“And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”
Be careful, Jesus warned them. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod — the yeast/leaven of the Pharisees and Herod is a teaching metaphor: leaven works invisibly, permeating and transforming whatever it enters. The leaven of the Pharisees is their teaching (Matthew 16:12 specifies), which corrupts the community from within. The leaven of Herod is the political compromise and moral corruption of the Herodian household. The warning is against the subtle, pervasive influence of both religious and political powers that have just demonstrated their opposition to the kingdom.
Church Fathers on Mark 8:15
After that our Lord had worked the miracle of the loaves, He immediately retires into another spot, lest on account of the miracle, the multitudes should take Him to make Him a king.
Now in Matthew we read that He entered into the parts of Magdala [ed. note: Magedam]. But we cannot doubt that it is the same place under another name; for several manuscripts even of St. Mark have only Magdala.
The Pharisees, then, seek a sign from heaven, that He, Who had for the second time fed many thousands of men with a few loaves of bread, should now, after the example of Moses, refresh the whole nation in the last time with manna sent down from heaven, and dispersed amongst them all.
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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