Do Not Test Jesus!

¹¹ When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with Him. Testing Him, they demanded that He show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove His authority. ¹² When He heard this, He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” ¹³ So He got back into the boat and left them, and He crossed to the other side of the lake (Sea of Galilee). ¹⁴ But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. ¹⁵ As they were crossing the lake (Sea of Galilee), Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.” ¹⁶ At this they began to argue with each other because they had not brought any bread. ¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were saying, so He said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ¹⁸ ‘You have eyes — cannot you see? You have ears — cannot you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? ¹⁹ When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said. ²⁰ “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” “Seven,” they said. ²¹ “Don’t you understand yet?” He asked them. Mark 8:11-12 (NLT)

When the local Jewish leaders learned of Jesus’ arrival, they came to argue and test Him (Mark 8:11; see also Matthew 16:1). The religious leaders asked Jesus to “Do a miracle for us” (Mark 8:11). These leaders wanted Jesus to “Make something happen in the sky” before they would believe in Him (Mark 8:11; see also Matthew 16:1; Luke 11:16). However, Jesus groaned and sighed deeply within His Spirit when He heard the religious leaders’ request and said, “Certainly not. How many more miracles do you people need?” (Mark 8:12, TLB). Jesus knew the religious leaders request came from their unbelief in Him. So, Jesus returned to the boat, left the religious leaders, and crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 8:13).

During His public ministry, Jesus faced temptation and testing not only from the evil one, but also from various religious officials (Mark 8:11; see also Matthew 12:38-39; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1-8; John 2:18). Various Jewish religious groups opposed Jesus. The politically influential Sadducees tempted Jesus, as did the popular Pharisees (Matthew 19:3; see also Acts 23:6-10). Normally, the Sadducees and the Pharisees were enemies or opponents, but they had a common enemy in Jesus. The Pharisees were legalists and very conservative, and they taught that only obedience to the Law of Moses and the traditions of the elders would please God and usher in God’s Kingdom. In fact, some Pharisees often elevated their rules and traditions above God’s living Word resulting in legalism and hypocrisy (e.g. see Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23). The Sadducees, on the other hand, were liberal in their thinking and denied that there would be such a Kingdom on earth. Moreover, the Sadducees accepted only the Law of Moses as Scripture and did not believe in life after death, the resurrection, or the existence of angels. The reference to Herod refers to the Herodians. The Herodians were a group of Jews who supported King Herod and accepted the Roman way of life. This group saw in Herod and his rule the promised kingdom for the Jewish nation. Also, many Herodians were also Sadducees. Jesus accused these religious groups and others of false teaching, which Jesus called “yeast” or “leaven” (Matthew 16:6, 11-12). Sadly, these religious leaders would all join forces to kill Jesus (see Matthew 26:3-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2)!

The religious leaders had heard about Jesus’ many miracles and acts of compassion (e.g., Matthew 15:38; Mark 8:9; John 2:11-12; John 3:2). Jesus had been healing (e.g., Mark 1:40–45; Mark 3:1–6), raising people from the dead (e.g., Mark 5:22–24, 35–43) and feeding thousands (e.g., Mark 6:30–44). Yet, the religious leaders still found fault in Jesus’ public ministry and continually tested and questioned His authority (e.g., see Matthew 22:15-40; Mark 8:11; Mark 10:2; Mark 12:13-15; Luke 11:16). These leaders tried to explain away Jesus’ miracles and acts of compassion by claiming luck, fluke, or evil power caused these miracles (e.g. see Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:14-16; John 6:30-31; John 11:47-48). Therefore, the religious leaders demanded Jesus provide a cosmic sign from the heavens to prove His true identity (Mark 8:11-12; see also Matthew 12:38-39; Matthew 16:1-2; Luke 11:16, 29-32; John 2:18; John 6:30). The religious leaders wanted more compelling proof of Jesus’ divine authority than His miracles. However, Jesus refused their demands because they had wrong motive and unbelief. Jesus knew that even a miraculous sign from heaven would not convince these leaders that He truly was the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ) (Mark 8:12; see also John 20:30-31). Yet, Jesus previously mentioned the sign of Jonah (see Matthew 12:38-45; Matthew 16:4; Luke 11:29-32). This sign represented Jesus’ coming miraculous death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection would be the ultimate sign of His deity as God incarnate (see Acts 2:22-36; Acts 3:12-26).

⁵ Later, after they (Jesus and His disciples) crossed to the other side of the lake (Sea of Galilee), the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ At this they (the disciples) began to argue with each other because they had not brought any bread. ⁸ Jesus knew what they were saying, so He said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? ⁹ Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? ¹⁰ Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? ¹¹ Why can’t you understand that I am not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” ¹² Then at last they understood that He was not speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:5-12 (NLT)

Then, Jesus turned to His disciples and warned them against the spiritually contaminated religious leaders (Mark 8:15; see also Matthew 16:5-12). Jesus told His disciples, “Beware of the yeast of King Herod and of the Pharisees.” (Mark 8:15). The Gospel of Mark mentions the “yeast” of the Pharisees and Herod, while Matthew’s Gospel talks about the “yeast” of the Pharisees and Sadducees. In combination, Jesus was referring to the religious leaders’ hypocrisy and false testing (see also Luke 12:1). At first, the disciples did not understand Jesus’ statement and asked each other, “What does He mean?” (Mark 8:16, TLB). Normally in the Holy Scriptures, yeast or leaven symbolized sin, evil, and hypocrisy (Mark 8:15; see also Matthew 16:6, 11; Luke 12:1; 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Galatians 5:7-9 except see Matthew 13:33). Jesus used yeast as an example of how a small amount of hypocrisy, evil, and false teaching can affect a large group of people. Evil, like yeast, is small and hidden, but it spreads and soon infects the whole (Galatians 5:1-9). Sadly, the wrong teachings of the religious leaders were leading many people astray in Jesus’ day. The religious leaders only needed a small amount of “yeast” or false teaching to soak and contaminate the entire society and make it rise up against Jesus. Jesus knew if this false teaching got into the hearts and minds of His disciples, it would infect them and pollute the truth Jesus had given them to proclaim about Himself and His Kingdom – truth, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and love (Micah 6:6-8; John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 5:8; Galatians 5:22-23). Evil only needs a small deviance from God’s Word to infect individuals or a church (e.g., see Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). 

Mistakenly, the disciples thought that Jesus must be talking about their forgetting to bring bread (Mark 8:16). However, Jesus realized what they were discussing and said, “No, that is not it at all!” (Mark 8:17, TLB). Jesus reminded His disciples about the separate miraculous feeding of the 5,000 people and the feeding of the 4,000 (Mark 8:18-20). Like Jesus’ first disciples, we too today sometimes forget Jesus’ many acts of mercy and grace He has provided and forget that Jesus is still the same today, yesterday and forever (Hebrew 13:8). Although Jesus has brought us through trials and temptations in the past, we sometimes do not believe that Jesus will do the same again in the future (Psalm 103:1-2; see also Mark 6:51). Jesus can and continues to meet the spiritual and physical needs of everyone seeking wholeheartedly God’s Kingdom. Jesus has provided in the past, and we can be confident that He will do so in the present and future as well. WE MUST NEVER FORGET GOD’S FAITHFULNESS, GOODNESS, AND BLESSINGS FOUND IN JESUS!

References

Disciple's Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 1988).

Life Application Study Bible (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005).

Life Essentials Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2011).

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008).

The Apologetics Study Bible: Understanding Why You Believe (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2012).

Loyd, Melton, Ph.D., Professor of New Testament. Due West Campus: Erskine Theological Seminary, 2015.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary (Victor Books, 1989).