5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still 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 fragments did you take up?”
They said to Him, “Twelve.”
20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
And they said, “Seven.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
Commentary from The Bible Recap:
After rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees, two groups of leaders in the religious community, Jesus turns the experience into a teaching tool for His disciples. As He often does, Jesus uses the things around them as metaphors, but sometimes, like today, it can be confusing for the disciples because they think He’s talking about the physical thing, not the spiritual thing. Jesus compares the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to leaven.
For those of us who don’t spend much time in the kitchen or on the cooking channel, here’s a quick leaven lesson: it makes bread rise, and a tiny amount leavens the whole loaf. The Jews have long-standing ties to unleavened bread, and they even have a feast that features it – the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as Passover.
Back to the illustration: Jesus says the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees is like leaven. In other words, just getting a little bit of their teaching mixed in with what you believe will impact the way everything pans out. These two groups have some major differences with each other … but the thing they have in common is that their teachings are primarily focused on morality. You can probably see how this would have the veneer of religion but without the heart behind it. And you can probably also see how that would impact every area of your life, like Jesus points out.
The minute morality becomes the goal, we start to fix our eyes on our actions instead of the saving action of Christ. When we focus too much on “being good people” – whatever that means – it can actually begin to negatively impact the way we view others and treat others. We can become self-righteous, looking down on others who haven’t “gotten their act together” like we have. When we’re primarily concerned about looking like good, upstanding citizens, [it becomes] offensive to be confronted with the truth that we are actually sinners in need of a Savior. You can see how morality can easily hijack the gospel while wearing the same Sunday suit. So Jesus warns His disciples to watch out for that teaching and that mentality, because it will impact everything. It will leaven the whole loaf of your faith.
Jesus points to His two food multiplications to remind His disciples that what He offers – the Gospel – is always enough. There were 12 baskets left over after Multiplication #1 with the Jews – one for each of the disciples – and there were 7 baskets left over after Multiplication #2 with the Gentiles, representing perfection and completion. Jesus wants His disciples to understand that He is sufficient for each of them individually and for all the people of the world. But they miss the symbolism He’s pointing to, so He explains it.
[It’s] interesting that Jesus fills His disciples in on the truth, but He doesn’t fill the Pharisees and the Sadducees in on it here. Remember how He warned His disciples in Matthew 7 “do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample on them underfoot and turn to attack you?” (Matthew 7:6) He demonstrates that here. Going to battle against a hardened heart is a waste of your time and energy. Not even a good and true argument can change someone’s mind. Only God can soften hearts and open eyes to see the truth.