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Matthew 16:5-12
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
In today’s reading, Jesus engages in an odd conversation with his disciples. And like many of the conversations Jesus has with people in the gospels, the people he’s talking with don’t really understand what he’s talking about. In fact, in this case, the lesson Jesus teaches grows out of a misunderstanding by the disciples of a comment Jesus had made to them.
As they travel by boat across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus warns the disciples to, “be on [their] guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” The disciples, hearing Jesus mention yeast, think he’s talking about bread. That might be because bread is on their minds – they’ve just left the place where Jesus had fed thousands of people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. But Jesus isn’t really talking about bread. Instead, he’s warning them against the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
Actually, our reading says that Jesus is warning the disciples against “the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” But that’s a phrase Matthew added to the original account of this story, which appears in Mark. And Matthew might have that slightly wrong – I can’t help thinking that what Jesus was really warning about wasn’t the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees as much as their hypocrisy – their self-righteousness and their tendency to regard others as spiritually inferior to themselves.
In Hebrew tradition, yeast was a symbol of corruption. It’s something that starts out small, but spreads throughout a whole lump of dough. So its use to represent corruption seems natural. That’s why the Jews ate unleavened bread – bread without yeast – at the time of the Passover.
The church historians say that when the Gospel of Matthew was published – probably in the early ‘70’s AD – a lot of the followers of Jesus were still participating in the life of a local synagogue, and even praying at the Temple in Jerusalem. So they were being exposed regularly to the teaching of Jewish leaders on Saturday and Christian leaders on Sunday. In principle, that could be fine. After all, we study the Old Testament as well as the New. So learned Hebrew scholars could provide important insights into the scriptures.
And you might remember that in the past, we’ve said that some New Testament scholars say that many of the teachings of the Pharisees weren’t that far from the teachings of Jesus himself. But in some important ways, both the Pharisees and the Sadducees got things wrong.
The Pharisees were deeply committed to strictly observing the law of God. In fact, they went beyond what was required of observant Jews. That was fine, of course, but the Pharisees had a tendency to become judgmental and self-righteous about it. They thought of themselves as morally and spiritually superior to others, and they wanted strict punishments for anyone they considered a sinner. So they criticized Jesus for reaching out to the tax collectors and prostitutes and other sinners he befriended and ate with.
The Sadducees were different. They were from the ‘upper crust’ of Hebrew society – “blue bloods,” as we might say – and they were closely associated with the leadership of the temple. Because of that cozy relationship, they tended to defend the interests of the well-to-do against the poor and the needy, and definitely above gentiles.
But Jesus had come preaching a whole different way of being people of faith. He had come specifically to carry out a ministry to the “lost and least of these.” Jesus befriended sinners and associated with people the Pharisees considered unclean and contemptible. Jesus reached out in love to the poor and the marginalized and the gentiles – and even praised the faith of a Roman army officer. That would have driven the Sadducees right up a wall.
And now in this passage, Jesus is warning those who follow him not to be like these recognized Hebrew leaders. Jesus’ followers were not to regard themselves as morally superior to other sinners. Not to reject the outcastes of polite society. Not to ignore the poor and foreigners, but instead to extend God’s love to them, as well. It’s easy to find the teachings of Pharisees and Sadducees reasonable. (In fact, latter-day Pharisees and Sadducees are still among us, and you can hear their voices if you listen to those who present themselves as “religious” in the media.) But Jesus warned his disciples – as he warns us through this reading – to guard against allowing their faith to be corrupted by the self-righteousness and the hypocrisy that these Hebrew leaders lived and taught.
Let’s pray. Lord, you know how easy it is for us to fall into the same sins the Sadducees and Pharisees committed – the same hypocrisy and self-righteousness. In fact, we even congratulate ourselves for not being like them, which is just a different flavor of the very same sin we criticize them for. By your Spirit, steer us away from thinking we are better than others, and remind us daily that our new life in Jesus is entirely a gift out of your grace. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 85 and 86; Nehemiah 6:1-19; and Revelation 19:1-10. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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