Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod

 

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  

 

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  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?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  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."  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."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked Him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

 

- Mark 8:11-26 

 

Yesterday we read that, in those days of Christ's ministry, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broken then and gave the to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand  And He sent the away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

  Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  My study Bible explains that a sign from heaven means a spectacular display of power.  The time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but these men are hypocrites, not recognizing the signs already being performed, because their hearts were hardened, and they ignored the works happening all around them,   Jesus refuses to prove Himself in a spectacular way, my study Bible says, for a sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God.  

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  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?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  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."  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."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"  The leaven of the Pharisees, my study Bible explains is both their doctrine (Matthew 16:11-12), and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).   In Scripture, it says, "leaven" (a type of yeast or dough starter) is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as it is here.  In either case, leaven is a symbol of a force powerful enough -- and often subtle enough -- to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked Him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  My study Bible says that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (Matthew 11:21).  It is for this reason that Jesus leads the blind man out of the town to heal him, so that the people would not scoff at the miracle and bring upon themselves greater condemnation.  It notes that as this blind man was healed in stages, it shows that he had only a small amount of faith, for healing occurs according to one's faith (Mark 6:5-6).  But this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Christ.  My study Bible adds that Christ's command not to return to the town symbolizes that we must not return to our sins once we have been forgiven.  

Once again we note the central importance of faith in Christ's ministry; that is, our own active and living faith with which we meet life, and through which we view our lives and our experience of the world.  This does not mean we are naive or unaware of the reality of the world; on the contrary, Jesus is never afraid to point out what is wrong or mistaken, or to teach us to stay away from what is not good for us, what will harm our faith.  Awareness and mindfulness are important components of our faith.  He teaches the disciples, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." As we can see, at this point the disciples fail to grasp His meaning, teaching us all about the journey of faith.  Even these hand-picked chosen disciples of Christ are failing to understand what He's teaching, and unaware of what it means when He refers to the "leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  Both the Pharisees and Herod demand signs and proofs, and this has nothing to do with faith, but is rather a product of denial.  It's important that we take a close look at Jesus' actions, and especially the detail that He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town before He could heal him.  This once again reinforces the idea that Jesus teaches us to protect our faith and nurture it to grow, no matter what we need to do.  If we need to separate ourselves from "the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod" then we should do so.  If we need to put distance between ourselves and certain scoffers then it's a good idea to do so.  Faith is the very center of His ministry, and faith is all about trust.  In whom do we trust?  In what do we put our trust?  And ultimately that means it's about relationship on a deep personal level, as deep and deeper than the heart, a mysterious thing that sometimes happens in spite of ourselves.  It is something akin to a marriage:  love needs protection and nurturing and support, and we do what we need to do to protect something precious that we love.  This is the way it is with Jesus.  Only there is yet another component here to watch, and that is hypocrisy.  We might think that demanding proofs is a way of verifying truth, but here it is rather the opposite.  It is a hypocritical line in the sand drawn only to take away from the true perception of the holiness and divinity in Christ and in His mission, and this is something we still need to beware of.  Jesus has said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  It is important for us as Christians to understand how important the whole notion of truth is to our faith, and how lies constitute forms of evil (see Revelation 22:15).   Our ascetic efforts for humility, to be among the "poor in spirit," and assorted other historic disciplines of the faith all hinge on the importance of truth -- especially with ourselves and especially in the place of the heart where we stand before God.  If we read the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14), we will see this as Christ's foundation for our relationship with God.  It explains why hypocrisy -- part of that leaven of the Pharisees and Herod -- is so destructive to real faith, and to our growth in faith.  Christ asks us to be alert to the pitfalls of self-delusion, of hypocrisy, and the lies and half-truths that constitute misleading and false roads for us.  Let us take it with the seriousness He asks of us.  In this context we note the growth of the faith and discernment of the disciples which would come gradually, as in the example of the blind man whose sight returns gradually.  We are all on a road, a journey of faith -- but we must all take care Whose road ("way") we're on, and the rigorous discipline we sometimes need to see clearly.