(Mark 8:14-21 ESV)
Noun:
- 1. a substance, typically yeast, that is added to dough to make it ferment and rise.
- 2. a pervasive influence that modifies something or transforms it for the better.
- 1. cause (dough or bread) to ferment and rise by adding leaven.
- 2. permeate and modify or transform (something) for the better.
The leaven of the Pharisees and Herod is the way they live their lives and teach WHY they do what they do.
I was explaining this passage to my son mentioning how what people believe and what they say changes people around them.
For instance the school in Texas that makes their children write "there is no God but Allah"... teaches children that God is Allah (even though he is NOT). Or when schools teach that love is love regardless of what gender people are and we should merely accept it. OR when anything in life is taught as being more important than God.
From there we went on to talk about how we need to guard against such things. Whether it be the importance of playing minecraft, or the love of reading books, we need to be alert to the things that draw us away from God.
In this passage Jesus was being specific with his disciples. Telling them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.
Here the disciples were,worrying about their lack of food. COMPLETELY FORGETTING that Jesus had fed the five thousand with five loaves and the four thousand with seven loaves of bread. The concerns of the world (their bellies) made them forget what God can do.
It's no wonder that Jesus says to them and to us...
“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? "
How often do we not forget?
Jesus will take care of us.
We don't need to worry about the small things of life.
We NEED to concern ourselves with the things of the Lord and know that he will manage the rest.
He will.
Will he need to say to us... Do you not yet understand?
Or will we have faith in him?