The Leaven of the Pharisees
Read Matthew 16:1-12 and then answer the following questions:
1. What evidence do we have that the leaders who came to Jesus were not sincere in their question? After all, what is wrong with having a sign from heaven? Is the Bible not full of signs from heaven? What point should we as disciples take from what is happening here? See earlier chapters in Matt.; see also Luke 16:29-31.
2. Look carefully at Jesus' words to the Sadducees and the Pharisees. What is the principle behind the specific warning to them (Matt. 23:23)?
3. Read Jesus' words to the disciples in Matthew 16: 8-11. What point is Jesus making to them? Why do we find it so easy to do the same thing, that is, to forget the great things God has done before our eyes?
What a contrast between the Bread of Life and the leaven of the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and yet how easy to get them confused. All disciples of Christ need to be aware that belief, or following traditions, or defending the faith are not always the same as being a disciple of Christ. How easy, once we get established, even comfortable, in what we believe, or in how we worship, or in how we practice our faith, to let these things become ends in and of themselves, instead of a means to an end. That end, of course, is to be a faithful disciple of Christ, doing His will and revealing His love and His character to the world.
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