The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 9, 2019

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Page 140-141

Matthew 16:1-12; Mark 8:11-21

The religious leaders knew Jesus’ message about the Kingdom of God was a danger to their status quo. They were greatly annoyed with Jesus because he had much to say about the abuse of their authority over the people. Asking for signs was their way of dismissing Jesus.

The disciples were still maturing in their faith journey and had much yet to learn. Their eyes were still on the meager amount of food they had, and thus, when Jesus warned them about the ‘yeast’ of the religious leaders, they didn’t understand. When Jesus reminded the disciples of feeding the five thousand and the four thousand, he was challenging them to put into practice his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount:

 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (Matthew 6:31-33).

When the disciples stopped worrying about food, they recognized that Jesus was showing them that the religious leaders were missing the Kingdom of God because of their self-centered ways.

Charles Sheldon's inspirational book, In His Steps, explains what could happen if we asked ourselves, 'What would Jesus do?' Many years ago a youth group in the Midwest tried to live out that idea. Pretty soon WWJD bracelets and necklaces were available everywhere, and what began as a serious effort to be committed followers of Jesus was trivialized into a cutesy saying.

Jesus calls his followers to join him in a great adventure to bring the Kingdom of God to our world. Yet, far too often, His followers have exchanged their opportunity of an adventurous journey for membership in a religious club that meets on Sundays for coffee and conversation.

My Takeaway: One way to tell when we are slipping into the realm of trivialization is to consider our priorities. Let’s take a moment to consider where we spend our money and our free time. When we daydream, where do our thoughts take us? In those three realms of our life, are we honoring God and building for the Kingdom of God?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.