Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees

Today let’s touch on three things from Mark 8. Mark tells us in verse 1 that “once again there was a large crowd.” They had followed Jesus for three days with nothing to eat. This raises a few questions:

1.) Why didn’t the people bring food with them? By now, a large crowd following Jesus a good distance was a normal occurrence. The people knew the region, and they knew that Chik-fil-A and Whataburger were not around the corner!

2.) Were the people assuming Jesus would provide food through a miracle? This crowd was smaller than the previous feeding miracle—the five thousand. (Mark 6:30-44) They also had a bit more bread. This time, though, there were only a few sardine-sized fish—basically a child’s or poor person’s lunch.

Notably again, as He did in yesterday’s reading, Jesus breathed out a deep, heartfelt sigh. It’s in these brief, snap-shot moments, that we don’t just see the Son of God walking with humanity, but the Son of Man—someone with emotions, cares, and all the things we experience as humans. (Mark 2:10, 28; 8:31, 38) And, if Jesus expressed His emotions, we can, too. Of course, He always expressed His emotions properly. We, on the other hand, often have to work at it, seeking God’s guidance and help.

Next, Jesus warned the disciples to avoid the “leaven of the Pharisees”—without specifying what it was. (v. 15) No doubt the Lord, as Jewish rabbis often did with their disciples, was setting a parable before them—a word picture to provoke them to deeper thought and understanding about something far more important than bread. In fact, throughout the Bible, leaven (commonly called yeast today) is used as a negative symbol. God’s instructions for the Passover included cleaning out people’s entire houses to remove the yeast from their homes. (Exodus 12) ‘Talk about a parable!

Anyone familiar with baking knows that some recipes require “self-rising” flour. Other recipes don’t include it. Yeast is what causes bread, cakes, etc., to rise, be soft, and fluffy. On the other hand, Kosher Matzah, which is used in Passover celebrations, is a cracker-thin flatbread containing no yeast.

Yeast promotes the fermentation of flour. When baking, a little bit of yeast is kneaded into the flour and water dough. The yeast then, all on its own, works its way through the entire loaf. Because so little yeast is placed in the dough, it is seen as having a growing, expanding influence over everything it touches. But why all this talk about yeast? Because almost every time the Bible mentions it, it compared yeast to sin and ever-expanding and pervasive influence over everything it touches, including us!

The Yeast of the Pharisees then, as we saw throughout Matthew and now in Mark, manifested in two key ways: their corrupt, infectious teaching and hypocritical lifestyle. (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29; 7:6; Luke 12:1) Just look at all of those verses—all the times Jesus pointed out the leaven, called the Pharisees to clean out the houses of their lives. In this warning, He was telling His own disciples, “Don’t live like this. Avoid it. Get rid of it. Have nothing to do with it.”

Finally, similar to yesterday’s Bible reading, Jesus took someone aside, away from the crowd to perform a miracle. And, once more, a little spittle was a conduit for His healing power. This time, however—unlike any other miracle Jesus performed—the miracle was incomplete! After the first touch, the man could see a little, but people looked like trees walking around. So again, Jesus touched the man’s eyes and his sight was completely restored.

Application

But why did it take two touches to complete the man’s healing? Note the context of Jesus’ disciples in Mark 8:16–21. They could see a little about their missing bread, but couldn’t see what Jesus was really teaching them through the symbols of yeast and bread. So, the Lord was working with the blind man to build his faith while working with His disciples to give them spiritual slight. He wanted everyone to see!

While hypocrisy and false teaching then are serious spiritual dangers, the fact is that all sin is insidious, pervasive, and spiritually blinding in its effect. Even more, it takes only a “pinch,” just a little compromise with sin, for our lives to become thoroughly “leavened” with something that grieves God’s heart. Sin always metastasizes and takes over wherever it’s tolerated, working death little-by-little, further and further into our thoughts, desires, deeds, and habits.

This is why sin must be dealt with decisively and radically. It will not be managed. It must be “cut out,” just as Jesus said—removed and killed altogether. (Matthew 5:29-30) This work is not just hard; it is impossible apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:25)

The same way then that Jesus refused to tolerate the yeast-filled hypocrisy of the Pharisees, we cannot tolerate it in our lives—living one way at church and another at home, work, or otherwise. Bad teaching must also be rooted out—replaced with, consumed by sound, Bible-based thinking and theology. Thankfully, God will help us in the process, if we engage Him seriously, with an attitude not to manage sin but truly be done with it—repentance.

Take a look back at the Bible reading and devotional for February 22.

“Kill sin or it will be killing you.”
~ John Owen

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman