GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 8:15
Beware of the Leaven
My maternal grandmother always had a supply of homemade biscuits on the table. When the supply ran out, she would bake another batch. On the counter where she prepared the dough, there was a stone jar in which she kept the yeast that she mixed with the flour. When she removed the top of the yeast jar, the aroma filled the kitchen. The biscuits were always ready for breakfast. If there were any biscuits left after the meal, she would put them in a covered dish on the table. When my two younger brothers and I stayed with Grandpa and Grandma during the summer, we always had biscuits to eat during the day. When we went through the kitchen, we could pick up a biscuit. Even when they were cool, they always tasted good to three perpetually hungry boys. There was always what Grandma called “light bread” in the cupboard, but none of it measured up to the taste of her homemade biscuits.
Jesus and the disciples miraculously fed over four thousand people with a few loaves of bread and a few little fish then sailed across the sea, likely to rest. After Jesus confrontation with hostile Pharisees, they boarded the boat to sail back across the sea, and realized they had only one loaf in the boat to feed thirteen men on a long voyage. Teachers talk about incidental teaching occasions—off-topic events that focus students’ attention. On the boat, the disciples’ attention was focused on bread, or a lack thereof, and Jesus used this incidental occasion to teach. Mark wrote, “And he commanded them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’” (Mark 8:15)
Jesus’ lesson has many applications, and one of them is that yeast added to flour makes a tasty product. A little sin may feel good, spicing up life. The leaven of the Pharisees was the smug satisfaction of external religion. Oh, they were meticulous about externals—proper garments, careful ceremonial washing, beards properly trimmed, and perfumed bodies. But internally, they tolerated hatred, conniving, and making their own rules. They apparently experienced smug satisfaction from their insincere call for Jesus to authenticate himself by performing a miracle. The leaven of Herod, on the other hand, was his attempt to build up happiness by gaining power, wealth, and influence.
oo much yeast or too many of Grandma’s tasty biscuits, however, leads to an undesirable end.
Previous
Next
Directory