We all as Christians should not only attempt to understand what this statement means but we must try to purge out of our thinking, “The yeast of the Pharisees” that Jesus cautioned us about in Mark 8:15–21 and Matt 16:11. It is a serious account because Jesus is frustrated that the disciples don’t understand that He is not talking about bread, but the doctrines of the Pharisees. This scripture says that once the disciples had crossed over from the place of the great bread miracle to another location they had forgotten to take with them some of the left over bread fragments from the previous miracles of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish. Now if you read this verse, you will see that Jesus is clearly talking about His multiplying the food and feeding the people, yet He is telling His disciples to be careful and watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. Take into consideration the purpose of yeast as you read. Yeast is used to expand, grow, or multiply the mass of something.

Mark 8:15–21 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

You can see right here how important it was to Jesus that His disciples get the big picture of what he is cautioning them about.

I always believed this scripture to be talking about the silliness of worrying about food when the disciples had just witness Jesus feed so many with so little. The truth of the matter is in light of the entire context of scripture, these miracles of the multiplication of the fish and loaves to feed everyone fully and the amount of baskets full of left over scraps after everyone had eaten their fill, could only represent the works of the multiplication of God, in contrast to the works of the yeast of the Pharisee’s and the Sadducees.

If like the scriptures say, “man’s god is their belly,” then these men that this scripture is speaking about will follow like sheep any person that feeds them. This is why the children of Israel followed Moses through the desert, not because they were convinced by the miracles of the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of smoke by day or the parting of the Red Sea to save them from Pharaoh’s charging army, but because Moses supplied them with food and water. And when Moses didn’t supply them with sufficient food and water they would begin to doubt the faithfulness of God.

John 6:26 “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

I would bet that this is why every time Jesus would perform this miracle of feeding the multitude He would immediately go away from those he has fed, either by boat or off to some private place so they could not follow him further. Jesus wanted them to follow Him and believe on His miracles, not follow Him because they merely needed food for their flesh.

In the Old Testament when the children of Israel were wandering in the desert they were commanded by God to not gather more manna then was needed for ONE day or it would turn into maggots and be rendered utterly useless. Jesus also, when he sent out His disciples specifically commanded that they bring with them no bread. Mark 6:8, Luke 9:3 This was to show them the miraculous provision of God while they carried out HIS will, and let’s not forget the very first thing we as believers are taught is the example that Jesus gives us on how one should pray: Give us this day, our DAILY bread.

I believe it is fair to say that these particular miracles of the loaves and fish could have been performed by Jesus to illustrate the difference of effect and purpose of the increase and multiplication of the miraculous provision of God to fill the multitudes, and the expansion of yeast to the already sufficient supply of food from God.

The first biblical account of Jesus performing this miracle is in the book of Matt 14:13–20, “Jesus departed to a desert place and a great multitude followed him. And he came forth, and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. And when evening was come, the disciples came to him, saying, “This place is a desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.” But Jesus said unto them, “They have no need to go away; you give them food to eat.” And they said to him, “we have here just five loaves, and two fishes.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, AND BROKE THEM and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the multitudes. And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up the remains of the left over broken pieces, it was twelve baskets full. And they that ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Now I believe it is very important to point out the significance of breaking bread to those of us that partake of the bread that is broken and blessed by Jesus. This, IS the purpose and function of the true Church, Christ’s “ekklesia.”

Luke 14:15 “and when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

1 Cor 10:16–17 “the cup of blessing in which we are blessed, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many, are ONE bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that ONE bread.”

Matt 26:26 “and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.”

Luke 24:32–35 “and they said one to another; did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.” And they told what things were done on the way, and how He was known of them in the breaking of bread.”

*What Jesus is trying to explain to His disciples is: You walk with the Bread of Heaven, who breaks bread freely with you whenever you have need, why would you ever need to look back to feeding yourself from fragments? Eating from broken pieces that are left over after others have had their fill is like saying you don’t trust that God will be available to feed you the next time you get hungry.

Our communion, the fellowship that Jesus has with his followers, IS the bread sent from heaven that was broken and blessed for all of us that follow him.

John 6:53–6:66 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe,” for Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

These verses in John sum up how we are to communicate with God our creator. In them Jesus explains to us that “His words are spiritual and not literal.” Of course Jesus was not speaking concerning cannibalism, He was speaking allegorically, using carefully chosen activities and objects to represent spiritual truths concerning the Kingdom of God.

In the prayer of David in Ps 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

It would be fitting to say that our lives are just one big dining table that the Lord has prepared for us, to eat of the bread of Christ’s testimony and be a witness in the presence of our enemies. If the bread represents Jesus and His testimony, what is His testimony? The testimony of His communion with the Father. We are invited to partake of that communion when we eat of the bread. The bread is His body that was broken as a representation of the complete union He walked in with the will of the Father. Drinking from the cup of His blood represents one taking and drinking from the same cup that He must drink from.