5Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” 7And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” 8But 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? 9Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11How 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.” 12Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Having entered into conflict with religious leaders and left their company, Jesus expounded on the evil of religion in 16:5-12.
16:5
Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
The disciples finally caught up to Jesus on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. They forgot to take food with them except for one loaf of bread (Mk 8:14).
16:6
Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
Jesus used the occasion of forgetting food to talk about leavening of food. Leaven is yeast (fermented dough), symbolizing the pervasive corruption of false doctrine. Using two words of warning (take heed and beware), Jesus uttered a stern warning against two groups teaching pervasive false doctrine.
16:7
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
The disciples missed the point about Jesus’ illustration of leaven.
16:8
But Jesus, being [fully] aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
Rebuke is necessary for those with little spiritual insight. They were believers but little more.
Jesus asked His disciples a series of four rapid-fire, pungent, pointed questions about this problem.
16:9
Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?
Jesus reminded His disciples of feeding 5,000 men (plus women and children) with five loaves and two fish in Jewish territory.
16:10
Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?
Jesus also reminded His disciples of feeding 4,000 men (plus women and children) in Gentile territory with mere human resources. The disciples should have learned how to trust God in the two massive feedings.
Verses 9 and 10 are a major problem for liberals who say that the gospel writers confused the numbers of 5,000 and 4,000 in error. However, this passage clearly indicates that these were two different occasions. The two different words used in verses 9 and 10 for “basket” are the same words used for the original incidents of the feedings in chapters 14 and 15.
16:11
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.”
The lesson was about false doctrine, not food.
16:12
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.
The Sadducees denied the resurrection and the Pharisees put legalism over Scripture. Both types of leaven pose considerable danger to Jesus and His ministry.
PRINCIPLE:
God can turn our limited resources into capital sufficient to do ministry.
APPLICATION:
Spiritual understanding does not come to us apart from faith. We allow mundane things to get in the way of eternal things. This is the problem of priorities; we let the relatively unimportant blunt the eternally valuable. If God faithfully provides for His own, there is no need to worry over the routine needs of life.
Legalism (Pharisees) and religious liberalism (Sadducees) both undermine Christianity. We cannot trifle with either.
I love it, This part is compact and to the point!
grace
This part is compact and to the point, Grant!