Watch Out and Beware!

Matthew 16:5-12 NASB1995

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.

How Soon We Can Forget

“You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?” 

How soon we can forget what God has done and is doing on our behalf. We can experience the miracles of God at certain times in our lives, but when the next trial comes we can totally forget the miracles he performed the other times, on our behalf, as though God somehow changed and he is no longer working miracles. New findings, or new circumstances, or sudden changes in the environment in which we live can lead us to forget the goodness of God he worked on our behalf in other difficult circumstances.

Many people forget what Jesus did for us on that cross in delivering us from our slavery to sin, too. So, when the next temptation comes, they go right back to the same old sinful practices, as though they had not been delivered at all. One moment they are thanking and praising God for his salvation, but when the old temptations reappear, they forget that Jesus put our sins to death with him and rose from the dead so we, by faith in him, will now die to sin and live to God in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living.

Hear Jesus with Your Hearts

“Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 

The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees was hypocrisy, but it is what they taught, too, not just what they lived. For they did not believe in Jesus. They did not accept his teachings. And so they did not teach what Jesus taught. However they had pervasive influence which they exerted over the people. And what they taught were rules taught by men and not the truth of the gospel taught by Jesus Christ. So Jesus was warning his followers to not get caught up in their ways and to not follow after their teachings.

Pharisees Character Traits

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were skilled at hypocrisy. Jesus described them in this way (based off Matthew 23:1-39):

• They do not practice what they preach

• They do their deeds to be seen by others

• They love places of honor; they love attention

• They lead people to hell on the promise of heaven

• They profess one thing but live the opposite

• They adhere to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness

• They appear clean (righteous) outwardly but inwardly are evil

• They are full of wicked deeds, greed, hypocrisy and self-indulgence

• They persecute those who are truly righteous in God’s sight

As We Gain Understanding

“Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 

We don’t always get things right the first time we hear them spoken, do we? Sometimes it is because we have something else going on in our minds which may block us from hearing correctly, or else we easily forget what God has shown us previously. Or, because of other things we have been taught down through the years, it might be difficult for us to learn that we were taught some things wrongly by people who taught them wrongly to us. And so it might take a while to sink into our hearts and minds the truth spoken.

But this is never to excuse away purposefully being dull of hearing and receiving because you don’t want to accept the truth being spoken to you. And what many are ignoring today are the teachings of Jesus and of his apostles with regard to the gospel of our salvation. Many will fake ignorance because they don’t want to accept that faith in Jesus must result in us dying to sin and obeying God, in practice, in the power of God, for it to be genuine faith which saves. So be those who listen to and who obey God’s teachings.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Acts 26:18] 

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after You

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

To You alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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Watch Out and Beware!

An Original Work / May 2, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love