Matthew 16:5-12
"Beware of
the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" Warned
Jesus
16:5
And the disciples came to the other side of the
sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.
6 And Jesus said to them,
"Watch out and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and Sadducees."
7 They began to discuss
this among themselves, saying, "He said that
because we did not bring any bread."
8 But Jesus, aware of
this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you
discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?
9 "Do you not yet
understand or remember the five loaves of the five
thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?
10 "Or the seven loaves of
the four thousand, and how many large baskets full
you picked up?
11 "How is it that you do
not understand that I did not speak to you
concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and Sadducees."
12 Then they understood
that He did not say to beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way that we think, and the way that we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
Are We Looking for a
Miracle or Sign?
To start, let's deal with the
disciples. It seems they are always scratching
their heads. After all the miracles Jesus has
performed before them they still don't have a clue
as to who He is.
We are sometimes just as much
in the dark when our faith falters. Even though we
read the Bible we still turn to everyone but God
when we need help. This is off topic but just
wanted to point out one of my own
failings.
Now, back to the leaven of
the religious leaders ...
In understanding this passage
we need to do a little cooking class. I am the last
person to tell anyone how to cook ( I can make
hot dogs and cheese sandwiches) but leaven bread
was a common term in the Jewish
community.
Bread will rise when yeast is
added. Just a small amount of yeast is all it takes
for a large amount. The same is true of salt or
other spices. A pinch of salt will add flavor to a
whole pot of whatever is cooking.
Jesus is not talking about
bread in these verses. He is speaking of evil. The
wrong teachings of the Sadducees and Pharisees, no
matter how little the variation, was affecting a
large amount of people and leading them in the
wrong direction.
The same goes for us. When we
do wrong (sin), how many people do we affect?
Let's try to think about the
consequences the next time we are tempted to say
this little bit of wrong won't really cause anyone
harm. Remember, a little goes a long
way.
Love In Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Another
Bible Study Lesson Online For Living
...
Matthew 16:1-4 -
Should We Ask for a Sign from the
Sky?
- Do you
sometimes have doubts about your faith and wish you
could see a miracle
from the sky to prove Gods
existence
or to have a more stable belief in Christ? Me too.
But, as we learn in this Bible study lesson, the
key word here is faith which is based on belief and
not always on seeing or hearing or touching. Jesus
explains in Matthew.
These verses for Baptists about little sins
and how they affect others are from New American
Standard Bible
Comments are welcome. Please email
me with any questions or comments you
may have.
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