Then Jesus began
To say to them.
Has been fulfilled
In your hearing.’”
ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι Σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν
This is unique to Luke, as he presented the teaching of Jesus. Luke indicated that Jesus began to say to the assembled crowd (ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς) in this Nazareth synagogue, that today (ὅτι Σήμερον) this scripture has been fulfilled (πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη) in their hearing (ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν). Scripture fulfilled was a common theme of the gospel writers. Jesus implied that the Scripture passage he had just read referred to him.
“How could you fail
That I was not speaking
Beware of the yeast
Of the Pharisees
Then they understood
That he had not told them
Of the yeast of the bread,
But of the teaching
Of the Pharisees
πῶς οὐ νοεῖτε ὅτι οὐ περὶ ἄρτων εἶπον ὑμῖν; προσέχετε δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ζύμης τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων.
τότε συνῆκαν ὅτι οὐκ εἶπεν προσέχειν ἀπὸ τῆς ζύμης τῶν ἄρτων, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τῆς διδαχῆς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων.
This is unique to Matthew. Jesus, via Matthew, asked the disciples how they could not perceive or understand (πῶς οὐ νοεῖτε) that he was not speaking to them about bread (ὅτι οὐ περὶ ἄρτων εἶπον ὑμῖν). Instead, he was warning them about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees (προσέχετε δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ζύμης τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων). Finally, they understood (τότε συνῆκαν) that he was not talking to them about the yeast in bread (ὅτι οὐκ εἶπεν προσέχειν ἀπὸ τῆς ζύμης τῶν ἄρτων), but the yeast of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees (ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τῆς διδαχῆς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων.). Once again, Jesus, via Matthew, took a shot at both the Pharisees and Sadducees, but not the Scribes. The Pharisees were a political party, a social movement, and a religious school of thought that followed the Law of Moses, but with a number of oral traditions. They had they own expert explanations of Jewish law that sometimes appeared to be hypocritical or arrogant, with a form of Judaism that extended beyond the Temple. The Sadducees, on the other hand, were generally aristocratic priestly officials, tied to the Temple and ritual purifications. They were less concerned about oral traditions, so that they might have been political religious rivals to the Pharisees. However, Jesus warned his disciples against both groups and their teaching yeasts.
A Maskil of Asaph
“O my people!
Give ear to my teaching!
Incline your ears
To the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings from of old.
These are the things
That we have heard and known.
Our ancestors have told us these things.
We will not hide them from their children.
We will tell them to the coming generation.
These are the glorious deeds of Yahweh,
These show his might.
These are the wonders that he has done.”
Psalm 78 is one of these long didactic psalms that relate the whole history of the Israelite people, like Psalms 105 and 106 as well as Psalms 135 and 136. This psalm is also a maskil of Asaph as the others in this series. We will learn the lessons of Israelite history, with a special emphasis on particular favorite heroes. There is an initial call to listen with care to the teaching of this psalmist, Asaph. He was going to speak in parables like the wisdom writers. These are the stories that were passed on to him by his ancestors. Now he was not going to hide it from the current children and the generations yet to come. All this shows the glorious deeds of Yahweh and his strength in the wonders that he has done for Israel.