Matthew 16:5-6: Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

“Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” Jesus in Matthew 16:6

“We can live at our full potential right now!...Within these pages you will find seven simple yet profound steps to improve your life regardless of your current level of success or lack of it.”  (Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now, p. viii) "They've told him many times that they would free him and allow him to return to our family, the kids and I, if he would deny his Christian faith, and he's stood strong in that prison. He's led many, many—over 30 people—to Christ in that prison." (Naghmeh, the wife of Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, who is jailed in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, because of his faith.  Naghmeh said these words while speaking at Liberty University, September 2013)

Jesus and his disciples sailed away from the “region of Magadan”  (15:39), which is along the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberius.   Jesus and the disciples reached the other side (v. 5) of the Sea of Galilee, likely along the northeast shore.   When they arrived the disciples realized they had forgotten to bring any bread.

This statement, having forgotten to bring any bread, is full of irony, even a little humor!   Jesus had just fed “four thousand men, besides women and children” (15:38).   “Seven baskets full” (15:27) of bread were left over.   Yet they got into the boat having forgotten to bring any of the leftover bread with them.

My guess is when the disciples were aware that they forgot bread, they began blaming, maybe even yelling at, each other.   Jesus, still with the confrontation with the Pharisees and Sadducees fresh in his mind, uses the discussion about bread to teach about eternal things.    Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” (v. 6). 

Leaven and yeast are similar and sometimes the two words are used interchangeably.   Leaven is what causes bread to “levitate” or rise.  A little leaven can impact an entire lump of dough.  This reality is often used metaphorically in Scripture to describe how a small amount of evil can have a far-reaching negative influence (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 and Galatians 5:9).  Leaven was not allowed in any offerings or sacrifices (see Leviticus 2:11 and Exodus 34:25).  However, sometimes leaven is used as a positive spiritual example (see Matthew 13:33).  

The Pharisees and Sadducees both represented corrupting influences on the nation of Israel; both used the Law of Moses for personal gain.   (See Jesus’ scathing rebuke of their corruption in Matthew 23 and Luke 11:37-52.)  

The Pharisees sought their own self-exalting righteousness through the Law; in their eyes, there was no need for saving grace, a redeemer or a savior.  The Lord was not their pursuit; he was merely a tool of religious perfection. 

The Sadducees used religion for political power.  They were more concerned about accumulating prestige in this life and were unconcerned about the next life.   Both the Pharisees and Sadducees were different sides of the same corrupt coin; we must watch and beware of their leaven since it can still be found influencing the world today. 

In Mark’s version, Jesus warns against “the leaven of the Pharisees” and “Herod,” not the Sadducees (see Mark 8:15).   Ultimately the same meaning is retained with Mark’s version.  The Sadducees, as opposed to the nationalistic Pharisees, wanted to compromise with the occupying Roman ruler Herod.  There was even a segment among the Jewish leadership known as the Herodians (see 22:16), whose purpose was to bring Israel under Rome’s authority.  The leaven of Herod and the Sadducees was to use God for power and political gain.    

Is our walk with Christ corrupted by the leaven of hypocrisy and greed? (See Luke 12:1, 16:14) Or are we the positive leaven of life and Christ-centeredness to a dead world? Are we the salt of the earth, a city set on a hill?   

Saeed Abedini is godly leaven in probably the darkest place on earth, the Evin Prison.   A simple renouncing of Jesus would reunite him with his family.   But like Moses, he considers “the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt,” (Hebrews 11:26).   The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees has no power over Saeed.  He longs for “a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called his God,” (Hebrews 11:16).  May we pray for his endurance, his witness, his freedom from prison and for his family; may Saeed Abedini, continue to be an example of godly leaven.   May we learn and grow from his example. 

Saeed Abedini, with his family before his imprisonment.