This lack of food was incidental to the Lord’s conversation, but because of it, the disciples became confused. While they were probably discussing who it was that was responsible for their upcoming hunger, Christ, still thinking about His last encounter with the Sadducees and Pharisees, began to warn the disciples about the false doctrines of the heretics. Those church members thought that they were being chastised for their neglect. As the Lord perceived the problem, He rebuked them – not for their neglect – but for their lack of faith. How could they be worried about starving, when the Creator of the Universe was among them? He who had recently fed 5,000 people followed by another 4,000 could certainly feed a baker’s dozen. “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Mark’s account of this discussion makes one notable addition. He speaks of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. Some interpret this to mean that Christ was warning against all three – Pharisees, Sadducees and Herod. But the more probable explanation is that only those Jews who supported King Herod, were Sadducees. Gill and others think that many Sadducees believed that Herod was the Messiah – a secular Messiah. If this was true then that certainly fueled their hatred of our Lord Jesus.
Of course the Bible teaches some very specific things about “Jesus of Nazareth.” For example, it shows us that He was not just a mere man, but the God-man. “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head bodily” – Col. 2:9. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, received up into glory” – I Timothy 3:16. The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Creator and sovereign ruler over His creation. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” – Colossians 1:16-19. Among a great many other things that we could say about Christ, the Bible teaches that He will be the great and final Judge of men and nations. “As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son (of God) quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” – John 5:21-23.
The members of our church believe these things about our Saviour. We believe that there will be a test at the end of the semester on everything that our divine professor has said during class. That test will not just cover those things that He has highlighted by saying, “Verily, verily, this will be on the semester final.” We are responsible to know, obey and practice all that the Saviour, the Son of God, the Judge of Heaven and Earth has graciously revealed to us. Unfortunately none of us are as diligent in learning and living the things that the Lord has taught as we ought to be. Most Christians are satisfied simply to know that the Lord has saved them by His grace.
What about such things as Matthew 16:6? “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Notice that the Lord Jesus said, “Take heed and beware.” Jesus in His divine omniscience said that this was really important. There is going to be a test – and it will not be merely academic – it has practical importance. How many of us, like Jesus’ first disciples, don’t really understand what the Lord meant? Let’s spend a few minutes considering this scripture.
So how much do you know about LEAVEN?
A few months ago I introduced to you the idea that leaven in the Bible is not always a reference to sin. Matthew 13:33 says, ”Another parable spake Christ Jesus unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, Which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” The Kingdom of Heaven is not a bad thing – a sinful thing – but just the opposite. And therefore this leaven is a good thing. As most of you know, there was a week every year when Israel was not to use, or cook, with leaven. It was called the “Feast of Unleavened Bread,” and it was connected to the “Passover.” Israel was to have a spring cleaning in their homes and especially in their kitchens. But for the other 49 weeks of the year, it was perfectly permissible for the people of Israel to bake their bread with leaven. There was no sinfulness in leaven itself. And just because God didn’t permit leaven in the bread which the Jews offered to God, That didn’t make the leaven sin either. God didn’t accept honey as an offering either, but it was perfectly acceptable as food or in baking. God has every right to refuse whatever He chooses as offerings.
Judy hasn’t done it lately, but she used to make something called “Friendship Bread.” There was a lump of bread dough in a bowl in the refrigerator for a while – given to us by some friend. It had some sort of yeast in it, and it grew and grew until the bowl was nearly filled. At that point Judy would pull some of it off and put it in a separate bowl. The larger chunk she would bake into some wonderful treat. But the smaller part she would give away to one or more of her friends, with instructions on how to make friendship bread. It was like a chain letter – break the chain and some poor husband’s tummy would remain empty. That friendship bread was more like the leaven which the ladies knew in the Bible. Sometimes, their neighbors, like the Romans would use the lees of wine to ferment their dough. But that was not often done by the Hebrews. How those ladies restarted their “Friendship Dough” after the eight days of “Unleavened Bread,” I have not yet not able to discover. Perhaps it was with a package of “Fleischman’s Yeast.” Doesn’t the name “Fleischman” sound kosher to you?
The property about leaven of which the Lord Jesus warns us is not its sinfulness. Rather it is its silent and insidious ability to grow and take over a lump of non-leavened dough. The Jewish lady kept a little bowl of leavened dough in her kitchen. And every day she would take flour and water and make up more dough, mixing in the dough left over from the day before. After sitting for a few hours the leaven from small leftover lump would silently permeate the new lump. She would then pull off a piece, saving it for tomorrow’s dough, and she’d bake with the larger piece. Day after day she would do this and almost always have a chunk of leaven with which to bake. In this verse, the Lord Jesus is warning us not about leaven per se, but the insidious nature of the leavening process.
So what is the Leaven of the SADDUCEES?
Among the doctrines of the Sadducees there was basically no acceptance or belief anything not physical. This is not a guess on my part. Acts 23:8 says, “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit.” These people called “Sadducees” grew out of a movement among the Jews long after their return from Babylonian captivity. Their name, in Hebrew, suggests that they thought that they were more righteous than everyone else. But their name in English only suggests that they were sadder. And they really were, because they were people without any hope beyond this life. They were complete and thorough secularists. History indicates that this doctrine flourished primarily among the wealthy, priestly families. In the days of the Lord Jesus, the High Priests, Annas and Caiaphas were Sadducees.
These Sadducees are analogous to the Bible-denying liberals within Christendom. They were rationalists, who didn’t believe in what they couldn’t see or couldn’t prove. It didn’t matter what the Bible said about resurrections in the days of Elijah and Elisha. It didn’t matter to them whether or not angels protected Elisha from the army of Syria. They didn’t believe in such things so that was it – period, end of story. Then as priests, their religion grew into mere formalism and ritualism. Since they ripped out its heart, there was nothing left of their religion but the shell. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Not only the prayer of the Sadducee, but his worship, his sacrifice, his tithe, his witness, everything became an abomination to God.
“Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Sadducees.” Beware of denying or turning up your nose at what the Bible says about things. When it condemns your sin, take a shovel and bury that sin of yours. When it says that Christ is coming back, then “lift up your eyes for your redemption draweth nigh.” When the Bible says that there is a resurrection of the dead, then you have a hope to see your saved loved one once again. Beware of becoming skeptical or critical whenever you open the pages of the Word of God. Be willing to accept the Word – even when you can’t explain it. And be willing to open God’s Word on a regular basis for the sole purpose of listening to the Lord. And beware of letting your religion to become empty ritualism.
Here you are. Why have you come to the house of God this morning? Was it to see the face of the Saviour and hear His Word, no matter what He has to say? Or are you here because it is your habit, or because you were forced to come? “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Also take heed and beware of the leaven of HEROD.
This man, Herod, was the grandson of Herod the Great. It was Herod the Great who murdered the children in Bethlehem, after the birth of the Lord Jesus. But this Herod was the man who murdered the apostle James and cast Peter into prison. During a festival to honour the emperor Claudius, this Herod appeared in the great theater at Tyre. He came in clothed in magnificent robes made with silver thread. It was early in the day, and when the sun hit his robe, it dazzled the people who were there. Some of the foolish people said that only god could blaze like that. When he started speaking some of the crowd shouted, ‘It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.’ In the midst of all this idolatrous ostentation God struck him down. He was carried out of the theater a dying man, eaten from the inside out by worms. He died after reigning four years as tetrarch and three as king over Palestine. After his death his kingdom was dissolved and became fully incorporated into the Roman empire.
Herod and his family claimed to be Jews, but they were actually Edomites or Idumeans. They were Sadducees, but in addition to their liberal religion, but they were less than Jewish Sadducees.. The Herodians first gained power during the Greek Empire. They quickly began to dress like the Greeks, and they spoke Greek rather than Hebrew or Aramaic. Their day-to-day lives looked more like the idolatrous Greeks than they did the Jews. For all intents and purposes Herod and the Herodians were Greeks rather than people of God.
When the Lord Jesus told us to take heed and beware of Herod, it wasn’t simply that we should look out for the evil powers of secular government. One day a group of Pharisees came to Christ, “saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.” But Jesus said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” The Lord Jesus wasn’t fearful of Herod, and He wasn’t telling us to fear Herod either. Even though there is very good reason to fear human government. If it were not for the sovereign power of God, I think that we really would have reason to fear an all too powerful government. But the Lord Jesus told us,”Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” – Matthew 10:28. Jesus was well aware that Herod was a murderer and the grandson of a murderer. But it was not of Herod that He told the disciples to beware; it was the insidious LEAVEN of Herod.
What we are to fear is that we too may become like Herod. I’m not thinking about Herod’s murder, although anything is possible. The Lord is saying, “Take heed and beware of becoming more like the world, the Greeks and the Romans, than like the Christians we are supposed to be.” Beware of becoming more political than spiritual. Beware of using more of the world to defeat Satan than using prayer and the power of God. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Based upon the words of Christ I think that we can alter that verse in I John just a bit and still be scriptural. “Fear not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man fear the world, more than he fears the Lord, the love of the Father is not in him.” Take heed and BEWARE of the world – but there is no need to fear the world IF you fear the Lord.
And then said the Lord Jesus, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the PHARISEES.”
Our Lord fought more with the Pharisees than any other sect of the Jews. Earlier we read the first third of the 23rd chapter of Matthew. We could have had read all 39 verses. Because that entire chapter says essentially: “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” The Pharisees were more orthodox than the Herodians or Sadducees. In fact they professed to be perfectionists when it came to the law of God. It wasn’t really true – they were actually hypocrites for the most part. But they professed to toe the line when it came to the law of God. For example, they knew that the Lord wanted them to tithe, so they would be so particular that they would count mint leaves and grains of salt to make sure that God got His tenth. But they also made sure that the Lord didn’t get eleven. The Pharisees were so persnickety that they enacted laws of their own to protect the laws of God. Take for example their laws about the washing of their hands. They determined that it was a sin not to wash before every meal, snack and drink at the fountain. And when it came to those whom they considered to be heretics, their wrath knew no bounds. The man who eventually had his name changed to the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee. In fact he claimed to be a Pharisee among the Pharisees. And unconverted Paul thought nothing about arresting or slaughtering those who disagreed with his interpretation of the laws of God. He even had women and children arrested for heresy – specifically, for becoming Christians. It was this man who was in charge of the bloody execution of the Christian deacon Stephen. Later he testified that despite his zeal for the law of Moses, he was in fact the chiefest of sinners.
When the Saviour told us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, He didn’t mention anybody’s name. It isn’t this Pharisee or that Pharisee that we should watch for. The problem is the LEAVEN of Pharisaism. Of course there is nothing that is completely impossible when it comes to sin, but the people of our church are ten times more likely to become Herodians than Sadducees. We are more prone to worldliness than to Bible-denying liberalism. But then again we are ten times more prone to Pharisaism than to either of the others. My dictionary defines Pharisaism as: “The Hypocritical observance of the letter of religious or moral law without regard for the spirit; Sanctimoniousness.” As Bible believers, as literalists, as fundamentalists, we prone to think of ourselves more highly than we should. We forget that if there is anything that we have gotten right, it has been by God’s grace – not our smarts. And it is all too possible to move from our worship of the Lord to our worship of the law of the Lord. We can be far too interested in the condemnation of the sinner rather than the restoration of the sinner. There lurks in the heart of every fundamental Baptist the seed of the Pharisee.
“Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” What steps should we take to protect ourselves? It’s actually quite simple, kneel at the cross. Ever be “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” There is only one source of victory and that is the Lord Jesus.
Why should we beware of all this leaven? Because it’s a poison as deadly to the soul as arsenic is to the body.
If you are not sure that you are a child of God – if you are unsure of the condition of your soul, I would be happy to talk with you after the service this morning. In a few moments we will be singing a closing song, And I invite you to leave your place and come down to the front. Let me take your hand and talk with you about your spiritual condition.