NOTES for Mat 16:6

Religiousness: is it good or bad? Compared with complete unbelief, it is probably good. Still, let us sort out what it is. Religion is our human system of attempts to restore connection with God, according to one or another human idea of Him. At the same time it is implied that the connection is broken and God is somewhere far away. In this sense Christianity offers something completely opposite: it is not we who restore connection with God, but He Himself; God is not distant, but "with us always, to the end of the age." But there is always, always a temptation to reduce living faith, living relationships with God, to religion, and Jesus warns His disciples of this danger, even of two types of such "religiousness": Pharisaic, when the fulfillment of commandments, duty, and rituals is substituted for relationships of love; and Sadducean, when our human interests, personal and public, are placed first, and the Church turns into a service center for these interests. Christ says that these admixtures are dangerous even in small quantities, because a little leaven leavens the whole dough.