The
disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
Matthew 16:5-7
Matthew 16 [1.] The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” He left them, and departed.
Matthew 16 [5.] The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matthew 16 [7.] They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
Matthew 16 [8.] Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, ‘because you have brought no bread?’ Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Meaning:
Jesus had just fed four thousand men, besides women and children, with seven loaves and a few small fish, and seven baskets of broken pieces were left over (Matthew 15:33-39). Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test him, demanding a sign from heaven. Jesus refused, saying that the only sign they would receive was “the sign of the prophet Jonah,” and he left them (Matthew 16:1-4). Now, crossing the Sea of Galilee in the boat with his disciples, he warns them about those very men. The disciples misunderstand him completely, and their misunderstanding becomes a lesson in faith. Mark tells the same story (Mark 8:13-15; Mark 8:16).
- “The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread”
It was an ordinary mistake. In the hurry of leaving, nobody had packed food. Mark adds that “they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them” (Mark 8:14). For a group of thirteen men heading into a lonely area, this was a real practical worry. Yet the disciples were in the company of the One who had just fed thousands from almost nothing. Their minds were full of the empty food bag, while the Lord of the harvest sat beside them.
- “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees”
Jesus uses the forgotten bread to teach something far more important. Yeast (leaven) is a small thing that spreads quietly through a whole lump of dough until all of it is affected. In the Old Testament, yeast had to be removed from every Israelite home during the Feast of Unleavened Bread: “even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses” (Exodus 12:15). Paul uses the same picture: “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? Purge out the old yeast” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).
The Pharisees and Sadducees usually opposed one another. The Pharisees added a heavy load of human traditions to God’s law (Matthew 15:3-6), while the Sadducees denied that there is any resurrection, angel or spirit (Acts 23:8). Yet they had joined together to test Jesus. Their attitude of unbelief, which demanded signs while ignoring the signs in front of them, was the yeast Jesus warned about. In Luke he names it directly: “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).
Yeast is not always a picture of evil. Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33). The point of the picture is its hidden, spreading influence, for good or for harm.
- “They reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘We brought no bread.’”
The disciples heard the word “yeast” and thought only of bread. They assumed Jesus was rebuking them for their forgetfulness, or perhaps warning them not to buy bread from the Pharisees. They talked it over among themselves instead of asking him. Mark records the same: “They reasoned with one another, saying, ‘It’s because we have no bread’” (Mark 8:16).
Their worry about food made them deaf to spiritual teaching. In the next verses Jesus gently rebukes them as men “of little faith” and reminds them of the five loaves for the five thousand and the seven loaves for the four thousand (Matthew 16:8-11). If he could provide bread for multitudes, he could certainly provide for thirteen men in a boat.
The Significance of Matthew 16:5-7
- Guard against hidden influences
False teaching and hypocrisy rarely arrive all at once. Like yeast, they work quietly and spread. Jesus calls his followers to watch what they absorb. He warned elsewhere, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Christians today need the same care about the voices they listen to.
- Don’t let daily worries crowd out God’s word
The disciples were so busy with the problem of bread that they missed what Jesus was saying. Daily needs are real, but Jesus taught that the Father knows them and will provide for those who seek his Kingdom first (Matthew 6:31-33).
- Remember what God has already done
The answer to anxiety is memory. God’s past faithfulness is the ground for trusting him today.
Cross-References:
Mark 8:15: “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” Mark’s account of the same warning.
Luke 12:1: “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Jesus explains the yeast.
1 Corinthians 5:7: “Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened.” Paul applies the picture to the church.
Mark 8:16: “It’s because we have no bread.” The disciples’ misunderstanding in Mark.
Conclusion: On the way across the lake, Jesus warned his disciples against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the quiet, spreading influence of their unbelief and hypocrisy. The disciples, worried about forgotten bread, missed his meaning. The passage calls believers to guard against false teaching and to trust the Lord who has already shown that he can provide.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible