Synergy of Matthew 16:5-12/Mark 8:14-21/Luke 12:1
And when his disciples were come to the other side,
they had forgotten to take bread....neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
Then Jesus said unto them,
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees,
and of the Sadducees,
and of the leaven of Herod.
And they reasoned among themselves, saying,
It is because we have no bread.
Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them,
O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves,
because ye have brought no bread?
Having eyes, see ye not?
and having ears, hear ye not?
and do ye not remember?
When I brake the five loaves among five thousand,
how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?
They say unto him, Twelve.
And when the seven among four thousand,
how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?
And they said, Seven.
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?
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.
Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
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Paul Adds - Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. 1 Corinthians 5:6,7
"The hypocrisy of the Pharisees was the product of self-seeking. As leaven, if left to complete its work, will
cause corruption and decay, so does the self-seeking spirit, cherished, work the defilement and ruin of the soul. Among the followers of our Lord today, as of old, how widespread is this subtle, deceptive sin! How often our service to Christ, our communion with one another, is marred by the secret desire to exalt self! How ready the thought of self-gratulation, and the longing for human approval! It is the love of self, the desire for an easier way than God has appointed that leads to the substitution of human theories and traditions for the divine precepts."
Desire of Ages p.409 E.G.W.