In Mark 8:11-13 some Pharisees came to Jesus and began arguing, demanding to see a miracle as proof of his teaching. Shortly thereafter Jesus warned his followers to be on the watch for the “yeast of the Pharisees”. But looking at this situation what was that yeast? It could be an argumentative spirit. They didn’t come to Jesus to listen to what he was saying or to consider what he was teaching, they came to argue with him. It could be their judgmental attitude. They wanted to determine for themselves if they thought Jesus was teaching God’s word. It could be their pride in what they knew that lay behind their offensive attitudes. Yeast has the trait of consuming that which surrounds it to reproduce itself. Any of these attitudes have the tendency to be “passed on” to those who learn from us and imitate our behavior. I take Jesus’ charge to watch out personally because I have seen myself express these same traits. So I know that I am a carrier of that ancient and selfish yeast. Maybe Jesus’ call to watch out was so that we would all understand our fleshly tendency to respond as those Pharisees did.
Stuart
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Paul of Tarsus
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