What kind of leaven will we be – a good leaven rising up fruit to the praise of God, or a corrupt leaven causing the downfall of our neighbor? Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord, is a good time of year to take stock – to cast out the old leaven of corruption, and instead, to leaven the world with loving intimations of God’s kingdom.
In Mark 8:15 Jesus says, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Although leaven or yeast can be a good thing, leaven is often a negative in Old Testament thought. One clears out the old leaven, to prepare for the Passover meal. Leaven can be seen as a corrupting force. What is the “leaven of the Pharisees”? How was their way of thinking corrupting?
Many of the Pharisees were critical of Jesus for curing people on the Sabbath and for not following their interpretation of the Mosaic Law to the letter. At one point, some Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Him for a sign from heaven. They asked Him this in spite of the fact that Jesus has already cured the blind and the deaf, cast out demons, and fed thousands.
Clearly, they wanted to see God act in their way, not in the way that God was acting through Jesus, His Son. Earlier they had criticized Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands. They looked down on anyone who did not follow their rules on ritual piety. Their narrowness blinded them to the good that Jesus was doing. They projected their scrupulosity upon others. They even accused Jesus of being in league with the devil, because He did not act as they wanted.
But Jesus was leavening the world with mercy and love. At one point Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened” (Mt 13:33). God’s leaven is mercy and love. As Jesus says, “By their fruits you will know them” (Mt 12:33). Jesus was leavening people’s lives with the fruits of love – even into the lives of Gentiles, as He did to the deaf man with the speech impediment and to the young girl troubled by a demon in Tyre.
God’s love knows no bounds of ethnicity, religion, race, or socioeconomic status.
What is the leaven of Herod? Herod Antipas was in league with the Romans and their oppression of the people. He was caught up in the protection of his own power and pride. He even beheaded John the Baptist just to save face before his guests at the birthday banquet he held for himself. Later the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate, sent Jesus off to be crucified, a man he proclaimed to be innocent, because he didn’t want a riot in Jerusalem from those who were crying out for Jesus’ crucifixion. This would have made him look bad if it were reported to the Roman governor in Syria. He too clung to power and pride, the leaven of corruption that made the poor and powerless expendable. This sinfulness is still evident today.
In contrast, the true leaven is God’s grace and the actions that arise from it. As St. Paul says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal 5:22). Jesus shows us the way as He fed the 5,000 in Jewish territory and 4,000 in mostly Gentile territory. He shows us the way as He gives His life for us.
Especially during this time of pandemic, Jesus’ work is carried out by health care workers, food providers, and so many others amid much uncertainty and risk. Jesus’ leaven continues in the families who shop for an elderly neighbor so that she can remain safely and comfortably at home. The bread of compassion is found in the stay-at-home mom who takes in the child of the working mother next door who has no one to watch over her child during the day. The leaven of humility is found in the person who fills in for a co-worker staying at home with a sick child, spouse or parent. Each Christ-like action gives us a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Lord, grant that we may be so fashioned by Your grace that our lives leaven a hungry world with love. Make us a good leaven this Easter and always. May Your Kingdom come.
Jesuit Father John Michalowski is the parochial vicar of St. Peter Church in Charlotte.