Matthew 15:5-12
When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They said to one another, “It is because we have brought no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not 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 could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Sometimes the disciples just kill me. Really. They can be so inexplicably dense. Jesus says “beware the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” speaking of the two groups who had just tried to test, trap, and discredit him. He is speaking of yeast metaphorically, of course, which each of us probably got intuitively. But not the disciples. They take him literally and assume Jesus is scolding them for not having brought bread. (Because bread has yeast, right??)
Which is of course not only incorrect but also kind of stupid. And Jesus points this out. Actually, calling them “you of little faith” seems a bit generous at this point. “You of little sense” or even “you of no brains” seems more to the point. After all, and as Jesus reminds them, he has on at least two previous occasions fed multitudes of more than four and five thousand when he had only a few loaves and fishes with which to work. And they’re now worried that he’s mad because they didn’t bring bread? Come on, fellas, give me a break.
And so after Jesus draws attention to their gaffe, he repeats his warning – “Beware the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” – and this time they get it.
Before going further, a quick word on yeast. We think of yeast as a handy-dandy ingredient that makes bread rise. And so it is. But in Jesus’ culture it was also was recognized that yeast did its work by introducing something that was actually alive into the bread – that’s why we call yeast “active” – and this living thing was considered an impurity, an impurity that actively spread throughout the loaf. In this sense yeast was often used as a metaphor for the tendency of sin to spread through a community. I don’t know the origin of that metaphor – whether it is connected to the unleavened bread (bread made without yeast) of the Passover, for instance – but I do know that it was a common enough metaphor (Paul employs it also, for instance, in Gal. 5:9) that you would expect the disciples to get it. Jesus, in short, is saying that the doubt the Pharisees and Sadducees have in him and their preference for their traditions over the new vision of God’s kingdom he preaches could easily spread, perhaps even to the disciples. Today we might talk about all this in terms of a virus, but in Jesus’ day they talked about yeast.
With that in mind, back to the disciples. In particular, one question: why don’t they get it? Or, perhaps more to the point, why does Matthew share this embarrassing story about the disciples? I don’t know for sure, but I can say that even though the disciples kill me in terms of their denseness, they also make me feel a little bit better about my own. Because I, too, sometimes really misunderstand something someone says. I also don’t always pick up the point as quickly as I should. And I, too, often fail to hear the meaning of Jesus’ words when I read them in the Scriptures. In short, I screw up, and while that can undermine my confidence in myself and in my ability to follow Jesus, when I look at the disciples I take hope. Not simply from seeing that these folks are quite as dense as I am…and often more so (though that is, truth be told, a little comforting! 🙂 ), but rather that Jesus works with them, calls them to follow even when they screw up, and includes them in his mission.
If them, so all also me…and so also you.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your patience with the disciples…and with me, and for the constant invitation to follow you and be part of your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“You of little sense” and “You of little brains”…..so funny! And, I have often had the same thoughts about the disciples, seemingly such lunkheads.
Maybe Jesus favors “lunkheads” because they are teachable (with great patience) and have few preconceived ideas?
Thanks for the laugh today!