Matthew 13:31-33

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: "The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with a large amount of flour until the whole thing rose."

This passage contains the parables of the mustard seed and yeast (leaven). These two parables also appear in Luke 13:18-19 in a very similar form. They seem to come from a collection of teachings attributed to Jesus that the authors of these two gospels had. The parable of the mustard seed is usually interpreted to mean that something small may grow to something large. The parable of the yeast seems to imply that something that disappears may, nonetheless, make all the difference in the end.

Literally, the passages say that a mustard seed grows to be a mustard plant, and that yeast makes bread rise. But the parables each contain the phrase, "The kingdom of heaven is like...." This phrase includes a simile, which suggests a literal meaning is not intended. These images convey a meaning about the kingdom of heaven. At times in the gospels the narrator interprets a parable, but this is not the case here.

What might we read into the parable of yeast? It concerns a woman making bread. If she is making "the kingdom of heaven," we might conclude that God is feminine. If the point is that the ingredients for making the kingdom are already "mixed into" the world and our lives, then the parable may mean that the kingdom will come in its own time. Perhaps the yeast represents Jesus, who dies for our sake and thus "disappears" but, at the same time, causes the church to come into being. Or, we might understand the bread as the faith that "rises" in our hearts.

Clearly, there is no one meaning of this parable that anyone can claim to be "the truth". We cannot know the meaning intended by Jesus or by the author of the gospel. We can say, however, that a literal reading of this passage was not intended by either. This is a figurative teaching that prods Christians in every generation to respond more faithfully.

Grace and peace...Bob