When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:5-12 ESV)
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This of course is not about bread, but their teaching.
How many of us are Pharisees and Sadducees when it comes to teaching? How many of us think we have the right answers when it comes to our faith and have the right rules to follow to get us where we need to be. And so if people aren’t doing what we know to be true then they are in a wrong relationship with God. This is the leaven Jesus warned the disciples about.
Only Jesus has the truth, being with God. We do not know the full truth, we, as Paul said, see in a mirror dimly. So some of what we should see is hidden from us. We can’t make out the whole picture and so we should not assume we know what is absolutely right and absolutely wrong. Only God can make that determination.
So when you think you know the answer, go to Jesus. When you have no clue, go to Jesus. When all else fails… You should have gone to Jesus a long time ago…
General rule of thumb – consult with Jesus.
aSacredRebel 