The Living Word: A Daily Devotional with Jeff & Dale from The Jenkins Institute

“But all my friends are Christians, didn’t James warn about

friendship with the world and didn’t Paul tell us about how ‘evil

companions corrupt?’” (James 4:4; 1 Corinthians 15:33).

True, but we must remember God left us here to be ambassadors for

Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:20); that Jesus commanded us to go into all

the world (Matthew 28:18-20); and to be salt and light in a world

that needs the Light (Matthew 5:13-16).

So, our mission while here is to spend our time influencing others

in the direction of Jesus.

So in scene one, the Kingdom is a treasure in a field that is worth

everything to the one who finds it. In the second, the Kingdom is

like the one who found it and is now seeking great pearls in which

to invest.

We suggested that these priceless pearls are souls that were lost

and that we, these merchants, are seeking them

There seems to be an obvious question. Why? 

We hinted at it on Monday—today, let’s take it apart.

It’s easy to assume these three verses are two illustrations of the same

truth: the value of the Kingdom. In the first, a man finds a treasure, hides

it, then sells everything to buy the field. The Kingdom is shown as a

treasure of great worth.

But our friend Cecil May often reminded us, “Well-known verses should

be read more carefully.”

I imagine most of us have, at some point, dreamed of discovering a

treasure—a distant royal relative who leaves us a fortune, an old lottery

ticket we find on the ground that turns out to be the big jackpot, a dusty

painting in the attic revealed to be the work of a now-famous artist, or a

document hiding a mint-worthy Declaration of Independence, or a clever

invention that suddenly fills our pockets.

In Matthew 13:34-35, we read in part, “All these things Jesus said to the

crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable…”

Consider the strength of that statement! Sometimes preachers are criticized

for being “story-tellers.” While stories can sometimes distract from the main

message, we must never forget that Jesus used many of them. He knew—as

every good communicator knows—that people connect through stories. A

well-told parable can carry truth deeper than direct instruction. Stories

linger where facts may fade. They worked then, and they work now.

As we conclude our week reflecting on Jesus' short parable in Matthew

13:33 and Luke 13:20-21, let us think together briefly about different

elements in this parable: the kingdom of heaven or God, the leaven hidden,

the three measures of flour, and the leavened bread. Each is significant.

We know the kingdom of Heaven is the church with its very precious

cornerstone, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:11). The kingdom is the one body, the

church of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:13-18). Notice the

interchangeable nature in these passages of the body, the kingdom, and

the church.

Context! Context!! Context!!!

Despite the negative spiritual connotation of leaven—as a symbol of sin

and something to be removed from nearly every grain offering and feast

—there were a few exceptions. In the very short parable recorded in

Matthew 13:33, found in a chapter full of parables using similes and

metaphors for the kingdom of Heaven, Jesus says, “The kingdom of

Heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of

flour, till it was all leavened” (ESV). Luke records the same in Luke

13:20-21 with a few small differences: “And again He said, ‘To what shall I

compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid

in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened’” (ESV).

We have seen how leaven symbolizes corruption and evil, both in the Old

and New Testaments. However, is it not interesting that the only

sacrifices and remembrance celebrations in which God permitted

leavened bread were the peace offering for thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:13;

23:17) and the Feast of Weeks?

Bread used in most Old Testament feasts and sacrifices, as well as in the

Lord’s Supper under the New Testament, is unleavened—that is, made

without yeast or leaven. When leaven or yeast is used to make bread rise,

it ferments and develops an acidic content that causes the bread to rise

and become sweeter.

This week, we explore one of Jesus’ short parables, one verse in Matthew

13:33 and two verses in Luke 13:20-21. Matthew records, “He told them

another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman

took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened’” (Matthew

13:33, ESV). In his parables, Jesus used many illustrations familiar to his

listeners. Perhaps none were as close to home as His mother baking bread

as he grew up in Nazareth. Leaven or yeast in Bible times was usually a

small piece of fermented dough taken from a previous batch used to

make bread.