October 22, 2025

Today's Reading: Matthew 16:1-12

Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 21:1-23; Deuteronomy 22:1-24:9; Matthew 16:1-12

“[Jesus said,] ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:11-12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Your warning: “Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees!” Good. But what’s that? The Pharisees and Sadducees are different from one another, far different. You will hear the Pharisees as you walk around Jerusalem and out into the towns and villages. To hear the Sadducees, you go to the big, impressive, resplendent Temple around which Jerusalem is built. 

The Pharisees. They teach the Law. Not the Law as the Ten Commandments by which God accuses the sinner, driving the sinner to the Gospel. Rather, they teach the law as commands, instructions, guidelines, tithing, and rules you must follow to live a clean life. By living this clean life, you can justify yourself, earning eternal life. 

The Sadducees. They’re largely from the well-to-do priestly families. They teach a worthiness found in human pretension: the wealth or stature you gain and show off. So focused on worldly worthiness are they that they have little concern with matters of eternal life, even teaching there is no resurrection of the body, no Heaven, no eternal life, no angels (e.g., Matthew 22:23, Acts 23:8). So if there is no resurrection of the body and eternal life, what need is there to hear the justification of the sinner before God?

Sadducees or Pharisees—you end up at the same place with each. Whether you hear the Sadducees teach that you need no justification since there is no Heaven anyway, or you hear the Pharisees teach that you need to be justified in order to avoid damnation but you gain this justification by your own works of law, in both cases you need no justification freely given the sinner by Jesus. 

Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus says. That is, beware of any teaching that you don’t need to be justified before holy God; beware of any teaching that you do need to be justified, but this justification is something you can accomplish by your own works, feelings, or intentions. Rather, turn to the one thing both the Pharisees and Sadducees together rejected: Jesus Christ crucified. Turn to the one word the Pharisees and Sadducees would never allow you to hear: the Gospel of the sinner freely forgiven and justified. In short, turn your back on the Pharisees and Sadducees; Jesus is your justification. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus, turn me from any thought that there is no life in eternity and my life ends here on Earth; turn me from any thought that I can make myself worthy of eternal life by my own worthiness. By the preaching of your Gospel, turn me always to you, the Savior for every sinner unto eternal life. Amen.

Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

Step back in time to the late Reformation and learn about a divisive yet inspirational figure: Matthias Flacius Illyricus. His contributions to Lutheranism still echo in our teachings today, from the Magdeburg Confession to parts of the Lutheran Confessions. Learning about Flacius’s life will help you understand more intricacies of the Reformation than ever before.