THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
October 7, 2007 PM
Sermon Outline
MK 8:10-21
INTRO: To the Corinthian church the apostle Paul wrote, “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness”. Our lesson text for tonight begins with the coming of the Pharisees to question and test the Lord. We are told that they sought “a sign from heaven”. I am not sure how the Lord felt about such scrutiny and will perhaps make a comment about that in a minute or two, but I know from experience that it is not a particularly pleasant thing to be always under the microscope of public scrutiny. Still, public people, as Jesus most certainly was, must deal with such from time to time. The Pharisees were always listening “to catch him in his words”.
- SO, THE PHARISEES CAME SEEKING A SIGN FROM HEAVEN
- The spirit of their coming was to test Him
- they had without question heard of and seen His miracles
- note - what Jesus did was "not done in a corner"
- but there are none so blind as those who will not see!
- see - they refused to "see" what was obvious to others!
- Mark tells us "he sighed deeply"
- twice Mark tells us of Jesus' sighs
- a sigh is nonverbal communication perhaps signifying various things
- one thing is signifies, however, is disappointment. frustration
- how disappointing it must have been for Him when knowledgeable people, intelligent people refused the obvious
- Could Jesus have given them some "sign"?
- exactly what sort of sign they wanted I'm not sure
- but Jesus did not perform miracles, etc. to satisfy curiosity
- further, they came with entirely the wrong attitude - not of belief, but of skepticism and unbelief
- there are times that no matter what one says or does it cannot satisfy the skeptics ... frustrating times? yes ... but there's little one can do except go forward
- In Matthew's account there are some important observations
- first, Jesus identifies they as "wicked and adulterous" - spiritually astray
- in OT "adultery" was used of Israel's unfaithfulness to God!
- second, Jesus tells them they will only have the "sign of ... Jonas"
- they would not get the sign the seemed to expect ... but the resurrection of Jesus would be the one great "sign" confirming His identity
- The spirit of their coming was to test Him
- JESUS TO HIS DISCIPLES, "BEWARE..."
- He refers to the "leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod"
- immediately His disciples believe He is referring to bread
- is Mark's "stage setting" explanation
- how the disciples leapt from leaven to bread I'm not sure - but they did
- Jesus responded to their reasoning among themselves...
- first, He challenges their inability to understand what He is trying to teach
- notices - they are perceiving things on a purely human, earthly level - they've heard Him teach; they've seen His miracles
- but it was so hard for them to "escape" their humanity in order to see great spiritual truths!
- Notice how Jesus responds to their "no bread" concerns
- He reminded them of His having provided food for multitudes of people
- interestingly, He puts it in terms of "how much was left over?"
- had they forgotten that He could provide bread aplenty - and that their only concern in this episode was that they had forgotten to bring bread?
- So, in Matthew's account of this event is further explanation from Jesus
- - in view of His previous miracles having "no bread" should not have concerned them!
- the light came on! ah, the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees
- and as different as the teachings of the two groups were, the teachings of both led ultimately to unbelief and spiritual blindness!
- By referring to "leaven" Jesus does at least two things
- leaven was symbol for corruption - their teachings would corrupt
- leaven was gradually, quietly, inevitably - their teachings might be only marginally accepted, believed ... but they would lead to unbelief
- and this is true even today ... toleration of a little error may not seem like such a bad thing (in the interest of peace?) - but it will grow to become full blown apostasy
- He refers to the "leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod"
CLOSE: When the world is too much with us, we are very liable to fail to see the great truths Jesus came to teach. When the world is too much with us, we are very liable to be accepting of little things which quickly grow into big things.
Cecil A. Hutson
07 October 2007