69 – The Leavened Loaf; Matthew 13:33-35; Mark 4:33-34; Luke 13:20-21
Matthew 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three [a]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
Mark 4:33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
Luke 13:20 And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three [a]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
Footnotes (Matthew)
a. Matthew 13:33 Gr sata
Footnotes (Luke)
a. Luke 13:21 Gr sata
Commentary
On the surface, this picture of the kingdom appears to portray the good news of the gospel pervading the world via a small few who spread the message. Indeed, The Word in Life Study Bible and the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible both seem to subscribe to this view. However, the Nelson KJV Bible Commentary takes a different position.
“Leaven is a lump of old dough in a state of fermentation which contaminates the bread. Leaven is virtually always used as a symbol of evil (cf. Mt 18:6-12; Mk 8:15; Gal 5:9)” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1201). “The kingdom of God was also compared to a woman who mingled leaven into several loaves of meal until they had all risen” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1281). “Kent (p. 47) sees the woman here as the false prophetess, Jezebel (Rev 2:20) and the great harlot (Rev 17). Thus, the leaven is not just false profession of unsaved church members but false doctrine which they will attempt to bring into the church” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1201). “Perhaps a majority of older interpreters have seen this as the spreading of good throughout the world via the church. But this would seem to contradict the fact that the wheat did not take over the tares (Mt 13) and Jesus’ forecast in Matthew 24:37 that the end times would be as in Noah’s day. Besides, leaven is a picture of that which corrupts, and represents sin (Ex 12:15; Lk 12:1; 1 Cor 5:6-8). It is better to view this as a picture of the externalism, unbelief, evil doctrine, and worldliness which tend to inflate the church. Only fire ends the work of leaven!” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1281).
While the Nelson Commentary references Old Testament imagery equating leaven to sin, the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia explains that the feast of unleavened bread was a remembrance of the hurried flight from Egypt, when there was no time to allow bread to rise. God’s command to dispose of leaven was not necessarily because leaven represented sin (although it very often does represent sin throughout the Bible), but because He wanted the people to remember what He had done for them. Also, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia points out that, since the parable of leaven is part of a pair of parables, which includes the parable of the mustard seed, we can draw some conclusions about the meaning of the story from the previous parable. The mustard seed in the previous parable was something small that grew into something great, and we can therefore apply the same principle to the small leaven that causes new dough to rise.
“Three measures of meal, a common baking quantity (cf. Gen 18:6), equivalent to one and a half gallons (Gr saton; Heb seah)” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1201). Where the Nelson KJV Bible Commentary sees this unit of flour as a commonly used measurement, the Word in Life Study Bible portrays it as a hyperbole by Jesus. Women in the audience may have found it laughable that someone would try to leaven so much flour with just a small lump of leaven, but this was the genius of Christ’s illustration. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia confirms this. “Jesus, in the parable of the leaven (Matt 13:33; Luke 13:21) used the working of leaven to teach the pervasiveness of the kingdom which eventually transforms the world. The small bit of leaven – the Word – has power to accomplish this great result” (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol 3, pg. 902).
As Jesus reveals the meaning of parables to His disciples, He demonstrates a picture of our spiritual development, which mirrors our physical development. Just as children are unprepared for certain intellectual lessons or physical activities until a certain age, there is a linear progression of spiritual growth for which Jesus allowed when He was teaching. His disciples may have been ready for the deeper lesson, but the crowds were too immature in their faith to be able to handle the full implication of the message. Therefore, He taught them in parables (The Word in Life Study Bible pg. 1720).
In addition, His use of parables served to confirm His messiahship. Note all the scripture references that demonstrate how Jesus convinced people of His legitimacy by referencing the Old Testament (or the Prophets). Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
Jesus very often calls out the prophecy He is fulfilling from the Old Testament, and He does this here in Matthew 13:35, citing a passage from Psalms. I often think of Psalms as creative expressions of adoration by David (et al), and I sometimes forget that they are just as much God-breathed word as the rest of the Bible. The Psalms are full of prophecy and imagery about the Messiah. In past studies, we have discussed how it was typical for Jews to memorize long passages of scripture, so when Jesus cited a short line, it called to mind the entire context of the reference. Below is the context of the passage in Psalms, in order that I may leave you to contemplate the full implication of this reference.
Psalm 78:1 Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
Find the next post here https://onthepath.online/2022/04/20/parables-for-the-disciples/
Scripture References
Matthew 13:33
Genesis 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
Judges 6:19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.
1 Samuel 1:24 Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.
Matthew 13:34
Matthew 13:3 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
John 10:6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
John 16:25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
John 16:29 His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech.
Matthew 13:35
Psalm 78:2 I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from of old,
Matthew 5:2 and He began to teach them, saying:
Matthew 13:3 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past,
Mark 4:33
Matthew 13:3 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mark 4:32 But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”
Mark 4:34
Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
John 10:6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
John 16:25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
Acts 28:23 So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
Luke 13:20
Matthew 11:16 To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
Luke 13:18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it?
Commentary
Mt 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11 [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.] 12 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?
Mark 8:15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
Gal 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
Gen 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.”
Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
Matt 24:37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Ex 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
Lk 12:1 Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
1 Cor 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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