Beware The Leaven

At that time: So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, "Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

"There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. 

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. 

Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." (Luke 12:1-7)

How we wish that whatever is said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what is whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops – or at least on reliable news media and other sources.  Too much hypocrisy is left unchallenged because the hypocrites can be very powerful, such as many working (or not) in Congress.  The pursuit of power and money has caused many politicians to consider their constituents and those of others as not worth more than many sparrows. 

We are to beware of the leaven called hypocrisy.  Leaven refers to corruptness and of perverseness of heart and life (see Matthew 16:6, Matthew 16:11, Mark 8:15, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and 1 Corinthians 5:8).  I admit I’ve never given much thought to the biblical meaning of leaven.  What follows is informative.

(begin) Various substances were known to have fermenting qualities; but the ordinary leaven consisted of a lump of old dough in a high state of fermentation, which was mixed into the mass of dough prepared for baking. The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire. During the Passover the Jews were commanded to put every particle of leaven from the house. 

The most prominent idea associated with leaven is connection with the corruption which it had undergone and which it communicated to bread in the process of fermentation. It is to this property of leaven that our Savior points when he speaks of the "leaven (i.e., the corrupt doctrine) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees," and St. Paul, when he speaks of the "old leaven." 

Another quality in leaven is noticed in the Bible, namely, its secretly penetrating and diffusive power. In this respect it was emblematic of moral influence generally, whether good or bad; and hence our Savior adopts it as illustrating the growth of the kingdom of heaven in the individual heart and in the world at large: because (1) its source is from without; (2) it is secret in its operation; (3) it spreads by contact of particle with particle; (4) it is widely diffusive, one particle of leaven being able to change any number of particles of flour; and because (5) it does not act like water, moistening a certain amount of flour, but is like a plant, changing the particles it comes in contact with into its own nature, with like propagating power. (end)

Have we been penetrated by leaven?  Do we listen to corrupt, immoral doctrine, or more aptly stated, propaganda fashioned to sway our minds and steal our souls to follow hypocrites and liars.  We must beware of the leaven.

Deacon David Pierce