And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Matthew 16:5-10

Jesus again is going to use Bread as an analogy to teach the disciples about not listening to false teachers and false doctrine. Jesus said to them “ Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” The disciples totally misunderstood what Jesus was saying , and thought he was talking about actual bread. However Christ was referring to “The Leaven” of the religious leaders, meaning their false teachings

As the Apostle Paul said “ A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9) meaning a little false doctrine or false teachers corrupts the whole community. We see this in Christianity today, many false teachers teaching false doctrines confusing many Christians about their salvation or who Christ is. This is why Jesus warned the Apostles, beware of the religious leaders!

But the disciples thought Jesus was referring to physical bread, and then Christ’s response was “O You of little faith” think about this, the disciples just experienced The Lord providing bread for over 9,000 people with limited loaves, and they still don’t have any faith. The disciples are still worried about how God will provide for them!

How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:11-12

Jesus said to them “How is this you don’t understand?” The disciples totally missed the point, Christ was warning them about false teachers and they are worried about where their next meal is coming from, doesn’t this sound familiar? The Church today is more worried about money and numbers, yet they compromise doctrine to appease people

Listen to the warning of Jesus Christ! Beware of false teachers! Beware of false doctrine! The Word of God is your foundation and authority, Amen!