Jesus was comparing the kingdom of god to yeast

JESUS WAS COMPARING THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO YEAST
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 13:20-21 20Againhe asked, "Whatshall I
compare the kingdom of God to? 21It is like yeast that
a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of
flour until it worked all through the dough."
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Leaven?
Question:"What is the meaning of the Parable of the Leaven?"
Answer: Jesus’Parable of the Leaven is found in two of the Gospels. It is a
very simple story—a snapshotof life, really: “The kingdom of heaven is like
yeastthat a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it
workedall through the dough” (Matthew 13:33; cf. Luke 13:20-21).
Jesus uses this story as an objectlessonto illustrate the kingdom of heaven. A
woman takes yeast(leaven)and mixes it into dough. Eventually, the whole of
the dough is leavened. What does it mean?
First, it’s important to define “kingdomof heaven.” By this, Jesus is referring
to His domain as the Messiah. In the current age, the kingdom of heaven is
spiritual, existing within the hearts of believers (Luke 17:21). Later, the

kingdom will be manifest physically, when the Lord Jesus establishesHis
throne on this earth (Revelation11:15).
In the Parable of the Leaven, we learn severalthings about the working of the
kingdom in our present age. Eachof these lessons stems from the nature of
yeast.
First, the kingdom of God may have small beginnings, but it will increase.
Yeastis microscopic in size, and only a little is kneadedinto the dough. Yet,
given time, the yeastwill spread through all the dough. In the same way,
Jesus’domain started with twelve men in an obscure cornerof Galilee, but it
has spreadthroughout the world. The gospelmakes progress.
Second, the kingdom of God exerts its influence from within, not from
without. Yeastmakes dough rise from within. God first changes the heart of a
person, and that internal change has external manifestations. The gospel
influence in a culture works the same way: Christians within a culture act as
agents of change, slowlytransforming that culture from within.
Third, the effectof the kingdom of God will be comprehensive. Just as yeast
works until the dough has completely risen, the ultimate benefit of the
kingdom of God will be worldwide (Psalm 72:19;Daniel 2:35). “The earth will
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters coverthe
sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Fourth, although the kingdom of God works invisibly, its effectis evident to
all. Yeastdoes its job slowly, secretlyand silently, but no one can deny its
effecton bread. The same is true of the work of grace in our hearts.

The nature of yeastis to grow and to change whateverit contacts. Whenwe
acceptChrist, His grace grows in our hearts and changes us from the inside
out. As the gospeltransforms lives, it exerts a pervasive influence in the world
at large. As we “reflectthe Lord’s glory, [we] are being transformed into his
likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
https://www.gotquestions.org/parable-leaven.html
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The ForetoldNow Become The Told
Matthew 13:33-36 (see also Luke 13:20, 21)
P.C. Barker
In introduction, note that perhaps no parable more postulates that the student
of it insist on observing the essentialcanonin the interpretation of every
parable, viz. that its one main objectbe kept steadily in view, and that it was
kept in view by the Author of it. So much may be made, even by warrant of
Scripture, in respectof the ill associationsofleaven, that if this be dwelt upon
without a steadymemory of the quality and the one use of leaven, whether in
goodassociationorin bad, the student vision will be a double one, and his
judgment warped and distorted. So, though in risk far inferior, and of far less
moment, the incidents of this very brief parable, e.g. of the mention of the
"woman" who took the leaven, and of the "three measures" ofmeal in which
she is representedas hiding it, may easily be turned, for they have been so
turned, to what tends to mar, insteadof to complete our distinct apprehension
and appropriation of the matter of the parable. These may, indeed, heighten
effect, and, if possible, may beautify effect. They may be, perhaps, not

illegitimately used to these very ends. They may so chime in with history, with
fact, with reverent associations offaith, as not to be unjustified, for the very
helpfulness and devoutness of them. But they must be subordinated to their
right place and sphere with a stern resolution. Of this simplest parable
illustration of the kingdom of heaven on earth many difficulties have been
made, and not a little distortion and perversioneven; but in its brief simplicity
it says -
I. THAT A CERTAIN PRESENCE OF SELF-ACTING INTRINSIC
QUALITY AND TRANSMUTING FORCEIS INTRODUCED INTO WHAT
MAY BE CALLED THE SOCIETYOF THIS WORLD, OR, MORE
FORMALLY, THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD.
II. THAT THIS IS BROUGHT DISTINCTLYFROM WITHOUT, IN NO
SENSE BEING ONE WITHTHAT INTO WHICH IT IS INTRODUCED.
III. THAT SO SOON AS INTRODUCED, HOWEVER SILENTLY,
HOWEVER SUDDENLY, IT BEGINS TO INCORPORATE ITSELF, AND
TO BE ASSIMILATED, WORKING. UNCEASINGLY AND IN EVERY
DIRECTION UPON THE MASS OF MATERIAL IN WHICH IT IS
HIDDEN, AND IN WHICH IT SEEMS SMOTHERED.
IV. THAT ITS OPERATION DOES NOT CEASE UNTIL IT HAS
TRANSMUTED THAT WHOLE MASS. All this was foretold; and all this
was divinely calledparable. But history has told it, and it has ceasedby any
possibility to be able to be calledmere parable. In every respectit has been
witnessedto, illustrated by most evident facts, and proved with not a shadow
of doubt or uncertainty. The amazing mission of Christ to this world, his
sojourn in it, his replacement by the Holy Spirit, the suddenness of this new
and most wonderful and most gracious "departure," the silence and obscurity
of the subduing and transforming work, and its unceasingnessto the present
hour, have all been fact, and are all forming an overwhelming presage of the

further development and growth of their conquering powerand grace. It
means that the process, so wonderful, so potent, so beneficent, shall know no
pause till the whole lump is leavened. - B.
Biblical Illustrator
It Is like leaven.
Luke 13:20, 21
The hidden leaven
R. Hall, M. A.
The kingdom of heaven, or the work of God in the soul, is like leaven.
1. It at once occurs to us that leavenis something foreign to and different from
the meal in which it is hidden; that it does not spring from or arise out of any
fermentation in the meal; for, if left to itself, the meal would decay, and would
never become leavened. Leaven has therefore to be introduced. It must be
inserted, or, as the word here expressesit, "hidden." And this implies that

"the kingdom of God cometh not with observation." Yetit comes, it is not
there, it does not grow in a man, it does not come in the natural birth, it is not
born "of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God";
therefore, whereverthere is the work of holiness in the soul of the sinner, it is
"a new birth unto righteousness,"he is "delivered from the powerof darkness
and translatedinto the kingdom of God's dear Son."
2. Then, it is clear, in the next place, that grace in the heart will be an abiding
work — it will be energetic and permanent. Howsoeverand wheresoevera
man receives grace, whetherin regeneration, atbaptism, in approaching
God's table, in the reading or the preaching of the Word, through the
instrumentality of sickness ortribulation; whateverthe time, or the date, or
the circumstance, it will be active, and it will put forth energy in the soul. The
very purpose and objectof it is that it may leaven and produce a revolution, a
rejuvenation, a transformation in the heart in which it is lodged. Therefore,
brethren, we have no saving grace, unless it is working in our souls, and
working mightily and effectually.
3. Next, it is clearthat the result will be in those in whom it is hidden that it
will be assimilated, and that it will produce effects similar to itself. Though the
leavedbe a foreign infusion into the meal, yet the leavenacts upon the meal,
and makes it partake of its flavour, and like the leaven in taste, and action,
and result; so that it assimilates. And is it not so in regard to grace gotinto a
man's heart? It is not to be upon him as a mere scion — tied to a tree, but not
incorporatedwith the tree; but it is to be in him, as a graft inserted in the
stock and incorporatedwith the stock, so that it is no longer the old graft, but
it is producing genuine fruit; instead of the crab, the apple from the gardenof
Eden shall be the result. Even so the grace of Godin the soul of man works in
him.

4. But it is a comfort to think, in the next place, that the assimilating operation
of this leavenis gradual and progressive. It is not all at once. It is what may be
in existence some time before it is discoverable in its results. Its progress is
slow, but certain.
5. And it is pervasive. The leavenleavens on until it pervades the whole mass.
A man, if he has the grace of God, cannot be goodin one week and bad in
another.
6. And then, brethren, the crownof the whole is, that the leaven shall
ultimately pervade the whole mass. Before it is complete the whole mass is
assimilated, and prepared, and so the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven
hid in meal. Yes, brethren, this is indeed the ground of our encouragement.
He is faithful, "who also will do it"; and again, "Godis faithful" who will
"perform"; and again, it is said, God "workethin you both to will and to do";
and, if He works in you, can the work fail?"
(R. Hall, M. A.)
The growth of the kingdom
H. W. Beecher.
You tell your child that this pine-tree out here in the sandy field is one day
going to be as large as that greatsonorous pine that sings to every wind in the
wood. The child, incredulous, determines to watch and see whether the field-
pine really does grow and become as large as you say it will. So, the next
morning, he goes out and takes a look at it, and comes back and says, "It has
not growna particle." At night he goes outand looks at it again, and comes
back and says, "It has not grown a bit." The next week he goes out, and looks
at it again, and comes back, and says, "It has not grown yet. Father saidit

would be as large as the pine-tree in the wood, but I do not see any likelihood
of its becoming so." How long did it take the pine-tree in the wood to grow?
Two hundred years. Then men who lived when it began to grow have been
buried, and generations besides have come and gone since then. And do you
suppose that God's kingdom is going to grow so that you can look at it and see
that it has grownduring any particular day? You cannot see it grow. All
around you are things that are growing, but that you cannot see grow. And if
it is so with trees, and things that spring out of the ground, how much more is
it so with the kingdom of God! That kingdom is advancing surely, though it
advances slowly, and though it is invisible to us. You will remember our
Master's beautiful parable, where He says, "The kingdom of heaven is like
unto leaven, which a womantook and hid in three measures of meal till the
whole was leavened." I suppose you know what that means. I go into your
kitchen when you are baking bread, and ask, "Whatis that you are stirring
into that flour?" You say, "It is yeast." I ask, "Whatis it for?" You say, "It is
to raise the bread." I imagine that it is to raise it in a way that shall be
perceptible to my senses, and say, "Let me see it do it." You set the bread
awayin a warm place, or at the south, in a coolplace, if you can find one, and
you say, "Now it will rise." After watching it closelyfor a while, I say to you,
"I do not see that it has risen at all." You say, "Bless you, my child, you
cannot see it rise!" I go away, and stay till I think it will have come up, if there
is any such thing as its coming up, and then go back, but I cannot see that it
has undergone any change. I wait and wait and wait, and at last say, "I do not
believe it is going to rise." And you say, "It has risen already," and tear it
open; and lo! it is full of holes; and you say, "Now do not you believe that it
has risen? It has been rising all the time, only you could not see it rise." Christ
says that His kingdom is just like that. It is a greatkingdom, which extends all
over the world, and into which He has put the leavenof Divine grace. That
grace is like yeast, and it works in this kingdom of Christ. You cannotsee it,
even if you watchfor it; but there it is; and if, after a while, you go and look at
it, you will be convincedthat it has been working, by the results which it has
produced. You will find that things have been done, though you could not see
them done. Men are becoming better the world over, though you cannot trace
the process by which they are becoming better. Christ's kingdom goes
forward from age to age, though you cannotdiscern the steps by which it is

going forward. While men, as individuals, pass off from the stage oflife, God's
work does not stop.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The leaven
R. Flint.
I. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE HEART IS LIKE LEAVEN HID IN
MEAL. It is SO, first of all, because something which does not belong to
human nature, something which does not originate there, is introduced into it.
The leavenwas not in the meal from the first, did not inherently belong to it;
on the contrary, a woman took the leaven and hid it in the meal. The meal did
not change itself: and no more does man change himself. It is only a power not
his ownwhich canchange him. Bug the doctrine of the Cross is indeed in a
heart as leaven in meal. It is as if hid in the heart. You cannotsee it. You
cannot touch it. It ferments within, concealedfrom feeble human sense;a
secretpowerof life at the centre of the soul; a silent, unobtrusive powerslowly
but surely working its wayoutwards. Before the gospelcanchange the heart
in any degree, before it canact either quickly or slowly, it must of course be in
the heart, actually in it, and not outside of it, however near to it. The leaven
did not, and could not, produce any change in the meal until the woman
opened the mass of meal and put the leaveninto the midst of it. Leaven in one
comerof a room will not leaven meal in another; and no less absurd is it to
suppose that, if the gospelbe merely in your intellects, and the world be in
your hearts, the gospelso placed will renew your hearts and sanctify your
lives. The manner, also, in which leaven acts on meal illustrates singularly well
the manner in which the gospelofthe kingdom, the truth as it is in Christ,
acts on the heart and life. Leaven changes the nature, yet does not destroythe
substance of meal. Meal leavenedremains meal, but endowedwith new
properties, and adapted for new uses. It acquires another character, another
appearance, anotherfragrance and taste. So the gospeldoes not destroy any
inherent power or faculty of the mind, but gives to all its powers and faculties
a different character, a new direction. It does not even destroythe natural

peculiarities distinctive of individuals. Again, different men have been
endowedwith intellect, sensibility, and will, in very different proportions. In
one man intellect greatlypreponderates;in anothersensibility; and in another
will. There are some who seem, as it were, all intellect, who analyze
everything, reasonout everything — who canfind no rest until they see
clearly the naked truth — who must have their graspfirmly on principles
before they can proceedat all, but who are exceedinglyself-containedas to the
expressionof feeling, and from whose lips anything like sentiment or poetry
would sound unnatural and unreal. There are others whose minds, although
far inferior in closenessofintellectual graspand keenness ofintellectual
penetration, yet possessa delicacyand depth of feeling which render them,
perhaps, still more worthy of admiration. There are others who with very
moderate endowments, either intellectualor moral, command the greatest
respect, and win implicit confidence through their force, decision, and
rectitude of will. Now, one of these forms of charactermay be more desirable
than another, and a better form than any of them, an ideally bestform, might
be one in which the three elements — intellect, sensibility, and will — were
equally mingled. But certain it is that all the forms exist, and that their
distinctive features have their ground in the original constitution of
individuals. Certainit is also that the gospeldoes not reduce these forms to
one common type. It has no tendency even to lessenany of their characteristic
peculiarities. Again, the gospelacts like leaven, because it works from within
outwards in all directions. Leaven diffuses itself through the mass in which it
is hid equally all round until the whole is leavened. So the gospelis a power
which does not exert itself, as it were, only in one straight line, but in every
direction all through the nature. It does not seize on one faculty of the soul
and change it, and then advance to another faculty and change it, and so on
till the whole man is changed. It does not deal with the will at one time, with
the feelings at another, and the intellectat another, waiting until it has
affecteda complete conquestin the one regionof human nature before it
proceeds to the others; but it grasps all the elements and faculties of the soul
at once, and works onall simultaneously. This diffusion of the gospelthrough
the life is like that of leaven in meal, secret, gradual, and complete. It is secret.
The operationof the Spirit in the regenerationof man is as invisible as the

operationof leavenin the conversionof meal into bread. No eye but that of
God can trace it.
II. Having thus endeavouredto show that the gospelworks in the heart of the
individual like leaven in meal, I have now to show THAT IT WORKS AFTER
THE SAME MANNER IN SOCIETY. It is a twofoldprocess — specialand
general. There is a specialactionof part on part, and also a generalactionof
the whole on eachpart. There is a specialactionof part on part. Christ, when
He had communicated of His life and Spirit to His apostles, forinstance,
enabled them too, poor and despisedand unlearned as they were, to
communicate of the same to others, and so to become in their turn the leaven
of the world. In a mass of meal subjectedto the actionof leaven, eachleavened
particle acts upon all those in immediate contactwith it, leavening more
deeply the only partially leavened, and conveying the leavento those which
have not previously come under its power; and not otherwise is it in society,
where every individual who has experiencedin himself the efficacyof the
gospelbecomes forthe circle of his influence, as leaven, to work still farther.
He communicates of the grace which he has received. Besides this special
actionof part on part, of individual on individual, there is also, as I have said,
a generalactionof the whole on eachpart of society, on the individual. The
gospelis not without influence even where it is not closedwith as the powerof
God unto salvation. It so far imbues, or at leastmodifies, by its spirit all the
laws, institutions, and usages ofsociety, that none, not even those most hostile
to it, live as they would have done if it had not been. It improves both the
characters andconduct of men in every case, althoughit may be only seldom
that it works a genuine conversionin them. It demonstrates its energy more or
less even on those who count themselves unworthy of eternal life. Let us draw
from history an illustration or two. The civilizations of antiquity rested on
force. Slavery was their central fact. It is only slowly, only step by step, that
societyhas emancipated itself from this condition of things. St. Paul sent back
a fugitive slave to his master, the runaway convert Onesimus, to Philemon;
and neither in the Old Testamentnor the New is there any explicit statement
againstslavery. The spirit of the gospelcondemns it, but not the letter. The
spirit of the gospel, however, graduallyput forth its Divine power. Little by
little the slave of antiquity gave place to the serf of the Middle Ages, attached

to the soil, but also protectedby it; little by little feudal Europe ripened into
industrial Europe, and the serf became the hired labourer; little by little free
labour and commerce rose into importance, and brought with them security
of person and property, the spirit of independence, the sense of human
equality, the power of self-government, a truer conceptionof justice, the arts
of peace, a new and broader and far more Christian civilization. Our own day
has seenthe ancient tyranny of man over man, in its double form of pure
slavery and of serfage,receive two signaland heavy blows, one on the old
continent and the other on the new, and on both, in Russia and in America
alike, the present has proved itself stronger than the past — what is paganhas
had to succumb before what is Christian. Take anotherexample. See what the
gospelhas done in the domestic circle. The paganfamily, with its deplorable
degradationof the woman, continued for generations within the Church. That
was castoff at length, but the grave error of despising and depreciating
domestic life was introduced. The Reformers were gradually led to perceive
that the family required not to be suppressed, but only to be sanctified; yet
their views of it were pervaded by a narrow and legalspirit which has borne
bitter fruits, and which societyhas been ever since outgrowing. The true
conceptionof the family is of far more recent date than the Reformation, and
is still vague and imperfect. If we ask to whom this progress is due, no one can
distinctly tell us, for it is a silent and secretmovement which has been little if
at all associatedwith individual and party names. It comes of that unceasing
purpose which runs through the ages, widening the thoughts and sympathies
of men. It comes of that invisible powerwhich dwells in the gospeland works
through humanity, leavening it more and more, transforming it more and
more into the holy, beautiful, and glorious kingdom of God.
(R. Flint.)
The leaven
J. Wells, M. A.

I. GRACE OUT OF US. The leaven was not in the meal to begin with, but was
put into it by the woman. And so we must go out of ourselves to find the
source and supply of grace. We are glad to know that this leaven is sometimes
in young hearts very early, before they can remember, even from their birth;
but in every case it is the same heavenly leaven. It brings a new life into the
soul.
II. GRACE FOR US. The leaven is for the meal: anywhere else it is useless,
lost. Planted in the soil, it decays;left in the open air, it wastes.As Godhas
made leaven for the meal, so all His grace is for the soul of man. And God's
grace is for the sinful only. God the Fatherdoes not need it; Jesus Christ does
not need it; the Holy Ghostdoes not need it; the angels in heaven do not need
it — they have no sins to be forgiven, no wants to be supplied; the angels who
fell have it not in their offer. The riches of God's grace are all to be used, and
to be used by sinners like us.
III. GRACE IS US. The womanin baking opens up the meal with her hands,
puts the leaven in the centre, and covers it over. The RomanCatholics seem,
many of them, to forgetthat the leaven must be in them. The Italian brigand
wears carefully on his breast a cross and charms which the priest has blessed.
He must have the sign on the breast, though he has not a particle of the thing
signified within. You have heard of "the Holy Stairs" at Rome. They
belonged, it is said, to the house of Pontius Pilate, and were mounted by our
Saviour on the last day of His life. One of the popes granted nine years of
indulgence for eachof the twenty-eight steps, to every one who climbed them
on his knees, with a contrite heart. Pius VII. in 1817 "renewedthis indulgence,
but perpetually, and declaredthat it may be applied also to the souls in
purgatory"; and the lastpope approved of that declaration. It is most
humbling to see hundreds at the present day climbing these stairs on their
knees and kissing them, and fancying that their souls have somehow gotmuch
profit by the exercise. The marble steps have been severedthree times with
woodto protect the marble from being worn awayI and you notice that the
marble in the centre has been worn down two or three inches. Luther was
climbing these stairs, when the words flashed upon him, "The just shall live

by faith." Filled with shame, he rushed off, and from that day remembered
that grace is something within and not without the man. In the Middle Ages
wickedkings often gave orders that they should be buried in a monk's frock.
Wearing such a dress, they hoped that Peterwould be deceived, and would let
him into heaven. And Popish errors often lurk among Protestants;for all the
errors of Romanismhave their origin in fallen human nature. Lord Macaulay
tells that a ColonelTurner was hanged for burglary fully two hundred years
ago. At the gallows he told the crowdthat he had receivedgreatcomfort from
one reflection:he had never entereda church without taking off his hat. Ah!
you may find traces of such mistakes nearerhome. There is room in your little
heart for the whole kingdom of heaven; but it must be in your heart, else all
the outward observancesin the world won't profit you. For the leaven never
leavens till it is hid in the meal. So grace has no power till it is planted in your
inmost part.
IV. GRACE SPREADS IN US. It has been found out quite lately how the
leavenspreads. It grows like a plant with the most amazing rapidity. When
the meal has enough of water and warmth, the leavenmultiplies itself on
every side. Though it seems deadand small, it is yet a living thing with an
enormous greedof growth, which is one of the greatestwonders in the
wonder-world of chemistry. Leaven does not spread in unground grain, for
the hard covering resists its entrance. And so the coatings ofour pride must
be taken away, and our spirits must be made contrite, and then shall the
leavenspread. O my God, is Thy leaven in me? Is it spreading within me?
V. GRACE SPREADS, OR SHOULD SPREAD, THROUGHAND
THROUGH US. For it is like leaven hid in three measures ofmeal till the
whole was leavened. Your tea-table yields a goodillustration of a spreading
powerlike that of leaven. The melted sugargoes through every drop of your
tea and sweetens it; the cream mixes itself with the whole cupful, and colours
it. God's grace should likewise give a heavenly sweetness andcolouring to the
whole life. It does more than touch, it influences; it does more than influence,

it controls all. We may take the three measures of meal for the three chief
parts of our nature — the body, the mind, and the heart. Our nature is not
diseasedas an apple or a potato is diseased, but as the blood is diseasedwhen
poison courses throughthe whole. Nor is our nature like those newly-built
ships, which have many watertightcompartments, one of which may be filled
with the inrushing sea, while the rest remain dry. The parts of our nature lie
togetherlike the three measures of meal, so that the leaven can pass easily
from the one to the other, and so through all. Grace will thus mix itself up
with your home-life, your school-life, and by and by, with your public life.
Spreading silently through the whole, it will, by uniting all the gracesupon
you, make your charactergraciousand graceful.
VI. GRACE SHOULD SPREAD THROUGHUS INTO OTHERS. The leaven
wins over all the meal to its own side, and makes it like itself. A clerk who
hated swearing enteredone of our large offices where nearly all were profane.
Soonnot an oath was heard. His example, by a happy contagion, prevailed
among all his associates. A minister, whose church was situatednear the
barracks, one day said to a soldier, "I wonder at you soldiers;you cango up
to the cannon mouth, and you have not courage to pray before your
comrades." "Youare mistaken," was the reply. "A recruit lately came into
our room, and the first night he knelt down to pray. A showerof pillows, belts,
and shoes fell upon him. He did so for five nights. On the fifth night, one of the
wildest men in our company shouted, 'Halt, lads! that's enough; he can stand
fire!' That wild man knelt down by his side, and now most of the men in our
room engage in prayer, and severalof us have become professors ofChrist."
(J. Wells, M. A.)

COMMENTARIES
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
13:18-22 Here is the progress ofthe gospelforetoldin two parables, as in Mt
13. The kingdom of the Messiahis the kingdom of God. May grace grow in
our hearts;may our faith and love grow exceedingly, so as to give undoubted
evidence of their reality. May the example of God's saints be blessedto those
among whom they live; and may his grace flow from heart to heart, until the
little one becomes a thousand.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
See these parables explained in the notes at Matthew 13:31-32.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
Lu 13:18-30. MiscellaneousTeachings.
18-21. mustard seed… leaven—(See on[1657]Mr4:30-32). The parable of
"the Leaven" sets forth, perhaps, rather the inward growth of the kingdom,
while "the Mustard Seed" seems to point chiefly to the outward. It being a
woman's work to knead, it seems a refinement to say that "the woman" here
represents the Church, as the instrument of depositing the leaven. Nor does it
yield much satisfactionto understand the "three measures of meal" of that
threefold division of our nature into "spirit, soul, and body," (alluded to in
1Th 5:23) or of the threefold partition of the world among the three sons of
Noah(Ge 10:32), as some do. It yields more real satisfactionto see in this brief
parable just the all-penetrating and assimilating quality of the Gospel, by
virtue of which it will yet mould all institutions and tribes of men, and exhibit
over the whole earth one "Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." (See on
[1658]Re 11:15).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Luke 13:20"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And againhe said,.... Thatis, Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express
it; besides the parable of the grain of mustard seed, that also of the leavenhid
in three measures of meal:
whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God; either the Gospelof the kingdom,
and the mysteries of it; or the church, which is Christ's kingdom; or the grace
of God in the heart, which makes meet for the kingdom of glory; the first
seems rather to be intended; See Gill on Matthew 13:33.
Geneva Study Bible
And againhe said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 13:20. The parable of the leavenis given as in Mt. The point of both is
that the Kingdom of Heaven, insignificant to begin with, will become great. In
the mind of the evangelistboth have probably a reference to Gentile
Christianity.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD

Luke 13:20 And againHe said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of
God?
Luke 13 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Luke 13:18-21 Why You Want To Be On Jesus’Side - Steven Cole
Luke 13:18-21 The Increasing Influence of the Kingdom - John MacArthur
Luke 13:18-19 Mustard Seedfor Sunday-SchoolTeacher - C H Spurgeon
ANOTHER COMPARISON OF
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
And againHe said - The adjective palin in this contextobviously means
repetition. The truth in this next parable is similar to the preceding. Surely
His disciples must have been encouragedby this repetition, which is divine
"shorthand" for "We win!" because "Godwins!" As alluded to above Jesus
encouragedthem in some of His last words to them before He ascended
"speaking ofthe things concerning the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3+) We too
need to keepthis "future focus" so that we do "not lose heart in doing good,
for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." (Gal 6:9+).
Peterexhorted the afflicted saints (1 Pe 1:6-7+, 1 Pe 4:12+)to keepa "future
focus" (enabled by the Spirit and the Word)...
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keepsoberin spirit, fix your hope
(aorist imperative - see our need to depend on Holy Spirit to obey) completely
on the grace to be brought to you at the revelationof Jesus Christ. (1 Peter
1:13+).

Comment: And remember that BIBLICAL HOPE is not "hope so" but "hope
sure," an absolute assurance that God will do goodto us in the future and in
the contextof these 2 parables, it is the absolute assurance that God's
Kingdom will come just as we have been praying for for the past 2000 years
("Your Kingdom come" - Mt 6:10+)!
To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? - Essentiallythe same as the
rhetoricalquestion in Lk 13:18 to introduce the second"growthparable."
See kingdom of God above.
Luke 13:21 "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of
flour until it was all leavened."
KJV Luke 13:21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
It is like leaven, which a womantook and hid in three pecks of flour Mt 13:33;
until it was all leavenedJob 17:9; Ps 92:13,14;Pr 4:18; Ho 6:3; Jn 4:14; 15:2;
1 Cor 5:6; Phil 1:6,9-11;1 Th 5:23,24;James 1:21
Luke 13 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Luke 13:18-21 Why You Want To Be On Jesus’Side - Steven Cole
Luke 13:18-21 The Increasing Influence of the Kingdom - John MacArthur
ParallelPassage:

Matthew 13:33+ He spoke anotherparable to them, “The kingdom of heaven
is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks offlour until it was
all leavened.”
PARABLE OF LEAVEN
It is like leaven, which a womantook and hid in three pecks of flour - While
leavenis often used in a negative sense (Lk 12:1, 1 Cor5:6), in the present
context leavenis used in a positive to conveythe fact that the Kingdom of God
would spread even as leaven spreads in dough until the entire loaf is leavened.
The verb hid conveys no specialsignificance exceptto emphasize the idea that
even though it is out of sight, it is still very much at work. So too the is the
Kingdom of God. This "prophetic" parable of the Kingdom will not come to
complete fruition until the King returns and establishes His 1000 yearearthly
Kingdom. In the meantime, the Kingdom expands in all whose hearts are
transformed by the King's Gospel.
Leaven (yeast)(2219)(zume probably from zeo = to heat, as occurs in
fermentation of dough when leaven is mixed in) was literally a small portion
of dough that was retainedin order to start a new batch of dough (literal uses
- Mt 16:12; Lk 13:21; 1 Cor5:6; Gal 5:9). Leaven or yeastis a single-celled
fungus that promotes fermentation. When put into bread dough, it produces
carbon dioxide bubbles that cause the dough to rise. In ancienttimes, when
bread was about to be baked, a small piece of dough was pulled off and saved.
That leaven or yeastwould then be allowedto ferment in water, and later
kneadedinto the next batch of fresh dough to make it rise. Zume was used
proverbially to demonstrate greateffectfrom little causes (Gal5:9). Leaven
throughout Scripture was used figuratively to describe permeating power or
influence, usually the influence of evil, but also of goodas here in Lk 13:21
referring to the growth or expansion of the Kingdom of God.

Steven Cole on leaven...hidin three pecks offlour - The size of the task
proportionate to the smallness of the force is not a hindrance to Jesus’
ultimate triumph. The woman’s three measures of flour were equal to about
39 liters or 50 pounds of flour, a large amount. The point is that just a small
amount of leaven was all that was neededto permeate this large mass of
dough....Since leavenis often used in the Bible as a symbol for sin, some
commentators understand this parable to be referring to the spread of false
doctrine in the church. But this is to overturn the obvious contextualflow of
thought. Sometimes in the Bible, leaven is not a symbol for evil (Lev 7:13+;
Lev 23:15-18+), andit can be argued that Jesus is using a somewhatdifferent
meaning to grab His hearers attention and to give the parable a provocative
twist. So the meaning here is parallel to the meaning of the small mustard
seed. The smallness of the pinch of leaven is not a problem even though the
lump is large. The smallness of Jesus and His ragtag band of followers is no
problem with regard to the worldwide spread of the gospel. The powerdoes
not depend on Jesus’followers, but on the powerof God through the Gospel
(Ro 1:16+). The leavenmust come in contactwith the dough for the power to
be unleashed. We’ve already seenthe same point with regardto the seed. Here
there may be the nuance that once the contactis made, the power works from
the inside out. That is how the gospelworks as Godtransforms the hearts of
sinners. (Luke 13:18-21 Why You Want To Be On Jesus’Side)
Until - expressionof time - This is the preposition heos (2193)which is used
here as a temporal conjunction "to link the event marking the end of a time
period to another element in the sentence." (Friberg)The Englishdictionary
says until means "happening or done up to a particular point in time, and
then stopping; Up to the time that (a condition becomes true." So what? The
implication of UNTIL is that the condition will come true! God's Kingdom
will prevail over man's kingdom! In factthe Bible gives a prophecy which
parallels Jesus'two "prophetic parables"

For the earth will be filled With the knowledge ofthe glory of the LORD, as
the waters coverthe sea. (Hab 2:14-note)
Comment: This greatprophecy is given five times in the OT: Nu 14:21, Ps
72:19 Isa 6:3 Isa 11:9 Hab 2:14.
A little leaven canleaven a very large lump of dough.
Until it was all leavened - This is a "load" of flour which is about 50 pounds
and would make enough bread to feed over 100 people. Why Jesus usedsuch a
large amount of flour is not absolutely clear. A reasonable interpretationis
that even though the amount of flour is very large, given enough time the
leavenwill permeate it entirely. The world is large and there are still over
6000 unreachedpeople groups, but the Gospelwill eventually spread(like
leaven) even to those who are now unreached. The book of the Revelation
underscores this truth writing that in the future kingdom there will be men
from "every tribe and every tongue and every people and every nation. “You
have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign
upon the earth." (Rev 5:9-10+)
Steven Cole - These parables do not teachpostmillennialism, that the Gospel
will spreaduntil all the world is converted, at which point Jesus will return.
Many other Scriptures refute this view (e.g., 2 Th 2:1-8). But they do teach
that the Gospelwill spreadto all peoples and that God’s sovereignpurpose
through Christ will be accomplished. He will build His church and the gates of
hell will not prevail againstit (Mt 16:18). Dr. Ralph Winter of the U.S. Center
for World Missionhas shownthat in 1430 A.D., the totalnumber of Bible-
believing Christians proportionate to the total world population was only one
percent. But by 1993, thatnumber had progressivelyincreasedto ten percent.
He says that the kingdom of Christ is currently expanding at a rate of over

three times the rate of world population growth (“MissionFrontiers,”
May/June, 1994, p. 5). If you’re not already on Jesus’side, these two parables
should alarm you because youare opposedto that which inevitably will
prevail. You need to cross the line by trusting in Christ as your Savior and
Lord. If you are on Jesus’side, these parables should encourage you to sow
the seedof the gospel, because Godwill powerfully use it for the conversionof
sinners and the fulfillment of His purpose of being glorified in all the earth.
You want to be on Jesus’side because ultimately He will triumph over all.
(Luke 13:18-21 Why You Want To Be On Jesus’Side)
Mattoon- Leaven is normally used to illustrate the influence of sin in the
Bible, but here, it is used to illustrate the spreading influence of God's
kingdom. The leavenstarts out small, but then it changes the entire nature of
the dough. That is what Christ does in us as we yield to Him. We are new
creatures in Christ. Paul said, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature:old things are passedaway;behold, all things are become new (2
Corinthians 5:17-note)." As we yield to Christ in our heart and mind, we
change and become more like Him as He works in us. Paul spoke ofthis
surrender and the resulting transformation is us. (cf Ro 12:1-2-note). The
effectof leaven may go unnoticed, but it is working, changing the nature of
the dough. God's working in our lives may go unseen at first, but He is
working in our hearts. (cf Php 1:6-note). As the leaven does its work on the
inside of the dough, our Lord works in our heart, changing us on the inside,
which in turn, effects our behavior on the outside. We have no power to
change ourselves. We are incapable, incompetent, inept, and ineffective in
cleaning up our wickedheart. The powerto change our ways, conquersinful
habits, and conform to the image of Christ must come from the Lord, who
works within our heart and soulwhen our faith and trust are in Him. Without
Him, we are helpless. (See Jn1:12, Jn 15:5)
In my humble opinion to see the parable of leaven as evil is an incorrect
interpretation and totally misses Jesus'point to the disciples. After seeing

their leaderaccusedof being demon possessedand after the "poor yield" of
the Gospelseedin the parable of the soils, the disciples had to be wondering
about the future of the Kingdom of God. Therefore it would not be
encouraging to hear that the Kingdom was going to be infiltrated and
corrupted by Satanicallyinspired, sinful people who would profess to be
Christians. It seems farmore likely that He was giving His disciples the
parable of the unstoppable growth of the mustard seedand penetrating
influence of the leaven to encourage His men.
And so I am much more in agreementwith interpretations like John
MacArthur who writes "The first point in this parable is that small things can
have greatinfluence, in the way that a small piece of leaveneddough can
permeate a large piece of unleavened dough to make it rise. The powerof the
kingdom of heaven is great, far greaterthan its initial size and appearance
would suggest. The smallestpart of the kingdom that is placedin the world is
sure to have influence, because it contains the powerof God’s own Spirit. The
influence of the kingdom is the influence of the King, of His Word, and of His
faithful people. The secondpoint of the parable is that the influence is
positive. Leavenedbread has always been consideredtastierand more
enjoyable than unleavened. To symbolize the break with their former life in
Egypt, God commanded His people to eatonly unleavened bread during the
Feastofthe Unleavened Bread, which beganon Passoverevening. Theywere
not even allowedto have leavenof any sort in the house during the seven days
of the feast(Ex. 12:15, 18–19). Butthe bread they ate the rest of the year was
leavenedand perfectly acceptable to the Lord. To the average personof Jesus’
day, Jew or Gentile, there is no evidence that leavencarried any connotation
of evil or corruption. The ancient rabbis often referred to leaven in a
favorable way. One of them wrote, “Greatis peace, in that peace is to the
earth as leaven is to the dough.” When a Jewishgirl was married, her mother
would give her a small piece of leavened dough from a batch bakedjust before
the wedding. From that gift of leaven the bride would bake bread for her own
household throughout her married life. That gift, simple as it was, was among
the most cherishedthat the bride received, because itrepresentedthe love and
blessednessofthe householdin which she grew up and that would be carried

into the household she was about to establish. (MNTC-Mt)(For more
backgrounddiscussionon leaven see Dr MacArthur's companion sermon The
Powerand Influence of Christ's Kingdom 2)
ESV Study Bible - Some think these parables teachonly the contrastbetween
the small beginning and large end result, and not the gradual growth process
of the kingdom betweenstart and finish. Others argue that the growth process
is also in view. Both sides agree that the parables contrastthe apparently
small and unnoticed arrival of the kingdom (the “alreadynow”) with its
extensive and glorious consummation when the Son of Man returns (the “not
yet”).
As noted above some writers give this parable giving a negative meaning (see
What is the meaning of the Parable?).
G. Campbell Morganwrote that the leaven represents “paganizing
influences” brought into the church. “The parable of the tree, teaches the
growth of the Kingdom into a greatpower; and the second, the parable of the
leaven, its corruption.” (Matthew 13:33)
David Guzik agrees commenting that "The idea of hiding leaven in three
measures of meal would have offended any observant Jew. This certainly isn’t
a picture of the church gradually influencing the whole world for good. Even
as the recentexperience in the synagogue showedreligious corruption of some
sort, Jesus announced that His kingdom community would also be threatened
by corruption and impurity." (Matthew 13 Commentary)
Warren Wiersbe - The leaven—falsedoctrine (v. 33). The mustard seed
illustrates the false outward expansion of the kingdom, while the leaven

illustrates the inward development of false doctrine and false living. (Bible
Exposition Commentary)
Craig Keener applies the principles of the parable of the mustard seedand the
leaven- We Christians sound foolish to those outside Jesus'circle when we
speak of a final judgment and living for a future kingdom; what does that
have to do with the troubles of daily life in the present? But those who have
pressedinto Jesus'circle today, like those who did so two thousand years ago,
know who Jesus really is. Despite the magnitude of the task before us, we dare
not despise the "smallness"ofour own works, forGod's entire program long
ago came hidden in a small package. (Matthew 13 Commentary)
WILLIAM BARCLAY
THE LEAVEN OF THE KINGDOM (Luke 13:20-21)
13:20-21 Again Jesus said, "To whatwill I liken the kingdom of God? It is like
leaven, which a womantook and hid in three measures of meal, until the
whole was leavened."
This is an illustration which Jesus took from his ownhome. In those days
bread was baked at home. Leavenwas a little piece of dough which had been
kept over from the lastbaking and had fermented in the keeping. Leavenis
regularly used in Jewishthought for influence, usually for bad influence,
because the Jews identified fermentation with putrefaction. Jesus had seen
Mary put a little bit of leavenin the dough and had seenthe whole character
of the dough changedbecause of it. "That," he said, "is how my kingdom
comes."

There are two interpretations of this parable. From the first the following
points emerge.
(i) The kingdom of heavenstarts from the smallestbeginnings. The leaven was
very small but it changedthe whole characterofthe dough. We well know
how in any court, or committee, or board, one person can be a focus of trouble
or a centre of peace. The kingdom of heaven starts from the dedicatedlives of
individual men and women. In the place where we work or live we may be the
only professing Christians;if that be so, it is our task to be the leavenof the
kingdom there.
(ii) The kingdom of heavenworks unseen. We do not see the leavenworking
but all the time it is fulfilling its function. The kingdom is on the way. Anyone
who knows a little history will be bound to see that. Seneca, thanwhom the
Romans had no higher thinker, could write, "We strangle a mad dog; we
slaughtera fierce ox; we plunge the knife into sicklycattle lest they taint the
herd; children who are born weaklyand deformed we drown." In A.D. 60
that was the normal thing. Things like that cannot happen today because
slowly, but inevitably, the kingdom is on the way.
(iii) The kingdom of heaven works from inside. As long as the leaven was
outside the dough it was powerlessto help; it had to get right inside. We will
never change men from the outside. New houses, new conditions, better
material things change only the surface. It is the task of Christianity to make
new men; and once the new men are createda new world will surely follow.
That is why the church is the most important institution in the world; it is the
factory where men are produced.
(iv) The power of the kingdom comes from outside. The dough had no power
to change itself. Neitherhave we. We have tried and failed. To change life we

need a poweroutside and beyond us. We need the master of life, and he is
forever waiting to give us the secretof victorious living.
The secondinterpretation of this parable insists that so far from working
unseen the work of the leaven is manifest to all because it turns the dough into
a bubbling, seething mass. On this basis, the leaven stands for the disturbing
powerof Christianity. In Thessalonica itwas said of the Christians, "These
men who have turned the world upside down have come here also" (Acts
17:6). True religion is never dope; never sends people comfortably to sleep;
never makes them placidly acceptthe evils that should be striven against. Real
Christianity is the most revolutionary thing in the world; it works revolution
in the individual life and in society. "MayGod," saidUnamuno the great
Spanish mystic, "deny you peace and give you glory." The kingdom of heaven
is the leavenwhich fills a man at one and the same time with the peace of God
and with the divine discontentwhich will not rest until the evils of earth are
sweptawayby the changing, revolutionizing power of God.
BRIAN BELL
GOD’S KINGDOM PERMEATESALL PEOPLES/PLACES!(20,21)
3.1. LEAVEN! (20,21)
3.2. Leavenis found 98 x’s in scripture & every time it is a symbol/linked
w/evil!
3.3. But is he here speaking to the kingdoms corruption?
3.3.1. Or, His Kingdom spreading to all nations, permeating all cultures, &
infiltrating Satan’s very kingdom…like yeastto dough!

GENE BROOKS
Luke 13:20-21 – Yeast(Leaven): Yeast is usually used as a negative image
(Luke 12:1), but here it is positive. Yeastwas used every day for baking bread.
Yeastworks quietly, pervasively, and irreversibly in the flour, here three sata
(a satonwas a dry measure equal to 3 gallons)about 20 pounds. So it is with
the Kingdom which starts small and grows large and quietly permeates the
entire world.
d. ILLUSTRATION: Within forty years of the Resurrection, there were
churches in every major city of the RomanEmpire. Within two and a half
centuries, the entire Roman Empire was Christianized, not by a sword like
Islam did it, but by the grace of Christ and the powerof the Holy Spirit.
Today we see the last remaining 6000 people groups on earth which have been
unengagedwith gospelcontactbeing prayed for, strategicallychosen, and
engagedwith the GoodNews.
THOMAS CONSTABLE
Verse 20-21
The parable of the yeast hidden in meal13:20-21(cf. Matthew 13:33)
Jesus" similarintroduction of this parable (cf. Luke 13:18)suggestsa similar
point, but the fact that He gave a different parable implies a slightly different
emphasis. Obviously the pervasive growthidea is present in both parables,
but the secondparable stressesthe hidden nature of the transforming power
more than the first one did. The idea of mysterious growth also carries over.

"It is perhaps worth noting also that yeastworks from inside: it cannot
change the dough while it is outside. But it is also important that the power to
change comes from outside: the dough does not change itself." [Note:Morris,
p225.]
STEVEN COLE
. The parable of the leavenillustrates that ultimately, Jesus will triumph over
all.
The lessons are somewhatoverlapping and so do not require much comment.
But the repetition may cementthem in our minds.
A. THE SIZE OF THE TASK PROPORTIONATETO THE SMALLNESS
OF THE FORCE IS NOT A HINDRANCE TO JESUS’ULTIMATE
TRIUMPH.
The woman’s three measures of flour were equal to about 39 liters or 50
pounds of flour, a large amount. The point is that just a small amount of
leavenwas all that was needed to permeate this large mass of dough.
Leaven or yeastis a single-celledfungus that promotes fermentation. When
put into bread dough, it produces carbon dioxide bubbles that cause the
dough to rise. Since leaven is often used in the Bible as a symbol for sin, some
commentators understand this parable to be referring to the spread of false
doctrine in the church. But this is to overturn the obvious contextualflow of
thought. Sometimes in the Bible, leaven is not a symbol for evil (Lev. 7:13;
23:15-18), and it can be argued that Jesus is using a somewhatdifferent

meaning to grab His hearers attention and to give the parable a provocative
twist.
So the meaning here is parallel to the meaning of the small mustard seed. The
smallness of the pinch of leavenis not a problem even though the lump is
large. The smallness ofJesus and His ragtag band of followers is no problem
with regard to the worldwide spread of the gospel. The power does not depend
on Jesus’followers, but on the power of God through the gospel.
B. THE LEAVEN MUST COME IN CONTACT WITH THE DOUGH FOR
THE POWER TO BE UNLEASHED.
We’ve already seenthe same point with regard to the seed. Here there may be
the nuance that once the contactis made, the powerworks from the inside
out. That is how the gospelworks as Godtransforms the hearts of sinners.
C. ONCE THE CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE, THE POWER IS
UNSTOPPABLE.
You can’t reverse the process. Once you introduce leaven into the dough, it
does its thing. Once the gospelpenetrates the hearts of those whom God has
chosento save, it is effectualto bring them to salvationand then to
progressive sanctification. As Paul explains (Rom. 8:29-30), “Forwhom He
foreknew, He also predestinedto become conformedto the image of His Son,
that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He
predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified;
and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Our job is to bring the leaven
of the gospelinto contactwith the mass of humanity. God’s job is to save those
whom He has purposed to save. And He will save them because salvation does
not depend on the will of man, but on the sovereignwill and power of God.

Conclusion
These parables do not teachpostmillennialism, that the gospelwill spread
until all the world is converted, at which point Jesus will return. Many other
Scriptures refute this view (e.g., 2 Thess. 2:1-8). But they do teachthat the
gospelwill spread to all peoples and that God’s sovereignpurpose through
Christ will be accomplished. He will build His church and the gates ofhell will
not prevail againstit. Dr. Ralph Winter of the U.S. Centerfor World Mission
has shownthat in 1430 A.D., the totalnumber of Bible-believing Christians
proportionate to the total world population was only one percent. But by
1993, that number had progressivelyincreasedto ten percent. He says that the
kingdom of Christ is currently expanding at a rate of over three times the rate
of world population growth (“MissionFrontiers,” May/June, 1994,p. 5).
If you’re not already on Jesus’side, these two parables should alarm you
because you are opposedto that which inevitably will prevail. You need to
cross the line by trusting in Christ as your Saviorand Lord. If you are on
Jesus’side, these parables should encourage youto sow the seedof the gospel,
because Godwill powerfully use it for the conversionof sinners and the
fulfillment of His purpose of being glorified in all the earth. You want to be on
Jesus’side because ultimately He will triumph over all.
BOB DEFFINBAUGH
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN
The secondparable in this pair is that found in verses 20 and 21. Here, Jesus
likens the “kingdom of God” to the leavenwhich a womanseeks to hide in
three pecks of meal. The NASB speaks ofthe leaven as being “hidden” in the
three pecks of meal, while the NIV says it was “mixed into a large amount of
flour.” The word clearly means to “hide” (cf. its use in Luke 8:17; 18:34;

19:42;Matt. 13:44; 25:25). While the woman attempts to hide the leaven, the
result is the opposite, for it permeates the entire portion of meal.
You will remember that God savedIsrael to be a “light to the Gentiles.” The
Jews did not like the Gentiles, as the book of Jonah graphically reveals. They
did not want to share their blessings with the Gentiles, and thus they sought to
“hide” the truth and keepits blessings only to themselves. It was foolish and
futile for the woman to attempt to “hide” the leavenin the meal. So, too, it was
foolish and futile for the Israelites to try to “hide” the light of the gospelfrom
the Gentiles. You will recallthat Jesus spoke clearlyaboutthe salvationof the
Gentiles to His people, and that their reactionwas a violent one (cf. Luke
4:16-30). In the very act of their trying to prevent the gospelfrom going forth
to the Gentiles they only causedit to spreadmore quickly and effectively. In
the book of Acts Luke will demonstrate that Jewishpersecutionin Jerusalem
will only scatterthe church and the gospelmore and more.
The kingdom of God is like this, Jesus says. The Jews who think they are
righteous will rejectChrist and will refuse to repent, and thus they will be
judged as a nation. The fig tree will be cut down. And in its place will be a
mustard tree, as it were, the church. By trying to concealthe truth from the
Gentiles, the nation has only proven to have unwittingly spread it abroad—
God’s unfaithful and uncooperative evangelists.Let all Israellisten and learn
from Jesus’words of warning and instruction.
Conclusion
This passageconcerns the nation of Israel, its rejectionof Messiah, its self-
righteousness, andthe impending judgment which will fall on all those who do
not renounce their faith in Judaism and identify Jesus as their Christ, their
Messiah. It explains why the kingdom of God was takenfrom Israel, and why
the Gentiles have come to play a very prominent part in God’s program for
the church.

This text surely underscores the urgency of Israel’s need to repent, before the
time of judgment comes upon that generation. But if it contains a message of
warning to that generation, it also speaksto us of the urgency of repentance
and of evangelism. If you have not come to a personal faith in Jesus Christ as
the Saviorwhom Godsent into the world to bring about the forgiveness of
sins, you should sense the same urgency of which Jesus spoke. Yousee, when
Jesus ascendedto heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father, He did so to
wait until the Fatherindicated that it was time to return to judge the world
and to deal finally with the wicked. He is coming again, and that coming is
soon. Those who have not trusted in Christ as their Savior may soonfind
themselves standing (or falling) before Him as their judge, even as Paul warns
in Philippians chapter 2. Jesus will return to purify the earth with fire, as
Peterspells out in the third chapter of 2 Peter. The delay in His coming is not
do to His disinterest, but is due to His compassionand longsuffering. He is
giving men further time to repent, just as the “fruitless fig tree” was given
addition time to produce. But there is a day of judgment and “fire” coming
soon. Be ready for it. The only way to be ready is to repent of your sin and to
trust in Jesus as the One who died in your place, for your sins.
This text also admonishes Christians that as the time of Christ’s return draws
near, we need to be found watching and waiting for Him. We need to be
faithful to proclaim and hold forth the gospel, whichis the “light” that we are
to carry to all men. We are no more to “hide” this light than Israelwas to do
so. Let us be faithful to call upon men to be ready for the coming kingdom of
God.
Finally, let us beware of the same kind of thinking which was typical of the
Israelites of Jesus’day. Let us beware of thinking that those who die early or
in some tragic way are worse sinners than we. Let us view a more prosperous
and lengthy life not as our rewardfor being righteous, but as God’s grace.

I find that we Americans often exude the same kind of national pride which
typified the Israelites. They thought that God blessedthem because they were
more pious, more spiritual. This was not so. God blessedHis people in spite of
their sin, and out of His grace, rather than their goodness.We Americans
often think (and even are so bold as to say)that we are prosperous because we
are a “Christiannation,” and we send out missionaries, andso on. Any
prosperity we have and continue to experience is, in my understanding, solely
the outgrowthof divine grace, ratherthan of human merit. Let us realize that
the kingdom of God comes to the earth because ofthe righteousness ofChrist
and the grace of God manifested through His Son. And let us be humbled by
the factthat the kingdom has come to include the Gentiles because ofIsrael’s
failure and sin, not due to our own righteousness.
JOHN MACARTHUR
Let's look at the secondstory. It looks atthe internal. It views the kingdom of
God, not in its external growth, but in its internal influence. Verse 20, "Again
He said, knowing what's on their mind," He asks questions He knows they're
asking, "To whatshall I compare the kingdom of God?" He knows they're
struggling. They just... They can't see it. It looks invisible. He doesn't look
like a king. They don't look like rulers in a kingdom. Doesn'tevenlook like a
kingdom. You keepsaying it, you keep preaching you're a king, this is a
kingdom, we don't see it. So what am I going to compare the kingdom of God
to?
"It's like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks ofmeal," or
three measures of meal, "until it was all leavened." Simple story, they were
very familiar with this. Jesus grew up watching His mother make bread.
Apparently they made a lot of bread when they made bread. Calculating
three measures, there might be a little bit of variation, but most scholars

would probably equate this with about fifty pounds of flour. That's a lot.
That's a lot. Thatwould make bread enough to feed 100 people at one meal.
So this bread would be made for the family and the extended family and
anybody who served in the family and perhaps anybody who came by. So this
was a very typical scene. Theywere very familiar with it. And the way they
made bread was to getthis huge amount of flour and mix it togetheras dough
and then take the sour dough from the prior that had fermented and put it in
there.
And eventually it bubbled up in its fermentation, permeated the whole
amount of flour to cause the bread to swellup, bubble up, and expand. This
time Jesus is not looking at something outward growing. He's looking at
something inward influencing. Don't underestimate the kingdom. We may
not be having much impact on the Jewishleaders. We may not be having
much impact on the nation Israel. And you're going to see worse things
coming. Not only was Jesus killed, but most of the apostles as well, right?
It isn't going to be very quick, but over time this leaven is going to permeate
the whole amount of dough. What is the dough here? What is...it's calledthe
meal, pecks of meal. It's just flour. What does it mean? The world, the
world. What is the leaven? The kingdom. It's hidden in the world. The
world, they can't even see it. You know, Romans 8, Paul says, "The glorious
manifestation of the children of God has not yet happened." Right? You
walk down the street, they're clueless. Theydon't know you're a subjectto
the kingdom of God. Theydon't know that you're headed to be a co-regent
with Jesus Christ in the glories of eternal heaven. They don't know that,
right? You could put a Christian fish on your bumper, they still can't see it.
You can put a cross on your lapel or around your neck, they still won't see it.
You just don't look like a transcendent, heavenly citizen. You... You just
don't look like somebodywho possesseseternallife. You don't look like
somebody in whom God lives in the presence ofHis spirit. It's not possible for
them to discern it. You're just sitting there at In-N-Out eating your
cheeseburgerlike everybody else and they cannot tell, because the glorious
manifestation of the children of God has not yet happened.

But while they don't see it, you're influencing the world through your
testimony and your righteousness and the gospeland the work of the Spirit.
Lives are being touched, lives are being changed, and just like leaven that
permeates, we bubble up and we change what's around us. It isn't just
Christendom, Christianity, this big bush that's visible on the outside, not all of
which by any means are true believers, but it's the real deal going on on the
inside. Leavenagain is that fermented dough that changes the characterof
the bread. If you don't have that, you're going to getflat, dry, unappetizing,
hard crackers. Idon't know about you, I'd rather have bread than crackers.
By the way, this was women's work and so appropriately a woman did this.
The men workedin the field, sowing and reaping, and the women made the
bread. It's hidden, it's not seen. You can't see the kingdom, but it's moving
and it's expanding and it's permeating and it's growing and here we are 2,000
years later and we know that, don't we? Can you imagine what a stretch it
was for those guys around the time of Jesus who were following Him and had
given Him their lives to try to conceive this, especiallywhenthey were
standing around at the time of His arrestand wondering just where this thing
was going down?
The keytruths here: The powerof the kingdom is extensive. The influence of
the kingdom is extensive. The kingdom is like leaven. Now sometimes when
you see the word “leaven,” you're going to saywait a minute isn't leavenbad?
Isn't leavenevil? Well, certainly the kingdom of God is not evil. Jesus would
never use the word or the term or the idea of leaven if it conveyedonly
something evil. No, the conceptof leaven is the conceptof influence,
something that permeates and saturates and changes.
Go back to chapter 12, verse 1, chapter12, verse 1, end of the verse. He said
to His disciples, "Bewareofthe leavenof the Pharisees,whichis hypocrisy."
What is the leaventhere? False religion, false doctrine, false righteousness;
beware of it. Why? Because it permeates, it influences; getout of that system.
That's why the Bible warns and warns and warns and warns the people not to
be involved in false doctrine. Don't subject yourself. It influences. It
permeates. Backin Matthew chapter16 there are a couple of verses there

that essentiallygive us an indication that Jesus saidthis often. Matthew 16:6,
"Watchout! Beware ofthe leaven of the Phariseesand Sadducees."
Downin verse 11, "How is that you do not understand that I did not speak to
you concerning bread, but beware of the leavenof the Pharisees and
Sadducees." And what He did mean? Verse 12: “The teaching of the
Pharisees andSadducees." Youcan't just expose yourself to false teaching. It
has an influence. So does the truth. And the truth has a divinely energized
influence whereas false teaching has a satanicallyenergizedinfluence.
If I get a little workedup about false doctrine, will you understand why? This
is an analogyfor influence. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul used it to refer to
immorality as an evil influence. In Galatians 5, verse 9, he used it to refer to
legalismas an evil influence. So when He talks about leavenhere, He's talking
about it as an influence that's good, transforming, saving influence,
sanctifying influence. When Israelleft Egypt, they were told to have a
Passoverto celebrate the exodus. And they were told to make bread, but it
was to be what kind of bread? Unleavened bread. Why? It was a symbol
that they weren’t taking anything out of Egypt. It was a cleanseparation. To
do leavened bread, you had to take something from a past batch and put it in
the new. Unleavened bread symbolized: Take nothing from here. This is a
cleanbreak. By the way, after they had been gone sevendays, they could then
make leavenedbread again.
On the other side, when a young Hebrew girl married, her mother would give
her some things, as mothers do when girls getmarried, but one of the things
that a mother gave a Hebrew girl was some fermented sour dough. That was
a wedding present and she took it to start her first batch of bread in her new
family. And it symbolized the wonderful continuity from her family into that
new family. There are some things you want to leave behind, like the
wretchedness ofEgypt. There are some things you want to take with you like
the love of a family.
And so this idea of leaven symbolized all kinds of influences. And He is
saying, so it is with the kingdom. It's amazing. Kingdom permeates, not by
politics, not by laws, not by lobbying, not by forcing things. Hidden in the

dough of societyit permeates and permeates and bubbles and bubbles under
the powerof the Spirit of God transforming lives one at a time. It's the power
of gospeltruth in the work of the Holy Spirit. And that leads us to a final
thought on this, that the positive influence of the kingdom comes from inside.
It comes from inside. Again it's hidden. It can't be seen. But it works on the
inside.
And sometimes folks, you know, you look at the world and you look at the way
things are going and you sayto yourself, you know, we're not making any
headwayin Washington. We're not making any headwayat the United
Nations. We're not making any headwayin The Hague. We're not making
any headwayin all the greatcapitals of Europe. We're not making any
headwayat the university level. And you hear people say oh we need to get
more Christians in politics. We need to get more Christians in the presidents
of universities. We need to get more Christians in secularfaculty positions.
I'm not againstthat. But let me tell you something, the advancement of the
kingdom is hidden and it works it powerful transforming work through your
lives, personto person to person to person.
It transforms societyby its hidden influence. And when you think about it it's
amazing. It really is amazing. I read recently that 95 percentof the world's
population presently have part of the Bible or all of the Bible in their
language. It's working. Ninety percent of all tribes have had an opportunity
to hear the gospelofJesus Christ. You think about Ethiopia, claims to have
something around thirty-five million quote-unquote "Christians." Talk about
fifty million plus Christians in China. Did you know Cuba has fifty Christian
denominations operating there under Fidel Castro? Somebodyestimatedthat
about 65,000 people profess to give their lives to Christ daily somewhere in the
world.
And about 1,500 new churches start every week. We don't need the political
power. We don't need the military power. Christians through the years have
gottenthat very confused. It happens through influence. And Jesus put it this
way, "I will build" what "my church and the gates of hell will not prevail
againstit." And some day He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords.
And at that time, let me tell you folks, every eye will see Him as King of kings

and Lord of lords and we will be revealedas the glorious manifestation of the
children of God becomes evident to the whole world, and we'll reign with Him
in glory for 1,000 years and then on into eternity forever.
But until then the kingdom grows externally. Christianity advances in name
and in reality. But it also grows invisibly and hidden by Christians who
permeate society. I was told this week, I'll close with this, that many of the
relief workers in South Asia helping with the tsunami victims are Christians.
In fact, this word that I receivedwas that Christians are flocking in there,
realizing that these nations are anti-Christian, persecute Christians, kill
Christians, burn churches, etc. I heard a story this week about a whole
seminary that was burned to the ground. They know there's a window of
opportunity and that the relief work is permeatedby Christians. The world
doesn't know it. The world doesn'tsee it. It can't be seen. But it's a way that
God advances His kingdom, and it comes downto this: It's you and it's me in
the sphere of our influence. That's how it happens. It's not going to happen
in the greatcapitols of the world. It's not going to happen through
bureaucracies andcivil government and authority. It's going to happen the
way it's always going to happen, hidden as we influence the world. What a
glorious calling and what a great ending. Pray with me.
If you don't know Christ, if you have never receivedChrist as your Lord and
your Savior, you've never repented of your sin, and embraced Him fully this
would be a greattime to do that. If you will open your heart to Christ confess
your sin, confess Him as Lord, the one who died and rose againfor you, you
can enter His glorious kingdom and the hope of heaven.
Father, we now thank You againfor the greatness ofthe kingdom. How
thrilling it is to be a part of what You're doing in the world. Your kingdom
has spreadacross the face of the earth. We can see that, but it also moves in
ways we can't see through the hidden influence of the Spirit of God working
through believers, as instruments to change others. Thank You for making a
part of this greatenterprise. We long for it to be completed because whenit's
all done, then we know Christ will come and visibly reign and rule. We long
for that day until then use us mightily as leaven in this world. Thank You,
Lord, for our high calling in Christ's name.

RICH CATHERS
13:20-21 LeavenedBread
:20 And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
:21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures ofmeal till
it was all leavened.”
:21 till it was all leavened
I think this parable is exactly like the last one.
Some might think this is saying that it only takes a little bit of the gospelto
permeate an entire community, but that goes againstthe way the Bible
interprets these things.
Leaven is always a picture of sin or evil in the Scriptures. (1Cor. 5:6)
Jesus is warning the people in the synagogue that it only takes a little
wickednessto permeate and affectan entire group.
This leaderof the synagogue had an unhealthy attitude about Jesus healing
this woman. Attitudes like this canbe destructive in a church.
Lesson
Subtle Influences
We tend to be aware that certain people are a bad influence on us.
Parents become concernedwhen their kids start hanging around with kids
who are drinking or doing drugs.
But think of our context – who is the one with the bad influence?
It’s the leader of the synagogue.

His bad influence is that of legalism.
Legalismisn’t bad because oftoo many rules. God’s ways are “rules”, and
they are good.
Legalismis bad because it stretches God’s rules and makes them something
that God didn’t intend.
Illustration
Hospital regulations require a wheelchairfor patients being discharged. One
day a student nurse found an elderly gentleman—alreadydressedand sitting
on the bed with a suitcase athis feet—who insisted he didn’t need my help to
leave the hospital. After a chatabout rules being rules, he reluctantly let the
nurse wheel him to the elevator. On the waydown the nurse askedhim if his
wife was meeting him. “I don’t know,” he said. “She’s still upstairs in the
bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.”
That’s taking the rules too far…
Note that in our current parable, the woman“took” the leaven, and then
“hid” it in her flour.
It’s not just being exposedto bad influences that is the concern, but when you
take it and hide it in your heart and mind that it begins to influence us.
Just as we should be aware ofbad influences, there are also goodinfluences
we should pay attention to as well.
Video: Skit Guys – Like Dad
We all influence others. Be a goodinfluence.

DON FORTNER
. Now, briefly, let’s look at THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN (vv. 20-21).
(Luke 13:20-21) "And againhe said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of
God? (21) It is like leaven, which a womantook and hid in three measures of
meal, till the whole was leavened."
This parable is misinterpreted by many. We are often told that the leaven
refers to the ever-increasing evil of the world. But our Lord is not talking
about the world. He is talking about “the kingdom of heaven.” He is talking
about his church, The parable of the leavenis very much the same in meaning
as the parable of the mustard seed. It teaches us that the gospelprevails by
degrees and works like leavenin the hearts of God’s elect.
A. A woman took leaven.

The woman, the weakervessel, represents gospelpreacherswho have the
treasure of the gospelin earthenvessels (2 Cor. 4:7).
(2 Corinthians 4:7) "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, thatthe
excellencyof the power may be of God, and not of us."
B. The leavenwas hidden in three measures of meal.
The regenerate heart, like meal, is soft and pliable. Leavenwill never work in
corn, but only in ground meal. So the gospelhas no effect upon the stony,
unregenerate heart. It only works upon broken hearts that have been ground
by the Holy Spirit in conviction.
C. Once the leavenis hidden in the dough, it works.

So the word of God, hidden in the hearts of chosen, redeemedsinners by God
the Holy Spirit, works and brings forth fruit. The change it works is gradual,
but it works (Heb. 4:12).
(Hebrews 4:12) "Forthe word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedgedsword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discernerof the thoughts and
intents of the heart."
God’s work is like the growth of the mustard seedand the spreadof leaven, so
small and gradual in our eyes that it is almostunobservable. Let us never
despise the day of small things. But when he gets done…
(Zechariah 4:6-10) "Thenhe answeredand spake unto me, saying, This is the
word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Notby might, nor by power, but
by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. (7) Who art thou, O greatmountain?
before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the
headstone thereofwith shoutings, crying, Grace, graceunto it. (8) Moreover

the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (9) The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou
shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. (10) For who hath
despisedthe day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the
plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven;they are the eyes of the
LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth."
JOHN GILL
Verse 20
And againhe said,.... Thatis, Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express
it; besides the parable of the grain of mustard seed, that also of the leavenhid
in three measures of meal:
whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God; either the Gospelof the kingdom,
and the mysteries of it; or the church, which is Christ's kingdom; or the grace
of God in the heart, which makes meet for the kingdom of glory; the first
seems rather to be intended; See Gill on Matthew 13:33.
Verse 21
It is like leaven,.... Whichis small in quantity, but is of a swelling, spreading
quality; and fitly expressesthe small beginnings of the Gospelministry, and
its increase, also the state and case ofGospelchurches, and the nature of the
grace ofGod; unless false doctrine should rather be meant, which privately,
secretly, and by little and little, got into the churches of Christ, the kingdom of
God, and spread itself all over them, as in the times of the papacy:

which a woman took;Christ, and his ministers, Wisdom, and her maidens,
understanding it of the Gospel;but if the leavenof error is intended, that
woman, Jezebel, is meant, who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches, and
seduces the servants of God, Revelation2:20
and hid in three measures ofmeal: among a few of God's people at first, both
among Jews andGentiles,
till the whole was leavened; until all the electof God are gatheredin, and
evangelizedby it; even the whole fulness of the Gentiles, and all the people of
the Jews, whichshall be savedin the latter day; but if the parable is to be
understood of the false doctrine and discipline of the Antichristian and
apostate church of Rome, it may denote the small beginnings of the mystery of
iniquity, which beganto work in the apostle's time by the errors and heresies
then propagated, and the manner in which the man of sin was privately
introduced; whose coming is after the working of Satan, with signs and lying
wonders, and with all deceivablenessofunrighteousness, first among a few,
and then more, until at length the whole world wonderedafter the beast, 2
Thessalonians 2:7.
PETER PETT
Verse 20
‘And againhe said, “To what shall I liken the Kingly Rule of God?”
Jesus then asks the question a secondtime. Among the Jews something
vouched for a secondtime was seenas certain and secure.

Verse 21
“It is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures ofmeal,
until it was all leavened.”
But He has another purpose in the secondillustration and that is to introduce
women into the equation. So He selects as His secondexample a woman’s
occupation, bread-making. The woman puts a little leaven in the flour and
soonit spreads throughout the whole. In the same way, so should women (and
all) spreadthe GoodNews ofthe Kingly Rule of God from one to another
until it has reachedall.
Leaven is a piece of dough kept back from the previous batch which has
fermented. It is put within the new dough and ferments the whole, until the
whole is affected. And here the thought is that it is used because it results in a
better product. It is an apt picture of the God’s word. It is introduced from
outside and commences its work once it is received, and goes onuntil the
whole is affected. It stands here too as a warning. Do not think that you can
receive but a little of Christ. Once Christ is allowedin He will not cease His
work until the whole is transformed.
‘Three measures ofmeal.’ A standard measurementsignifying sufficient for
the task in hand.
The Leaven

William BaconStevens, 1857
Matthew 13:33
"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 workedall
through the dough."
Luke 13:20-21
"Again he asked, "Whatshall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like
yeastthat a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it
workedall through the dough."
Under this figure, borrowed from householdeconomy, our Lord represents
the diffusive powerof His truth, when brought in contactwith the human
heart. In the parable of the Mustard Seed, He illustrated the outward, visible
growth of Christianity in the sight of the world. Here, however, He brings out
its increase and power in a new aspect— its spreading rather than its
accretive property — its internal, penetrative, and diffusive energy, rather
than its external outspreading and magnitude.
Yeast, or leaven — is a small piece of fermented dough, which, placedin a
largermass of meal or paste, produces fermentation, and thus, by the escape
of the generatedgas, diffuses a lightness, or, in technicalphrase, raises the
dough with which it was intermixed. The word is generally used in the Bible in
a bad sense;and, accordingly, there have not lackedinterpreters, who, saying
with Cyril, that "yeast, in the inspired writings, is always takenas the type of

sin," have contendedthat the designof its use here was to indicate the
damnable heresies andcorruptions which would ferment in and adulterate
the Church, puffing it up with vain delusions, and eventually making it a mass
of apostasyand crime.
This, however, is a forcing of language beyond its legitimate construction. The
characterof the parable, viewedin its contexts, is againstsuch interpretation;
and we hence regardthe word yeastas used here in an exceptionalsense to its
ordinary employment — our attention being directed, not to its fermenting
and puffing up properties — but to its penetrative and diffusive powers, by
which the whole mass in which it is hidden soonpartakes ofits own nature.
Using the figure, therefore, in a goodsense, it illustrates, in a forcible manner,
the work of grace — first in the individual heart, then in the great mass of
humanity.
It is the property of grace to change the whole soul into its own likeness. The
incipient operation of the Holy Spirit may be as small and apparently as
insignificant as a little piece of yeast;but once hidden in the heart — it will
work little by little, until the man becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. The
principle of holiness, of love, of faith, of godly sorrow, or any other which is
wrought by the Holy Spirit — cannotremain inactive in the heart. The
moment that any of them are introduced there — there begins a commotion,
an inward struggle for ascendancybetweenthe new principle of grace and the
old principles of sin, which is continued even until death. As sin and holiness
cannot commingle — they necessarilyantagonize:one must displace the other
— they cannot co-existin the same heart with the same power.
The heart, however, is by nature depraved; it is preoccupiedwith evil; it is, in
the words of Scripture, "full of iniquity," and sin has so blinded its perceptive
powers, and hardened its sensibilities, and perverted its judgment, that it now
"calls evil good— and goodevil," loves its present depraved condition, "and

rejoices in iniquity." The characterofGod is not loved, the Sonof God is not
loved, the law of God is not loved, the word of God is not loved; nothing
pertaining to God is an object of regard; He is not in their thoughts; they
"desire not a knowledge ofHis ways."
But as soonas the Holy Spirit infuses into that heart, as vile as it is, and dead
as it is in trespasses andsin — the first element of holy love, there begins a
change there, which, working silently, gradually, yet effectively — will soon
leaventhe soul with the power of Divine grace.
One by one, the old sinful affections and passions of the soul become
eradicatedor changed.
The things in which the man once took supreme delight — now afford no joy.
The emotions which he once cherished — are now uncultivated.
The plans which once absorbed his energies — are now neglected.
The passions whichonce were rampant in his breast — are now tamed.
The desires which once engrossedhis thoughts — are now viewed with
disgust.
The things which he formerly hated and shunned — communion with God,
love to Christ, delight in the SacredScriptures, the cultivation of holiness of

life, the walking by faith and growing in grace — are now sought for and
cultivated with assiduity and delight!
Grace is completelytransforming in its nature and power. It causes everyone
whom it visits — to wearits own likeness,and grow up into its ownimage!
And when it once begins its work, though its progress may be slow, it will
nevertheless go on unto perfection, not resting until Christ is formed in the
soul the hope of glory.
It is perhaps important to a right understanding of this truth, that we should
distinguish here betweenregenerationand sanctification. Both, indeed, are
the work of the same Holy Spirit, and therefore too often confounded —
though in reality quite distinct.
Spiritual regeneration, or that new birth of the soul, so emphatically taught by
our Lord in His discourse with Nicodemus — is the work of the Spirit of God,
by which He causes the rebellion of the heart to cease, andthe sinner to yield
himself as a humble servant of Jesus Christ. This act of faith, whereby the
penitent lays hold on the Savioras "the hope setbefore him in the Gospel," is
the work of a moment. Up to a certain time, He was a transgressorand an
unbeliever. Then the Holy Spirit visits his soul . . .
opens to him a view of his sins;
points him to the Lamb of God;
makes him hear the thunders of Sinai;
holds up before him the sacrifice ofCalvary;
melts him with the displays of love;
woos him with the invitings of grace;
warns him with the threatenings of the law;

and, under the influence of one or more of these — he is led to break off from
his sins, to repent, and to believe on the Lord Jesus;and the turning point is
on the hinge of a single moment.
There may be long and tedious processes ofthought gone through before
reaching that point; but when reached, the act of submission, of belief, of
embracing Christ — is the act of a moment, and not a lengthened, tedious
operation.
Nor does it follow from this that all are able to date the hour when they were
born again; for they may have been so carefully trained in youth, and so
gradually led to Jesus, that it would be impossible for them to discriminate the
time when He first became precious to their souls. But, as they were born once
in nature — and now are born again in the Spirit. As they were once enemies
of Christ — they are now His friends. As they were once exposedto Divine
wrath — they are now freed from condemnation. And as, when they were not
in one of these states, they must have been in the other, because there is no
middle path.
It follows, evenin the case ofthose who are unable to mark the exacttime of
their conversion, that their change, or regeneration, was effectedby the Holy
Spirit in an instant of time. All the examples of conversionin the Bible, all the
terms and phrases which designate this change, and the experience of each
believer, confirm this statement. Regeneration, then, is that work of the Holy
Spirit, whereby there is begotten in the soul an entirely new principle of
spiritual life, so that henceforth the man lives, "not unto himself — but unto
Him who loved him and gave himself for him!" And so radical and thorough
is this change, that the recipient of it is with truth said to be "a new creature
in Christ Jesus,"in whom "old things have passedaway," and with whom "all
things have become new."

LANGE
Luke 13:20. ΙΙαλίν, Again.—Now follows the parable of the Leaven, which
Mark has passedover, and which only Matthew in addition, Luke 13:33,
communicates, with whose accountthat of Luke agrees adliteram. See Lange,
ad loc. The view of Stier, who here by the three measures of meal
understands, with other things, the three sons of Noah, whose posterity must
be thoroughly leavenedwith Christianity, and afterwards the three parts of
the world according to ancientgeography(so that Columbus, in1492, would,
in this respect, have destroyed the correctness ofthis parable), shows,
perhaps, much genius, but yet is also tolerably arbitrary. Quite as groundless
and untenable is it to find here an allusion to the trichotomy of Prayerof
Manasseh, as ofa microcosmaccording to body, soul, and spirit. How much
more simple, on the other hand, is Bengel’s remark as to this number three,
“quantum uno tempore ab homine portari, vel ad pinsendum sumi soleret.”
Comp. Genesis 18:6.
DOCTRINALAND ETHICAL
1. Both parables, that of the Mustard-Seedand that of the Leaven, refer to the
same fundamental thought, to the blessedspreading abroad of the kingdom of
God, first in the extensive, afterwards, also, in the intensive, sense. They
belong very especially to those parables of the Saviour which bear the
prophetic character, and in every century of Christianity find in greateror
less degree their fulfilment. With the first parable this was especiallythe case
in the time of Constantine the Great;with the second, in the middle ages,on
the diffusion of Christianity in different Europeanstates through the
influence of the Catholic Church. Every interpretation, however, which
assumes that these parables have been realized not only a parte potiori, but

exclusively, in a single period of the Christian Church, is to be unconditionally
rejected.
2. The intention with which the Saviour refers by a double image to the
blessedextensionof His kingdom could be no other than this, to take away
scandalat the poor, weak, first beginnings of the same, and to encourage His
disciples, when they should afterwards have to begin their work with a
scarcelyperceptible commencement.
3. The here-expressedprinciple: maximum e minimo, is unquestionably the
fundamental idea of the kingdom of God, and presents a specific distinction
betweenthis and the kingdoms of the world, in whose history commonly the
reverse, minimum e maximo, is contained.
4. It is from a Christologicalpoint of view remarkable how the Saviour here
not only expressesanobscure expectationof a quiet faith, but the utmost
possible certainty of the triumph of His kingdom, notwithstanding the most
manifold opposition. Before the eye of His spirit the Future has become To-
day, and the history of the development of many centuries is concentratedinto
a moment of time. If He now begins to inquire with what He shall best
compare this kingdom, we cannot suppress the inquiry, with what shall we
compare the King Himself? Compare Isaiah 40:25.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The history of the development of the kingdom of God: 1. From small
beginnings; 2. with visible blessing;3. to an astounding greatness.—The
parable of the Mustard-Seedthe image of the history: 1. Of the Founder of the
kingdom of God; 2. of the Church generally; 3. of every Christian life in

particular.—The Leaven: 1. Leavenleavens only meal (inward affinity of the
Gospelto the heart); 2. the whole meal (harmonious development of all the
powers of man and of mankind through Christianity); but, 3. only gradually,
comp. 2 Corinthians 3:18, and 1 John 2:12-14;1 John 4. in secret( 1 Peter
3:4), yet Song of Solomon, 5. that it does not rest so long as yet a part of the
mass of meal has not been leavened.—Doesthe parable of the Leaven give a
goodground for the doctrine of an ἀποκατάστασιςσπάντων?—The
distinction betweenthe working of the leaven in the mere mass of meal, and of
the working of the Spirit of God in the heart; the sphere of physical necessity
and of moral freedom to be carefully held separate.—The kneading woman
the image of the restless activitywhich is required in the kingdom of God, and
for the same.—Laborfor the kingdom of God: 1. Apparently insignificant; 2.
continually unwearying; 3. and finally, blessedlabor.—If the meal has once
been workedthrough, we must then leave the leaventime and quiet for its
effect.—Resemblance ofthe Gospeland the leaven.—The leavena minute,
powerful, wholesome, penetrating substance.—The Wordof God must be
carefully mingled with everything human: “nil humani a se alienum putat.”—
The kingdom of God follows, in the whole of mankind, no other course of
development than in every individual.—The past, the present, and the future,
consideredin the light of these two parables.—The developmentof the
kingdom of God from small beginnings a revelationof the glory of God. Even
by this the kingdom of God stands above us: 1. As a creationof God’s own
omnipotence; 2. an instructive theatre of the wisdom of God; 3. an inestimable
benefit of the love of God.—The development of the kingdom of God from
small beginnings an awakening voice:1. To thankful faith; 2. to spiritual
growth; 3. to enduring zeal.—Theseparables the image of Israel, the glory of
Christendom, the hope of the heathen world.—The distinction between
human philanthropy and the, delivering love of the Lord. The first turns itself
as much as possible to the collective mass, andseeks in this wayto work upon
the individual; the secondturns to the single individual, in order to press
through to the collective mass.
Starke:—Hedinger:—Christianity infects by word, example, and
conversation. Happy he who stands in the fellowship of the saints in light.—

Brentius:—There are neither words nor similitudes enough to depict the
beauty of the kingdom of God.—Bibl. Wirt.:—The Gospelchanges and
renews the man the more, the longer it works upon him.—We must guard
well againstthis, that we be not like such a leaveneddough which quickly rises
and quickly falls again, and so our conversionand godliness be more a
puffing-up than of a firm, abiding character.
Eylert:—The course of the development of the Divine kingdom on earth: 1.
Little is the beginning; 2. gradual the progress;3. greatand glorious the
issue.—Arndt:—The inward activity of the kingdom of heaven: 1. Where;2.
how; 3. what it works.—A. Schweizer:—Fromthe leastthere comes the
greatest.—The penetrating nature of the kingdom of God: 1. Becauseits aim
is to lay hold of everything human; 2. because its poweras Divine is
victorious; 3. because the whole heart of its ministers is engagedfor it (a
sermon upon the kingdom of God, Zurich, 1851).—Forotherideas see on the
parallels in Matthew and Mark.
ALFRED PLUMMER
20, 21. The Parable of the Leaven. Matthew 13:33; comp. Luke 12:1.
ἔκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία. The beginnings of the Kingdom were unseen,
and Paganignorance ofthe nature of the Gospelwas immense. But the leaven
always conquers the dough. Howeverdeep it may be buried it will work
through the whole mass and change its nature into its ownnature. Josephus
says that a σάτονwas one and a half of a Romanmodius (Ant. ix. 4. 5). It was
a seah, or one third of an ephah; which was an ordinary baking (Genesis
18:6). There is no more reasonfor finding a meaning for the three measures
than for the three years (ver. 7). But Lange is inclined to follow Olshausenin
interpreting the three measures as the three powers in human nature, body,

soul, and spirit; and he further suggests the material earth, the State, and the
Church.
In class. Gk. we generallyhave the plur. ἄλευρα (ἀλέω). It meams “wheaten
meal” (Hdt. vii. 119. 2; Plat. Rep. ii. 372 B).
ἕως οὗ. Comp. Acts 21:26. In Luke 24:49 it is followed by the subj., as often.
R. C. SPROUL
The Kingdom of God
“He said therefore, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I
compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seedthat a man took and sowedin his
garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in
its branches’” (Luke 13:18–19).
- Luke 13:18–21
Jacob’s blessingsin Genesis 49 are future oriented and give readers an
opportunity to think on things yet to come. Eschatologyis the theologicalterm
for the doctrine of the last things, including the “lastthings” that Jesus started
during His ministry on earth. It will therefore be beneficial for us to look
more closelyat these things by studying volume eight of Dr. R.C. Sproul’s
teaching series Foundations.
Heaven and hell are both important aspects ofChristian eschatology, but we
will not be looking at these subjects in detail because we coveredthem a few

Jesus was comparing the kingdom of god to yeast

Jesus was comparing the kingdom of god to yeast

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Jesus was comparing the kingdom of god to yeast