1. What stood out to me from this chapter?
Within a short span of time (at least as the gospels read) Jesus feeds a crowd of 5,000 men (plus women and children) and then a crowd of about 4,000 with only a few loaves each time. After the second miracle, Jesus starts to teach about the yeast of the Pharisees. Because the disciples had forgotten to bring bread, they thought Jesus was just "rubbing it in" in a way. This was a point in time when Jesus was on a whole different plane of thought than the disciples. They were worried about physical bread, and Jesus was using bread and yeast as a metaphor. The teaching and self-righteousness of the Pharisees is kind of like yeast that works itself throughout the loaf of bread. The wrong teaching can also work itself through a person until their hearts are hard towards repentance and surrender to God.
2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?
I thought first of how God provided manna or "bread from heaven" for the Israelites when they were wandering in the the desert. Every day he provided enough for them to eat, but commanded them not to store up extra or it would spoil. This also connects with the Lord's Prayer, when we say, "Give us this day our daily bread." We are not asking for silos full of bread, but enough to sustain us for that day. I believe this is a similar concept to what Jesus alludes to as he asks the disciples about the feeding incidents. He reminds them that there were 12 and 7 baskets left over. Both of those numbers in the Jewish culture indicated a meaning of being complete or full. Jesus seemed to be saying, "Don't worry about bread, I will provide enough. Focus more on your heart, your life, your teaching, and your faith in me."
3. What does this mean for my life?
Verses 34-36 of this chapter have always struck a chord deep inside of me. It seems like backward thinking on the surface. The more we surrender our lives to God, the more we will actually discover true life. I have a tendency to try and do things myself, to create and control my circumstances, to be the master of my own fate and captain of my soul. The truth is that I have found the most purpose, joy, freedom, and adventure in life when I let go of that control and trust God to lead and guide me.
4. What questions do I have about this passage?
Jesus uses yeast as an analogy for both the good (the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13) and the bad (teaching of the Pharisees here in this chapter). I'm just curious if yeast had any inherent good or bad connotations for the Jews at that time. I know that they celebrated a feast of unleavened bread to remember how they left Egypt in such a hurry that they didn't have time to let their bread rise. It's a silly, almost insignificant question, but one I wondered about anyway.
Those are my thoughts for the day. I'd love to hear yours. God bless and keep digging in.
In Christ,
Dan
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