Passage Read: Matthew 15-16
Meditation Verse: 16:12
Thought
The teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees would be two sides of the same false teaching coin. On the one hand are the teachings that add rules and regulations that have the appearance of good, but actually create loopholes to escape obeying God. On the other hand are the teachings that outright deny things the Scriptures teach. Both do the same thing, both set aside God's Word, one blatantly and one subtly. The disciples, however, are being taught by God Himself. And Jesus does not want them to be tainted by the man-centered teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Application
Jesus described the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees as yeast. Only a little bit of yeast is necessary to leaven a whole lump of dough. It doesn't take much false teaching to mess up sound doctrine. How much have I been exposed to? How much has distorted my understanding of God and His Truth? The only solution is to be taught by God Himself, to understand and trust His Word over that of any man. No wonder John went out into the desert for years before returning to preach and prepare a people for the Lord. He had to get away from the noise of these tainted teachers in order to hear clearly from God. It is still the responsibility of every believer to seek the truth of who You are and what You teach directly from You rather than depend on human teachers to have it right. It may even require getting away from the masses and their teachers to spend time alone with God for reorientation! But that turns you into a prophet that preaches repentance to those who are seeking salvation! God's Word is true and it is the only thing I can completely believe. I need to conform my thinking and belief and action to what it says, even when it teaches something different than what I hear taught in church.