The kingdom of heaven is like yeast …
Summary: Parables are interesting teaching tools. Like all things, they can be misunderstood. But in their proper context, a parable is a powerful way to illustrate a complex topic.
“He told them still another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.’”
(Matthew 13:33)
If you thought mustard seeds were small, yeast is even smaller! Of course, I’m thinking of the kind of yeast we get in the store these days. I don’t know where Jesus’ mom got her yeast or what it might have looked like, but I’m pretty sure that since the basic yeast particle is a microbe, it was pretty small even back in Jesus’ day.
In our house, we have what is called a “bread machine.” I think it might be our third one. We like them! You pour in some water, oil, flour, a touch of sugar, and a wee bit of salt, and then push a button. A little while later the house smells wonderful as the bread bakes and by dinnertime, there is a warm loaf of fresh bread waiting to be eaten.
On our machine, there is a control for choosing the size of the loaf. We can choose between a one-and-a-half pound loaf or a two-pound loaf. I have never seen a bread machine that has a setting for a sixty-pound loaf! I am pretty certain that nobody messed with the woman who was mixing up sixty pounds of flour for bread dough!! Let’s assume that she has a big family and that they eat a lot of bread.
Jesus makes the point that the power to make the bread rise comes from the yeast. Without yeast, the bread would be flat and hard. It is important for the yeast to be spread throughout the dough. Completely mixed in. Sort of like Bondo.
Okay… bear with me here. Many years ago I worked as a body and fender man. I straightened metal, filled dents with Bondo, and painted cars. Bondo, if you are not familiar with it, is a brand name of a plastic body filler that became so prevalent that people started calling any body filler “Bondo,” regardless of the brand.
The usual kind of Bondo is a grey putty. You add a catalyst so it will harden. The catalyst is a red paste that comes in a tube like toothpaste. It doesn’t take much to do its magic. A short little strip of catalyst on a fist-sized lump of Bondo is all that is needed to harden the whole batch. The trick is that you have to mix it in very thoroughly.
One day a guy brought his car in for some paint work. He told me the bodywork had already been done by a friend who was an “expert.” I took one look at his repairs, and I could tell that the only thing his friend was “expert” at was blowing smoke. The repairs that had Bondo in them were mostly grey with red patches here and there. He hadn’t mixed up the filler putty and it didn’t harden up properly. Most of the repairs were still soft.
So what do we learn from Jesus’ parable?
- It only takes a little yeast to make a lot of bread dough rise properly, just like it only takes a little catalyst to make the body filler harden properly.
- It takes work to mix the yeast with the flour. Lots of work!
- Once mixed, you can’t take the yeast out again. It becomes a part of the dough.
- When the yeast is mixed in with the flour it becomes invisible.
- The yeast is critical to making the bread rise and taste like bread.
Application: Know that the Word of God is working in the flour of your life.
Food for Thought: How do we see God’s kingdom work like yeast in our lives?
How do we see God’s kingdom work like yeast in our lives?
We can see the fruit of the Spirit!! !… maybe….
But sometimes it’s not always for us to see or know. It could be a slight change that your not aware of that can have a huge impact on someone else. If God wants to help, encourage, bless, or answer someone’s prayers, It is going to happen. Why not be the person that God uses to answer a prayer.
Tim,
What a great point! Thank you!
I think, in the parable, and in the narrative of the devotion, it is pretty well-stated that consistency is important. If 60 pounds of flour represent my life, and I only put kneed yeast in 20 pounds of it, leaving the other 40 pounds still mixed in, it will make for some unpleasing bread. If I only give God 20% of my life, it will be unpleasing to both God and myself. Also, as the parable and the devotion said, I have to work at it, mix it in until it is unrecognizable from the rest.
If my own life I have learned, and am still learning, just what that looks like. When I ask what God’s Will is in my life, and I ask for guidance, I have found even small decisions are important. Should I go left, or should I go right? Toddler acting up? I ask the Holy Spirit “what should I do here?” The more I give God the decisions of my life, the more I can see Him working in my life. I can see that I “rise” like the bread, I am confident in decisions, more content, and frankly less aggravated.
Chris,
Equating the 60 pounds of flour to our lifespan is a powerful insight. That is a great way of looking at this parable.
It takes time and effort to spread (sometimes painfully so)
It will eventually effect the whole 60lb lump (is the lump the world?)
What’s interesting is that this time Jesus doesn’t specify a little leaven as he does at other times…… I don’t have a reasoning to throw in the pot, just the observation.
A –
Sometimes your “reasoning” is like “seasoning” …
Just another observation. : -)
12-01-2022, How do we see God’s kingdom work like yeast in our lives?
As we grow in faith we become a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
2 Corinthians 2:15
As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations.
Ezekiel 20:41
We accept Christ by faith. We are then called to allow Christ to grow by faith and allow Him to work in us as He reveals Himself to all brought to us by the Holy Spirit.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7
Ron,
I’ve always loved the 2 Cor 2:15 passage. I like the way you worked that theme through your comment. Well said!
I always enjoy your comments and the comments of others as they respond. Teaching moments.
Blessings to all,
Ron
If God is being worked into our lives, it means there is a growing relationship, what some people call sanctification. We should be becoming more and more Christlike over time. Transformation should be taking place. Romans 12: 1 – 2.; 2 Corinthians 3: 18.
Yes, Rich. Exactly!