As we continue, Jesus was near the sea of Galilee,
and as so many times before, crowds of people were following Him. He
went up into a mountain and sat down, and people brought their loved
ones who needed healing to Jesus as they were blind, lame, dumb,
maimed, and deaf, among other things. They laid them down at Jesus'
feet and He healed them. The people were amazed when they saw that the
blind could see, the lame could walk, the dumb could speak and the
maimed were made well, and they praised God.
Let's take a closer look at all the miracles of
healing that Jesus did. Back in those times, of course they didn't
have modern medicine, so the occurrence of illness and disease was
quite common. Those who were blind didn't have Braille, seeing eye
dogs or any hope of corrective surgery. There weren't wheelchairs or
prosthetic limbs for the crippled. Do you think there was sign
language that the deaf used back then that compares to today’s sign
language? It would appear that if you were afflicted with anything
catastrophic, your chances of complete recovery were unlikely. So you
can well imagine these people, and their appreciation. Jesus Christ
had a cure for every disease there was! There has never been a doctor,
and never will be, who can claim the kind of recovery statistics that
Jesus practiced.
Okay, the crowd was very big and they hadn't eaten,
so Jesus called His disciples together and said, I feel sorry for
these people because they've been with me for three days now and
haven't eaten. If I send them away fasting to their homes, they'll
faint on the way, because some of the different people came from far
away. His disciples said, Where would anybody find enough food for so
many people here in the wilderness? Jesus asked them, How many loaves
do you have? Is this story starting to sound familiar? They said,
Seven, and a few little fishes. Jesus told the people to sit down on
the ground and He took the seven loaves and the fishes and gave
thanks, and broke them and gave them to His disciples to set out for
the people.
The people ate and were filled and they gathered up
the broken meat that was left, and it filled seven baskets! This time
there were about 4,000 men, beside women and children that had eaten,
just as He had done before and then Jesus sent them away. He got into
a ship with His disciples and they went to a city called Magdala.
The Pharisees came out again and started to question
Jesus, asking Him to show them a sign from Heaven, and tempting Him.
Jesus said, When the sky is red in the evening you say it will be fair
weather. When the sky is red in the morning, you say it will be foul
weather. O you hypocrites, you can understand the face of the sky, but
you can’t understand the signs of the times? Jesus sighed deeply in
His spirit and said, Why does this generation look for a sign? Truly I
tell you, There won't be a sign given to this generation, except the
sign of the prophet Jonas. Jesus left them and went back into the ship
to go back to the other side of the sea of Galilee. The sign Jesus was
talking about was that just as Jonah was in the belly of a fish, for 3
days and 3 nights Jesus would be dead for 3 days and 3 nights then
RISE AGAIN.
Now, the disciples forgot to take bread with them
and there was only one loaf on the ship. Jesus said to them, Take heed
and beware of the leaven (an ingredient in bread that makes it rise)
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, which is hypocrisy. But, now
whoooooaaaaa! Time out! What is a Sadducee? The Pharisees and
Sadducees were the religious leaders back in Jesus' time. The
Sadducees were members of a Jewish group, mostly priests, who didn't
believe in teachings that weren't in the Law, like resurrection,
Angels, reward or punishment in a future life after death, etc. They
are very similar to the Pharisees except for a few points that they
differ on, but their attitudes are much the same. Okay, time in!
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees. The disciples were a little confused and they
discussed with one another what Jesus was saying with that riddle. Was
Jesus saying this thing because they didn't bring any bread? Jesus
knew that they weren't understanding what He had said and told them, O
you with little faith, why do you worry yourselves, because you didn't
bring bread? Do you still not understand or remember the five loaves
for the 5,000 and how many baskets you took up after? How come you
don't understand that I wasn't talking about REAL bread when I said
that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees?
Then they understood that Jesus was telling them in
a parable to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees. Everywhere Jesus went, He was doing good things, and at
every turn, the Pharisees and the scribes and now the Sadducees were
trying to catch Him doing anything that they could accuse Him of doing
wrong. We must in modern times watch the teachings of religious
leaders too. ALWAYS Check the Bible to make sure what is being said is
TRUTH. I mean think about how many false religious teachers there are
and how many tragedies come from these false prophets.
In our world today, we have to beware of leaven
(false doctrines) of different kinds as well. The leaven in today's
world teaches that being Christian is hard because you can't do all
the things that are . . . exciting to worldly people. Well, friends,
most of what's exciting in this world today translates to bad. Here's
a good rule of thumb. If it's something that you wouldn't want to tell
Jesus about, or do in front of Him then don't do it! Beware of those
who try and teach you things that are un-Christian. Eat up all the
Gospel of Jesus Christ that you want, 'cause it has the leaven of
Heaven that'll keep you on track!
