<p>16:12&nbsp;<i>Then they understood</i>- On their own admission in the Gospel records, the understanding of the disciples was pitiful. Not only did they not really listen to the Lord&rsquo;s words, the words of the Only Begotten Son of God, but they retained many misconceptions from the world around them which did not accept Him. Thus they failed to see after two miracles relating to bread, that literal bread was not so significant to the Lord (Mk. 8:19-21). It&rsquo;s possible that &ldquo;then they understood&rdquo; doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean that finally, they got what the Lord was on about. Because on another occasion He identifies &ldquo;the leaven of the Pharisees&rdquo; as &ldquo;hypocrisy&rdquo; (Lk. 12:1), rather than their teaching generally. So perhaps they still did not totally get the drift of the Lord&rsquo;s thinking.</p>
<p><i>That he told them not to be careful concerning the yeast in bread but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees</i>- The Lord's teaching to the disciples about this came directly after He had told the Jews that they would be given no sign apart from that of Jonah. I have suggested above that He foretold that the Jews would fail to perceive the meaning of His resurrection; and He feared that the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees would lead the disciples likewise to not perceive this. We see here a classic example of where wrong teaching about apparently smaller issues can lead to.</p>