Jumping to Conclusions

Just a few days before Jesus had fed five thousand men with a little boys lunch of five loaves and two small fishes.  Less than twenty four hours before, he had fed four thousand men with seven loaves and few small fishes.   After responding toe Pharisees demand for another sign, he and the disciples went across the Sea of Galilee.  Matthew 16:5 tells us, “And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.”

Jesus was still thinking about what the Pharisees had demanded.  Matthew 16:6 tells us, “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”  After hours of rowing and sailing, the disciples were hungry, and thinking about where they could get something to eat.  They immediately jumped to the conclusion Jesus was scolding them for forgetting to bring anything to eat, as Matthew 16:7 says.  “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.”  They simply assumed he was talking about what they were thinking about, rather than listening to what he was saying. 

“Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?  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?” (Matthew 16:8-11)

Jesus realized what they were thinking and reminded them that each time the fed the multitude, after everyone had eaten as much as they wanted, there was more left over than they started with.   Clearly, a lack of food was no problem for him.   That they were worrying about having food enough revealed their own lack of faith.  Jesus had said nothing about food itself.  He had referred to leaven, which was not the yeast we use today, but rather sourdough starter.   It was like he was warning them that the starter had gotten contaminated and would be dangerous to eat.  After listening to him and thinking about what he said they realized he had not been talking about food at all.  Matthew 16:12 tells us, “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.”

Far too often Christians today make the same kind of mistakes , getting caught up in physical practices rather than understanding them from a spiritual standpoint.  One historical example is to be found in I Corinthians 11, where Paul talks about men having long hair or a woman having short hair being a shame.  Over the centuries some have held the standard that a woman must wear a hat to church and that it is a sin for a man to wear one.  Others have made an issue of a man wearing his hair long, expelling those who do from the church.  In both cases they have ignored the statement in I Corinthians 11:16-17, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.  Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.” 

Literally, what I Corinthians says is that while this might seem to be an obvious natural thing, churches and pastors who are serving God will not make it an issue.   When we go back into the Old Testament, we find that when a person wanted to dedicate themselves to God for a time, taking the Nazarite vow, they were to shave their head, whether man or woman before taking the vow.  They were not to cut their hair again until the period of the vow was complete, when they were to shave their head again.  God does not command people to sin, yet this is his command, as Numbers 6 tells us.

 The standard that it was a shame for a man to have long hair or a woman to have short hair came out of the Greek culture, rather than from God’s command, and was widely accepted by cultures such as the Corinthians who had been greatly influenced by the Greeks, although the Sadducees had also adopted it.   In making the hair length or wearing a hat an issue, we are adopting a standard that comes from the world rather than God.  When we make such things an issue, we actually place the world’s standards ahead of God, driving people further from him, and hindering their spiritual growth.  We need to be careful the teachings we adopt are actually from God, not just an assumption of what he meant.