In Matthew 16, Jesus tells his apostles to “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” But the apostles didn’t understand what he was talking about and started talking among themselves about actual bread. Jesus had to have teaching moment with them before they realized that the leaven he was talking about was not the kind you bake with, but the false teachings from the Pharisees.
Two thousand years ago, the Pharisees were the cultural leaders of the Jewish society. They set the standard for what to do and how to think. And the cultural influence was that you did what the they said to do. Any true blue Jewish man lived his life according to how the Pharisees interpreted things for him. For example, Pharisees taught that one must perform a ceremonial hand washing when eating. This was not from Scripture, but was a tradition garnered from the elders. Jesus and his followers were criticized for not adhering to the hand washing in Matthew 15. Jesus pointed out that they have disregarded the actual Word of God in favor of what men have taught them. Perhaps this encounter is what was on Jesus mind when, in the next chapter, he tells his apostles to beware the teachings of the Pharisees because false teaching has a way of worming its way in and spreading to all aspects of life. As Paul states in Gal 5:9, “A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.”
We no longer have Pharisees dictating how we should act and think. But we still have cultural influence subliminally telling us what to do and how to think. Just as Jesus warned his apostles to “Watch and beware the leaven of the Pharisees,” we must watch and beware of the leaven of society. Our society in general acts as the Pharisees of old: it sets the standard for ‘normal’ behavior and mindset. Some things may happen to align with Scripture (i.e. murder is wrong), however many things are derived from man’s understanding (i.e. happiness is one’s ultimate pursuit). These little bits of leaven come in through our connections to society. The more we want to fit in, the more we let in. Just like a little bit of actual leaven spread through and affects the whole lump of dough, a little bit of societal leaven spread through and affects the whole mind, often without even being noticed.
Beware the leaven of the Pharisees (societal influence).