Pharisees and Sadducees - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Matthew 16:6.

Pharisees and Sadducees
The Lord Jesus warned His disciples about two dangerous religious groups, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He called their influence "leaven". What did he mean by that? In Scripture leaven is always an illustration of evil. What then was the evil He had in mind regarding these two groups?

The Pharisees placed great importance on Jewish traditions. Their writings contained many laws that went beyond the divine instructions given in the Old Testament. Pharisees considered it far more important to adhere to these man-made commandments than to obey the Word of God. Their piety was pure hypocrisy. We find the same attitude in Christendom. Man's thoughts are added to the teaching of the Bible to satisfy human ideas of godliness.

The Sadducees were rational people who believed only what they could see. They denied both the fact of the resurrection and the existence of angels, thereby declaring parts of the Word of God to be invalid. A similar rational attitude can be found among people who claim to be Christians. They believe only what science has allegedly proved true in the Bible.

By adding or removing parts of the Bible, the sure foundation of God's eternally valid statements on man's salvation are abandoned.

We on Thy holy Word
Would feed, and live, and grow;
Go on to know Thee, Lord,
And practise what we know.

Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 31:1-8 · Revelation 17:7-18