THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN PART SIX: THE LEAVEN AND THE THREE MEASURES OF MEAL
During the time that Jesus walked on the earth in flesh and blood, He taught many parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. He wanted His disciples at that time (and all of His disciples down to this current age), to understand how the Kingdom works, and how we should function as citizens of that Kingdom. The longer we consider God's Kingdom only as a place we will inhabit one day after Christ's return, the longer we hinder enjoying the blessings and power of that Kingdom in this life. We are waiting for Christ to return, yes, but God is waiting for us to grow up into Christ and become the mature sons of God that He expects us to be (Ephesians 4:14-16). "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God." (2 Peter 3:11,12a).
In Matthew, we find a very simple parable that speaks
of the mystical nature of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus taught, "The Kingdom of
Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of
meal, till the whole was leavened." (Matthew 13:33).
In this analogy, the Lord likens the Kingdom to the
yeast that is mixed into bread dough to cause it to rise. When our children were younger, my wife would
make homemade whole wheat bread almost every week. She would mix all of the ingredients
together, distribute the fresh dough into loaf pans, and then set the pans with
towels over them to rise on top of the heating registers. After a while, the loaves would puff up twice
their size as the yeast would work its magic in the dough. When the loaves were ready, she would slide
them into the oven, and soon the house was filled with the aroma of freshly-baked
bread.
What does this all have to do with the Kingdom of
God? The answer is both simple and
complex at the same time. First of all,
let's consider the active ingredient in this parable: the leaven or yeast. It is at the center of this lesson. Without it, all of the other ingredients will
not have the desired effect. No matter
how fresh, or how quality, the other ingredients may be they are powerless to
raise the loaf without the leaven.
After Christ's resurrection and ascension to heaven,
the newly-formed Church in Jerusalem was both aimless and powerless. Jesus had promised them that they would
receive power and direction if they would wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit was
poured out upon them. This they did, and
on the day of Pentecost the Spirit came upon each of them, filling them with
spiritual power and anointing. Three
thousand people were converted to the faith that day as Peter preached the Gospel
of the Kingdom to them. After that day,
the Church continued to grow and spread as the Holy Spirit enabled and directed
the work.
The Holy Spirit is the critical element that makes
everything else alive in the Church.
Every other ingredient may be good, but they are all useless to raise
the "loaf" without the Spirit working secretly in the lives of the
believers. Education, Bible knowledge,
oration, talent, leadership, and anything else that can be named, can never
accomplish God's purpose for the Church without the Spirit’s anointing. At the end of the day, they are all mere dung
compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Being filled with God's Spirit prepares the Church
to work God's will on the earth. Even
the Apostles of Christ were powerless and without direction after Jesus’
death. It wasn’t until Pentecost that
they received power and purpose.
We read that the leaven was hidden in "three measures of meal, till the whole
[loaf] was leavened [raised]."
St. Paul also tells us, "For
we being many are one bread, and one body." (1 Corinthians 10:17). We Christians all make up the same loaf of
bread, and the same Body of Christ.
Jesus' Body is not divided. Yet,
at the same time, we are multiple measures of wheat that make up this one
loaf. The Holy Spirit is hidden in every
measure of wheat, and then made into a single loaf. "But
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." "For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one
body." (1 Corinthians 12:7).
So, what we learn from this parable is that the Holy
Spirit wishes to work in the lives of every single believer in order to
minister grace to the whole Body of Christ and bring it into maturity. What the Spirit works through me helps raise
you up, and what the Spirit works in you helps raise me up, so that we may all "grow up into Him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ: from Whom the whole body fitly joined together and
compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (Ephesians
4:15b, 16).
Jesus prayed to the Father that all believers might be
one so that the world would know that God did indeed send His Son to them (John
17:21). The early Church was at its most
powerful when they were of "one
mind," and "one
accord." Paul pleaded with the
early Christians to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. (See Ephesians
4:3). Today, however, the Church is
divided. Instead of embracing our
diversity and realizing that it's the differences in all of us that the Holy
Spirit wishes to use to shape and refine us, we use that diversity as a reason
for separation. Baptist, Lutheran,
Pentecostal, Holiness, Non-denominational, rich, poor, black, white, old, and
young: they all become sources of schism in the Body rather than opportunities
to grow and learn to love one another.
Beloved, it is not God Who wishes to see His Body fractured. The only one who profits from our intolerance
is Satan! Christ is not divided! If you are one in Christ, and I am one in
Christ, then we are one despite what labels man would choose to put on us. It is the Kingdom of Heaven that we owe our
allegiance to, and not any other kingdom on earth. If you have been born again, you are a member
of THE Church, and a citizen of God's
Kingdom. Your name has been written in
heaven. You are one with every other
believer in Christ.
When we separate from other Christians because we think
we have more truth, we are not more spiritual, but more carnal. "For
ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and
divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" (1 Corinthians 3:3). Today, let’s take this simple lesson to
heart, and look for ways to foster unity and love with our brothers and sisters
who do not see things exactly like us.
Let us learn to open our hearts, minds, and ears to what the Spirit may
be speaking to us through these "unlikely" sources. Balaam was so sure he was right that he would
have cursed God's people had God not used an ass to speak to him, and set him
straight. Truly, we need a healthy dose
of humility in our dealings with one another!
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