More Than Words

When teaching falls short of action.

Today’s passage is a bit longer than usual. But the pairing of the feeding of the thousands with the bread/yeast illustration regarding the Pharisees is of note.

In the first place, we have Jesus’ abundant provision: bread and fish multiplied for a vast crowd. Everyone was satisfied and there was plenty left over. It’s an image of generosity without fear, of resources that grow in the giving.

On the other side, we have a warning about the “yeast” of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This is a subtle but pervasive influence that can corrupt the whole. In this context, the yeast is their teaching, their way of framing God’s kingdom in narrow, self-serving terms. It’s difficult because they are teaching about God. Yet something else, in the midst of it, is working against it. Yeast works quietly, invisibly, and slowly, just like false teaching or toxic attitudes can do.

Together, these stories invite us to consider what fills and forms us. Do we live out of the abundance of Christ, or are we shaped by the scarcity, suspicion, and self-preservation of the Pharisees’ mindset?

Jesus warns his disciples because he knows how easy it is to be formed by the wrong thing without even realizing it. But he also demonstrates, in the feeding, the alternative—an economy of grace, rooted in trust that God provides more than enough for those who follow him.

How do we know?

For one, a continual reminder of the fruit of Jesus’ action is formative. At the beginning of this passage, we see his compassion for an abundance of people. No recognition of demographics. No exchange of resources, contract, or other prerequisites. Just sick people healed. Incapacities removed. Brokenness restored.

…if the teaching of a person, or movement, or church does not result in such gospel-shaped restoration, might it not be the whole of Jesus’ mission?

Matthew 15:29-16:12

Jesus moved on from there along the shore of the Galilee Sea. He went up a mountain and sat down. Large crowds came to him, including those who were paralyzed, blind, injured, and unable to speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. So the crowd was amazed when they saw those who had been unable to speak talking, and the paralyzed cured, and the injured walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Now Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry for fear they won’t have enough strength to travel.”

His disciples replied, “Where are we going to get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy such a big crowd?”

Jesus said, “How much bread do you have?”

They responded, “Seven loaves and a few fish.”

He told the crowd to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. After he gave thanks, he broke them into pieces and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate until they were full. The disciples collected seven baskets full of leftovers. Four thousand men ate, plus women and children. After dismissing the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. In order to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

But he replied, “At evening you say, ‘It will be nice weather because the sky is bright red.’ And in the morning you say, ‘There will be bad weather today because the sky is cloudy.’ You know how to make sense of the sky’s appearance. But you are unable to recognize the signs that point to what the time is. An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign. But it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign.” Then he left them and went away.

When the disciples arrived on the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

They discussed this among themselves and said, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “You people of weak faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves that fed the five thousand and how many baskets of leftovers you gathered? And the seven loaves that fed the four thousand and how many large baskets of leftovers you gathered? Don’t you know that I wasn’t talking about bread? But be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he wasn’t telling them to be on their guard for yeast used in making bread. No, he was telling them to watch out for the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Psalm 81:10-16

I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!

Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.

Prayer

God,

So much focus on teaching, so little on action. Goodness…this daily devotional could be part of the problem if we think that reading and dwelling on such things is sufficient alone.

But it’s not. So turn words into flesh, thought into action. Give us the abundance of your heart. Fill us with courage that isn’t worried about a false sense of precision as much as it is seeing people whole.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.