Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Mark 8 and Psalm 59

¹⁵ ‘Be careful,’ Jesus warned them. ‘Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.’

In rabbinical writings “yeast” was symbolic of the intentions of the human heart. So, although the disciples misunderstood what Jesus was trying to say, we should apply our minds to it. What common intention did the Pharisees and Herod have? What exactly was Jesus warning them against?

The answer is that both Herod and the Pharisees wanted to intimidate and control Jesus. Herod and “the Herodians” tried to intimidate Jesus with the fear of physical harm, while the Pharisees tried to use the intimidation of their social and religious power to control Him.

But notice that Jesus did not warn the disciples to be careful of Herod or of the Pharisee. He warned them to be careful of their “yeast”. The real danger to the disciples was that they too would desire to control Jesus and get Him to do what they wanted … to be the Messiah they wanted Him to be!

And that was exactly what happened to Simon. He confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (v.29) but shortly thereafter he wanted to be the one to define what kind of messiah he should be. When Jesus spoke about His death and resurrection, “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him” (v.32). Peter’s heart had started to be infected with the “yeast” of desiring to control Jesus.

Jesus is looking for disciples who will let Him be the Messiah, Saviour and Lord He is, and not try to get Him to dance to our tune.

Life application: Will you let Jesus be Jesus today? Will you surrender to Him and accept His Lordship over every moment of your life? Don’t fall prey to the “yeast of the Pharisees” today.