Another Way Jesus Treats People (Matthew 16: 5-12)
I. Introduction.
It was a harsh lesson that Jesus taught last time. Jesus has taught that God rejects people who do not trust in him, and him alone. It’s a hard statement but the Bible is very clear about this throughout. Still today if you want to have Jesus attention you got to trust in him and let go of everything else you are trusting in. To have a relationship with God you have to let go of everything else that you are hoping will make you right with God other than Jesus himself. You can’t come to God and say well I believe in Jesus but I’m going to add some other things to impress you. So, he walks away from them he turns to the disciples, and they head over to the other side of the lake, where he will issue a warning to his disciples related to what has just gone on here.
Let’s pick up where we left of in the text last time.
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 youhave 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.
(Matthew 16: 5-12)
In the opening verse He and his disciples are seen to have gone over to the other side of the sea of Galilee. So, they were originally on the western side which was Israel, and they got a little boat travelled across the sea of Galilee and we have heard over the last 5 episodes how he ministered and taught on the eastern side of the lake among the gentiles. Now in verse five says they’re crossed back over to the Western side, but it tells us they disciples have forgotten to take bread with them.
One of the rules of the Pharisees was that you could not eat bread that had been prepared baked or even touched by a gentile, so they’re going into gentile territory and they’re saying oh we don’t have any we have any food that we can eat. If you’ve been following me through the Gospel of Matthew we have we just seen Jesus feed 5000 people and then a few months later he fed 4000 people. You think they would have realized he could feed 12 without a problem. But realizing that the oral law says they can’t eat the gentile start to debate what to do among themselves. Now something happens at this point that I find most fascinating. Jesus again uses a situation to take an opportunity to teach. As a matter of fact in my personal study of the gospels over the years it first struck me many years ago that was one of the major ways Jesus taught was threw taking advantage of real world situations. When we think of teaching today, we think of a pulpit or a lectern but in the main that is not the way Jesus taught. Jesus said come take a walk with me see, see that man, see that man sowing in the field, see those fishermen, see that shepherd. Let me tell you something, let me show you something. I think some of his most effective teaching was to take what was going on and use it as an illustration of a profound truth. To talk about spiritual truth in a way that people will remember. In a sense Jesus was an opportunist, he took the opportunity to teach something spiritual in the everyday things. So, he hears what they are talking about and he steps in and says.
Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
(Matthew 16: 6)
II. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees.
The disciples are worrying about bread but Jesus says beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, watch out what you try and make bread out of. Leaven stands for the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. There is included in this the idea that you can’t live on what comes out of the oral law. Perhaps there is embedded in this is the whole idea of externalism or even materialism over a heart attitude. He’s trying to make a spiritual point, the question is did they get it.
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread”.
(Matthew 16: 7)
They reason among themselves and come up with the conclusion that it is because they have brought no bread with them. Jesus is teaching about the leaven of the Pharisees, and they miss the big point and again they land on a minor point. They want to talk about this minor little issue, and they missed the whole big point. On a personal note, I am amazed at how often I speak and somebody picks some little bitty point and they seem to miss the big point. gain, the disciple relapse so to speak, they’re preoccupied with eating and they missed the spiritual perception of what Jesus was trying to teach him.
But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because youhave brought no bread?
(Matthew 16: 8)
Don’t you yet understand, remember the five loaves of the 5000 and how many baskets you took up and the seven loaves of the 4000 and how many large baskets you took up. What is he accusing them of is a lapse of memory, you forgot I fed 5000, you forgot I fed 4000, don’t you think I could manage to feed you 12. Oh, you of little faith. This lesson is an important one for anyone who is a Pastor or a teacher.
I sometimes wonder to myself why didn’t get what I was trying to point out, anyone who has ever preached will tell you some get it and some don’t. So, how do you explain that, trust me all preachers ask that because in the most part they want you to get it and you sometimes think, maybe I didn’t put it very well or maybe they weren’t paying attention. But going through the book of Hebrews I noticed it talks about the hardness of heart some people have towards the gospel, and I came to understand there are people who just aren’t receptive to spiritual things. It’s not they’re distracted it’s not that they’re preoccupied that’s involved but in the final analysis there is a choice to be made.
Some people hunger and thirst after righteousness, they’ll get it and there are those who just don’t want it and will not listen. If you’re not saying I want this and I want it really bad and you won’t get it. I’m not saying, by the way, you go to heaven what do you have to do to go to heaven have a little thing right you have to have faith in Jesus Christ that he died for you and rose from the dead. It’s faith alone in Christ alone, that’s faith you got it you’re going to heaven. Verse 11....
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.” (Matthew 16: 11)
Notice very carefully he refutes them and then he repeats his spiritual lessons and this is important, we got over here the Pharisees and the Sadducees and they had no faith and he walked off he rejected those who had no faith. Then we’ve got the disciples who had a little faith and what he did with them was he rebuked them because they ought to be believing more, they ought to be more receptive to the word of God and then he graciously and patiently teaches them what is trying to teach him first place God’s very patient with his he’s very patient with those he’s trying to train.
So he says look, I’m not talking about the bread I’m talking about the spiritual truth.
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. (Matthew 16: 12)
III. Two Types of Faith.
Alright they got it they got to that’s what he was talking about but here’s what I think Matthew wants us to get they had little faith and this is in stark contrast to the Pharisees and the Sadducees who had no faith. So, let’s say it like this, those who had no faith, got rejected, those who had a little faith got rebuked and they got a lesson on how to develop their faith.
A couple of things I want to do here before I go on let me pause and just say there’s different ways to talk about faith. Faith is used in the different ways in the Bible. Among other things there is a saving faith, and there is a sustaining faith, and I really like this distinction.
Saving faith is confidence in God’s promise and provision that leads one to trust the one who alone can save. Saving faith is the confidence and the promise of God that he’ll save you if you trust in him. God said believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved. God said if you believe in Jesus Christ, you’ll have a life saving faith. This faith is about believing the promise of God. If you really want to see that spelled out read Romans chapter four it’s clearly spelled out that faith is believing the promise of God. In Romans chapter 4 Paul says that’s what Abraham did he believed the promise, so I believe the promise God promised me that is that if I trust Jesus Christ I will have ever lasting life, that’s saving faith.
But there is also, sustaining faith, which lays hold of the power of God for one’s daily life,. It is the life lived in dependence upon God working upon a new life principle the justified one having become what he is by faith must go ahead living on the same principle of utter dependence upon God. Saving faith is believing the promise that God will give eternal life to all those who trust his son. Sustaining faith is trusting the promise of God that he will meet your needs. That God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:9), So the disciples had definitely believed the promise relating to eternal life but they did not yet believe the promise that he would and could meet all their daily needs.
Let’s just put this in context of the book of Matthew so far. You will remember during the sermon on the mount Jesus taught us to pray, “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day Our Daily Bread”. They and we have already been taught that God can give us our daily bread if we ask for it. God promised to give us daily bread. Saving faith is trusting God to get you to heaven, sustaining faith is trusting God to meet your daily needs, and that the big point there.
V. Summary.
I want to sum all this up by saying I believe there are three big learning points in this passage.
Number one, God rejects those who have no faith, now that sounds harsh, but that’s the truth matter. In fact in John chapter 3 we are told, “he who believes in him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he does not believe in the name of the only begotten son of God”. I have to tell you this to be true to the Bible, it is what it says repeatedly. If you do not trust Jesus Christ and him alone, your sins are under the judgment and the condemnation of God. God rejects people who don’t just take him at his word.
The second point I’d like to make is this, the first is God rejects those who have no faith, and God rebukes those who have little faith and he does that to teach you the lesson to learn to have more faith. What God wants is for us to trust his son to get us to heaven, and then, he wants us to trust him for our daily needs. He wants us to be totally dependent on Him. That’s what we have covered so far.
However, I want to suggest there is a third point, and that is this God rewards those who trust in Him. He rejects those who have no faith, he rebukes those who have little faith, but he rewards those who have great faith. In Matthew chapter 8 we came across the story of a Roman Centurion who has a servant who was sick, and he came to Jesus and said, “heal my servant”, and Jesus said, I’ll go to your house and heal him”, and the centurion says, “no I’m a man under authority I understand that you can do that standing right here, just say the word and he will be healed”. Jesus said, “Wow, I hadn’t found such great faith in all of Israel”. That passage is teaching that God rewards great faith, that centurion was trusting that the Lord could heal his servant that was the main need he had that day and Jesus called that great faith. You believed me so strongly that I didn’t have to go to the house to do it.
God rewards those who are rich in faith, so let me ask you a question how is God treating you these days, if you feel rejected by God is that because you don’t believe, and you don’t have a saving faith. And if you feel a little neglected maybe it’s because you just got a saving faith and what you need is a sustaining faith.
A sustaining faith is one that sees God at work in all the situations of life. One that says , yes, the Lord is paying attention to me he answered my prayer today, yesterday and the day before yesterday, and because he has done it before he can and will do it again.
Somebody once said, “a little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a great faith will bring heaven to your soul”. I had a friend who died this week, she was a great lady and a great lady of faith. She had been ill for some time but everyone who new here said she had a faith that enabled here to always have a great calmness in the midst of adversity. I once asked here what the secret of you always seeming to have such a strong and happy outlook on life. She replied I’m someone with great faith, I am an ordinary woman with a little faith in a great God. Think about that for a second, maybe the difference between a little faith and a great faith is your perception of how big your God is maybe that’s where we need to start.