Nov. 4, Parable of the Leaven, Matthew 13:33
This parable, like the parable of the Mustard Seed, focuses on the growth of the Kingdom. The Parable of the Leaven (or Yeast) emphasizes the unseen but all-encompassing power of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
In a literal sense, bread or baking products are caused to rise by using an agent called yeast or leaven, which produces tiny air pockets in the dough. Many people today know little or nothing about this process because fewer and fewer people do their own baking. I remember as a child my mother using a small cake of yeast that looked similar to a half-stick of butter. After I got married, I observed my wife using small packets of dry yeast. In olden times, bread was made to rise by putting a small amount of sour (fermenting) dough from a previous batch into the flour. This in turn brought on fermentation to the new dough.
Symbolically, the significant thing about yeast is its power. Power can be good or evil. In this parable, Jesus speaks about the good power of the Kingdom which penetrates everything it touches and eventually transforms our lives and the entire world. Like a candle lit in a dark room that transforms the darkness into light, the smallest Gospel message shared or simplest deed done in Jesus’ Name will positively impact everything they touch.
33He 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.”
—Matt. 13:33
Imagine the work involved for a woman to mix yeast into 60 lbs. of flour, but the results are a significant increase from the smaller amount that she started with. I would agree that the power of the yeast is symbolic of the power the Holy Spirit working in us and in the Church to help us grow and transform us into the likeness of Christ.
ReplyDeleteIt also is beginning to look like a common theme among many of the parables: there is growth and increase of good things in the Kingdom of God, but there is also work required and rewards.