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"Beware Of The Leaven Of The Pharisees" – Matthew 16:5-12

by Chris Simmons

Like so many that followed Jesus, the apostles also found themselves thinking in a physical context when Jesus was speaking in a spiritual context. In one instance, Jesus said to His disciples, “watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). Their lack of a spiritual mindset led them to conclude that Jesus was chiding them for not bringing any literal bread with them (verse 7). Jesus referenced their “little faith” and then clarified that He was not speaking of their need for literal bread. After Jesus explained, we read that the disciples finally understood that Christ was talking about the destructive nature of the Pharisee’s teaching and the damning influence it can have (Matthew 16:12). By referring to their teaching as “leaven,” He was illustrating the way that false teaching can slowly spread amongst brethren.

Above all else, from this context we must learn the lesson that false teaching must be warned against. Jesus was concerned about His disciples being influenced by the erroneous teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and was concerned about its ability to quickly spread if it went unchecked. We need to be just as concerned today about false teaching and its ability to spread amongst members of the Lord’s church. Paul felt compelled to warn the elders of the church in Ephesus in Acts 20:28-30 when he said, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Peter, prior to his departure from this life, was compelled to warn Christians in II Peter 2:1-3, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” Peter reminds us that the impact of false teaching is the destruction of men’s souls and that’s why it must be warned against.

There is urgency to the warnings against false teaching because we’re told that the error will spread like leaven. If left unchecked for even a little bit, it will spread and drag others into its condemnation. Paul said in Galatians 2:4-5, regarding “false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus” that we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour.” Paul dealt with the false teachers in Galatia with a sense of urgency, by not allowing the error to get a foothold “so that the truth of the gospel might remain” with them. Paul immediately addressed Peter’s hypocrisy in Galatians 2:12-13 and did so in order that the leaven would not spread through the whole lump of dough (Galatians 5:9). The ungodly conversation of those who are not walking in the light will indeed spread if it is not checked. Paul told Timothy, “avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene (II Timothy 2:16-17). This is why elders in the local church must have the ability to “to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9) and be able to address men who are “teaching things they should not teach … who must be silenced” (Titus 1:11).

Paul addressed the attitude we need to have when seeking to correct the false teacher and stop the leaven from spreading in II Timothy 2:24-25 when he wrote, “the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.” But when men fail to turn from their false teaching, we are commanded to “keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them” (Romans 16:17).

Similar to the leaven of false teaching, unrepentant sin needs to be dealt with in the same urgent manner. The brother in Corinth, in I Corinthians chapter 5, who was living in fornication, may not have been publicly teaching his error from the pulpit, but the effect of his unrepentant conduct would spread just as if someone were publicly advocating such sin. Paul said regarding such sin that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough” and that they needed to “clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump” (I Corinthians 5:6-7).

Getting back to the leaven of the Pharisees that Jesus warned His disciples about, what was so dangerous about the teaching of the Pharisees? Perhaps the most critical aspect to their teaching was that it was hypocritical. In Matthew 23:1-4, Jesus characterizes the scribes and Pharisees as those who “say things and do not do them.” Jesus later spoke of them as hypocrites who “are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” The leaven of the Pharisees spread the sin of hypocrisy. Secondly, the leaven of the Pharisees advocated that they (man) set the standard for righteousness. Jesus spoke to them in Matthew 15:7-9 saying, “you hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” Their standard of righteousness was not sufficient for one to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).

We must remember, that when we neglect the leaven of sin and error, we then negate the leavening influence that God’s church is to be in the world. May we never take lightly our responsibility to beware of the leaven of false teaching.

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