bread.

Well, after Jesus verbally corrected His most trusted followers, we find them finally getting what He was trying to tell them. They were to guard against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees which was likened to yeast and yeast here was not used in a positive connotation as we saw Jesus do before. Rather, Jesus was warning against being adversely influenced by the teaching of the Jewish religious authorities, teaching that He labeled “hypocrisy” in Luke’s Gospel.

It was the damaging “yeast” of the aforementioned cult leaders that negatively impacted their followers to either commit murder or suicide. Many would still be alive had they bewared the false teaching and direction they were given.

Some two thousand years earlier, Jesus warned His disciples to avoid a similar fate by avoiding the damaging “yeast” of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Today, there are more than a few false teachers out there, seeking to mislead people to their harm and sometimes demise. The “yeast” of sinful influence still exists and we need to all be aware of it. Through the word of God and the discernment offered by the Holy Spirit, we can all ensure that we never get led astray. Both will help us “guard against the yeast” of those who would seek to misguide us and drive us toward sin.

Amen.  

In Christ,

Mark

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