Skip to main content

Yeast

              Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

            Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Luke 13:18-21)

 

            For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. (I Corinthians 7:14)

 

            We’ve already looked at the kingdom as a mustard seed growing in a garden. This seems like a sort of outside view of the kingdom. Things outside of it are protected and sheltered by it. In Luke’s account, Jesus follows it with a similar illustration. Whether we discuss the world/society or our own lives, that which is external to the kingdom benefits from the protection provided by the kingdom.

Yeast is another of those things that we don’t know much about anymore. We buy our bread at the store or the bakery. But I have a breadmaker, so I sometimes buy yeast and use it. When I do, I make one loaf of bread and add yeast to water and flour, and my machine does the rest. Traditionally, people kneaded the dough, which does something to the flour molecules but also distributes the yeast through the dough. Kneading isn’t easy. It seems to take a long time, and one needs to be thorough. As a result, the dough rises uniformly, having been changed by the yeast.

            This seems more of an inside view. When introduced, the kingdom grows. You probably won’t see it happening, but it spreads throughout society. Slowly, society is changed by it into something that nourishes. It changes from within, even if it doesn’t become yeast. This happens within us as well as it does within society, and it may be the source of the idea in I Corinthians 7:14, in which an unbelieving husband may be sanctified by a believing wife.

            I have long wondered whether the kingdom of God and we as part of it grow most when we are least aware.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more