Dangerous Yeast

This morning I felt like I should read and reflect on John's Gospel, chapter 11.  This is a great chapter or reflection as this includes the account of the raising of Lazarus.  However, today I am going to look at the immediate aftermath to that miracle.  Here are verses - John 11:45-54 NIV:

[45] "Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. [46] But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. [47] Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. 

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. [48] If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 

[49] Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! [50] You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 

[51] He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, [52] and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. [53] So from that day on they plotted to take his life. 

[54] Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples."

When I read these verses this morning, the first thing that caught my eye was the line from the meeting of the Sanhedrin, "the Romans will com e and take away both our temple and our nation."  Recently in church we have been discussing the danger of the political and religious spirits, and especially the mixing of the two of them.  Today, in America we have groups on the far right and the far left who are trying to tell us that only "true" Christians believe exactly like they do, and that is a very dangerous prospect, from either side.  

I am reminded of Jesus' comment found in Mark 8:15 NIV:  “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”  He is essentially warning the apostles of falling into thinking that elevates either religion or the state as more important that God.  In the verses this morning from John 11, we see exactly that!  They have the Son of God in their midst, performing amazing miracles, and they are concerned Rome will take away "OUR temple and OUR nation".  Their quest for power and control was more important to them then the Messiah, and because of that they were plotting to kill Jesus. 

We must watch ourselves, watch our thinking to make sure that we don't add something to the Gospel so that our message become the Gospel+!  This is what was seen in the early Church, when the Circumcision party was preaching the Gospel + Circumcision, and Paul absolutely rejected that message.  He covers that topic several times and spent much of his letter to the church in Galatia addressing this concern.  He had previously had to confront Peter to his face, for Peter had started to agree with this circumision teaching and thought.  Paul saw the absolute danger of this message, for it effectively says the passion and death of Jesus on the Cros```s really didn't accomplish everything.  

Paul writes the following - Galatians 5:2-9 NIV:

[2] "Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. [3] Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. [4] You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. [5] For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. [6] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. 

[7] You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? [8] That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. [9] “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

Here we see the yeast of the Pharisees (For they held the Law as most important) infiltrating the Galatian's thinking, and Paul is warning them, even as Jesus warned His apostles.  

We must watch our thinking, for ultimately any Gospel+anything is actually laying the groundwork for getting rid of Jesus completely.  The Pharisees certainly didn't want Jesus around and neither did Herod.  They wanted all the control, and were unwilling to share that with God.  In their eyes, it was "OUR" temple and "OUR" nation!  Losing control of either would have been catastrophic to their own positions and ability to influence others.  

We must remain anchored in Christ, our identity is in Him alone.  We must reject the convincing arguments that say there is a more full expression of our faith that is the Gospel+, tor the only true Christians who preach the Gospel plus whatever they decide is the right viewpoint.  

Finally we should listen to God when He says - 1 Kings 9:3 NIV  “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there."

-and- 

Leviticus 20:26 NIV: "You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own."

I am pretty sure the temple and nation were God's, not the Pharisees, Herodians or anything other group vying for power and control.

This morning I am encouraged to check my heart and mind to make sure that I am embracing a faith where Jesus is Lord, period!  As Paul writes, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation."  ( Galatians 6:14-15 NIV)

Amen!