The Yeast and Attitude Analogy Continued

Monday, February 7, 2022

7-12 Thinking he was scolding them for forgetting bread, they discussed in whispers what to do. Jesus knew what they were doing and said, “Why all these worried whispers about forgetting the bread? Baby believers! Haven’t you caught on yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves of bread and the five thousand people, and how many baskets of fragments you picked up? Or the seven loaves that fed four thousand, and how many baskets of leftovers you collected? Haven’t you realized yet that bread isn’t the problem? The problem is yeast, Pharisee-Sadducee yeast.” Then they got it: that he wasn’t concerned about eating, but teaching—the Pharisee-Sadducee kind of teaching.

-Matthew 16:7-12 The Message

Verse 7: They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”

Verse 8: But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

Verse 9: Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?

Verse 10: Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?

Verse 11: How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Verse 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.

Verse 12 study: Leaven, which is yeast, makes bread rise, and it takes a little time to affect the whole batch of dough. Jesus uses yeast as an example to show how a small amount of evil can affect people. The wrong teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees were leading people astray. Be mindful when you say, “How can this little wrong affect anyone?”