Text: “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6) NIV.
Another word used in the place of “yeast” is the word “leaven”. Yeast is used in baking and causes the dough to rise or “puff up”. Yeast is really a living organism that feeds on the dough in which it is placed. This feeding produces a gas called “carbon dioxide”. The “carbon dioxide” cause the dough to rise, thus, increasing the volume as well as improving the flavor and texture of the baked product such as bread. The use of yeast has been traced back to about 4000 thousand years before Christ.
Yeast was used many years before anyone really knew how it worked. The only thing known was that it did cause dough to rise. Finally, in 1859, a scientist by the name of Louis Pasteur discovered, chemically, how yeast worked. He then could explain the process of fermentation that occurred in the making of beer and wine.
In this day, there are many different kinds of yeast. For example, there is instant yeast, compressed yeast, active dry yeast, liquid yeast, free flowing yeast, crumbled yeast, and dry yeast with reducing power. Those of you who have baked throughout the years know more about this than I do.
When Jesus said to his disciples, “Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees,” he was not talking about the yeast or leaven used in baking bread or other pastry products. As I mentioned before, the yeast causes the dough to “rise” or “puff-up”. Sin is a type of yeast that causes man to be “puffed-up” or think more highly of himself than he should.
What kind of sin would “puff-up” a person? I believe hatred is a sin that causes one to degrade another person. Some people feel better about themselves by causing someone else to feel inferior, unworthy, or useless. One person may feel better or superior to another individual for some bizarre reason and spread hateful rumors concerning this other person.
Jealously is a sin common to mankind. It has destroyed relationships and lives. Jealously causes one to want what another has because the person feels more worthy. One man might say, “I deserve that woman more than you because I am more handsome, I have more funds to buy her what she wants and I would feel honored to share my life with her. This man is speaking more highly of himself that he should. In other words, he is “puffed-up” with pride and conceit.
Greed is another sin that tends to “puff-up” and individual. What I have is mine, I worked hard for it and I am not willing to share with anyone. My money is mine and I am not giving it to the church because I don’t know what they do with it. I will not share my time, talent, or money.
I read of a short French film, illustrating greed that was made some time back about an empty village and a stranger who entered this deserted town. "Where are all the people?" he wondered. All signs of life were there, nothing was locked, food was on the table, smoke curls from the chimneys, stores were open but there are no customers. He doesn’t understand, but he proceeds to take advantage of his opportunity. Pretty soon he is too drunk and too giddy to realize that the villagers are all on a nearby hill and are desperately trying to signal to him. They had rushed outside the town because word came to them that a huge bomb in the town square was about to go off. They had left everything behind in order to save their lives. From this safe distance they were trying vainly, by gestures and shouting, to warn the stranger. As they watched him eat their food and drink their liquor and try on their clothes they forgot the eminent danger. The happy wanderer went into the bank and started flinging their money up in the air. They forget everything but their greed. They rushed back to the village, beat up the stranger and drove him out. At that moment the bomb explodes. They all die except the stranger. Source Unknown
Paul wrote these words to the people in Corinth: “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” (I Corinthians 5:6-8).
At the time Paul wrote those words, there was disorder in the church at Corinth. Sexual sin was rampant and immorality was ignored. Some of the people were loyal to certain church leaders and this was causing division in the church. The Lord’s Supper was being taken without the confession of sin. There was some confusion concerning the role of women in the church. Certain people did not believe that Christ rose from the dead. Other people did not believe in a physical resurrection.
Many people did not realize that all the sinful acts going on in the church had a direct effect upon other members. Paul told the people that sin in the church cannot be accepted or tolerated. He said that believers are responsible for correcting unbelievers.
A little bit of sin is like a little bit of yeast in the dough. A little sin leads to another sin and soon snowballs into unhealthy spiritual health for the church.
Paul says that Christ is our Passover lamb. He was sacrificed and his blood paid our sin penalty or sin debt. We are no long slaves to past sin, which Paul refers to as the “old yeast”. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is our Lord and Savior. He is the bread without yeast. He enables us to live a life of love, joy, peace, happiness and hope. Yes, we will sin, but the Holy Spirit will prompt us to repent of our sin and when we do, we continue down the straight and narrow road of life. The focus of our lives should be the Cross and what happened on Calvary.
Jesus said, “Be on your guard against the yeast (leaven – NKJV) of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (v. 6).
The word “leaven” could mean three different things. It could mean the leaven or yeast used in baking. It could also pertain to teaching. Lastly, it could mean evil influence.
When Jesus said, “Be on your guard against the yeast (leaven) of the Pharisees and Sadducees” he was referring to their false teaching and false doctrine. The Pharisees believed they were the only ones capable of interpreting the Word of God. They taught a special divine providence or fate or so called “predestination”.
They stressed the immortality of the soul and believed in spirit life. They believed they would be rewarded for their good works. The Pharisees also believed that the soul of the wicked remained in the earth forever. They believed that the righteous souls were raised and placed in other bodies. The Pharisees despised Jesus’ doctrine of equality and the fact He claimed to be the Messiah.
Since false teachings and lies spread very rapidly, Jesus warned the disciples to beware of yeast or leaven, which are the false teachings and doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The Sadducees’ beliefs were in opposition to the Pharisee’s beliefs and teachings. The Sadducees held very tightly to the written law. The Sadducees believed that the Word of God was authority and any oral traditions over the years were not binding as is the Law.
Also, the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection of the body. Mark 12:18 records these words: “Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him…” They believed the soul died with the body.
Peter and John were arrested because they preached Jesus and the resurrection. Luke records these words in Acts 4:1,2): “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” They did not believe in the immorality of the soul or that the soul lived on for eternity.
The Sadducees also did not believe in the existence of angels and spirits. “For Sadducees say that there is not resurrection – and no angel or spirit…”(Acts 23:8). We are not sure why the Sadducees felt this way about angels and spirits because both were talked about in the Old Testament and the Sadducees held tight to the teaching in the Old Testament.
The Sadducees did not believe in predestination and free will. They believed that all our actions are in our own power. We make things good for ourselves and we make things bad for ourselves. They did not think they needed divine intervention in their lives. The Sadducees believed that man was in charge of his own life and was master of his own destiny or fate and doing good or evil is man’s choice.
The teachings and doctrines of the Pharisee and the Sadducees were in opposition. Although these two groups did not agree with each other, they joined together against Jesus. The Sadducees seemed to ignore Jesus in the very early part of his ministry. Jesus was more critical of the Pharisees, but he did speak of the Sadducees in Matthew 16:6, 11.
Jesus condemned the Pharisee’s legalism. Sacrifices had stopped and all activities in the synagogue began to focus upon the Jewish Law. The Pharisees became more of a religious organization or society and were following Scripture as interpreted by the Jewish Scribes. The Pharisees were closely associated with the Jewish Scribes: hence, in the New Testament we find Scribes and Pharisees tied together.
The Pharisees followed the written Law, but also the oral traditional laws as written by the Scribes. For example, John 9:16 we find these words: “Therefore some of the Pharisees said, ‘This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.’ Others said, “How can a man who is sinner do such signs?’” The Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, was the one day out of the week that was considered holy. The Pharisees, with the help of the Scribes, made a long list of do’s and don’ts concerning the Sabbath. As you recall, a blind man came to Jesus asking to be healed of his blindness. Jesus spit in the clay and mixed it to make a moist packing. He put the clay on the man’s eyes and told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash it off. The man did and now he could see.
People could not believe that this man who was blind from birth could see. Some of the people took the man to the Pharisees and the Pharisees figured that the man was healed by Jesus on the Sabbath which was forbidden because it broke the Law. Kneading the clay and healing on the Sabbath was considered work and could not be done on the Sabbath. Jesus could have intentionally made the clay in order to emphasize a teaching lesson and that teaching lesson was: it is right and proper to care for or take care of people in need even on a day of rest.
Jesus did not agree with what the Pharisees were teaching. He compared their teaching and doctrine with leaven or yeast which works slowly and in the secret. Sin is like decay in a tooth. At first it goes unnoticed and as time passes it spreads and robs the individual of joy and peace.
John called them a “Brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7). Jesus condemned their working for righteousness. Jesus said, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The Pharisees obeyed the Law outwardly, but failed to let God change their hearts. The Pharisees looked pious, but they were distant from the kingdom of God. What the Pharisees failed to realize is that God judges our hearts as well as our deeds.
The Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy. Scripture says, “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but god alone?’” (Luke 5:21). They also accused Jesus of being in the same association with the devil. Matthew records these words in chapter 5:34: But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons”.
Jesus’ longest reprimand of the scribes and Pharisees is found in Matthew 23:27. Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” Jesus was saying to them that they appear holy on the outside, but on the inside they are corrupt and greedy.
We, as Christians, need to be clean on the inside and then our cleanness will shine through to the outside. Remember that a light bulb has filaments on the inside enabling the glow of light to shine forth into the darkness. What is inside us is what shines forth into the world. The yeast or leaven or sin within us will eventually shine forth and reflect our true nature. By the same token, the unleavened bread, the Bread of Life within us will shine forth and reflect that we truly are the children of God. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13 and 5:14).
Christians have the responsibility of spreading the “Good News” to the unbelievers in the world. Their positive attitude is like seasoning or salt. It will bring out the best in them, influence other people, and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. A negative attitude is like salt that has lost it flavor or saltiness and needs to be thrown out.
Other people should be able to tell we are Christians by the way we look, talk, and carry on our lives. Christians are different in that they have accepted the Lord Jesus as their own personal Lord and Savior; they tell others what Jesus has done for them and what Jesus means to them; they don’t go along with the worldly crowd; they repent of their sins and ask for forgiveness; they are loving, peaceful, trusting, and do unto for the glory of God.
Conclusion:
Let’s not be like the Pharisees, Scribes, or Sadducees. He created us and he knows us through and through. God knows what we are going to do long before we even do anything, because he knows what we are thinking. He knows our needs and he knows our wants. God knows our hurts, our aches, and our pains before we even talk about them. He loves us and wants us to stay in constant communication with him. He wants us to spend eternity in his kingdom. He provided the way for us to accomplish this. God send His Son Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Won’t you let the unleavened “Bread of Life” come into your heart that you may spend eternity with Him. The process is very simple. All you have to do is to admit you are a sinner, repent of your sins, and invite Him to come into your heart.
I want to close with this poem by Lois Reynolds Carpenter, entitled “Second Birth”.
I never loved the pleasant earth
So much as since my second birth.
The shy forget-me-not’s soft blue
Seems bits of Heaven shining through.
The golden buttercup’s bright face
Proclaims the glory of His grace.
His precious Blood that washes all
The red of maples in the fall—
My sin forever far away.
As white as hawthorn buds in May-
The saint’s new, shining, linen dress –
The robe of His own righteousness.
I touch the pansy’s purple face –
His kingly majesty I trace.
Green pastures breath refreshment, rest,
And sweet communion on His breast;
While bird song from the orchard trees
Suggest celestial harmonies.
I see in river, hill, and glen
New charms since I’ve been born again!
Amen.
