The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 16:5-11, “And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.
6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”
8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?
9 “Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?
10 “Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?
11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Have you ever jumped to a conclusion? Of course, you have! So have I. This is precisely what the
disciples did when Jesus said, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.” The word that misled them was the word “leaven.” Bread is edible when it is leavened.
The disciples misunderstood the LORD’s use of the word “leaven,” and came immediately to a
wrong conclusion.

There are scores of words that we use every day that have different meanings. They correctly heard what He said, but misunderstood what He meant when He said it. Someone once said, “Jesus said,
‘Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.’ Thankfully, there were only ‘leaven of them.”
Obviously, whoever said that missed the day’s reading and spelling lesson in school. Some words
are spelled alike, but have different meanings depending upon where and how they are used. We all need to be careful to learn to write clearly what we mean. That way, what we intend will not be
misunderstood.

Occasionally, you will possibly hear your pastor give words in Scripture their true meaning in their original languages of Hebrew or Greek. Those languages are taught in Biblical Schools to enable
pastors to accurately instruct their congregations of the Bible’s true and accurate meaning. We, too,
need to be careful to use Biblical words accurately. There are scores of books by reputable Bible
scholars that teach the original and historical meanings of Biblical words. Listen carefully to your
pastor. It is his responsibility to teach God’s Truth very clearly. Then it is our responsibility to
accurately share God’s Word with those who have never heard it. Be careful in teaching! But, be
careful not to neglect it.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom