At first, the disciples do not see that Jesus was referring to the spiritual blindness, rooted in unbelief, of Israel’s leaders, so he repeats his warning about their influence to the disciples. Their misunderstanding shows how they are still affected by the leaders’ failures. Although the disciples do believe and know Jesus as the Son of God, their faith is weak and short-sighted, so Jesus’ warning to distance themselves from the doubts and unbelief of the leaders is needed, even for the disciples.
The repeated warning against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:6, Matthew 16:11) links his dispute with these groups (Matthew 16:1–4) to his instruction about his own suffering given near Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13–28). The disciples were starting to train for their future leadership as apostles. Jesus wants his followers to truly see him, and so to distance themselves from the hostility of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples’ view of Jesus (Matthew 16:9) was threatened by the leaders’ deceptive teaching, but those whose eyes have been opened must be on their guard.
At first, the disciples did not realize that Jesus was referring to the spiritual blindness of Israel’s leaders, a blindness rooted in unbelief. As such, he again repeats his warning about their influence to the disciples. The misunderstanding that arose—more or less by coincidence—reveals that the disciples were still affected by the failures of these leaders. Although the disciples did believe and recognize Jesus as the Son of God, their faith remained hindered by short-sightedness and weakness. As such, Jesus’ warning to distance themselves from the doubts and unbelief of the leaders was both necessary and appropriate, even for the disciples themselves.
The repeated warning against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees found in Matthew 16:6 and Matthew 16:11 forms the transition from the dispute he had with these groups (Matthew 16:1–4) to the instruction about his own suffering that he gave near Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13–28). They had just left the hostile leaders behind and were underway to the instructional phase of new leaders. Now the Master stimulates his adherents to truly see him, and for that purpose to distance themselves from the antagonism towards him from the side of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their perception of the Messiah (Matthew 16:9) was threatened by deceptive illusions spread by these leaders. Those whose eyes have been opened, however, must be on their guard.1
11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”