Matthew 16:5-12

Jesus talks about the Pharisees and the Sadducees

5 Jesus and his disciples sailed over to the other side of the lake. His disciples forgot to take any bread with them. 6 Jesus said to them, ‘Be careful! Do not accept the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’

7 The disciples began to talk to each other about this. ‘Jesus is saying this because we did not bring any bread with us,’ they said.

8 Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be arguing with each other about the bread. You should trust me more than you do. 9 You still do not understand. You should remember that I used five loaves of bread to feed 5,000 men. Think about how many baskets you filled with pieces of food after the meal. 10 Also remember that I used seven loaves of bread to give food to 4,000 men. And think about how many baskets you filled with pieces of food then. 11 I spoke to you about the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. I said that you must not accept it. You should understand now that I was not speaking about bread.’

12 Then the disciples understood what Jesus was talking about. They did not need to be careful about the yeast that they used in their bread. Instead, they must be careful about what the Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching. They must not accept it.

16:12People put yeast into flour and water to make bread. The yeast grows in the bread and it makes the bread rise. The Pharisees were doing wrong things. The people saw what the Pharisees did. And then the people did the same bad things. This is like yeast that is growing through the bread.