Mt 13:33
He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’
Blog Discussion Question: What good is yeast alone?
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6 comments:
None. It will keep quite a while if kept in its package refrigerated, but its main purpose will not be accomplished there. Open the package....roll away the stone.
Pastor Jerry, Do the phrases "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" always mean the same thing?
Is the "kingdom of heaven" the same as the "kingdom of God"?
The simple answer is yes.
Now....if you want the longer answer....remember, the kingdom of God/Heaven is not a place, but is the reign of God, God's power, God's dominion. In Matthew Jesus always says, "kingdom of Heaven", and "kingdom of God" is the name for God's reign in Luke and Mark. Why is that? Different people may have different answers, but here's the answer that works for me: Matthew is careful in his telling of the story of Jesus to be faithful to Jewish tradition, and one of the traditions of Jewish people was to never say the name of God. So, when God's name appeared in the Bible, JWH in Hebrew, the tradition was to say the word LORD, adonai in Hebrew. This practice is carried on in many Bibles today. IN the Old Testament when the name of God appears, it is translated as LORD (all capitals). So, it seems that Matthew is continuing this practice as he passes on Jesus' words on God's Kingdom. Instead of writing "Kingdom of God", Matthew writes "Kingdom of Heaven".
There....that's the longer answer.
Rising yeast dough has a wonderful fragrance, too! Pretty boring stuff wrapped in the package....it's amazing how those lil' grains can be the difference between a baking success or a product as hard as a rock!
Happy Easter to all! Let's all keep these parable lessons close to our hearts....everyday! Especially the "open arms" of our God's lavish MERCY!
I agree yeast has no purpose alone. I think it is like the warm water being added the yeast encourages it to begin to grow. That to me seems like Jesus encourages each of us to grow. Through His warmth He is encouraging us and showing His abundance blessings. As we are "kneaded" by His hands we spread out encouraging others to grow with us.
Leavening mixed with flour has no effect at all. They are both dry ingredients. In fact, until you add not only liquid but also an agent for the yeast to feed on such as sugar or honey nothing will happen. It will never produce a product that is very appealing.
What about this? If we think of baptism as the leavening in our lives, ie. God's presence through the Holy Spirit. But that's not even close to the final product. Then this leavening must be fed for it to grow. So we are baptized, then we are taught the word through the teachings and reading of the Bible as we begin to grow. Then we start serving God because we're beginning to understand that everything we have is God's and we begin giving back to him through our time, money, and talents.
So through our baptism, the gift of life is given. And through that gift of life, God keeps drawing us closer and closer to Him through the word, the sacraments, and our service.
Good comments all!
As Martin Luther might say, "Yeast by itself is only yeast."
So it is with God's reign of love and power...it isn't meant to say in the refrigerator of heaven, but God mixes it up with the dough of this world....."for God so love the world".....and look what happens!
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