# 67 The Parable of the Leaven - Matthew 13:33-35

Introduction: In the last chapter we looked at the Parable of the Mustard Seed which dealt with the abnormal growth of the church. In this chapter, we want to look at the Parable of the Leaven which deals with the inward development of false doctrine and false living within the church.

Look at verse 33, we read.

33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

This parable has only 29 words in our English Bible.

How is this parable interpreted?There are two typical ways that this parable has been interpreted in theological circles.

1. The First View- The usual interpretation is that leaven is the Gospel. And the Woman is the Church. The Church is to take the Gospel and put it into the world of humanity, which is represented by the three measures of meal. The Gospel, quietly but surely, will work away like leaven. Like yeast in bread. Until all of humanity is reached by the Gospel and the whole world is changed. Then finally the Kingdom of heaven will come in.[1]

Note: Based on that interpretation, many thought that the Church was going to introduce the Millennium to the world, that it would bring in the Kingdom, and that the Gospel would so permeate the affairs and the thinking of men, that the outlooks and insights and moral standards of Christianity would be universally accepted all over the world.[2]

2. The Second View- Since Leaven is everywhere else in the Bible regarded as typifying the presence of impurity or evil, some understand it here to indicate the presence of evil within Christendom (Exodus 12:15; Leviticus 2:11; Matthew 16:6; 1 Corinthians 5:6-9; Galatians 5:9; cf., 1 Timothy 4:1; Jude 12.”[3]

There are three parts to this parable that I want us to consider:

1. There is the leaven.

2. The woman.

3. The three measures of meal.

Let's look at each one of these. We need to know the focus is really upon the three measures of meal, so we will begin there.

I. The Meal – 13:33

33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

What is meant by the three measures of meal? If you and I were a part of the crowd listening to Jesus, we would have understood immediately what was meant by the three measures of meal. This was a common purchase for Israelite women. Three measures of meal were about 60 lbs. of flour. The Holman Christian Standard Bible says 50 lbs. However, when we read about a woman hiding leaven within the three measures of meal we would say that she was doing something awful. Why? Three measures of meal were what you would take to the temple as an act of worship. In Leviticus, we read that a common meal offering was made up of three measures of meal. The three measures of meal were ground very fine, and frankincense and oil were added to it, and it was baked into a cake. This cake was taken to the temple and given to the priest, where the fire of God would consume it. It was the meal offering (see Leviticus 2).

Why was what this woman did in the parable so awful? Some believe that what she did was awful because the finely ground meal represents the sinless character of our Lord Jesus Christ – He is without lumps or inconsistencies. The oil represents the Holy Spirit, the frankincense the sweet savor of His holy life, and then the fire stands for His suffering on the cross. The woman in the parable was distorting the life of Christ. Thus, we have what we believe to be false teaching. So, what we have here is the introduction of false teaching into the church.

Still, others believe that the three measures of meal are a picture of our fellowship and worship with God and that the woman adding leaven to the meal is distorting our fellowship and worship. Think about this, isn't a lot of worship in churches today distorted? Does the Church of God today even know how to connect with God and worship Him?

We read in John 4:24,

God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

There were two things God's people were not allowed to put into their bread cakes. They were not allowed to put honey, or leaven in the bread. Why?

· No, honey because honey represented natural sweetness, and Jesus's sweetness was supernatural, divine, not of this world. In other words, He was not just a good person, but the Son of God.

· No leaven because leaven is always a picture of sin in the Bible and our Lord was completely sinless.

In the Leviticus 2:11 we read.,

“No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, For you shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering to the Lord made by fire.”

There is a principle in Bible study called, The Law of First Mention. If we were to go and look where three measures of meal were first mentioned, we would discover that it was in the plains of Mamre (Genesis 18:6-7), where the LORD and the two angels appeared before Abraham. Abraham told his wife Sarah. To get three measures of meal, bake cakes on the hearth, and bring them to their divine guest. This is where we find three measures of meal first used. The setting is that of fellowship, worship, and communion with God.

In the book of Judges, we have a man by the name of Gideon who also encounters the Angel of God, and he offers him three measures of Unleavened Meal (Judges 6:19).

When Hannah, the mother of Samuel, went to worship God in the temple, she took with her an offering of three measures of meal – unleavened (1 Samuel 1:24).

What we learn is that three measures of meal were a common expression among the Jews and the crowd understood what Jesus was saying. They knew that He was speaking to them about fellowship, worship, and communion with God

How are fellowship, worship, and communion with God under attack in this parable? Well, let's go back to the beginning of this parable. There we read about the leaven. What is leaven?

II. The Leaven – 13:33

Dr. J. Vernon McGee writes in his Thru the Bible Commentary on the Book of Matthew, “Leaven occurs some 98 times in the Bible, 75 of those times are in the Old Testament, and 23 times in the New Testament, and it is always used in a bad sense.”[4]

Lightfoot remarks that rabbinical writers regularly used leaven as a symbol of evil. One of the rabbis said, “Trust not a proselyte till twenty-four generations, for he holds his leaven.”[5]

The woman was defiling the offering. She was distorting the way one would fellowship, worship, and have communion with God. The people hearing this parable would have understood immediately that what she was doing was wrong.

The late Ray Stedman wrote, “You remember that in Egypt before the Jews ate the first Passover, God sent them all through their houses with candles and lamps looking for leaven. They were to clear every bit of it out of their house lest any of it get into the three measures of a meal or the Passover feast and destroy the beauty of the symbolism. They were to search meticulously, to look in corners, on shelves, and back of closets. Perhaps this is where the custom of spring house cleaning began. Because Passover is in the spring, the Jewish people still do this today because of that teaching way back in the time of Moses.

Leaven (Yest) then is a picture of something evil.

Five Statements about Leaven

As one reads the New Testament, you discover five very clear statements made about leaven and it is never good. Leaven is always a picture of something evil. Let’s look at these five statements about leaven:

1. The leaven of the Pharisees – Matthew 16:6, 11; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1

· Matthew 16:6 - Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

· Matthew 16:11 – “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread” – but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

· Mark 8:15 – “Then he charged them, saying, begin, quote, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

· Luke 12:1 – “In the meantime, When an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, he began to say to his disciples, First of all, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Did you notice in those verses that Jesus used the words, “Beware” and “take heed”? These words are used about the evil of the leaven of the Pharisees.

What is the leaven of the Pharisees? Jesus said that it was hypocrisy. What is hypocrisy? It is playacting, pretending to be something you're not. It is pretending to be something before God that you know you are not. This is the highest form of hypocrisy. This vividly describes the Pharisees. They were always pretending to be something they were not.

A quick way to break fellowship, worship, and communion with God is by putting on a mask. It is putting on a mask and pretending to be something that we are not.

2. The Leaven of the Sadducees – Matthew 16:6-12

· Matthew 16:6-12 – 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” 8But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

What is the leaven of the Sadducees?I believe that it speaks of their doctrine – the teachings of the Sadducees. One such doctrine was what we call, Rationalism. Rationalism is the idea that life only consists of the things that you can taste, touch, see, smell, and hear. And what you think about, and nothing beyond that. Rationalism denies the supernatural activity of God in life. Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection, and many believe that this was why they were, “Sad-You-See”. The Sadducees also believed that the dead were, well, dead! They didn't believe in angels, or life after death. The leaven of the Sadducees was rationalism.

3. The Leaven of the Herodians – Mark 8:15

· Mark 8:15 - 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

What is the leaven of the Herodians? Here it would be the quest for stuff. The desire to acquire. The desire for more. The drive for acquisition. It is having the wants. Simply put, it is materialism.

The Herodians taught that life was all about power and the quest for wealth. If you go after wealth and power, you have achieved success. You possess the secret of life. The one with the most toys wins! There are a lot of people today who have bought the leaven of the Herodians hook, line, and sinker. Their motto is: “I want what I want, and I want it now. Stuff, stuff, and more stuff.”

That is not what Jesus taught. Jesus taught in Luke 12:15,

And he said to them, “Take heed and beware of the of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

4. The Leaven of Carnality (Sexual perversion) – 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

· 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 - 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little sin in the church defiles the whole church after a while. Carnality leads to sexual sin in the church, and sexual sin defiles the fellowship, worship, and communion that the true church has with God.

If you were to study First Corinthians chapter 5, you would discover that a man was living in open sexual sin with his father's wife, and the church was doing nothing about it. Paul writes and tells the church that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Allow a little sin to go unchecked and it will spread like wildfire in the church and fellowship, worship and communion will be adversely affected.

5. The Leaven of Legalism (false doctrine) – Galatians 5:9

· Galatians 5:9 - 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

The context of this verse deals with legalism, introducing the idea that one must obey Old Testament law to be right with God. Legalism is trying to live the Christian life under law, under a set of man-made rules, and believing that one has the power to obey simply by their effort.

There is a biblical truth that we as Christians must understand, and it is this: Christ came to set us free from legalism. We're not under the law – we are saved by grace, and we are to live by grace. Unmerited favor. We don't deserve it – that's the point!

Hypocrisy, rationalism, materialism, carnality, and false doctrine will never provide a foundation for fellowship, worship, and communion with God.

Listen to the way one author describes leaven, he wrote, “Leaven suggests the silent, irresistible operation of the power of evil, which diffuses all the faculties of the human soul - Reason, emotion, and volition – until not the smallest atom of the sinner’s being escapes the putrefying power of indwelling sin.[6]

III. The Woman – 13:33

33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Who is this woman in this parable? I believe that it is important to state upfront that the woman in this parable is not the Church. She is the woman who hid the leaven in the three measures of meal. We have already determined that the leaven is something evil, and so, this woman must be someone evil. This woman was corrupting man's approach to God. It is believed that this woman is a picture of those who bring destructive doctrine into the Church. It is important to note that she hid the leaven in the three measures of meal. She did it deliberately, stealthily, and with premeditation. In other words, she knew exactly what she was doing. She took leaven and placed it in the meal on purpose.

While studying this verse, I came across the following ideas about this woman:

1. She is a picture of the flourishing Church.

2. She is a picture of the apostate Church of Rome.

3. She corrupts in chronological order with the fourth Church mentioned in Revelation 2:18, the Church of Thyatira.

Dr. Herbert Lockyer, in his book, All the Parables of The Bible writes, “In the parable, the woman hid the leaven in the meal. The Lord, however, did not commit His Gospel into the hands of women of whom there were none among the Twelve, nor among the Seventy which He commissioned and sent forth. Certainly, regenerated women have their part to play in the furtherance of his cause, Scofield has a note that reads, “A woman in the bad sense always symbolizes something out of place religiously (Revelation 2:20; 17:1-6).” It is somewhat significant that women have had so much to do with the founding of false religious cults like Christian Science (Mary Bakker Eddy), Theosophy (Russian Mystic Helena Blavatsky), Spiritualism (Kate & Maggie Fox), Unity (Myrtle Fillmore), 7th Day Adventism (Ellen G. White), etc. Then has not the modern church been somewhat feminized? Whether by women symbolizing an apostate Church, souls have been corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ and the whole system of revealed truth has been vitiated by her.[7]

I find it interesting that a woman is pictured as the one who hides something evil in the meal. The Gospel is not evil, and the Good News of Jesus Christ is never to be hidden. It is to be proclaimed publicly and unashamedly to all. The Command from Jesus Himself was to,

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

Do you remember who it was that opened all of humanity to sin at the very beginning? It was Eve (the mother of us living). Go back into the Old Testament and read Genesis 3. In 1 Timothy 2:14, the Apostle Paul writes,

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman. Being deceived, Fell into transgression.

And if we go to Revelation 2:20 we have a picture of a woman who entered the church and brought in destructive heresy, false doctrine, we read,

Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “Satan has worked hard to introduce false doctrine and false living into the ministry of the Word of God. From the very early days of the church, true believers have battled false doctrine and hypocrisy. How sad it is that some churches and schools that were once true to the Word have turned from truth to fables.”[8]

It is very clear, I believe, that the woman in this parable is not the church, but a symbol of the reality that the church will not be free from individuals who will seek to institute false doctrine within her.

So, I close by stating. You can look at this parable in one of two ways. Consider the chart found below:

The Parable of the Leaven

View # 1 -

The Meal

Is a picture of the world (of all humanity).

The Leaven

Is a pictures of the gospel permeating the world.

The Woman

Is a picture of the Church which carries the Gospel.

View # 2 -

The Meal

Is a picture of our fellowship, worship, and communion with God.

The Leaven

Is a picture of sin that permeates the world, and false doctrine that gets into the church.

The Woman

Is a picture of the individual that brings false teaching into the Church.

Now I want to draw your attention to verses 34-35. Why did Jesus speak in parables? Well, we read,

34All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

Conclusion: In the four parables that we have studied so far, our Lord has provided us a picture of the events that will transpire between His first Advent and His Second Advent. These things will come to pass just the way the Lord has described it.

· In the Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil three out of four will reject the Gospel message.

· In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares the devil will sow counterfeits within the church.

· In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the church starts small, grows into something big, and the birds rests in its branches. False teachers make a home within Christianity.

· In the Parable of the Leaven, the woman will hide leaven within the three measures of meal. She will seek to corrupt fellowship and worship with God. False doctrine will make its way into the church.

Now, what can we do (individually) to prevent leaven from destroying our fellowship and worship here at SLBC?

1. Deal with sin in our personal lives daily. Keep a short account with God. Confess your sin and find forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

2. Seek to live a godly life. Scripture calls God’s people, saints. The word “saint” comes from the word, “Sanctify” which means, to set apart unto holiness.

3. Make disciples. Pour your spiritual knowledge into the life of a younger believer. It’s hard to ruin fellowship and worship when you are being obedient to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

4. Know the TRUTH so well that you will be able to spot false doctrine. Listen, if the doctrine that is being taught is not found in this BOOK, it’s not worth listening to. Turn away from it. Make it DEAD on arrival.

[1]Ray Steadman, PBC, SermonCentral.com [2]Ibid [3]Charles Ryrie, The Ryrie Study Bible [4] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, Thru The Bible Publishers [5]Herbert Lockyer, All The Parables Of The Bible, Zondervan, P. 192 [6] [7]Herbert Lockyer, All The Parable Of The Bible, Zondervan, P. 195 [8]Warren W. Wiersbe, Quickverse 2008