What is the meaning of Jesus' words, beware of the yeast of the pharisees found in Matthew 16:6 and verses 11-12. What does it mean for Christians today?
Leaven, or yeast as we call it today, is used to make bread rise when baked. It gives the the bread fluff from the carbon dioxide bubbles it creates. Contrast that with pizza-crust-thin unleavened bread, and you get the idea.
The Lord spoke of leaven on several occasions in the Gospels (e.g. Luke 12:1, Matthew 16:12, and Mark 8:15), and taught a parable relating to leaven and the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:33). He warned of the leaven of the Pharisees, the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the leaven of Herod (or the Herodians).
Each time the Lord spoke about leaven it was in a negative light. The Jews in Jesus’ time understood that leaven was symbolic of evil; it indicated the entrance of evil, or the entrance of sin.
Leaven permeates the whole loaf, like corruption subtly permeates a church. It leads to a weak, ineffective, and fruitless condition, both individually and corporately.
From these Gospel passages, we can glean the idea the Lord was conveying about the leaven of the Pharisees.
1. The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy—projecting an image yet having a different attitude inwardly.
In ancient times, the Greek word hypokrites was a reference to actors—pretenders that played a part when others were watching but were another way when they were not on stage.
As Christians, we become hypocrites when we act one way in church—when the pastor and brethren are watching—but act a different way at home (work or school).
We forget that our family members see us. The leaven of the Pharisees leads to a poor testimony and defames the name of Christ.
2. The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is disbelief of God's Word and believing false doctrine.
The Pharisees and Sadducees put on a pretty good show, but inwardly did not believe the Scriptures.
Had they believed, they would have recognized Christ and would have been more merciful in their dealings with others.
Had they believed, they would not have taught their traditions as God's law.
Christians can be influenced by the leaven of disbelief and false doctrine by holding more to their traditions than to what God says—I will have mercy over sacrifice.
Are you holding brethren to a higher standard than God does? Perhaps the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees has gotten to you.
3. The leaven of Herod, or as some say, the Herodians, is faithlessness, forgetfulness, failure to trust God, and or unbelief.
The Herodians were Jews who had become Hellenistic—they loved Greek culture. In so doing, they cleaved to philosophy over the word of God. As a result, they became faithless, forgot God's promises, and trusted their own thinking more than the words of God.
Today, Christians can be tainted with this yeast by holding on to the culture of the world instead of Christian culture; by holding to the philosophy of man over the doctrines of the faith, and by trusting science falsely so-called, over the word God has given us.
Christians today are heavily influenced by modern psychology which tells us man is good inside and sin is just a condition to be treated with medicine or therapy to make him better.
Christians include the world's type of music and entertainment in their worship services. Rather than seek the Lord, we seek our feelings about the Lord.
Rather than trust God and the clear and plain reading of His word, Christians over-theorize, adjust our teaching, and hold to the belief that the world evolved because evolutionary science tell us it has.
The Lord warned the disciples then and warns us today that if we let leaven into our lives, it will affect us. As a natural course, it will be transferred to other brethren, and eventually the whole church to the point that we become diluted and ineffective for the Master's use.
We have all seen or have heard how hypocrisy hurts the credibility of the church and even separates members; how false doctrine takes people down the wrong path, and how faithlessness leads to a failure to trust God and keep His ways, i.e. fruitlessness.
The Lord wants us to live abundant and fruitful lives; so, He tells us to be on guard against the subtle worldly influences all around us.
Conclusion
Please take time and review the Bible passages shared in this post (I personally prefer the King James Bible) and mediate on the word of God about this.
Look for the leaven in your life and confess it to God and become more unleavened.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post or comment here.
By Jerry Smith
Feature Image source: https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/Savany
Pharisees image source: www.LumoProject.com licensed to FreeBibleimages.org for free distribution
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