“New Year” 1-7-24

Overview

"Do You Still Not Perceive?" — A Question for the New Year

In Matthew 16:5-12, the disciples cross to the other side of the lake and realize they have forgotten to bring bread. Jesus uses the moment to warn them, "Watch out and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They miss the point entirely, assuming He is scolding them about provisions. Jesus presses them with a piercing question: "Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand… or the seven loaves for the four thousand?" Only then do they grasp that He is warning them about the corrupting teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees—not bread at all.

Throughout Scripture, leaven is most often a negative image. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 that "a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough," urging believers to celebrate "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." In Galatians 5:7-9, false persuasion is again likened to leaven that spreads. Jesus is teaching His disciples to be alert: ideas have influence, and a small amount of bad teaching corrupts the whole.

But there is a deeper diagnosis hiding inside the disciples' confusion. Their real problem was not the missing loaf in the boat; it was forgetting who was in the boat with them. They focused on the one little loaf they lacked instead of the Bread of Life standing in front of them. They could not recall the baskets of leftovers from the feedings of the 5,000 and 4,000—evidence that provision was never in question. We do the same. Faced with difficulty, we fix our eyes on the problem, become oblivious to the power of the reigning Christ, and fail to remember His countless past faithfulness.

This is why the Christian enters a new year with something deeper than optimism. Optimism is self-generated; it is the effort to convince ourselves that things will turn out. The gospel offers something better: confidence rooted in God's promises. Christ has borne our sin on the cross, the debt is paid, and we have been claimed as His own in the waters of Baptism. If God has done that, He will surely express His grace in the days ahead as well. So rather than merely wishing one another a "happy new year," we can speak something stronger to each other—a confident new year, grounded not in the dropping of a ball but in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns over all of it.

Transcript

What you open your Bible's please with me to the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew 3s

for our study this morning. 8s

If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 15, 10s

Matthew the 16th chapter for our study today. 16s

We come around the curve to the last month of this sermon series. 19s

His questions for several months, as you know, we have been looking at various questions that are 25s

Lord Poe. 32s

As we come through the home stretch, we have some wonderful, wonderful questions to examine. 33s

When I considered this particular Sunday, the first Sunday in 2024, and I considered what 40s

text should come for that particular Sunday, this text this question came to mind. 47s

As we're faced with a host of freshness and possibilities, both good and bad in the new year, 55s

this particular text came to mind and I inked it in for this Sunday to examine with you, 64s

and in order to understand it, we need to have kind of a running start for us to grasp this text. 71s

And so we begin the run here by remembering when there was a boy who had five loaves and two fish. 80s

And you'll recall that there was a multitude of people and Jesus posed the question. 88s

How is it that we are going to feed all of these people? 95s

Jesus certainly knew the answer to his own question, and he miraculously took the five loaves and the 101s

two fish, multiplied them, and fed the scripture tells us in the gospel of John, fed the 108s

five thousand people. 117s

The Bible also tells us, it tells us that the people ate to where they were satisfied, 119s

and the Bible also tells us that there were left overs. 127s

Well, that was at the only time Jesus did a miracle like that. 132s

We also read of the feeding of the four thousand. There were seven loaves and a few fish, 139s

and Jesus miraculously multiplied those and fed the four thousand people. 149s

It is clear that the disciples would never, ever have to worry about where their bread would come from, right? 157s

We know that the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand were two separate events. 170s

We absolutely know that because one, Jesus delineated between those two miracles. 177s

And we also know that those two miracles happened in two different territories. 182s

One was a Jewish territory, and the other was a Gentile territory. 187s

And so the disciples knew where they should have known where their bread would always be able to come from. 193s

With that is the running start, let's look at our text now. 205s

Verse 5, please. When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 208s

Mark the fifth chapter tells us that they had one little loaf that wouldn't be sufficient. 221s

The disciples forgot to bring the bread. Jesus saw this as an opportunity to do some teaching. 228s

Parents, grandparents, you know those opportunities of teaching moments that come up, right? 239s

In the lives of children or grandchildren. You know when they come up those teaching moments where you can 245s

leverage an event, leverage a situation, and hurt it to be a teaching opportunity. 252s

It's exactly what Jesus does. He leverages the fact that the disciples 261s

forgot the bread. He leverages that into an opportunity to teach. 268s

And so he says, verse 6, Jesus said to them, watch out and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and 276s

sages. That also is translated. Other versions watch out for the 11. 288s

When we see the word 11 hop up predominantly that is used in a negative understanding. 297s

For example, in first Corinthians the fifth chapter, it says this, 308s

do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough, clean out the old yeast, 316s

so that you may be a new batch as you really are on 11. For our pascal lamb, Christ has been 323s

sacrificed, therefore. Let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice 332s

and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, or in Galatians 5. 340s

You were running well who prevented you from obeying a truth? Such persuasion does not come from the 350s

predominantly, leaven is used in a negative sense in Holy Scripture. What Jesus is talking about 362s

is the negative influence of the Pharisees and the sagessees and His warning the disciples 372s

about such influence, such leaven. And the disciples, they just don't get it. Do they? 384s

And don't get it. They thought that what Jesus was concerned about was the absence of bread 404s

and the need for the disciples to purchase the bread. And when they went to purchase the bread 412s

to make sure that they wouldn't buy the bread of the Pharisees and the sagessees that would have 419s

yeast in it. That's there, understand. Look at verse 7 with me, place. They said to one another, 427s

it's because we brought no bread. And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, you of little faith, 439s

why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the 446s

five lobes for the 5,000? And how many baskets you gathered or the seven lobes for the 4,000? 455s

And how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking 463s

about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and sagessees. Then they understood that he had not told 471s

them to beware of the yeast of bread but of the teaching of the Pharisees and sagessees. 487s

You see, as Jesus is teaching, the disciples predominantly until the end here, 495s

predominantly thought that what Jesus was concerned about was the lack of bread. 504s

The problem wasn't the lack of bread. The problem was being oblivious to the power of the one 509s

who stood before them. You see, the problem was that they focused on their one little low instead 521s

of the bread of life. The problem was not that they had forgotten bread. The problem was that they 531s

couldn't remember what Jesus had done in feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000. 542s

Can we relate? Can we relate? Face with various situations, face with various challenges, face with 555s

various difficulties. We can focus on the problem instead of the Lord. 566s

Focus on various situations and difficulties we can be oblivious to the one in all of his power 575s

who is the reigning Lord Jesus Christ. Face with various situations and difficulties we can 584s

have an inability to recall the countless acts of faithfulness with regard to our Lord toward us. 593s

The ability to relate is birthed out of our sin. And Jesus turns to us and asks us the question, 602s

do you still not perceive my wife Denise and I over the years we have enjoyed a couple of 623s

trips to New York City. The first time we were in time square, we just so enjoyed just 638s

wandering around and we noticed where they dropped the bulb on New York's Eve. 648s

Neither one of us really ever have a desire to be in New York City on New York's Eve. 657s

But we could see where that bulb would come down and in our minds I we could see the city streets 663s

filled with the people. The such an optimist isn't there in New York City waiting for the 671s

bowl to drop on New York's Eve. An optimism about the New Year that is ahead in the freshness of 681s

it. A desire perhaps to leave behind that which was in the year before and enter into the new. 691s

This positive sense. I guess if one had to choose between being an optimist or a pessimist it would 703s

be better to be an optimist right? It just makes sense. He sees Christians. As Christians, 713s

God rules us beyond a self-generated optimism. He moves us beyond. 724s

Desperately trying to convince ourselves and he gifts us with his confidence rooted in promises. 736s

You see, instead of, instead of focusing on what I have to think positive about this, 750s

God comes with his gift to remind us of who he is and that whatever comes, 765s

it is in the hands of a good God and that is a place of rest and peace. He moves us beyond a self-generated 772s

optimism into living in the graciousness of his promises. The Lord Jesus Christ has borne 788s

her sin on the cross. He has paid the debt. We have been reconciled through the cross of the Lord 801s

Jesus. The sacrifice has been accepted. We have been cleaned as his own and the waters of baptism. 807s

For us Christians today is one more day in all of eternity. If God has done that, 816s

most certainly, He will express His grace this side of heaven also. 828s

So there is no need. There is no need to doubt His provision. There is no need to look at the 835s

find examples of the faithfulness of Christ. The ball drops on New Year's Eve, 865s

but the risen Lord reads for all of it and so instead of wishing one another, 881s

I happy New Year, maybe what we should say to one another, is a confident New Year to you, 896s

a confident New Year. Born out of the rainy, Lord Jesus Christ and His promise. 910s