The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - The Leaven of the Pharisees

Episode Date: February 11, 2022

What is the leaven of the Pharisees? Diving into Scripture, Jeff shows how Jesus Christ came for all people and that even now we must avoid the Pharisaic view and bring Christ to all people. Snippet from the Show If everyone in the Church lived and worshiped like you, would the Church grow in the next year? Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 256, 11 of the Pharisees. All right, I got a big question for you this week. Big, big question. It's going to, it's going to, spill over into this week's show, and here's the question, if everyone in the church lived and worshipped like you, would we grow in the next year? Good question, isn't it? If everyone in the church lived and worshipped like you, would we grow in the next year? I want to talk to you today about church growth, and I want to talk about one particular thing that kind of holds us back from growing as a church. And I know from my email and all the messages that I get from you that

a lot of people are concerned with the growth of their church and the health of their local parish, and they wonder, what do I do about it? So I'm going to kind of address that today with you, but I'm going to do something just a little bit different, and that is from time to time, I'd like to take one of your questions and dedicate a show to answering it. And recently, I had a question that made me really think for a week or two. And as I pondered it, I thought, wow, people need to hear this as it really affects your life and the growth of the church. So we're going to talk this week about the leaven of the Pharisees. It's something that a lot of people don't think about, but I actually had some questions about it.

So I thought, yay, I'm going to answer that. Now, before we get into that, I do have a couple of quick announcements for you that you might be interested in. There's going to be two opportunities this year to travel together. That's right. We just happened to come upon a wonderful opportunity to go to the Holy Land this June one through 12. Yeah, we originally had the big trip plan, but we had to, we had to scrap that until next year. Father Mike Schmitz and I are going to be going to the Holy Land next year, 2022. In June, so you can put that on your calendar, but this June, we've got a pop-up trip. If you want to go over, we're going to go June 1 through 12 to the Holy Land.

We're going to be visiting all of the great sites, praying at all the great sites. I'm going to be teaching about 25 times during the trip to the Holy Land. And we've got room. I'll put it in the show notes. If you want to go, go to jeffcavins.com, look under Pilgrimages. It's the trip to the Holy Land. And also, coming up, Later on this year, in October 11 through 22, I'm going to be in the footsteps of St. Paul. That's right. We're going to be doing some really, really beautiful things. We're going to go on a trip and we're going to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul. And we're going to go to Greece. We're going to go to Turkey. We have a beautiful ship that we're on. And we're going to be doing a lot of teaching. That's October 11 through 22. That one will be on. the website as well. Okay. So I want to talk to you about this 11 of the Pharisees this week, because I think that it's, you know, it's kind of one of those verses that we find in Mark chapter 8, verses 14 through 21, that I really don't think people give a lot of thought to it,

to be honest with you. You know, maybe they've heard the term leaven of the Pharisees, but they can't really tell you what is the leaven of the Pharisees. So I want to go into that. Let me just start by telling you a little bit about the text this week. It's Mark Chapter 8, 14 through 21. Let me read just a little bit of it to you that talks about the Leaven of the Pharisees, and then we'll get into unraveling this and actually identify what is the Leaven of the Pharisees, and what does it mean to me in my life, and how do I avoid being affected by the Leaven of the Pharisees? Now, of course, you know what Levin is most likely. Leaven is what you put into the dough and it causes the dough to rise. It's how we make

bread. And in the Bible, there is references to leaven on the good side. We are leaven in the world and our lives have an impact on the whole loaf, on the whole world, but there's also warnings about leaven and there's holidays in the Jewish calendar where they get all the leaven out of the house? Well, in this instance, it's talking about Levin in a negative sense. And it says in Mark 8, starting in verse 14, says the disciples had forgotten to bring bread and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. That's kind of a strange way to open up, isn't it? The disciples, they forgot the bread and they only had one loaf with them in the boat. And Jesus joins them. And he says to them, guys, which I put that word in there, but guys, watch out, guard against the leaven of the

Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. All right. Now, that is kind of an interesting way to open up a conversation, isn't it? Guys, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees. Now, it goes on and says that the disciples, after hearing Jesus, they concluded among themselves, after a little chitter-chatter, that it was because they had no bread. And so they didn't have the bread. And Jesus says, beware and guard against the leaven of the Pharisees. And they're going, yeah, it's because we didn't have any bread. And then Jesus says something to him that's really interesting.

He said when he became aware of their little conversation and the fact that they thought it was because they didn't have any bread that he said what he said to them, he said to them, why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread. Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see and ears and not here? And then what does he do? He draws them back to what just happened earlier in chapter 8 and then a little bit earlier in chapter 6 of Mark. He said, and don't you guys remember? Now, keep this in mind when we're talking about the leaven of the Pharisees. Do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5,000.

Now, we all remember that story, don't we? He broke the five loaves for the 5,000. And then he asks a question. He says, how many wicker baskets full of fragments? Did you pick up? And they answered, well, 12. So they must have remembered that. That was probably a big deal in their life.

They're not going to forget that, that they had 12 baskets left over. And then he says, okay, when I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, How many full baskets of fragments did you pick up? And they answered him seven. And he said to them, do you still not get it? You don't understand yet? All right.

So that's the text that we're dealing with here. And what we're going to find out is that Jesus is going after numbers. He's going after numbers here. He's been asking questions, 5,000, 12 baskets left over 4,000. seven baskets left over. So he recounts this with a big emphasis on the numbers. And by the way, numbers play a big role in Jewish theology. They really do.

You've been following me for several years now on this show, and you know that from time to time I bring up some of these numbers and what they mean. Like the number 40 is a time of trying. You know, it's 40 days, 40 nights of Jesus in the wilderness. Lent is 40 days. But some people thought that the two stories of the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 was actually the same story. But it's not.

There are two distinct stories with two distinct audiences, two distinct geographical areas that these stories take place at. Okay. So let's take a look at the riddle for a moment here, because this is a riddle, right? Today's reading has a lot of numbers in it and a warning about. 11. And Jesus brings up the first instance. 5,000 people were fed, and that was with five loaves, and 12 baskets were left over. The important thing to remember about this is that the feeding of the 5,000 was within Israel, and it was to Jews, primarily, right? It was in the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee. That's important to remember. Now, the story of the feeding of the 4,000. Now, that one was not on the northern shores. That was in the Decapolis. The Decapolis are

cities that are Gentile cities. And so that's a Gentile crowd outside of Israel. 4,000 people were fed and seven baskets left over. Now, if we're going to get to what the leaven of the Pharisees actually means. We have to understand 12 baskets go with Israel. Seven baskets go to the Gentiles outside of Israel. Okay, that's really, really important. Now, in the story earlier, we have just one chapter earlier. We've got the key to this riddle. We got the key to the riddle of the 5,000 and the 4,000 and the 11 of the Pharisees. The key to the key to the riddle is the Cyro-Phenician woman mentioned earlier in Chapter 7 of Mark. This is Mark 8, Cyro-Fenician woman, the Gentile woman from Tyre.

That is in Chapter 7. In the story earlier, in Chapter 7, a woman came to Jesus, a Gentile woman, and she had a possessed daughter, and she wanted to go and talk to Jesus and ask Jesus, if he would deliver her from this demon. Now, remember, Jesus is up entire modern-day Lebanon, and he's a Jew. And she is talking to this Jewish rabbi, Jesus, and says, please, will you help my daughter? And Jesus says something to her that is really kind of different. Jesus said to the Gentile woman who was begging for her daughter, he says that the bread was actually intended to be given to the

children of Israel. In other words, I'm not going to do this for you. I'm here to give bread to the children of Israel. His exact words were, get a load of this, let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. How to win friends and influence people. I was going to say lose friends. But yeah, that's what he said. And some people think, how could he say that? And people who don't really know what he's actually doing here will say, well, that was just plain rude. How can we trust him in the other areas of what he's talking about if he's going to treat this Gentile woman poorly, derogatory names, he's a dog? Well, I think you'll see in just a few minutes here exactly what he is doing. After he said that,

the Gentile woman responds with, yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the tape. eat the crumbs of the children. Now, watch this. That perspective, well, you know what? I'm going to take a break. When I come back, I'm going to tell you exactly what to look out for here because I want this to be in one smooth section. So you get it and it's not all chopped up. I'll be back. This is the Jeff Kaven show. What if you could see that the infinite God is present in your life? What if it was as simple as stopping, opening your heart, and allowing yourself to be found. I'm Danielle Bean, an author, speaker, and host of the Girlfriend's Podcast. In my new book, Whisper, Finding God in the Every Day,

I share wisdom from the saints, real-life experiences, and prayer practices that help you to see, know, and grow closer to God in your everyday life, no matter how busy you are. If you've ever been inspired by stories of great saints but wondered where that leaves the rest of us, this book is for you. In it, we explore how we meet God in joy, pain, other people, prayer, and in the awesome gift of the sacraments. Join me on this journey of letting go, being still, and allowing God to meet us right here, right now, right where we are. Order your copy of Whisper, Finding God in the Every Day, at ascensionpress.com.

I knew you'd be back because you are hungry. You're hungry for truth. You love scripture and you like figuring out Jesus. So do I. And that's why we get together every week here on the Jeff Kaven show to talk about discipleship, evangelization. And, hey, pray for me, by the way. I'm going to be in St. Louis this weekend. And I'm going to be speaking at a men's conference there, really looking forward to getting out of my COVID shell, getting out there to be with you, folks. I miss it.

I miss you. Okay, so Jesus said, let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. The Gentile woman responds, yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the crumbs of the children. Now, children in this dialogue are Jews, the Israel, right? Those are the children, and Jesus says, I'm here to give the bread to the children, not the dogs. dogs were Gentiles. That's just the way it was back then. And so the Gentile woman, a Cyro-Fenician woman, says, yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the crumbs of the children.

Now, watch this. That perspective, that view that the bread is only for Israel is the Phariseic view. Okay? That is the Phariseic view that the bread is only for the children and only for the Jews. And so when Jesus speaks to her, he kind of answers her with the party line, you know? And she's asking for her a blessing and for her daughter to be delivered. And he says, you know, well, our perspective as a people over here is that the bread goes to the children, to the dogs, not to you guys. She's saying, yeah, but we even get the crumbs. And Jesus said, man, you've got faith. And he at that point delivered her daughter just like that. And this

perspective that only the children get the bread, only the Jews get the bread, that is the leaven of the Pharisees, that perspective, that attitude. So let's solve this. Now, a little bit further. Jesus wants them to focus on the number of baskets left over. I'm going to, I'm going to solve this riddle. He says, 5,000 were fed with five loaves, 12 left over, 4,000 fed with seven loaves, seven baskets left over. Now, here's the meaning. Twelve is important. Twelve is associated with Israel. Twelve is associated with the 12 tribes of Israel. And 12 baskets were left over when he fed the 5,000, and that means that 12 baskets are left over for the House of Israel, for the children who he came first for, right? And that's just in a matter of order.

He came to Israel. God came as a rabbi, as a man, the son of Mary, stepson of Joseph. He came to Israel, and he met their needs, he fed them, and 12 baskets were left over. And that number 12, Jesus, is getting at here. He's hinting there, there's something there, right? Then seven baskets were left over when the Gentiles were fed. And that number relates to the nations, the Gentile nations. And so what we have here is we have Jesus basically saying that I am enough, I am sufficient for the house of Israel, to feed the house of Israel. And I am sufficient to meet the needs of the Gentile nations. Now, at this point, the Pharisees have the attitude of we don't hang out with Gentiles. We separate ourselves from Gentiles. We won't touch Gentiles. We don't eat with Gentiles.

And what Jesus is saying is that the seven, the seven loaves left over with the feeding of the 4,000 are for the Gentiles. In other words, when he taught, when he, when he fed the 5,000, he was feeding Jews. When he fed the 4,000, he was feeding Gentiles. This is against Phariseic thought. And if you want to get really down into this, I'm going to give you something. here that is just powerful, powerful, powerful. Jesus is in Israel at the time, but he's in a Gentile city. In fact, there's a number of Gentile cities. And seven represents seven Gentile nations that occupied the promised land during the time of Moses. You get that? Let me just say it

again, seven represents seven Gentile nations that occupied the promised land during the time of Moses. And you can see that in Deuteronomy 7-1. In fact, I'll put it in the show notes for you. If you don't get the show notes, just text my name, one name, Jeff Kavins, text it to 3-3-7-7. You'll be on board. Okay, so those seven nations, listen to what it says in Deuteronomy. This is, this will blow your mind. It says, in Deuteronomy 7-1, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, that's number one, the Gurgishites, that's number two, the Amorites, that's three, the Canaanites, that's four, parisites, that's five,

Hivites, that's six, Jebiozites, that's seven. He says, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves. So, the promised land was occupied by these 12 tribes of Israel, and And the competing seven nations of Gentiles mentioned back in Deuteronomy. The entire story is summed up in God first feeding Israel, making a covenant with them, and then three days later Jesus gives bread to the Gentiles, seven baskets left over after feeding 4,000. And that, my friend, includes you and me. Now, what did Jesus want his disciples to see? He wanted them to see that the Gentiles are coming into the fold as well,

and Jesus showed them that by delivering the Cyro-Fenician woman's daughter in Chapter 7, he was also going after the Gentiles. Love it. Want to see something interesting? The Apostle Paul, now you know him as the Apostle to the... That's right, to the Gentiles. Peter was to the Jews and Paul was to the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul was in Jerusalem and Acts 9 and was hated by the Pharisees, by the way, because of his teaching, and to save his life. The brethren in Jerusalem helped him escape. How? By lowering him in a basket.

And he became the apostle to the Gentiles. interesting. We're talking about 12 baskets, seven baskets, and the apostle to the Gentiles is lowered in a basket. So what is the leaven of the Pharisees? Don't let their teaching restrict you from going to the Gentiles. Just this little teaching will leaven the entire movement of Christ when it comes to evangelization. From today's perspective, we could say that any teaching that leaves groups out of the kingdom of God. Stay away. That's the leaven of the Pharisees. Narrow-minded will not interact with the world. All are welcome, though, to come to Christ and take on his yoke, his kingdom, and his worldview. Now, here is where you come in. In your daily life,

you know, I ask that question at the very beginning, if everyone in the church lived in worship, and I would dare say, evangelized like you, would we grow in the next year? That's an honest question. And if we don't grow in the next year, it is simply because we were not interacting with people and sharing the good news of Jesus and what God has done in our own lives. We haven't been doing it, and we certainly have not been in contact with people who are different than us. dialoguing, talking, praying for them, striking up a conversation. And so I said all that to say this, because the question had come in, people were asking, what is the leaven of the Pharisees?

The leaven of the Pharisees is a teaching that will keep you from interacting with other people and primarily Gentiles. And that teaching could come in the form of, well, not everybody's gifted at sharing you know and that's not my gift i got one word for you levin levin that's what that is levin well i'm not real articulate in the faith levin i don't know the bible well enough to be honest with you and i get tough questions i won't know leaven beware of the leaven of the pharisees do not do not let that come in because this will stop the work of Christ in the in the modern world and I want to give you something very very easy to remember this teaching here and it's something that is visual that will help you remember this teaching that you are to to bring the good news out to other people out there

they're outside of your sphere of influence a stranger perhaps someone in the parking lot at Walmart maybe at the doctor's office wherever and here's how you can remember this. Have you ever noticed that after the Eucharist is distributed in Mass, that there is sometimes hosts left over. We've all seen Father at the end of Mass, and we've seen him with maybe seven or eight extra hosts, and he consumes them, or the deacon consumes them, right? Or there's just so many left over that they put them back into the tabernacle. Well, next time you see this, next time you see after mass when you're kneeling and you look up and you see that there's extra hosts that they're going to put back into the tabernacle remember there are unbelievers out

there at work and in your neighborhood that this bread that bread of life is destined for it's for them we're putting it back in the tabernacle we're consuming it that the bread was for them as well. I hope you never forget that. Every single mass when you see it, just allow me to be in your head for a moment and to remind you, that's for someone that you know. And you can do something about it. My friend, I love you. I really do. And I enjoy being with you every week. And just let me pray with you right now before we part until next week. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, oh, how we love you. We love you, Lord. And we love you, Lord. being disciples, and we absolutely are thrilled that you've sent us on a mission.

Give us courage, give us Holy Spirit guts, and may fear be far from us. May we be bold with the gospel and going out and sharing with people. Lord, put on our hearts, put on our hearts those that we need to talk to. And may we ever be reminded when we see left over in the Eucharist that this was destined for others. And we're going to go out and find us. him and bring them back. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us that boldness. It's in your name, we pray. In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Hope I see you in the Holy Land or on an adventure with St. Paul. God bless you. Have a wonderful week.