warning against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod, fretting over a lack of physical bread when Jesus is concerned about graver spiritual dangers. 8:15 leaven of the Pharisees and … Herod. Jesus uses an everyday ingredient of bread as a metaphor (Luke 12:1 note). What seems like an innocent, even legitimate request for a sign (on Herod’s desire for miracles, see Luke 23:8) is actually a rejection of His ministry and all His previous signs. Jesus is warning His disciples against superficial conceptions