About the Text

(1) Who are the Pharisees? They were the legalistic sect of Judaism in Jesus' day. Their religion became popular among the Jews. They emphasized personal prayer, communal gatherings at the synagogue, belief in an afterlife, the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the holy, belief in angels, demons, and the need to be holy before God. Their religion, however, formalized into a complex web of man-made rules and regulations, called the Talmud, or Mishnah, which they believed could earn one's favor with God if a man followed these rules well enough. They are the precursors of Judaism today.

(1) Who were the Sadduccees? They are a second sect of Judaism, known for their intellectualism, wealth, and their denial of most of the Scriptures (our Old Testament today). Because they held only the five books of Moses (the first five book of the Bible), they rejected any belief in angels, demons, the possibility of a resurrection. For them, God was not interested in human daily life. They were few in number, but because of their wealth and their ties to royalty, they held great political power. They could be compared, in many respects, to "liberal" churches today.

There were two other sects of Jews not mentioned nor condemned by Jesus. The first were the "Zealots," who tried to zealously conquer the Roman hierarchy through force and military power. The second were the "Essenes," which were mentioned in other historical writings such as the works of the historian Flavius Josephus in 70 A.D. They were like monks. Many avoided marriage, they lived in communes, followed the law of Moses strictly, considered the Jewish temple as corrupt, believed in the coming of a Messiah, believed the end of the world was coming soon, and lived in the wilderness. They produced the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in 1947. Scholars believe that John the Baptist was a member of this sect.

(4) What is the "sign of Jonah"? It is the miracle of Jonah's being in the belly of a great fish for three days. Jesus here is foretelling that He will be in the grave for three days before being resurrected.

(5) Why does Jesus compare the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadduccees to yeast? It only takes a small pinch of yeast to make a whole batch of dough rise. In the same way, it only take a few "harmless" false teachings to corrupt the entire Christian faith.

There are popular but false teachings in the church today that are harmful to a Christian's faith. One is legalism - the belief that if we would only follow the commands of God, and get back to our "Judeo-Christian heritage," and return to God's principles of living, then God would bless us. Such a teaching seems harinless at first, but the truth is, no one has the natural ability to keep God's law well enough to earn His favor. Remember Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The truth is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away our sins. God blesses those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, not those who try hard to be like the "Little House On The Prairie."

Insights

Christ's greatest enemies are false teachings in the church, for example, legalism and liberalism.

The Bottom Line

Beware of false teaching in the church. Legalism - the reduction of Christianity to a system of do's and don'ts will rob you of the joy found in the love of Jesus Christ. Liberalism - the doubting of miracles and the truth of the Bible, will rob you of all hope when you are in an impossible situation. These false teachings, and others, take away from the awesome power of Jesus Christ's work on tbe cross, wbicb gives us forgiveness, victory, hope, healing, and peace, in spite of our sin.

Key Memory Verse

"Be careful," Jesus aid to them. "Be on your guard against the - ye ast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Matthew 15:11)