Beware of the Leaven

The 'Leaven' has an important biblical connotation. It is also referred to as the 'yeast' . The Israelites had been using it to make soft bread in Egypt. The leavened bread, was soft and round. The 'unleavened bread' was hard and flat. When they were delivered from the Egyptian bondage, by the strong arm of the LORD, they were commanded to eat unleavened bread. They had to leave Egypt in haste, and the LORD instructed them not to take the leaven from the land of slavery. They were asked to celebrate a week-long festival of the 'unleavened bread' in the wilderness. It was to remind them every year, of the hasty manner in which they had to leave Egypt and delivered by the LORD himself, out of the bondage. Later when they made their own leavened bread during their sojourn in the desert, they were allowed to offer it to the LORD and also to eat it.

Lord Jesus warned his disciples, to beware of the leaven of Herod, Pharisees and Sadducees. Why? 

He meant that the leaven-like effect of the life of these Jewish sects, should not be allowed to corrupt the witness of his followers. The 'leaven' has a fermenting effect on  anything in which it is mixed. Minute amounts of it is enough to ferment a big lump of dough. Its action is invisible, quiet but sure. On the exterior the  leaven looks beneficial and user-friendly. Elsewhere in the gospels, the leaven is also referred to in a positive note, in that it spreads easily and into any larger amount. Jesus used it to teach the hearers, about the spreading influence of the Kingdom of God.

An attempt is made in this blog of mine, to expound what is meant by the caution served by our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples, so that the body of Christ now, heeds the warning.

1. The Leaven of Herod : Wickedness / treachery / debauchery / corruption

Jesus charged the disciples, saying, 'Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.'(Mark 8: 15).

In the sight of Jesus,both the groups were to be shunned equally. One is strictly religious and the other is typically political. Going through the historical details, we understand that the Pharisees, in spite of their discord with the ruling Herods on certain issues, joined hands with the Herodians in getting Jesus unjustly crucified, based on false witnesses. Herodians were a Jewish sect, which sympathised with Herods and tried to gain political powers.

Biblical mention is made of four rulers, called Herods in succession, appointed by Rome as rulers over Judea and adjoining territories from the year 64 B.C.E.These men were of mixed  Jewish and Edomite origin . They hailed from the Idumean land, south of Judea. They impressed the Romans and got the representative ruler ship of the empire, around Judea. The first of whom being 'Herod the Great', who ruled at the time of the birth of Jesus. This man ordered the killing of the Bethlehem babies, so that he would silence all voices rising against him in coming to power.(Matt 2; Lk 1:5).

After his death, his son Archelaus, was appointed to rule over the Southern parts, Samaria and Judea and another son,called Herod Antipas,  was appointed Tetrarch of Galilee. Archelaus was more cruel than his father and the Jews got him removed by representing their cause to Rome. Roman empire appointed governors/procurators in his place. Pontius Pilate was one such ruler at the time of Jesus. Herod  Antipas was the one who arrested and beheaded John the Baptist. (Matt 14:1-12). He was leading an immoral private life with Herodias, his brother, Philip's wife. She was the one who instigated a child to ask for the head of John the Baptist, since he was warning the ruler against such a debauchery. Same record is there in the other two synoptic gospels, namely Mark and Luke. He was the very person who tried Jesus. Our Lord called him, 'the fox'.

The third in line was the grandson of Herod the Great,Herod Agrippa I, who killed James, the disciple of Jesus, and Bishop of the Church at Jerusalem, and also arrested Peter. (Acts 12). The fourth was Herod Agrippa II who tried Paul, the apostle, and gave at least a  listening ear to his testimony. The rule of the Herods was marked with cruelty and inhuman treatment meted out to he people, they were lording over. The rule of these wicked Herods ended in 100 A.D.

Our Lord Jesus warned the disciples, to beware the 'evil influences and model' of these rulers. What were these?

A totally godless life, which was characterised by wickedness, murderous acts to remove anyone who was a threat to what they were doing, illicit private lives, corruption and bribery of the authorities / emperors to retain power. Power mongers who misused power for personal gains. The Herods had no fear of God or regard for the people under their custody. They mocked and ridiculed things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Cunning like foxes, they were. Herods tried to impress the Jewish leaders by building huge cities and sea ports. Herods even rebuilt the Temple of Solomon and it was quite a magnificent one. All these things were done with ulterior motives behind. They pleased the Jewish leaders in order to avoid any revolt against themselves.

The Church of Christ, should take care to guard itself against all such 'wicked' living. Our priority is to 'seek the Kingdom of God first.'  The leaven of Herods, can easily spoil the politics of Christendom of today. We need not think that Herodian politics exists no more. In subtle ways it can sneak inside the Church government .  As St.Paul advised the church at Thessalonica, the followers of Jesus Christ, must 'keep away from anything that has, even a semblance of evil.' ( I Thes. 5: 22). Jesus himself said that the gentile rulers are oppressing the people and his disciples must not be so. 'Any one who wants to be a christian leader must be a servant first, then a leader' ( paraphrase is mine). The leadership exemplified by Jesus Christ was the 'servant leadership', though he could have easily misused the position of the Son of God, who was in all things equal to the Father.

'Christ being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God' (Phil 2: 6 KJV).

Jesus is the supreme MODEL for the Christian believers and church leaders.

2. The Leaven of the Pharisees: Empty religion / blind-leadership / jealousy / hypocrisy

Matt 23: 28   Jesus said,  " You outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

The Pharisees came from the ordinary working class and had a good following from the common mass and were not wealthy . They did not worry about the political power and the ruling of the Temple. They strictly adhered to the law of Moses and all the other doctrines of the prophets. They increased the religious rules and observances by adding a lot more regulations and religious observances and promulgated the teaching of the scribes. They believed in supernatural intervention  in worldly affairs, resurrection, continued existence of the soul even after death. They thought that they were the only religious sect among the Jews. They hated Jesus for they thought he did not observe their regulations strictly and Jesus condemned them because they did not obey God's laws and prioritised only their laws.

In Matthew chapter 23, our Lord puts forth a lot of accusations against the hypocritical conduct of the Pharisees and Scribes.They only preached but did not do, laid heavy religious burdens on people, worked to earn the favour of men, cruel masters, made long prayers for pretence, taught wrong doctrines based on wrong priorities,served as  blind guides, resembled serpents, vipers and white-washed sepulchres, full of filth within but showy without. They emphasised fasting, praying and making offerings to God only as empty rituals. The inward cleansing was not given importance. Jesus claimed that they were reserved for hell's fire. He condemned their wilful disobedience and turning deaf ears to what the LORD was telling them through the prophets and then the Son of God, Jesus himself. Nicodemus was an exception, who became the follower of Jesus Christ.

However, the Pharisees  did not persecute the Christian church of the first century, like what the Sadducees did. Gamaliel, a pharisee, supported the disciples, saying that if God's move was the church, it should not be boycotted. Only when Stephen opposed the Pharisaic hypocrisy, they rose against the disciples and we know that Saul, a devout Pharisee, was a witness to the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the church. When Saul became Paul, the Pharisees and the Sadducees together persecuted him.

The body of Christ, the christian church is now challenged with the same things that our Lord condemned as existing among the 'religious' class of his time. What would he tell us now? It is time that we rise up to the challenge of obeying our Saviour's  commands and following them in spirit, soul and body, so that the world sees the reflection of Jesus Christ in the lives of the believers, his disciples. Times are so conducive now more than ever to model the Pharisaism, by the Christians, to be 'nominal, religious like the ones Jesus condemned, having a semblance of spirituality but without witness and the power of the Holy Spirit.'

3. The Leaven of the Sadducees:  Power-mongering / opportunism / worldliness

Jesus said to his disciples ," Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."  They later understood that Jesus bade them to beware of the doctrine of both the groups (Matt 16:6,12).

Why would Jesus say that against the Sadducees? What did they do? Who were they?

Unless we understand a little about their background, we will not fathom the real intention of our Lord, behind the warning. The Sadducees, as different from the Pharisees, hailed from wealthy priestly families, of the upper class of their society. They had the interest of their political freedom as well as the Temple rituals and sacrifices. They considered themselves to be the descendants of the high priest of Solomon's time, Zadok,and claimed they were the only authorised priestly clan of the Jewish people. However, they did not enjoy the support of the common people. They held different religious views from those of the Pharisees. They regarded only the laws of Moses and did not believe in prophets and the other parts of the Jewish scriptures. They did not believe in the angelic existence, the resurrection of the dead and the direct involvement of God in the daily affairs of humanity. They were after making money and becoming richer and they struggled with the Greek rulers, before the Roman empire to regain priestly power and control of the Temple rituals, which they did succeed in. After the destruction of the Temple in A.D.70, the Sadducees ceased to exist and the Jewish religion became totally Pharisaic.

The Sadducees did not believe in the continued existence of the soul after death and they enjoyed the support of the upper class Jews. The Sanhedrin was composed of more Sadducees, compared to the Pharisees. The two parties anyhow joined hands to do away with Jesus, since he was condemning the hypocrisy of both the groups. The early Christian church was persecuted by the Sadducees, since the disciples were proclaiming the Risen Christ and the church was growing everyday. The murderous plot of the Sadducees was brought to light very much by the apostles, that they wanted to wipe them out by their money power.

Therefore we get clarified, that Jesus Christ did not want his followers to get caught in such hypocrisy, love for money, this-worldly attitude, and partnering with wicked people and their acts for keeping their position safe in this world. Anything eternal had no value for the Sadducees.

Christians are instructed to 'seek those things that are above, if we are risen with Christ.' (Col 3:1). We are exhorted to 'run the race on earth with patience, looking unto Christ.' (Heb 12:1).  

 It is time for us to set our house in order.  Church of Christ ' rise up and shine.' Jesus said ," You are my witnesses."

Amen and Amen!!