Audio Download

Matthew 16:1–12 The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 

[Study Aired July 28, 2025]

Our study today is centered on the Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign from the Lord. The study also explains the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs

Mat 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 

In the Bible, the Pharisees were a prominent Jewish religious and political group during the time of Jesus. They were known for their strict adherence to both the written Law of Moses and their interpretations of it through oral tradition. They believed in the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels and spirits, and the importance of both written and oral law. 

The Sadducees on the other hand, were known for their adherence to the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) and their rejection of the “traditions of the elders,” which were interpretations of the law developed by other Jewish groups. They were often in conflict with the Pharisees, and they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or the existence of angels or spirits.

These groups represent the church system in Jesus’ days. They therefore depict the church system of this world which is divided into millions of different factions based on their numerous beliefs. The fact that these religious groups were divided shows us that the church system of this world has failed in its walk with Christ. This is what the word of the Lord says about this:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 
1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 
1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?  

In verse 1, we are shown one of the key characteristics of the church system of this world or Babylon represented by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their belief system is based on physical evidence of signs and wonders; that is why they wanted Jesus to show them a sign from heaven. No wonder the church system of this world or Babylon, thrives on signs and wonders. When our faith is based on signs and wonders, then we are not walking by faith at all. This is because faith is based on what we have not seen. 

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.    
Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report. 

Mat 16:2  He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 
Mat 16:3  And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 

In these verses, the Lord is telling us, His elect, through the Pharisees and the Sadducees, about one of the key principles of understanding the word of the Lord. That is, from the things that are made, we are able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. 

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 
Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

However, in the case of these Pharisees and Sadducees who represent the apostate church in this world, they could not discern the signs of the times because they were not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. This implies that it is not given to our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world to discern the times we are in or simply, they are not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. 

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

The signs of the times refer to the reformative work of the Lord in this dispensation which enables us to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. It involves the changing of the law of sin and death to the law of the spirit of life. As a result, our worship of the Lord is now spiritual. 

Heb 7:11  If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 
Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Unfortunately, our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world cannot discern the signs of the times as they still cling to the law of Moses with its physical interpretation of the word of the Lord, just like the Pharisees and Sadducees who were adept at predicting the weather but did not understand spiritual reality of the Lord’s words. The letter or physical interpretation of the word of the Lord kills or profits nothing. It is the spirit that gives life.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Mat 16:4  A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.    

The wicked and adulterous generation refers to us during our time in the churches of this world where we were enthused by signs and wonders. This is the situation with our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world who authenticate their belief in the Lord by the miraculous signs and wonders they observe in their churches. As indicated earlier, our faith is not based on what we see but what we believe, even though we have not seen. 

Joh 6:2  And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.  

We must understand that the signs and wonders were initially necessary to authenticate the resurrection of the Lord as we saw the disciples performing miracles, signs and wonders in the early part of the church history. 

Act 4:33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 

However, over time the Lord cut back on physical signs and wonders as the disciples had to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. For example, in the letters of Paul, we see Trophimus being left sick, while Timothy had problems with the stomach. One would then ask, where were those signs and wonders that even the shadow of Peter brought about healing?  

Act 5:14  And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) 
Act 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.  

2Ti 4:20  Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

1Ti 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.  

We are not saying that the Lord is not in the business of signs and wonders. Our walk with Christ every day is a miracle. It takes a miracle for us to be lifted out of the miry clay and be established on the rock, who is Christ.

Psa 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 
Psa 40:3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. 

The very signs and wonders which testified of the resurrection power of the Lord at the birth of the church of the first born, is now being used to deceive the many. That is why we are warned by the Lord to pay attention so that we are not deceived by false prophets.

Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 

Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

The question is “By what means are we deceived?” It is through signs and wonders as shown in the following:

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

Now let’s turn our attention to the sign that the Lord has given to us – the sign of the prophet Jonah. What is the sign of the prophet Jonah? We know from the word of the Lord that Jonah was swallowed by a whale for three days and three nights in the depth of the sea. After these three days, the whale vomited out Jonah on dry land.   

Jon 1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jon 2:1  Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,

Jon 2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jonah’s three days and nights experience in the belly of the whale is what  Jesus is referring to as a sign for this wicked generation. Spiritually, the three days and nights of Jonah in the belly of the whale signify Jesus’ death and burial in the heart of the earth. The whale vomiting Jonah on dry land after the Lord spoke to the whale represents Jesus’ resurrection after three days. Jesus’ death and resurrection is therefore the sign for us who were part of this wicked generation. 

The healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple by Peter and John demonstrated the power of the resurrection of the Lord to take us out of the miry clay and to establish us on the rock, which is Christ. Now, what the Lord is doing is all spiritual. In effect, what the Lord is telling us is that if we are able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom and our flesh is being crucified daily, then we are seeing His resurrection power (signs and wonders) at work in our lives.

Luk 7:22  Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 

Act 4:9  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 
Act 4:10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Act 4:11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.      

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Mat 16:5  And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 
Mat 16:6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 
Mat 16:7  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 

The disciples at this stage of their walk with Christ, did not know Him. Therefore, while Jesus was talking to them regarding spiritual matters, they were thinking about physical issues. This situation is what characterized our walk when we were in the churches of this world or Babylon. Our focus was on the physical as we had no understanding of spiritual reality of His words. In other words, our attention was on the letter of His words and not on the spiritual significance of His words. We were therefore spiritually dead since the letter kills or profits nothing in our spiritual journey with Christ. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Our circumstance at that time of our walk in the church system of this world was characterized by the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well. While Jesus was talking about deep spiritual truth regarding the water of life, which is His word, the woman was only paying attention to ordinary water, which represents the letter of His words. This was what transpired between them at the well:

Joh 4:7  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8  (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 
Joh 4:9  Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 
Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 
Joh 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 
Joh 4:12  Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 
Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 
Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 
Joh 4:15  The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 
Joh 4:16  Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 
Joh 4:17  The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 
Joh 4:18  For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 
Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 
Joh 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 

We know from the word of the Lord that a woman represents the church. This Samaritan woman therefore represents the church system of this world. We were fetching water regularly as we read the word of the Lord daily. However, because our focus was on the letter of His word, our spiritual thirst were never quenched, until Jesus came to us to show us the living water (the spiritual aspect of His word) which quenches all thirst. 

Jesus pointed out the problem of the woman – she has had five husbands and the man she was with was not her legitimate husband. The negative application of the number five is famine which leads us to spiritual poverty as shown in the following verse:

Gen 45:11  And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.   

Jesus telling the woman that she has had five husbands means that when the devil is our husband, we go through a famine period of the word of the Lord which brings us to spiritual poverty. The fact that the man the woman was currently with was not her husband signifies that during our walk in the corridors of the churches, Christ was with us, but He was not yet our husband. That was our situation in the church system of this world, just like the disciples when they were with Jesus. 

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

Coming back to Matthew 16:6-7, the Lord cautioning His disciples to be wary of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees was to let them know of the danger that false doctrines of the churches of this world pose to our marriage with Christ as leaven signifies false doctrines. This leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees refers to man’s wisdom and traditions which prevent us from coming to know the truth of the word of the Lord. 

Mar 7:5  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Mar 7:6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

We know from the word of the Lord that by the things that are made, we are able to understand the Godhead. In a marriage, for example, when we are filled with false knowledge of our partner, the marriage suffers, and in most cases it leads to divorce. 

The  leaven or false doctrines serve as idols of our hearts and minds and therefore becomes the stumbling block of iniquity, which bounces off the truth of the word of the Lord. 

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 

Mat 16:8  Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 
Mat 16:9  Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 
Mat 16:10  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 
Mat 16:11  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? 
Mat 16:12 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. 

There are three instances in the Bible when Jesus rebuked His disciples for being of little faith. Verse 8 is one of them. The other two are as follows:

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Mat 8:26  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.    

These instances show us that during our time in the churches of this world, our faith was negligible. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of the Lord. 

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

This implies that when we were in the church system of this world, we were not understanding the Lord’s word which brings us the faith that we needed. We were just like the disciples who were hearing the word of the Lord but were not given to understand. It was after Jesus’ resurrection that they were given the power to understand His word. 

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,   

The next three verses (Verses 9-11) confirm the lack of the disciples’ understanding of the word of the Lord, just like us, during our time in the churches of this world. It was not until faith came to us through the Lord’s coming to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness that we left behind the law of Moses which emphasizes the letter of His word, to understand the Lord’s words in spirit and in truth.  

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster (the law of Moses). 
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.   

In verse 12, the disciples understanding that the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees refers to the doctrine of these religious groups is to make us aware that we, His elect, shall come to know His word. That is the same as being given the keys of David. It is these keys that grant us access to understanding the word of the Lord in the spirit and to be able to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. 

Isa 22:22  And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 
Isa 22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. 

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 

We thank you our Heavenly Father for your mercies towards us in this age. May your name be praised. Amen!!