Mark 8: 14-16 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
After his interaction with the Pharisees and his frustration with them for asking for a sign from heaven to prove who He is, Jesus immediately gets in a boat with his disciples and leaves the religious teachers. As they go their way, the disciples discover they have forgotten to bring bread, and Jesus uses this to make an important point. He warns, "Be careful. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." We can almost see the inner turmoil of the disciples' thinking processes as they are still thinking about their lack of bread, and now here is Jesus talking about yeast. So they conclude, this must have something to do with our lack of bread. But they missed his meaning about the yeast completely. Eventually, because of their answer, Jesus is going to move on to discuss their lack of faith, but what He wanted to talk to them about in the first place was the work of yeast. He was not talking about the need for bread to eat but of the power of yeast. He was saying just as a small amount of yeast makes a huge batch of dough rise, a small amount of wrong teaching can lead a whole generation astray and away from God's holy truth. He was telling the disciples about the dangers of listening to the words of the so-called religious teachers, for as with yeast, a little bit of their wrong thinking could spread and corrupt the good teaching of Jesus without the hearers realizing it was even happening. As the Good Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus was saying, "I am the good shepherd, and my sheep hear my voice."
We see what Jesus is talking about with the yeast of the Pharisees in Galatia with the early church. Paul writes to them because they have been led astray by teachers who want to bring them back into bondage to the law. He asks: You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Galatians 3:1-3) He wants them to realize they must rely upon the Christ in them for everything. The same Spirit that brought them to God will perfect them and lead them on the path to glory. They have been listening to the wrong voices, and these voices have taken them back to the sinful nature that says, "I was saved by faith, but now I am going to do good works through my own efforts that will make me more perfect for doing God's work." A little later in this letter, Paul says, You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” (Galatians 5:7-9) He says they were running the race of faith so well until they let someone distract them, until they let a little yeast come in and it began to corrupt their lives. It is as it was with Adam and Eve: one lie can bring us down; one act of disobedience or unbelief can be the yeast the works its way through our lives until we have lost our purpose and taken our eyes off the author and the finisher of our faith.
In our day, there are so many distractions, so many spirits to bewitch us, so many wolves in sheep's clothing. We must persevere, we must bow before him, we must praise his holy name. None of us is worthy or righteous through our own efforts, but each of us can come boldly through the shed blood of Christ our redeemer, Lord, and soon coming King. He calls us to his side. Jesus took time that day to warn his disciples of the yeast of the Pharisees because He loved them dearly. He cared about them, and He wanted to protect them from the attacks of the enemy. We are so thankful for the writings of the Apostle Paul, yet he was a humble man who calls himself the chief of sinners and says he has no confidence in the flesh. He writes, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14) He knew who he was in Christ and who Christ was in him. He was not going to let anyone or any circumstance of life keep him from obeying the truth he knew in Christ. He was not turning back to the former things of his old ways of thinking and behaving. He was not going to begin in the Spirit and then try to be made perfect through human means. No, this same Paul was willing to give everything for the cross of Christ, for he had met his Redeemer. He had partaken of the Bread of Life, and he had drunk from the cup of Living Water, so he would never hunger or thirst for the things of this world that do not satisfy. He was sold out to serving his Lord and spreading Christ's message: Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:34-35)
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