But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod." At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn't brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, "Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don't you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 'You have eyes—can't you see? You have ears—can't you hear?' Don't you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?" "Twelve," they said. "And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?" "Seven," they said. "Don't you understand yet?" he asked them. Mark 8:14-21 NLT
Later, after they
crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had
forgotten to bring any bread. "Watch out!" Jesus warned them.
"Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." At this they
began to argue with each other because they hadn't brought any bread. Jesus
knew what they were saying, so he said, "You have so little faith! Why are
you arguing with each other about having no bread? Don't you understand even
yet? Don't you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of
leftovers you picked up? Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large
baskets of leftovers you picked up? Why can't you understand that I'm not
talking about bread? So again I say, 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.'" Then at last they understood that he wasn't speaking about
the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees. Matthew
16:5-12 NLT
Are you hungry for bread or truth?
Meditate on understanding.
Don’t you get it? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples were hungry again and arguing about bread, but Jesus wasn’t warning them about the bread. Jesus had created bread out of almost nothing to feed 5,000 and then 4,000 men and their families, so He could have easily fed those few disciples. But He bluntly told them that He wasn’t talking about the bread, but about the deception of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were false teachers. The bread of truth was what those disciples…and everyone…needed. Who declared Himself to be the Bread of Life…the Way, the Truth, and the Life? That was Jesus Himself.
Jesus replied,
"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.
Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 NLT
Jesus told him,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father
except through me. John 14:6 NLT
Jesus repeated His warning. 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.'
The fraudulent words of the Jewish leaders were like yeast. They didn’t trust Jesus, so they wanted
to discredit Him…and to ultimately kill Him. Yeast puffs up bread…and that is
just what the Jewish leaders were. Puffed up with hot air…and false teaching
centering on their traditions. He asked the disciples if they had eyes to see
and ears to hear. Do you?
What do we learn about Jesus from these scripture passages?
Prayer ~ Open my eyes, my ears, and my heart, Lord Jesus, to Your truths. Help me to apply them to my life and to share them with others.
Verse of Salvation ~ Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16 NLT
All scripture
quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
New Living
Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All
rights reserved.
Biblical search
from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
No comments:
Post a Comment