When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”My Understanding: Jesus warned his disciples to be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples eventually came to understand that Jesus meant that they were to guard against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees which spread like yeast. Yeast is “a small single-celled fungus that ferments sugars and reproduces by budding,” i.e. by “a form of reproduction in which an outgrowth of the parent separates to form a new growth” (Encarta). I find it interesting that Jesus used yeast to illustrate the danger of the teaching of the religious leaders of his day. “Single-celled,” would suggest they were not operating from the vine, i.e. they were not of God but were operating on their own accord. And, they reproduced offspring that were also separated and operated on their own. Yeast is a fungus and a fungus “lives by absorbing nutrients from organic matter. Fungi include mildews, molds, rust,” etc. (Encarta). Other words to describe “fungus” are decay, rot, blight, deterioration, degeneration, corrosion, etc. So, yeast is a fungus and a fungus is something that robs nutrients from other matter and that reproduces decay. This is how Jesus described the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day.
7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 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.” 12 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...
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
In chapters 15 and 16, Jesus described the Pharisees and Sadducees in this way:
• They nullify the word of God for the sake of their tradition
• They honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him
• They worship God in vain
• Their teachings are but rules taught by men
• They are not of God and they will be uprooted
• They are blind guides trying to lead the blind
• They demanded a sign from heaven to test Jesus
• Yet, they could not interpret the signs of the times
• They were a wicked and adulterous generation
• Their teaching was like yeast, so the disciples were to beware them
You may identify these teachers with legalism and strict adherence to a set of restrictive rules that do not have anything to do with changing one’s heart, and that would be true. They were more concerned with outward appearance than they were with heart change. They were more concerned with following a set of man-made rules, which did not affect the human heart, than they were with ministering God’s love to human lives. Many of today’s modern churches have supposedly pulled away from this form of legalism and works-based salvation and are allegedly teaching the true gospel of grace, and yet many of them are just like the Pharisees and Sadducees while promoting themselves as just the opposite.
They are not connected to the head, Jesus Christ, or they would be following him more than they are following the teachings of men. They are still teaching rules taught by men, just of different men and different rules, i.e. ones that have the appearance of being more centered in God’s grace instead of legalism. And, yet they are asking their disciples to follow these man-made rules (church doctrines, purpose statements and vision statements put together by man, posted on church buildings’ walls and in church bulletins, and of which the people are asked to recite, memorize and follow). And, the church leaders are often bent more toward obeying what they were taught by men in training than they are in obeying God’s word, even to the exclusion of members of the body of Christ who do not fit their man-made image of who should be allowed in their fellowships. They teach books and philosophies written and taught by men that are not in line with the truths of God’s word, and yet they adopt these man-made teachings over and above scripture. So, they are really not all that different from the Pharisees and Sadducees, only they just have a different outward image they are trying to present in order to attract people to their organizations.
Some of the teaching of these modern-day Pharisees and Sadducees includes a grace only philosophy that teaches that repentance and obedience to Christ are not necessary for salvation. And, they go beyond that by stating that Jesus Christ is pleased with us no matter what we do. They offer people a false hope of salvation and empty promises that they cannot fill. They teach man-made philosophies, provide entertainment, and plan and purpose their public services around attracting the world via worldly means. They operate just like any other secular business in using the same marketing techniques I was taught in business school in learning how to start my own business. They reduce God to a genie in a bottle who is there to meet our every need and yet requires nothing of us in return, or to a doting grandfather who would never discipline his grandchildren and just wants to please them and give them what they want in order to make them happy. This kind of modern teaching by our modern-day Pharisees and Sadducees leaves people in their sin, it puts Band-Aids over serious sin issues, and it does not call God’s people to repent of their sins. This is yeast. This is rot. It is decay. And, we are to guard against this teaching.
In contrast to this kind of teaching, which works its way through the body of Christ like gangrene, Jesus taught that if anyone was to come to Christ Jesus:
• He must deny (negate; disallow; forbid) himself (his flesh nature)
• He must take up his cross (death to sin and self; repentance)
• He must follow (obey) Jesus Christ
• He must lose his old life (death to self; repentance)
• Then he will find his new life in Christ Jesus (regeneration of the Holy Spirit)
Jesus was saying, in other words, and he repeated this message throughout his ministry on the earth, that if anyone wants to come to genuine believing faith in Jesus Christ, he must repent (turn from his sin and die to his old way of life), and he must obey the Lord Jesus by following him and his teachings and his will for our lives. If we hold on to our old lives and our old ways of living and lifestyles, thinking we are saved, Jesus is saying that we will lose our lives and that we are not genuinely saved. He said that if we gain the whole world, we forfeit our souls, so if our lives are caught up in pleasing ourselves and in following after the ways of the world and what the world has to offer and we are buying into a lie which teaches repentance and obedience are not necessary for salvation, then we need to go back to scripture and we need to read what it teaches, because it teaches that we must have a radical life change via the working of transformation of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus died and took all our sins upon himself so that we would be free from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives, and so we would be free to obey him and to follow him.
One day Jesus is going to come back for his bride. Yet, not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter his kingdom. If we want to make sure that we are in a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, that we are truly God’s children and that we honestly and truly have the hope of eternal life, then we need to repent today of any sins we are holding on to, and we need to turn and follow the Lord Jesus Christ in all things, holding nothing back.
When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Link to song
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