Then understood they that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
All Commentaries on Matthew 16:12 Go To Matthew 16
Theophylact of Ochrid
AD 1107
Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. They thought that He was telling them to guard themselves against the stain of Jewish food, which is why they discussed among themselves that they had not brought any bread. He upbraids them for being mindless and of little faith. They were mindless by not remembering how many He had fed with how many loaves; they showed little faith by not believing that Christ Himself could provide bread even if they had not bought any bread from the Jews. As He rebuked them rather sharply — for meekness is not good on every occasion — they immediately understood that by "leaven" He meant "teaching"; such is the effect of a judicious rebuke on any occasion.
