. THE PARABLE OF LEAVEN Someone has said, The key in understanding the New Testament is the book of Matthew, the key in understanding the book of Matthew is chapter 13 and the key in understanding chapter 13 is the Parable of Leaven. This parable is given by Jesus to us in one sentence. There is not a period until we come to the end of the verse. He told them still another parable: `The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough (Matthew 13:33). One is not left to his own opinion as to the meaning of this fourth parable. Christ, Himself, explained the first two, and the seventh, parables, therefore there can be no doubt as to their meanings. It seems obvious that the intervening remaining four parables must be interpreted in strict accord with the parables which Jesus did explain. There is a noticeable connection between the first two parable as to the beginning of the kingdom of heaven. Now we see a close relation between the third and the fourth parables, which treat the extension and corruption of the kingdom. In the third parable we saw the EXTERNAL aspect . . . or OUTWARD growth . . . of the kingdom, now, in this fourth parable, we see revealed the INTERNAL aspect, or the secret corruption, within the kingdom. Interestingly, when God was giving Israel the commandments for bringing sacrifices unto Him, He told them that the loaves must be made without yeast, however they were to put oil and incense on the grain, as an offering unto the LORD (Leviticus 2:11,16). This woman, of the fourth parable, does the very thing which God forbids, and she leaves out the very things, which Scripture commands her put in. The point of this parable is built around the introduction of leaven, or yeast, into the loaf. In Scripture, leaven symbolizes the corrupting of Gods truth by the introduction of evil, or false, doctrine. Matthew 16:12 states, Then they understood that He (that is, Jesus) was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 02:47:55 +0000
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