May 28th, 2024
How many of you have ever made bread? I’ve made a couple of attempts, but baking isn’t something I’m good at nor something I enjoy. However, even I know that a leavening agent is necessary when you bake. The yeast or baking powder causes the dough to rise, and bread wouldn’t be bread without it. This week, I want to share something simple God spoke to me regarding the power of His kingdom from one sentence in the Bible about leaven.
Jesus talked about leaven several times in the New Testament, and it’s something His audience would have understood. Almost everywhere in the Bible though, leaven represents sin because of its potency. You only need a very small amount of yeast to cause dough to rise. For example, Jesus said in Mark 8:15,
“Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.â€
However, there is one instance in the entirety of Scripture that leaven does not represent sin, but quite the opposite. This particular parable is nestled in a series of parables Jesus shared to teach His listeners about the kingdom of heaven and those truths still stand today! Matthew 13:33 is the verse that has been on my heart. Jesus said,
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.â€
It is the shortest parable Jesus told in His ministry. It begins and ends in one sentence. However, the powerful truth behind it can change our lives and the way we view our call as believers.
The most surprising part of this parable is the sheer volume of dough. The ESV translation of the Bible says, “three measures of flour†and I’d never wondered how much that was. I’ve always imagined a woman baking some bread for her family, hiding a pinch of yeast in the dough. However, three measures of flour will make bread more fit for a village than a family.
Translated to measurements we would understand, it would be 144 cups of flour. A standard kitchen mixer bowl is usually around 5-quarts, for reference. You would need a 100-quart bowl to mix three measures of flour and it would yield 50 loaves of bread, at least.
What was Jesus point?
Well, especially because leaven always represented sin, I think Jesus’ listeners would have taken note of this imagery. It may have even been offensive to them. The Feast of Unleavened bread was an annual religious feast, during which they had to remove all the yeast out of their houses, as a picture of being purged of sin and uncleanness. The religious leaders would have known that yeast usually represented sin. Why on earth then, did Jesus put this tiny parable amid all these other parables about the Kingdom?
I believe it was for that reason. It would have surprised and challenged His listeners.
The truth behind it challenged me this week. The woman in the parable hid a bit of yeast in a massive amount of dough, until it was all leavened. Often, the church lives with a greater awareness of the potency of sin and darkness than the power of the kingdom. We live like we’re in a world contaminated by hell, and we try to keep ourselves from being affected, but this parable flips that idea. If the Kingdom of God is the leaven, then you are what’s hidden, spreading, and changing the structure of the world around you.
We see throughout the Gospels that Jesus had supreme trust in the power of the Word of God. He knew it was sufficient, complete, and effective. When the demon-possessed man was delivered from the legion, Jesus sent him back to where he came from, trusting that the gospel would spread through just that one man (Mark 5:1-20). He didn’t tell him exactly how he was to spread the gospel. Jesus trusted that God would complete what He started in that man’s life.
How much faith do we have in the potency of the Word? How much do we trust the power of the Kingdom?
Surrender, the release of control, is evidence of trust. When we trust the work of the Word and Holy Spirit in our lives and the lives of the people around us, we can surrender and obey without always understanding and certainly without being in control.
It may feel as though the work you’re doing is like the woman hiding a little leaven in a
massive portion of dough. You might not see the results right away. The dough doesn’t
look any different the moment yeast is hidden, but it changes everything.
That’s the power of the gospel. The Gospel always produces, even though there are times we sow truth in obedience and don’t see immediate results. Romans 1:16 says,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.â€
Colossians 1:5-6 says,
“Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.â€
The Gospel itself carries power to increase. We must learn to trust the power of the Gospel at work in and through us. When you step into a room, understand that you are like leaven. You have the power to change the structure of everything around you because of His power in you!
The Father has such confidence in the power of His Word that He hid His son in the most insignificant time and place, just like the woman hid the yeast. Jesus didn’t take the Gospel to every unreached people group and do all the work of the Kingdom that needed to be done. He did what the Father called Him to do trusting the Gospel would work.
It did, and it still does.
Jesus brought the Kingdom of God and, like leaven in a massive portion of dough, the gospel of that Kingdom is still spreading. It’s the same truth. The same words that Jesus spoke thousands of years ago are still echoing in the hearts of His people by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This week, I want to encourage you to trust the power of God’s Word at work inside of you. His Kingdom is more powerful than sin, darkness, sickness, and every other thing that tries to make a mockery of truth. We aren’t living in a world contaminated by darkness and trying to escape it. You are the leaven, sown by heaven, to change everything around you. Jesus didn’t fight darkness. He evicted it. The light of heaven dispels everything contrary to God’s Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. His Kingdom is so much more potent, so much more powerful, than we know. His Word will accomplish everything He sent it to do, and that’s the Word working in you.
Isaiah 55:11: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.â€
Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.â€
Jesus talked about leaven several times in the New Testament, and it’s something His audience would have understood. Almost everywhere in the Bible though, leaven represents sin because of its potency. You only need a very small amount of yeast to cause dough to rise. For example, Jesus said in Mark 8:15,
“Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.â€
However, there is one instance in the entirety of Scripture that leaven does not represent sin, but quite the opposite. This particular parable is nestled in a series of parables Jesus shared to teach His listeners about the kingdom of heaven and those truths still stand today! Matthew 13:33 is the verse that has been on my heart. Jesus said,
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.â€
It is the shortest parable Jesus told in His ministry. It begins and ends in one sentence. However, the powerful truth behind it can change our lives and the way we view our call as believers.
The most surprising part of this parable is the sheer volume of dough. The ESV translation of the Bible says, “three measures of flour†and I’d never wondered how much that was. I’ve always imagined a woman baking some bread for her family, hiding a pinch of yeast in the dough. However, three measures of flour will make bread more fit for a village than a family.
Translated to measurements we would understand, it would be 144 cups of flour. A standard kitchen mixer bowl is usually around 5-quarts, for reference. You would need a 100-quart bowl to mix three measures of flour and it would yield 50 loaves of bread, at least.
What was Jesus point?
Well, especially because leaven always represented sin, I think Jesus’ listeners would have taken note of this imagery. It may have even been offensive to them. The Feast of Unleavened bread was an annual religious feast, during which they had to remove all the yeast out of their houses, as a picture of being purged of sin and uncleanness. The religious leaders would have known that yeast usually represented sin. Why on earth then, did Jesus put this tiny parable amid all these other parables about the Kingdom?
I believe it was for that reason. It would have surprised and challenged His listeners.
The truth behind it challenged me this week. The woman in the parable hid a bit of yeast in a massive amount of dough, until it was all leavened. Often, the church lives with a greater awareness of the potency of sin and darkness than the power of the kingdom. We live like we’re in a world contaminated by hell, and we try to keep ourselves from being affected, but this parable flips that idea. If the Kingdom of God is the leaven, then you are what’s hidden, spreading, and changing the structure of the world around you.
We see throughout the Gospels that Jesus had supreme trust in the power of the Word of God. He knew it was sufficient, complete, and effective. When the demon-possessed man was delivered from the legion, Jesus sent him back to where he came from, trusting that the gospel would spread through just that one man (Mark 5:1-20). He didn’t tell him exactly how he was to spread the gospel. Jesus trusted that God would complete what He started in that man’s life.
How much faith do we have in the potency of the Word? How much do we trust the power of the Kingdom?
Surrender, the release of control, is evidence of trust. When we trust the work of the Word and Holy Spirit in our lives and the lives of the people around us, we can surrender and obey without always understanding and certainly without being in control.
It may feel as though the work you’re doing is like the woman hiding a little leaven in a
massive portion of dough. You might not see the results right away. The dough doesn’t
look any different the moment yeast is hidden, but it changes everything.
That’s the power of the gospel. The Gospel always produces, even though there are times we sow truth in obedience and don’t see immediate results. Romans 1:16 says,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.â€
Colossians 1:5-6 says,
“Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.â€
The Gospel itself carries power to increase. We must learn to trust the power of the Gospel at work in and through us. When you step into a room, understand that you are like leaven. You have the power to change the structure of everything around you because of His power in you!
The Father has such confidence in the power of His Word that He hid His son in the most insignificant time and place, just like the woman hid the yeast. Jesus didn’t take the Gospel to every unreached people group and do all the work of the Kingdom that needed to be done. He did what the Father called Him to do trusting the Gospel would work.
It did, and it still does.
Jesus brought the Kingdom of God and, like leaven in a massive portion of dough, the gospel of that Kingdom is still spreading. It’s the same truth. The same words that Jesus spoke thousands of years ago are still echoing in the hearts of His people by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This week, I want to encourage you to trust the power of God’s Word at work inside of you. His Kingdom is more powerful than sin, darkness, sickness, and every other thing that tries to make a mockery of truth. We aren’t living in a world contaminated by darkness and trying to escape it. You are the leaven, sown by heaven, to change everything around you. Jesus didn’t fight darkness. He evicted it. The light of heaven dispels everything contrary to God’s Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. His Kingdom is so much more potent, so much more powerful, than we know. His Word will accomplish everything He sent it to do, and that’s the Word working in you.
Isaiah 55:11: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.â€
Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.â€
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