John 3:4 (F)

Then, we turn to Matthew 16, and we will first read from verses 5-12:

When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

When Jesus mentions the "yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees," he is not referring to food but to their doctrine. If his own disciples could misunderstand something like this, why are we surprised that Nicodemus would fail to understand what Jesus means by "born again"? Certainly, here the disciples are not being sarcastic or clever – they really think that Jesus is talking about food. And what Jesus says in his rebuke confirms that the disciples are genuinely deficient in understanding.

Now comes the crucial point. Jesus does not attribute the misunderstanding to mere miscommunication. He does not say that his statement is too vague, and neither does he say that the disciples have a general deficiency in reasoning skills or in understanding language. Instead, he blames the misunderstanding on their lack of faith – he says that this is a spiritual problem. If they would have the faith to recall and realize that Jesus could multiply food, then they would not be saying among themselves that Jesus is concerned about food.

Pay attention to what I am saying here. I am not saying what many professing Christians teach, and what many non-Christians allege that Biblical Christianity teaches. That is, I am not saying that the natural man is rational and that biblical revelation is irrational, so that to "understand" revelation, one must exercise "faith" to accept something that is irrational. This is a misrepresentation of Biblical Christianity, although it is also one that has been taught by many professing Christians.

So take care to understand what happens in our passage, and notice what Jesus says. He does not say that the disciples fail to understand because they are too rational, so that they must become irrational by faith. No! He says that if their faith were stronger, they would take into account the earlier miracles and realize that food has never been a problem with Jesus, so that when he talks about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, he could not be referring to physical food.

In other words, it is precisely a lack of faith and not an abundance of faith that makes them irrational, that prevents them from reasoning from true premises to their necessary conclusion, that hinders them from perceiving and understanding the truth. This is one of the reasons why a person who lacks faith cannot reason correctly about spiritual things. He cannot employ the needed premises in his deductions as long as these premises are spiritual propositions. His mind cannot process them. It is not that spiritual things are irrational, but the problem is that his mind is defective.

Of course, the problem is not limited to reasoning about spiritual things, for sin has dealt a crippling blow to the unbeliever's ability to reason about natural things as well. But even if we ignore this for the moment, and even if we assume that the unbeliever can reason about natural things perfectly, we must still point out that, in reality, it is impossible to correctly reason about anything at all without taking into account spiritual realities and spiritual premises.

Whether we are talking about physics, politics, literature, or even sports, God's works pervade everything, and therefore when a person who has no spiritual understanding tries to reason about anything – anything at all – he is doomed to failure from the start. This explains why a Christian may find even the most educated non-Christian extremely deficient in intellect. A non-Christian is wrong about everything, even the littlest thing, and thus a spiritual man will tend to find him irritatingly stupid. And the more perceptive the spiritual man, the more he must endure. He says with Christ, "Are you still so dull?" (Matthew 15:16), and exclaims in frustration, "O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?" (Matthew 17:17).

Matthew 16:13-17 is also relevant to our purpose, but as there are several more passages that we must examine, we will have to skip this one.

(to be continued)

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