Two Kinds of Leaven
It had to be frustrating for the Lord as He tried to prepare the apostles for the time when they would be at the forefront in the growth of the church. An illustration of this can be seen in how those men responded to the words of Jesus. “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” The apostles totally misunderstood what He said about this leaven.
They had just traveled across the Sea of Galilee and had failed to bring any bread with them. When Jesus mentioned leaven, they immediately thought He was talking about this. However, our Lord had far more in mind than actual bread.
Jesus first reminded them that they were not dependent on ordinary means to find food. They had just fed five thousand men and then four thousand men with just a few loaves and fish. Jesus asked them to recall these two miracles, and the apostles began to finally understand that this kind of bread was not what he was discussing.
It was not actual bread, but the false teachings of the Jewish leaders He was discussing. “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” (Matt. 16:5). False teaching is so much like leaven.
Think of how often the Bible mentions that a little leaven leavens the entire loaf. It does not take large quantities of leaven to impact everything that is around it. It does not take large quantities of false teaching to bring disaster into the lives of men. Sometimes we so easily overlook this.
When you first open the door to allow just a small element of false teaching to enter you may never be able to close that door. So often so much more that is wrong comes rushing through. This is why Jesus sounded the alarm with the words, “Take heed…” There is such grave danger at times like this.
The brothers of Joseph probably did not think that being jealous of Joseph’s coat of many colors could lead to so much evil. However, that sinful “leaven” of jealousy lead them to plan to kill their younger brother. It lead them to bring unbearable grief to their father, Jacob. When you open the door to allow smaller matters to enter, far more may enter that open door.
There is little difference in the sin of these brothers and the embracing and teaching of false doctrine. Any sin when left alone weakens those involved. The Bible is filled with illustrations of this truth. The tragedy is that while personal sin is devastating to the individual teaching of false doctrines is devastating to an entire church or nation. How should we deal with it? Beware of it and close that door when it begins opening.