The Life and Ministry of Jesus
And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Mark 8:13–17
The meal symbolizes the gospel, and the leaven, which represents wrong teaching, was hidden in it. It is the process of making something taste good to the natural man. Actually, what is liberalism? It all came into existence by the pulpit trying to please the unsaved church members.
And today we have a lot of men trying to please the congregation, even when they are unsaved. And that, may I say, is putting leaven in—that is, mixing wrong teaching with the truth of the gospel. The only kind of bread they will eat is that which has leaven because leaven makes bread taste good. Leaven is the evil that is put in. And here He is warning them about the wrong teaching. 1
Personal Encouragement
What are you mixing into the gospel message? How much of the “culturally cool” worldly stuff are you trying to mix into the pure and sincere Word of God? “Thou shall not mix!”
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Galatians 5:9
Leaven is an unwanted ingredient that must be purged from every ministry.
A Prayer
Lord, help us to immediately take heed to all your warnings.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Mark) (electronic ed., Vol. 36). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
