Yeast

“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
Mark 8:15


Jesus warns His disciples to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. What did He mean by that? Well, yeast is a microorganism that causes bread to rise. It’s what makes some bread light and fluffy. Scripture often uses yeast as a metaphor for sin. Just like a small amount of yeast will spread through an entire batch of dough causing it to rise, so too sin’s corrupting influence spreads easily through a community from one person to the next. And, just as yeast puffs bread up, so sinful attitudes and actions tend to puff us up with pride and self-importance.

So, what was this yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod that Jesus was warning the disciples about? Well, in the context of the conversation Jesus just had with the Pharisees in Mark 8, it could be unbelief or the desire for a sign to prove Jesus’ authority. In Matthew’s telling of this story the yeast is identified as the teaching of the Pharisees. (Matthew 16:12). Then again, in a different setting in Luke’s gospel, Jesus identifies the yeast of the Pharisees as hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1). And as far as Herod is concerned, he was guilty of much sin including seeking signs, sexual sin, hunger for power, and worldliness.

So, I think Jesus is warning the disciples that they live in an age that threatens to corrupt them from every side. He is warning them against falling into the errors of the religious hypocrites on the one hand or the worldly, power-hungry politicians on the other. He is reminding them that sinful attitudes and ways of thinking may appear small or insignificant at first, but (like yeast) they spread and grow and puff up and corrupt. So, Jesus is telling the disciples to be careful, to watch themselves, to avoid allowing even the smallest amount of error to be planted in their lives.

You should also beware the corrupting influences of this world. You need to understand that Satan will come at you from all sides. If he can’t get at you one way, he’ll get at you another! You can be corrupted by false preachers just as easily as by unbelievers. Both political and religious influences can lead you astray. And your thinking and your faith can be poisoned from the right just as easily as from the left. So, you have to be on your guard. You have to be careful to reject wrong ideas and sinful attitudes no matter what their source. Otherwise, if you aren’t careful, you will be corrupted by those around you and will become just like the world you are trying to save.

Prioritize the Spiritual

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

Mark 8:1-3

We have something to learn from this crowd. In verse two Jesus says He had compassion on them because, "they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.” For three days, they had placed their spiritual needs ahead of their work, their food, their comfort, their farms, the regular routines of their life. Even if some of them came there seeking a miracle of physical healing, by staying a full three days and going without they showed that they valued the spiritual teaching He gave as well.

So, this crowd of people had prioritized their spiritual needs over their physical needs, and that’s what moved Jesus to have compassion on them. He was moved by the sacrifices they had made to pursue spiritual life, and He wanted to make sure He honored their sacrifice by meeting their physical needs before He sent them away.

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In my own life, I feel like I’m constantly faced with the same decision. It seems like I can never easily get time to spend with the Lord. I’m always having to choose between the physical and the spiritual in my life. I’m always having to choose between Bible reading or sleep, between prayer time or TV time, between quiet time with the Lord or time to pursue one of my hobbies. It always feels like a sacrifice. It always feels like I have to carve time out of my life, like I have to sacrifice my physical needs to feed myself spiritually and pursue Jesus.

If you feel that way too, then this story is a great reminder that Jesus sees that and has compassion for that. It’s a reminder that He wants to bless you and provide for you when you choose to prioritize your spiritual needs over your physical wants and needs. When you forgo 30 minutes of sleep you really needed to spend time with the Lord, when you discipline yourself to put down the TV remote or the tablet or your cell phone and pick up God’s Word, when you fast from food or your hobbies to spend time in prayer, God sees that and is pleased by that. He has compassion for that. And I think that we can reasonably hope and expect that He will help provide for our lack of sleep or rest or food, that He will help meet our physical needs when we prioritize our spiritual needs. One well known passage of Scripture puts it this way, “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

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When was the last time you put your spiritual needs first? When was the last time you prioritized your spiritual life over your physical needs and wants? Honestly, I’ve been losing that battle a lot more than I’ve been winning it lately. Seek His kingdom first. Make Him your first priority, and trust He will provide for everything else you need.

An Ancient Blessing

In the Old Testament we find the patriarchs speaking blessings over their children. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Jacob blessed Joseph and his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And later on in Numbers 6:22-27 the Lord gives Aaron the high priest a special blessing to pronounce over Israel almost as though he were the spiritual father of the nation as a whole. 

This idae of pronouncing a blessing over someone is almost foreign to us in the New Testament church. We pray for our children and grandchildren but we don't really pronounce blessings over them in that way. So, I was somewhat surprised when I found myself reading Psalm 20 and thinking about how powerful it would be as a blessings or a prayer spoken over my own children. 

I think that must be how this ancient song functioned for Israel. It was a blessing that they sung over one another. And God has preserved it in the Scripture for us so that we too can pronounce this ancient blessing over those close to us. So consider pronouncing or praying this blessing over someone close to you today.    

Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

May we shout for joy over your victory

and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now this I know:

The Lord gives victory to his anointed.

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary

with the victorious power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

Lord, give victory to the king!

Answer us when we call!

What are You Willing to Suffer for the Church?

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Colossians 1:24

To say that anything is lacking from the afflictions of Christ is a bold statement. To suggest that an imperfect human could fill up what is lacking there is bolder still. But that is exactly what Paul does in this passage. What does he mean?

Jesus' suffering (His perfect life, death and resurrection) accomplished all that is necessary for the salvation of men, women and children everywhere. There is nothing that any human could add, and yet some things are still lacking if the church is to become all that God has commanded us to be. So, God saw fit to give each of His children a role to play in the great salvation of the world. 

Some preach the gospel to men, women and children. Some give generously to support the work. Some are teachers who explain the Word and equip the saints to do good works. Some are servants who do credit to the faith by doing good deeds in their communities and on mission trips. Some are missionaries who take the word into places it has not been before. Some are administratively gifted and lead churches and missions movements. Some are encouragers who come alongside other believers and help them move forward in their faith. And there are many other ways to serve besides these mentioned. 

The church needs all these gifts! But whatever service you offer you can be sure that it will involve some level of suffering. You cannot give without making sacrifices. You cannot encourage or preach or teach or serve or lead without giving of your time, energy and your very own heart to those ministries. And when you serve in any of these ways you open yourself up to be criticized, rejected, judged, persecuted, held to a higher standard, put upon, and taken advantage of. And we are called to endure all of this "for the sake of His body, which is the church."

So, a question that I think needs to be asked of every believer is this- "What are you willing to suffer for the church?" Are you willing to give of your disposable income? Are you willing to give your free time? Are you willing to put yourself out there and risk being embarrassed? Are you willing to risk being misunderstood? Are you willing to be put upon and talked about and criticized by the imperfect people you are trying to serve? This is what it looks like to serve the church. It is a messy business filled with still imperfect people. And it requires filling up in yourself what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. If you aren't willing to suffer, you won't make a difference. So again I ask, "What are you willing to suffer for the church?"