The Leaven of the Pharisees

“In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1 (ESV)

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Bible teachers say leaven (yeast) is a symbol of sin. It isn’t—at least not necessarily. If leaven were always a symbol of sin, why would Moses tell us to wave two leavened loaves of bread before the Lord on Shavuot? And why would Jesus tell us the Kingdom of God is like leaven?

Here are the references:

Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. Leviticus 23:17 (KJV)

And again he [Jesus] said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Luke 13:20-21 (KJV)

Today we understand that information (good or bad) can be contagious.  It can “go viral.” In Bible times, people didn’t know about viruses, but they certainly knew about yeast. In Matthew 16:6, Jesus told his disciples, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” When his disciples thought He was talking about bread, Jesus explained, “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.” Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:11-12 (WEB)

Jesus used leaven as a symbol for teaching. It could be good teaching or it could be bad teaching.  It could be the gospel of the kingdom of God, or it could be the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Sadducees aren’t with us anymore, but rabbinic Judaism is directly descended from the Pharisees, and Jesus was not a fan of what the Pharisees had to say. “Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1 WEB)

What was the leaven of the Pharisees? The leaven of the Pharisees was their hypocritical teaching. They were “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” instead of the God-given commandments found in the Hebrew scriptures:

The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”
He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
But they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
“For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’” that is to say, given to God, “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.” (Mark 7:5-13 WEB)

Please note: Although I deplore much of what the Talmud contains and much of what rabbinic Judaism teaches, I believe that most of today’s rabbinic Jewish rabbis are sincere, God-fearing men. Their ancestors, the Pharisees, were hypocrites. Today’s rabbis—most of the ones I know about, in any case—are not. In this Haaretz article, Yes, I Do Want to Become a Rabbi, Despite All, Rabbi Joel Seltzer says:

I am forever indebted to the countless exemplars of rabbinical leadership who taught all of us that this chosen “profession” of ours is not merely a path to a pay stub, but a calling; if not a literal sense of God's mission in life, then in an internal motivation to heal the world, to seek justice and to teach Torah.

That doesn’t sound hypocritical to me.

Margot Armer