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Luke 13:20-21 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the Kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
THIS is the first of two lessons regarding growth as an essential substance of God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ Kingdom parable of the yeast seems straightforward to us. Yeast makes dough rise and expand. But this may have been especially difficult, even confusing for the Jews. Our culture and background have a great effect on our understanding of Scripture. For centuries the Jews’ culture had formed around the Passover. The Lord had commanded the Passover to begin with the sweeping of all yeast (leaven) from the home. Leaven symbolized sin, so it was a ceremonial cleaning of the home. A flat bread without yeast is the bread of the Passover. In the Old Covenant then, unleavened bread represented God’s grace to deliver the Jews from sin. Additionally, the daily manna God delivered to the Jews for 40 years was also bread without yeast. Bread without yeast also became a symbol of God’s “dally bread” – his provision. Why then would Jesus compare the Kingdom of God to yeast? Simply put, this was a different illustration. Yeast was in every household, and every person would understand its effects. God’s plan for your salvation was moving forward as yeast moves through the dough. Once the yeast begins its work, none can stop it until it is complete. The dough will rise to greater size to feed many that the unleavened bread would not feed. Yeast illustrates the Kingdom is a planned process to enlarge God’s Word. No force can stop the gospel’s worldwide redemptive work. Yes, it was with unleavened bread in his hands, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Yet this began a Kingdom-rising process. As yeast courses through the dough, the Holy Spirit has added Jesus’ redeeming body and blood into dead souls to raise them up to life. “Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass.” (2 Kings 19:25) Daily we must eat of Jesus, the Bread of Life, as we partake of God’s Holy Bible. We must pray for the Holy Spirit’s power to stir Jesus’ redemptive work into hungry souls to expand the gospel. Consistently, you must consume the Lord’s Supper to remember God’s promise and sacrifice. Be leaven to a culture flat in soul and mind because they do not know Jesus life-giving food. Comments are closed.
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AuthorBob James Archives
January 2025
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