0116 PETE GOES ONE FOR THREE

PETE GOES ONE-FOR-THREE

This chapter contains three statements from Jesus that are so central to our faith. Peter declares what we call The Good Confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus says that flesh and blood did not reveal that to Peter, but His Father who is in heaven. Jesus declares that He will build his church on this confession. It is very central to everything in our faith. 

But the very next incident that Matthew records is Jesus saying to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” It is amazing to put these back-to-back as Matthew has done. But such is the fickle heart of a person, I suppose. One moment I am on God’s wavelength, and the next I am thinking in the flesh.

Which leads me to the statement that precedes both of those. Jesus said, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” That warning is important, especially in light of Peter’s statements that follow. Let’s delve into it a bit more.

We are to “beware.” Jesus is warning us that if we are not on guard against this, we will miss it. We are like night sentries, with our senses heightened, eyes scanning about, reflexes alert. We are anticipating something coming up to surprise and defeat us, so we must “beware” of something.

What are we to be aware of? Jesus calls it “leaven.” I’m no expert at such things, but I know what Jesus said about leaven. He says elsewhere that you cannot tell where leaven begins and ends. It works its way through a lump of dough, and you cannot separate it from the part that is unleavened. It’s not an on/off switch. Not a locomotive bearing down. It is subtle. Easing its way into my life, my beliefs, my heart.

What, then, IS the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? The context is that they need a sign. Show us a sign from heaven that you are really the Son of God. Of course, they were SURROUNDED by signs, every day. But this leaven always needs just. One. More. I’m always one sign away from believing.

The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is also the subtle temptation to imagine that I have figured God out. Say this, God does that. Know this, and this is the result. Do this, and God answer like this. They knew how to be forgiven, how to behave in any and every situation, and they knew God. They had no idea just how far off they were. 

That’s how it is for us, you know. When I was a kid, I was pretty good at something. We’ll say I was a pretty fast runner. I could beat even some of the older kids on my street in a foot race. So I began to imagine that I was, or soon would be, the fastest runner on earth. Because I had never been humbled by defeat, I thought I was within inches of my goal, rather than miles away.

This is what the sneaky leaven of the Pharisees will do. It creeps into my faith, begins to color my prayers, affects my teaching, allows me to have easy answers to things I know nothing about. It gives me a false sense of being an expert at knowing God, when I am not even in Kindergarten yet. And somehow I become the OPPOSITE of the person of faith I imagine myself to be. I become an ENEMY of Christ! 

How did I get there? It was leaven. And I did not beware. 

We are told to be on the alert, because our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Do you know who wrote that warning? It was Peter. He knows about that.

I want to be blessed because truths are revealed to me by the Heavenly Father, so that I speak His words, not mine. But the very next statement I make just might be with the things of man in mind, not the things of God. So I must keep watch for the need for a sign, and never think that I have put God into a box.

Pete went one-for-three that day. I wonder if I can do any better.