“Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.”

Mark 8:11-38 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, demanding from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. ¹² Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³ And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

¹⁴ And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. ¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.” ¹⁶ And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, ¹⁹ when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” ²¹ And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

²² And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought a man who was blind to Jesus and begged Him to touch him. ²³ Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting in his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

²⁷ Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰ And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

³¹ And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. ³² And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but on man’s.”

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

In today’s text Jesus says: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.”  Jesus warning is not about bread, as the disciples thought, but rather it is about not trusting the religion of man or the government and political leaders to be our source and savior.  In Galatians 5:9 it says: A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. The Amplified translation says: A little leaven [a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church]. In Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus warning about the days before He would return are: “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people.”  Surely, we see in our day that both in our government and sadly even in the church there are those who have more than a slight inclination to error. There are many who say they follow Christ, yet they accept, embrace and even promote the immorality and abominations of our culture and society. They mislead many and pervert the concept of faith.

Jesus continues in Matthew 24 saying: “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains. Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  As we look upon the current world stage, we may not know how close we are to the time of Jesus return, Jesus says in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” We should know this though, that are at least experiencing the birth pains and that these things must take place.

We are not to be alarmed. We are not to be misled. We are to: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.”  We also though are to endure to the end as the gospel of the kingdom is preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. In today’s text Jesus says: “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  The only sure way not to be misled by what is false is to know what is true. God’s word is the only reliable standard of truth when even a slight inclination to error can pervert our faith. The only way not to be misled by false christs, is to know and follow Jesus. In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

“Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.”  “See to it that no one misleads you.” See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.”   Do not be ashamed.Endure to the end.  Hear and receive the prayer that Jesus prayed for us in the garden on the night that He was betrayed: “…I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”  Amen.