Monday after the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 8, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 16:1-12 (NKJV)
16:1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Devotion
“Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
People “church shop”. They browse at different churches like they would shop for cars or furniture. And what do they look for? So often it’s the nice building, the exciting youth group, the congregation that is full of “clean living” and “proper” folk. So when Jesus warns the disciples about leaven, it is easy for people to think in “Pharisee” terms: Jesus is telling them to avoid “unclean” food. But no, that was not what Jesus was warning them against. The danger was false doctrine.
The Pharisees would have you believe that eternal life depended on your works. The Sadducees would have you believe there is no afterlife. And we have plenty of advocates for these false doctrines today. Turn away from them. Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, so you could have eternal life as a gift. Cling to Christ. Hold fast to the promise of the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Prayer: Almighty God, we beseech Thee, show Thy mercy unto Thy humble servants, that we who put no trust in our own merits may not be dealt with after the severity of Thy judgment, but according to Thy mercy; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
