It's not the leaven that's bad.

Matthew 15:29-16:12

Healing Crowds

²⁹ Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

³² And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

Pharisees Test Jesus

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

In today's text in Matthew 15 and 16, from today's daily reading in the One Year Bible(link available on links page), we again see Jesus doing many miraculous works. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus also does another miraculous act of provision,  taking seven loaves of bread and a few fish and feeding about 8000 people. As before when Jesus fed the 10000 there was more left over than there was in the beginning. The disciples picked up seven backets full from the left overs. That's what Jesus wants to do through us. He wants us to provide for the masses, to do miraculous works. Ephesians 3:20 says  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. These are some of the greater works Jesus calls us to do in John 14:12. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Jesus reputation spread throughout the region. There was no TV or internet, no social media, no newspapers or telephones, yet every where Jesus went people came, in mass, expecting to see miraculous things. As Jesus comes to another region, He is met again by some of the religeous leaders. They too wanted to see a sign from Jesus.  The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. Their motivation was different though. They didn't come in faith acknowledging their need. They came to test Him, hoping to either be entertained by His power or wanting to disprove or discredit Jesus. To them Jesus offers a rebuke saying that they know how to interpret the signs in the sky to predict the weather. Yet as experts in the scripture, knowing the law and the writings of the prophets they were unable to recognize who Jesus was, even though He declared that the kingdom of heaven had come and He fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies in scripture. 

There are some today who refuse to believe the reports of what God is doing. They look to disprove or discredit every miracle that is done in the name of Jesus. They insist on miracles on demand if they are to believe. Today, just as then the miracles are evidence that the kingdom of heaven has indeed touched earth. The miracles follow the preaching and declaring of the gospel, the good news, of the kingdom. When heaven touches earth things change. In the presence of the Holy God of heaven no sin or sickness and disease can exist.

Miracles are evidence of an answer to the most basic prayer Jesus taught us. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.(Matthew 6:10)

Jesus cautions the disciples after this saying, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” The disciples initially miss Jesus meaning in this thinking He is referring to bread. Leaven is an agent of change, such as yeast, which causes the dough to rise. We need to understand that leaven in this spiritual application is not what is bad. In Matthew 13:33 Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to leaven. He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened." The thing about leaven, this agent of change is that it tends to affect everything it comes in contact with. When Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to leaven, the agent of change is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says this about the leavening effect of the Holy Spirit in John 15: 26"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. 

The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is of a different spirit. It is not a spirit which testifies of Jesus and the kingdom. Rather it is an arrogant, proud spirit that actually challenges Jesus. It is an anti-Christ spirit. We see this warning of the antichrist spirit in       2 John 1:  many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. ⁹ Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

Leaven is not bad. But leaven does work it's way through everything it touches. We then need to beware, to choose wisely which leaven we allow in our lives. Do we choose the leaven of the Holy Spirit which testifies of Christ or the boastful, arrogant and proud leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which denies and defies Christ?

Leaven causes change. It causes dough to rise. We can choose the leaven of the antichrist and rise up in pride and our own strength. Or we can choose the leaven of the Holy Spirit. We can take on the very nature of Christ. We can by allowing Christ to rise within us become agents of change in everything we touch.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit thank You for all that You have done. Thank You Heavenly Father, that You so loved me that You sent Jesus, Your Son to be my savior. Jesus thank You that You came to earth both to live as an example for us and to die for my sin. Thank You Holy Spirit, that You came, sent by the Father and the Son and You reside here with us and in me. Leaven me by your spirit. Change me, all of me, let nothing of me be untouched by Your power Holy Spirit. Then cause me in Christ, to rise up and be an agent of change to everything I touch. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth, through me, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen