“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’” (Matthew 16:6, NKJV)

The Pharisees and Sadducees had come to Jesus asking for a sign from heaven. But what about all the signs that Jesus had been giving them? The lame walked; the blind saw; the dead were raised to life; and people who had been demon-possessed were delivered. How many more signs did they need? To them, it wasn’t that they couldn’t believe in Jesus but that they were not willing to believe.

They could predict the weather from patterns and colors in the sky. Why could they not discern the signs of the times? So, Jesus called them “hypocrites.” They were actors pretending to evaluate Jesus but ignoring all the signs God was giving them. Because they lacked honesty and humility, they rejected God’s purpose for themselves. They were blind guides.

Later, Jesus told His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. At first, they didn’t understand, but later they understood that Jesus was referring to their teaching. The teaching of the Pharisees was hypocrisy because they laid great burdens of law and traditions on people, but they did not keep these themselves. They wanted people to think they were more righteous than they really were. Jesus called this leaven because it quickly spreads and corrupts an entire assembly. The leaven of the Sadducees was unbelief, because they did not believe in angels, spirits, or the resurrection. Jesus accused the Sadducees of not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29).

We need to beware of such leaven today. People pretend to be more righteous than they really are. And the leaven of unbelief undermines the truth and power of the Word of God. May God help us to be an unleavened batch of dough by being people of honesty, humility, and faith.