Irritation hit an all-time high as the men rifled through bags, turned out pockets, and searched through their belongings. It was no use. There was nothing there. Not even a crumbled, lint-covered crust waiting to be rescued from the dark recesses of a hidden pocket. They’d left it all behind. All seven baskets. Not one loaf of bread or filet of fish had found its way onto the boat. No one had stashed a slice in their backpack for later. No one had remembered to grab a doggie bag on his way to the dock. No. Laser-focused on the next part of their journey, they’d forgotten to bring a basic necessity. Food. And they were hungry. Now. And Jesus was talking about yeast, which made them think of bread, which made their stomachs grumble and their thoughts turn once again to the fact they had left every scrap of food behind.
Except Jesus wasn’t talking about food. Or actual yeast. Or bread. They needed to pay better attention to what He was saying than the noise of their complaining stomachs. Had they been listening when Jesus first spoke, they wouldn’t have made complete dolts of themselves by thinking He was just as hungry as they were. Or that He was actually talking about baking. He wasn’t.
Jesus’ words had nothing to do with yeast or bread or baking. No. His words had to do with the half-baked silliness coming out of the mouths of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Each side had dressed it up to sound intelligent. Using million-dollar words, education, and authority, they spun their own special brand of religion so well it sounded to the untrained ear as if it must surely be accurate. That was the problem. It was this deception that concerned Jesus. Not because the disciples were untrained. They weren’t. In fact, by now they had spent a great deal of time listening to Jesus teach the truth. If they stopped for just a moment to listen to what was being said, to compare it to the words Jesus had spoken in their hearing, to measure it against what He’d taught them, they would see the errors. If they didn’t, if they rushed it, if they were caught in a susceptible moment, they could easily be drawn aside by the beautifully eloquent false teachings swirling around them. Hence, Jesus’ urgent warning. “Guard your hearts and minds against the “facts” the Pharisees and Sadducees are selling.” Be wary. Be wise. Know Me. Know the truth. (Matthew 15:36-37, 16:5-12)
It wasn’t the first time Jesus had spoken words along these lines. Wrapping up His mountainside sermon, Jesus issued a stark command to be on guard against false prophets. He said they’d sneak in among the believers with new enlightenments, tricky translations and cunning verbiage meant to draw people away from the truth. The true believers would need to know Jesus’ words, be familiar with His teachings, recognize His traits and watch for them in those who came around selling their sordid wares. The truth would come out. Their words wouldn’t hold up to His teachings. Their actions would fall short of the mark. They would know the false teachers. But only if they truly knew Him. (Matthew 7:15-20)
So important was this topic, Jesus would address it again before His fateful trek to Golgotha. Approached by the Sadducees, who didn’t even believe in the resurrection, with an exhausting rigamarole about marrying and burying and remarrying and who would get to claim the clearly unlucky woman as their wife in the resurrection, Jesus rescues the imaginary wife by explaining there will be no marriage in the resurrection, but not before He sharply rebukes their ridiculousness. Their error wasn’t in wondering whose wife she would be for eternity. It was in not knowing the Scriptures, in not recognizing the power of God to discern the motives of their hearts when they came to Him. They had clearly added their own twist to what God sent down through the words of Old Testament prophets and historical accounts. They obviously had taken all Jesus’ teachings with a grain of salt. They knew who He was, but didn’t really know Him. And they absolutely didn’t know the Book. (Matthew 22:23-33)
It didn’t end there. False teachers and prophets would continue to arise and infiltrate the church. In the tiny second letter of John, one of Jesus’ disciples who knew Him in the flesh, who walked with Him, learned from Him, left all to follow Him, writes to the church about the seriousness of walking in the teachings of Christ. Only the teachings of Christ. Not the alleged new revelations. Not the most recent interpretations. Not the twisted words of those attempting to make His teachings fit their lifestyles. No. They had to pattern their lives after Jesus. Live Christ’s teachings alone. It was the only way to achieve their main goal–Christ in them. John didn’t stop there, though. He gave strict instructions for handling false teachers. Don’t welcome them among you. Don’t entertain them. Don’t listen to them. You don’t need to. You know Jesus. You know the Book. It’s not going to change. God’s word never does. (II John 2:8-10; Matthew 24:35)
Nothing has changed in the ensuing centuries since Jesus and John issued their warnings. False teachers are still busy worming their way among believers, attempting to sow the seeds of corruption. Their words are eloquent, their tone soothing, their manner self-assured. They catch a lot of people unaware. People who are only acquainted with Jesus. People who don’t know the Book. People who ignorantly follow, happy to place their faith in an attractive, stylish doctrine regardless of its regrettable lack of substance. (II Timothy 4:3-4; Acts 20:28-30)
It won’t work. Not eternally. Those who follow false teachers will find themselves in the same position as those depicted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. There, He says many will approach Him intent on entering the kingdom of Heaven, alleging they know Him, listing many things they have done in His name, but there will be no grand entrance into eternal glory. He sends them away. He doesn’t know them at all. Why? Because they never took the time to truly know Him. They didn’t know His Book. Instead, they were swept away by false doctrines, false teachings, false facts that filled their hearts with false assurance of a fantastic eternity. (Matthew 7:21-23)
At a time when we are inundated with silver-tongued pundits and articulate prophets claiming new revelations, alleging clearer insights, touting more modern interpretations of Scripture, it is imperative that we follow the guidance of Jesus alone. Know the Book. Measure everything against it. Weigh each ebb and flow of moral standards and ethical boundaries against the words of the Book. Hold every new teaching, new idea, new spiritual theory against the immutable truths of God’s Word. Pick up your Bible. Read it. Cover to cover. Again and again. Until you know its words and feel the hesitancy in your spirit the very moment a teaching goes sideways. And pray. Daily. Hourly. Always. Don’t stop. Get to know the Author. Personally. Deeply. Intimately. Because when you know the Author, when you know the Book, you won’t be caught up in the silly, half-baked ideas of false teachers. You’ll know the truth. You’ll walk in it. You’ll be able to distinguish between the truth and the lies. And, when it comes, your eternal entrance will be punctuated by the words, “Well, done!” You knew the Author. You knew the Book. And you lived like it. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21; I Thessalonians 5:17; Psalm 119:105; John 17:3; Galatians 4:8-11, 17-20; Jeremiah 14:14; Matthew 24:24)
So good!!! Thanks Naomi!
Good Word!