In today’s church, there is a growing apathy toward sound doctrine and true discernment. Many believers overlook the wisdom gained from engaging deeply with God’s Word. The issue, however, that we face as this trend continues in a downward motion is that the church, much like the disciples as they walked with Christ, have forgotten the teachings of Christ. In today’s article we will take a look at a small section of Scripture and what our Lord Jesus Christ had to say on these two momentous truths of Scripture.
Setting the Context
Before we dive directly into the passage (Matthew 16:5-12) we need to understand what is happening just prior to these events as they have a direct impact on the understanding of this text. Just prior to these verses, at the close of Chapter 15, we run into the second occurrence of Jesus feeding the multitude. Keep in mind that it has only been a short time since He performed this action with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes and here He is repeating this miracle, this time with 7 loaves and a “few small fishes”. Matthew records that after Jesus fed the multitude He sent “away the crowds, [He] got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.”
Almost as soon as His feet hit the shoreline we see Him being approached by the Pharisees and the Sadducees with the purpose of “testing Him” demanded that He give them a sign. To which Jesus responds in verses 2 – 4 “When it is evening, you say ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 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? An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; an a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”
WOW!! So much packed in three verses and not even the main thrust of this article, so a summation is necessary. As with most people there was an issue here of faith, they claimed to want to see so that they could believe, but as usual, Jesus sees right through that. He knows that their problem is not that they need to see so that they can believe, it is that they REFUSE to see, in fact, Scripture teaches us elsewhere that they in fact CANNOT see, because it has not been given to them to see.
These men, for all the negative press they receive in Scripture, were no slouches, they knew their Scriptures. They were masters of memorization and would tie phylacteries on the tassels of their robes. These phylacteries were small boxes in which they would place the scriptures as they memorized them, the more you had, the more you knew. Keeping this in mind it should drastically change the way that the passage above is understood. Jesus was rebuking them, not for their lack of knowledge, but for their lack of ability to put the knowledge that they had in their head into practical application in the real world.
In other words, these men should have known, based on their knowledge of the Scriptures, who Jesus was, there should have been no doubt, yet they had refused and were unable to see. Briefly, it is important that we understand a truth here, that yes, God did decree that they could not see the truth, but at the same time, they also refuse to see the truth, this is a great example of the reality of Divine Sovereignty and human responsibility, both truths of Scripture and both at play here in the lives of these men.
So, Jesus has left the place where He fed the 4,000, crossed the water, come to the area of Magadan and confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees regarding their inability and refusal to see the truth regarding Christ Jesus. After this, we come to our focal text for this article, Matthew 16:5-12
The Leaven of False Teaching
Immediately, we see a great reminder and example of the attention span of most people and a reason why signs and wonders, while great, are not what God depends on to deliver His Word to His people. Recall for a moment that the disciples have just crossed over this body of water from an event of momentous proportions, Jesus feeding another multitude. In the wake of that event, they had forgotten the 7 LARGE baskets of leftovers that were gathered after everyone had been satisfied. We know that this is what happened because verse 7 tells us that they thought the comment Jesus made was in regards to the leftovers, “He said that because we did not bring bread.”
Their concern, even with all that they had seen, was on their material needs. Sounds familiar does it not, how many of us have witnessed the realities of the provision of God in our lives, the care and comfort that He gives, only to still concern ourselves and worry about our needs. Do not misunderstand this to be a comment on slothfulness and laziness, which says that I do not need to do anything, rather it should tell us that we move forward in obedience, in full assurance that the needs that we have, will be met along the way.
Jesus, for His part, wants them to understand the conversation and the danger of what we saw in verses 2-4. He begins the conversation with a warning, “watch out and beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” We addressed the disciples response above so let’s speak here about what Jesus was truly telling them. This is a warning, not about bread, but about teaching, in fact it is a warning about discernment regarding teaching.
The question then becomes, if these men are so knowledgeable, and have been teaching and leading the people of Israel for as long as they have, why would the disciples need to have discernment? The facts are this, you can believe, teach, learn and hear things all of your life, from people you highly respect, in fact from people you dearly love, and those things that you believe, teach, learn and hear, can be wrong. I want to say here, because I know the reaction that this statement will bring, I have seen it face-to-face, that this is in no way an indictment against the salvation of an individual. This is a topic we will delve more into later. This is also not to say that there is any ill intent involved in these situations, but with or without ill intent, wrong is still wrong.
One of the great travesties facing the church today is the unwillingness of the people within the church to evaluate their life according to the Word of God and then change based on the principles and truths that His word contains but this is exactly the command of our Lord Jesus. This is a truth that there can be no confusion about, “If you love Me, you will keep my commands.” We must be willing to, as JC Ryle states, “labor to mortify the desires of [our] body, to crucify [our] flesh with [our] affections and lusts, to curb [our] passions, to restrain [our] carnal inclinations, lest at any time they break loose.” We are to die to ourselves daily, taking up our cross and following Christ in obedience and to do that means that we evaluate everything against His word and change, not His word, but ourselves, even if that means that we no longer agree with what we have always been taught.
As we previously mentioned the disciples mistook Jesus teaching as a rebuke against them for forgetting the bread and in verses 8-11a He proceeds to set the record straight. He begins with a statement that would quite likely “ruffle the feathers” of the average church-goer these days. How dare you, or anyone, Jesus included, challenge our faith, but that is just what Jesus did.
The rebuke of Jesus was all about His love for these men, not His dislike or disdain. We have become terribly confused today regarding what love means and have decided that when you love someone, you can never disagree with them, tell them that they are wrong, or dare challenge them in any way shape or form. This is especially true in America where we have taken the infringement of rights to disastrously ridiculous level.
Jesus’ purpose here was to teach His disciples and sometimes, in order to properly teach someone, there has to be a level of rebuke and correction. The purpose behind the rebuke was to remind them, not of what failures they were, but of how they had been cared for by their Father through Christ. He reminds them of the not once, but twice, that they have witnessed the miraculous event of Him feeding a multitude with a pittance (in truth what would have likely amounted to the lunch of a young boy). Notice in His reminder, He does not just tell them of the miracle and how it supplied the need, but also of the provision that was given to them out of that supply.
Again, caution, and discernment must be used here so that we hold to the truth of this passage without going off course and be ourselves guilty of teaching contrary to the Word. In that light, please hear me, there is nothing in this passage or any of Scripture that teaches physical wealth and abundance in this life. Jesus simply points out the gracious provision so that they will be reminded that God provides.
After responding to their concerns, Jesus takes time to then clarify His point in the form of a question, “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 the Sadducees.” In other words, how did you miss the simple truth of my statement?
A Call to Doctrine and Discernment
This statement, as was pointed out earlier, contains a statement regarding discernment, but we also need to understand the other side of the coin, as it were, of what this statement implies, and that is in regards to the learning and understanding of sound doctrine. The implication being that the only way to recognize the leaven (or sin) in the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees is to know the truth.
This was as true for the disciples that day, standing on the shore of that lake, as it is for us, right here, right now. We live in a time when we have more access to the truth of the gospel than ever before, yet we are still refusing/unable to see. We lack proper discernment in regards to the teaching of many because we do not truly know the One or the Word which He has given. We have compromised on serious issues, that are for many very obvious, while at the same time allowing smaller, seemingly inconsequential issues to pass. We sacrifice solid biblical teaching and understanding on the altar of relevance and we compromise so much on what it looks like to be a believer, that the average church member and professing Christian does not even stand out in a crowd.
We are called to be different, set apart and dare I say, holy. We have believed the lie of easy believism and think that just because we go to church, sing a song, give an offering, or have even just responded to an invitation at some point in our lives that we are heaven bound. We are faithful Christians every Sunday when we walk through the doors of the church but by the time the preacher is finished and we get in line at the local buffet we have released our pretense and our true nature is revealed. When we study God’s Word, when true doctrine (or teaching) takes root in our heart, we are transformed, we grow in grace, forgiveness, understanding, and the fruit of the Spirit become evident in our lives.
True Understanding
In the final verse, we see the light bulb pop on, the disciples see, at least for the moment, and at least in this situation. As time and Scripture shows us, it will be some time before they fully and finally grasp the truth that Christ was teaching them as they followed Him. I have, so many times, heard and said that I would much like to walk with Him, to hear Him teach the Word, to sit among the crowd and wonder at the miraculous production of food for the massive crowd, fooling ourselves that if we were there our response would be different but the truth is, we, just like they, would not fully understand.
As Christians in this world today, we should realize that we truly have it better than they did. We, as believers, have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, enabling us to understand what Peter referred to as “the more sure prophetic Word”. That is, the Holy Bible, Sacred Scripture. In conclusion, I would very much like to issue you a challenge. It does not matter who you are, where you are from, your race, ethnicity, gender, political party, the challenge is the same.
Here is the challenge:
Step 1: Answer this question for yourself, do I truly believe what the Bible says (the 66 books that make up the Old and New Testament)? Do I believe that each of these “books” is literally and truly the Word of the Living God? Do I accept that they are inerrant, infallible, sufficient and authoritative in all areas of my life? If you can truly answer a resounding yes to these questions, I invite you to move to step 2. If you have questions, concerns, doubts, let us know, we would love to help. If not us, find someone who does believe what I have stated above, unequivocally, and seek their assistance.
Step 2: Challenge yourself in your study of God’s Word. Do not limit yourself to what you have always been taught. Approach God’s Word through His Spirit. Let the Spirit illuminate the Word, do not look for something extra, do not wait for a feeling or stirring within your flesh, this is a Spiritual thing and you are being dealt with on a Spiritual level. What you should see, is someone who desires to look more and more like Christ as you are remade in the image of Him.
If you need help with either of these steps or you have other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us here at Bound By Truth through this website and we will get with you as soon as possible.
Until next time, “Semper Reformanda!”
Bound By Truth 
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