{"id":677,"date":"2026-01-28T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=677&2026"},"modified":"2026-01-26T17:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T00:00:10","slug":"misunderstanding-a-metaphor-matthew-16-5-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/misunderstanding-a-metaphor-matthew-16-5-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Misunderstanding a Metaphor: Matthew 16:5-12"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Matthew 16:5-12 (NCV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus\u2019 followers went across the lake, but they had forgotten to bring bread.  <sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said to them, \u201cBe careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, \u201cHe said this because we forgot to bring bread.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, \u201cWhy are you talking about not having bread? Your faith is small.  <sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>Do you still not understand? Remember the five loaves of bread that fed the five thousand? And remember that you filled many baskets with the leftovers?  <sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>Or the seven loaves of bread that fed the four thousand and the many baskets you filled then also?  <sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>I was not talking to you about bread. Why don\u2019t you understand that? I am telling you to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.\u201d  <sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>Then the followers understood that Jesus was not telling them to beware of the yeast used in bread but to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew 16:5-12&amp;version=ncv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Matthew 16:5-12<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>During one of the many times that Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake, the disciples forgot to bring bread with them. While this probably already irritated the disciples enough, since they may have been hungry, an interesting conversation takes place. This conversation highlights one big challenge we all face in human nature.<\/p>\r\n<p>In my imagination, probably about half way across the lake, the disciples realize they had forgotten bread. At about this very moment, Jesus gets their attention to say, \u201c<strong>Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 6)<\/p>\r\n<p>While it is pretty clear to us that Jesus is speaking in a metaphor about something that is below the surface, the disciples didn\u2019t catch this at first. The disciples did grasp that there was something more to Jesus\u2019 words, because they started talking amongst themselves about what this phrase meant. It seems like they concluded by coming to what must have been the plainest, most surface-level, rational answer they could imagine in their moment of hunger: \u201c<strong>He said this because we forgot to bring bread.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 7)<\/p>\r\n<p>The disciples might have also came up with the thought that if they saw a Pharisee or Sadducee merchant (which would be unlikely) selling yeast, or even one of these two groups of people giving yeast away, then they shouldn\u2019t even consider getting any from them.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, we know from how Matthew frames this event that Jesus is speaking with a simple metaphor: yeast equals something else. The context for the statement and the frame of mind of the listener both matter. Had there been an abundance of bread on this trip, the disciples may have realized that Jesus was speaking about something not directly related to bread.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>It is the same for us when we communicate. For us to communicate without the message being lost when it reaches the listener\u2019s ears, we must pay attention to the context. Otherwise, when we are trying to share a metaphor to help people remember a concept, they could be too focused on taking it literally.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--677\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '677');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During one of the many times that Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake, the disciples forgot to bring bread with them. While this probably already irritated the disciples enough, since they may have been hungry, an interesting conversation takes place. This conversation highlights one big challenge we all face in human nature. In my [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Misunderstanding a Metaphor: Matthew 16:5-12 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/misunderstanding-a-metaphor-matthew-16-5-12\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Misunderstanding a Metaphor: Matthew 16:5-12 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During one of the many times that Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake, the disciples forgot to bring bread with them. 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