Grace and Peace,
My mother is a GREAT cook! Ask me this at anytime, even after the biggest fight with her, and I’ll tell you the same thing. She can cook any dish she sets her mind on and I honestly believe her food is anointed! Lol I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. And I know it sounds crazy that this is my second food oriented post of the three since I started this fast, but follow me…
She’s a good cook. And she can bake too! Her homemade bread is to die for, her bake will make u shake, and her black cake will make you wanna smack your… well, let’s just say it’s really good. But one defiant delicacy seems to defeat her every time! One problematic pastry keeps her powerless; Pound cake!
Some may say its easier than most others cakes. Others may say its an art. Whatever the case is, it and my Mother don’t get along. However, being the persistent fighter she is, just last Tuesday my mother tried to make a pound cake. She also made three black cakes and a fruitcake. The black cakes baked perfectly. And on the next oven shelf, the pound cake and fruit cake seemed to be rising nicely. But like a rotten apple that spoils the bunch, or the bad kid that spreads his or her rebellion, it seemed the pound cake had convinced the fruit cake to give in. And they had.
And as my mother walked in, the cakes on her mind, her eyes immediately caught the sinking tops of each cake. The cry of disappointment she released almost scared me. I thought something major had happened. To her something major had happened. The yeast in each of the cakes had caused them to rise too much and then sink.
The book of Matthew gives two accounts where Christ took a little food and fed the multitude that had followed him to hear his teachings. Afterwards He and the disciples got in the boat to Caesarea Philippi and the disciples told him that they forgot the bread. In Matthew 16:6 Jesus replied to them “Be careful. Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Saducees” or as the Mark 8:15 version says “..the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod”. What does that even mean. The disciples didn’t even know, but they assumed he was talking about the forgotten bread. In both accounts, Christ gave them all a good lecture on spiritual smarts. Wasn’t this the same man who just fed Nine THOUSAND people with 12 loaves and bread and had 19 baskets of leftovers?!
The Pharisees were constant Christ and Christian harassers. They constantly tried to think up ways to show sin in him, because that was what they did. The found fault in everyone else and took pride in their self-righteousness through works. This pride puffed them up and caused them to miss the true reason for the laws and the freedom from the law of sin and death! Hallelu Yahweh! He was that freedom. But instead of surrendering, they scrutinized him. And even still they found no fault. Their pride in the works they did and their form of Godliness ultimately caused them to fall, just like the yeast in my mom’s pound cake. He who has ears let him hear… S/He who has eyes, let him/her read. Don’t be deceived. Salvation isn’t because of what you do or don’t do. Its strictly because Christ died for us. Be on the look out! Don’t let that Pharisee yeast steal your freedom!
