5 Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9 Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10 Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? 11 Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

12 Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:5-12 (NLT)

Reunite with disciples

In the discussion of the previous passage, we noted that Jesus left by Himself after the feeding of the 4,000 and dealt with the Pharisees and Sadducees (religious leaders) on His own. In today’s passage, the disciples catch up with Him in the region of Magadan. But they forgot one important item…bread! They focus on the bread. Jesus rebukes them and tells them to focus on the deceptive teaching of the religious leaders.

Yeast of bread

Any baker worth their salt knows the purpose and necessity of yeast. “The process by which yeast causing the rising of yeast relies on a fermentation process. This involves the enzymes breaking down starches to sugars, and the sugars are then converted to carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide produced is then held within air bubbles by the elastic gluten network created during the mixing and kneading processes.” (becomeapastrychef.co.uk) The yeast fermentation is typically “bad” in most situations, but because the bread is baked, the yeast is killed so we’re left with the beneficial aspects.

Yeast of deceptive religion

The false and deceptive religion of the religious leaders that leads the people of God astray is fresh (pun intended) in Jesus’ mind from His recent encounter with them. Their practices were like yeast that corrupts the “bread” of souls and spoils it. Or, another salient example is cancer. Cancer starts as a cell that grows in place of other cells but does not perform the desired cell function so the organ becomes weaker making the body weaker – often leading to death.

It was important for Jesus to instruct the disciples so they would themselves be careful but also so they could, as future leaders of the body of Christ, instruct others.

RЯeflection

• Is there any deceptive teaching occurring today? In the “Christian” church? You’d better believe it! Actually, you’d better not! There are numerous cults parading as Bible believing churches who call themselves Christians. But even in some “mainline” churches today there are false teachings. Someone we know well attends a mainline church that recognizes and ordains homosexual pastors and practices homosexual marriage.