Parable of the leaven ( yeast)

Parable of the leaven

Mathew 13 : 10 - 17
And the disciples said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; nor do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which said, "By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive; for this people's heart has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard them.
Last week the message was about living in the kingdom

Understanding the truths of the Gospel, living them out results in the blessings of God.

The message tonight comes from Mathew 13 : 33
Mathew 13 : 33

The kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.

I said last week that we discover different levels of truth when we study scripture.
This very short parable is another example of this

Most of us would read this parable without paying to much attention to it.
We should know that every word which Jesus ever spoke was intentional and profound.
So Jesus is speaking intentionally to his listeners and sharing profound truths with them.
In the same way, Jesus continues to speak intentionally and profoundly to us tonight.
Mark read from Mathew 13 tonight
Jesus was explaining the purpose of the Parables
What he was saying in simple english
The reason he spoke in Parables was only people who truly longed for truth would understand the parables.
Most of the people following Jesus were curious onlookers or wanting to get something from him.
We are all here tonight because we are hungry for truth.

Studying this parable in the context of scripture releases profound truths which are both inspiring and encouraging for listeners.

The way to best understand Parables is to understand something of the culture which existed in the time of Jesus in Israel.

Jesus loved using everyday activities and everyday products to help explain Kingdom principles.

How would the people of Jesus day interpret this parable
If we had grown up in the culture we would have understood something of what Jesus was teaching.

Making bread was a common daily practice in Israel, this was one of the functions of the woman, to make bread for the family.

Three measures of meal was also common practice, the average Jewish family was large with up to 12 children, so three measures of meal would be a practical amount to make enough for the whole family.

Three measures of meal would make three loaves of bread.

In most accounts in scripture, leaven represents negative influences,
Jesus warned about the leaven of the Pharisees
Which represented False teaching, observance of religious practices
Jesus also warned about the Leaven of Herod
Which represented the ways of the world, political influence, Gathering wealth

In this particular parable he is using Leaven in a positive way.

leaven is the yeast which would cause dough to rise.

To make bread, the woman would use meal, water and leaven which would make dough, and when baked makes bread.

So we could say that Jesus was giving a cooking class to help people make bread bread,
Or
We could understand that Jesus is teaching deeper truths for our understanding.

As we dig deeper, we will discover the deeper truths about the Kingdom.

What Jesus is saying and speaking about are practical everyday activities but he also intentionally mentions other elements to help us understand deeper truths.
Jesus says
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid,

Lets break this down and understand it better

Jesus says The kingdom of heaven is like leaven

So the leaven represents the kingdom - Kingdom truth

The woman took these truths and hid them in the meal.

Before we talk about the significance of the woman lets talk about her hiding kingdom truth in the meal.

For dough to become bread, it must have yeast in it which will cause it to rise into becoming a loaf, without yeast we would get a flat pancake.

Another way of saying hid the yeast would be to knead the yeast into the meal to make dough.

The woman would keep kneading until all the the meal was all leavened
In other words until the leaven had been worked into all the meal, evenly spread.
The yeast worked through all the dough would cause it to rise, ready for baking.
The next truth we should examine is the meal.

We could also use flour in place of the word meal.

What does the meal represent
The meal represents the people of the kingdom. Christians

Why does Jesus specifically speak about three measures of flour?

1 Thessalonians 5 : 23
And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spirit
Soul
Body
That’s how we have been created
The real me is not the outside person that everyone sees
The real me is identified and characterized in this way

I am Spirit
I have a soul ( Mind, will, and emotions)
I live in a body

The real me is the inner me

Paul says
May the God of peace sanctify you

Sanctification is the process of transformation

As I receive more truth and apply it to my life, live it out So I am transformed
My Spirit man is renewed
My soul is renewed
My bodies lustful desires are transformed.

So as the woman kneads the truth of God’s word into these three areas of my life, so I am transformed in every way.
Have you ever watched dough being kneaded by hand?

Sometimes the process can be quite aggressive, almost looks like the person kneading the dough is punching it especially at the beginning when the ingredients are being mixed.

So kneading the truth of the kingdom into us can sometimes feel like a rough experience.

But the end result is delicious warm freshly baked bread.

Finally we must ask the question
Who or what then is the woman?

The church is always seen as female in scripture, The church as the bride of Christ.
So when Jesus is talking about the leaven of the kingdom being kneaded into us, he was referring to the church which had not yet been born.


Paul gives us the truth of what Jesus had spoken of
Ephesians 4 : 11 - 12
And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Paul says Jesus giving some to be
Apostles , Prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers
Commonly known as the five fold ministry

The purpose of this five fold ministry?
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry
For the edifying or building up of the body of Christ.

So before the bread is baked, the woman makes sure that the leaven is spread throughout the dough, its now perfectly ready for the oven.


From the parable we have heard many truths
The last and most powerful truth

The meal represents the people of the kingdom,
These people belong to a local church where the five fold ministry kneads truth into the lives of believers,
As the truth of the kingdom is kneaded in,
God’s grace works in the lives of those willing to be transformed.

We should know the following
Revelation 3 : 20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.

Notice Jesus comes in by invitation, he never forces himself on anyone

When we open the door, the penetrating power of Divine grace works in us to perfect us, transforming our lives into becoming more like Jesus

The grace of God is that vital and holy force working us in like leaven works in dough when kneaded.

The end result
Ephesians 4 : 13 - 16

Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Psalm: 92:13
Those that are planted in the house of The Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.





Mathew 13 : 10 - 17
And the disciples said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; nor do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which said, "By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive; for this people's heart has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard them.
(Mat 13:10-17)
Jesus spoke in Parables
Spirit soul body
Righteousness peace joy
Father son spirit