It Was All A Misunderstanding
One common cause of misunderstandings between people is when one or more people involved are focused on the wrong thing. Whether that's one person only focusing on their side or point of view, or both parties only focusing on their points of view—when we focus on the wrong thing, misunderstandings are inevitable. If you automatically focus on someone’s race rather than their character, you’re going to have misunderstandings with that person. If you focus on the way someone said something instead of the words they said, you’ll probably have a misunderstanding. If you focus on your pre-conceived notions of a topic instead of the facts of the topic, you’ll probably misunderstand the topic. And on and on it goes—focusing on the wrong thing will lead to misunderstandings. Matthew 16 records this very principle happening to the disciples.
“Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. ‘Watch out!’ Jesus warned them. ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread.” (Matthew 16:5-7)
Matthew 14:13-21 records the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand people. Matthew 15:29-39 records the miracle of Jesus feeding four thousand people. Matthew 16:5-12 records a discussion or argument between the disciples about forgetting to bring bread on a journey. The disciples had seen Jesus multiply small amounts of food to feed vast amounts of people and yet their small group crossed a lake and the disciples started to argue with each other over the fact that they hadn’t brought any bread. Aren’t we just like this? Have you seen Jesus’ provision in your own life multiple times only to still worry or argue or fret over the very things Jesus has handled in your life?
“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? 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? Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”’” (Matthew 16:8-11)
How could the disciples go from witnessing two miracles of provision and then argue about not having provisions? Because they had so little faith. While they were arguing and focused on the things of this world (the bread they didn’t have) they missed the fact that Jesus wasn’t even talking about literal yeast for bread. The disciples misinterpreted Jesus’ words because they were focused on the wrong thing. If it can happen to the disciples, then it can certainly happen to us! We can misinterpret Jesus’ words because of a lack of faith or a focus on the wrong things, too.
“Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:12)
Specifically from this section of Scripture, the disciples missed that Jesus was warning them about deceptive teachings. They missed this because they were focused on something this world offers that they didn’t have. They were more concerned with forgetting the bread than listening and understanding Jesus’ words. Our focus on what the world has to offer or the things we don’t have can make us misunderstand Jesus’ words, too. Do you see that in your life? Is your focus on worldly things making you misunderstand Jesus’ words? Take a look at your life: are you storing up treasures on earth? Are you concerned with your next vacation or latest gadget or how many likes or followers you have? Are you so focused on this world that you have made yourself an easy victim for deceptive teaching? Learn from the disciples: don’t focus on the things of this world or you may be led astray by deceitful teaching and misunderstand Jesus’ words.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
