Question / Comment - Is the Kingdom likened to leaven good or bad?
Dear Brother in Christ,

I commend you for an outstanding accomplishment in your online bible study website, 'Jesus Plus Nothing.' However, I would offer for your consideration that
perhaps you are not entirely accurate with your interpretation of Matt. 13:33 as used in 'The Message of Judges: Chapter 16'

While I agree that leaven is a symbol for spiritual teaching, and can represent false teaching ('Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees' Matt. 16:11) I don't believe that it represents false teaching in this particular passage. Indeed, if you take the context of Jesus' parables together, it is obvious that He is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. He even says, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven...' Clearly, He is not talking about false teaching.

The parables of the leaven, and the mustard seed just before it, demonstrate the irresistible power of the Kingdom of God - for once God has determined to do a thing, nothing can stop it from being accomplished. Jesus brought us the Kingdom of Heaven. He plants that small grain of Truth in believers; He mixes that leaven in our hearts - and the power of the Kingdom is unstoppable.

Indeed, the impact of the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees is only illuminated because he talks of the Kingdom of Heaven as a leaven FIRST. By setting up this parable first, He then makes the destructive power of false teaching that much more stark.

As a brother in Christ, I submit this to you for your consideration.
 
Our Reply:

Hi,

thanks for the email and your thoughts on the parable. Concerning this parable, if you look up any commentary they will say that there is really only two ways to take it - as I have, and, as you have! I am quite familiar with the way you see this parable as it is quite a common interpretation. For myself however, I don't believe it is the correct way to interpret it. There are a few reasons for this - firstly, leaven is never used in the Bible as something positive. In every other passage in the Bible where it is used, it stands as a type of false teaching or sin. So I don't agree with what you wrote below when you said 'While I agree that leaven is a symbol for spiritual teaching'... I don't believe it is used as a symbol for spiritual teaching. It is used only in a negative sense. ie false teaching. See 1 Cor 5:6-8 and Gal 5:9.

Also I don't have a problem that Jesus said that 'the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven...' All through these parables Jesus taught that both the good and the bad would be working within the Kingdom of Heaven. There would be both good seed sowed, and weeds sowed by the enemy within the field. That's why in Matt 13:41, Jesus says that at the end of the age, His angels will be sent out to remove "from His Kingdom" everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

In the Believers Bible Commentary, William MacDonald writes the following concerning this parable about the leaven:

"A common interpretation is that the meal is the world and the leaven is the gospel which will be preached throughout the whole earth until everyone gets saved. This view however is contradicted by scripture, history, and by current events. Leaven is always a type of evil in the Bible. When God commanded His people to rid their homes of leaven (Ex 12:15), they understood this. If anyone ate what was leavened from the first till the seventh day of this feast of unleavened bread, he would be cut off from Israel. Jesus warned against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt 16:6,12) and the leaven of Herod (Mark 8:15). In 1 Cor 5:6-8 leaven is defined as malice and evil and in the context of Gal 5:9 shows that there is means false teaching... So in this parable the Lord warns against the permeating power of evil working in the kingdom of heaven... We believe that in this parable the meal represents the food of God's people as found in the Bible. The leaven is evil doctrine..."

So, I'm not sure if you'll see things my way but hopefully I have addressed why I believe this to be the correct interpretation of the parable. It remains true to the rest of the Bible and what leaven is a type of, as well as being something that the disciples of Jesus' time would have understood. And, lastly, and unfortunately, it seems to be increasingly true in these last days as evil and false teaching increases throughout the church and the world.

Though we may disagree on this point, I'm glad you have enjoyed the site and thanks again for writing in.

All the best and may God bless.
 
His Reply:

Nope, sorry. I must remain unpersuaded.

Both the context and Jesus' own words make it a very difficult stretch to think that Jesus was calling the Kingdom of heaven something corrupt here.

As for the idea that leaven is always something negative in the scriptures, I would remind you that Jesus turned many traditional teachings on their heads, whether it was rescinding an 'eye for an eye' or telling his disciples they must drink his blood and eat his flesh in order to have eternal life.

To quote William Barclay (The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2, page 79):

'In Jewish language and thought, leaven is almost always connected with an evil influence...It may well be that Jesus chose this illustration of the Kingdom
deliberately. There would be a certain shock in hearing the Kingdom of God compared to leaven; and the shock would arouse interest and rivet attention, as an illustration from an unusual and unexpected source always does.

'The whole point of the parable lies in one thing - the overwhelming power of the leaven. Leaven changed the character of a whole baking ...The introduction of the leaven causes a transformation in the dough; and the coming of the Kingdom causes a transformation in life.'

Fortunately, we can agree to disagree as it doesn't pertain to the centrality of our common faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

God bless
 
Our Reply:

Hi,

thanks for the reply, and as you said in the last paragraph, we will have to agree to disagree on this one. One thing I have always liked about the Bible (and it is something that to me shows that God, not man, is the author), is that the types used are consistent throughout. I believe that this is the case with Jesus' use of leaven. But I won't press the point and like I said in the earlier email, there are many who interpret this parable as you do, and that's fine. Thank you for the spirit in which you wrote. What's the old saying...

In essentials unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.

All the best
 
Someone Else's Response:

HI,

I have been studying the word and the use of “leaven”. I have read your e-mail concerning leaven and the interpretation. But when people consider Matthew 13:33 no one seems to look at Leviticus 23:16-17 “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD.” The fifth is Pentecost and on this is the only feast that leaven in baked in the two wave loaves. This the birthday of the church there is apostasy in the church and we read in Revelation that in the church of Laodicea Jesus is standing out side of the church and knocking at the door.

What are your thoughts on this?
 
Our Reply:

Hi,

thanks for the email and the interesting scripture. It really is a great scripture and a great picture of what God did on the day of Pentecost. My understanding of this passage is that the leaven speaks of sin, the fine flour is usually a type of the perfect nature of Jesus and the two loaves that were waved before the Lord are a type of the Jews and Gentiles that become one body (the Church - the body of Christ) on the day of Pentecost.

So I believe it is saying that on the day of Pentecost, that which was waved and offered up to God was a type of both Jews and Gentile believers (though not perfect in and of themselves for the sinful nature still remains - leaven), yet believers who possessed the perfect nature of Christ ("Christ in you, the hope of glory!" - fine flour). And you will also note that the two loaves of bread were offered to God with something...

Lev 23:18 "Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect..."

This shows that the believers are totally accepted to God for they are presented to Him with the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb who took away the sin of the world - The Lord Jesus!

As for tying this passage in with apostasy... I don't personally believe it was trying to say there was apostasy right from the foundation of the Church - more a pointer to the fact that sin and corruption still remained within the Church and we do see examples of this being dealt with as in Acts 5. Maybe it's just a difference over the words we would use. Apostasy is a falling away from the faith where as the leaven in this offering speaks more of the sin that still remained within those offered to God. In terms of Laodicea, it is likely that Revelation was written around 95-96 AD and certainly at that time this church was incredibly lukewarm and, as you pointed out, Christ is seen as being outside that church. This itself, I believe, is a type of the church (in the West at least) in the days leading up to the return of Jesus. I wish it wasn't but the signs of this seem to only increase as time goes on.

Anyway, that's my thoughts and thanks again for the interesting scriptures.

All the best