Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

– Matthew 16:6

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

The Lord Jesus clearly taught His disciples to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the high-level people in the church at that time. Then why the Lord Jesus taught the disciples to beware of them? Pondering over the question, I thought of the things the Pharisees and the Sadducees did.
When the Lord Jesus came to do His work, in order to allow the Jewish people to know Him better and accept His redemption, the Lord Jesus performed a lot of miracles enabling the blind to see, the lame to walk, and even the dead to come alive … The Jewish people all received much grace and blessings from the Lord Jesus, and also saw many God’s wonderful deeds, so they all followed the Lord Jesus one after another. However, seeing that so many people followed the Lord Jesus, these Pharisees and the Sadducees started to slander, condemn the Lord Jesus constantly, and even fabricate many rumors about the Lord Jesus for the sake of protecting their own status and livelihoods. After hearing the rumors, the Jewish had no discernment, and didn’t stand their ground but followed the Pharisees and the Sadducees to deny and judge the Lord Jesus. Thus, it led to condemnation against the Lord Jesus among the whole Judaism. In such a background, the Lord Jesus teach the disciples that, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Mat 16:6).

This reminds me that if someone preaches the gospel of the Lord Jesus’ second coming to us, we should investigate it first and look at whether it has the work of the Holy Spirit, whether it’s the expression of the truth, rather than judge it by the words of people. Thank God for His enlightenment!