Seeds and Leaven
0 ratings
· 55 viewsConsidering the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast as a warning from Jesus of outter influences permiating the church
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
RECORD
RECORD
As you know we are in the midst of a series based on the parables of Jesus, but not just any parables, the lesser known parables, the parables that are often skimmed or overlooked entirely
This morning we are actually going to look at two such parables
Now don’t worry they are actually two of Jesus shortest parables consisting of only three verses in total
But I don’t think that it’s there size that puts them on our lesser known list, I believe that these two parables don’t receive a lot of attention because for any serious expository style preacher, of which I am one, you have to do a lot of wrestling with these verses to get to their core and even then there is a lot of disagreement amongst scholars
What am I talking about? Well let’s get to our text first, it’s found in beginning at verse 31
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
is also known as the parabolic discourse because in it is contained 7 different parables of Jesus all spoken about what the kingdom of Heaven is like
Our two parables this morning sit right in the middle of the seven but as I hope you are beginning to see, the other five definitely have a part to play in the understanding of our text which we will see shortly
The first of our two parables is the parable of the mustard seed and this one seems quite forward
Most of those who were waiting for the arrival of the Messiah were looking for a huge entrance
They were looking for a conquering warrior, one that would arrive on the scene with great pomp and circumstance with trumpets sounding His arrival and enemies falling all around Him
They were looking for a man like Saul of whom says, “He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.”
1 Samuel 9:2
Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.
They certainly weren’t looking for the illegitimate son of a redneck girl from the boonies
But Jesus was making it clear that the kingdom of Heaven was not going to begin with a big bang, that the kingdom of Heaven begins with what seems like the smallest and most insignificant act which produces results that are surprisingly enormous
You could point out that this is how the church itself began, consider the insignificant act of a Jew being crucified by the Romans
Nothing special about that, 1000’s of Jews were crucified by the Romans
But in this seemingly small and insignificant act God was redeeming mankind
Think about the day of Pentecost, it really was nothing more than a prayer meeting with 120 people and yet God stepped in in the form of the Holy Spirit and from that was birthed what we know as the church, in fact that 120 became over 3000 in a matter of a few minutes
Setting aside the corporate church for a second this is also a great explanation of personal salvation
We want to do big things for the kingdom and so we want to make big productions to see the kingdom explode in our community but it usually happens with the planting of a little seed
Something you said, something you did that sits inside of someone until it germinates and something begins to grow from that little start and it continues to grow until it has turned into something so big we could have never imagined that God would do that
This is why Paul, when praying for the Ephesians said,
Ephesians 3:14-
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
So the kingdom may have humble beginnings but Jesus also made it clear that the results would be paramount to this giant mustard tree that came forth form this smallest of the seeds
But He continues with another parable which is where exegetical preachers run into a problem because there are two schools of thought regarding this parable, the Parable of the Leaven or yeast depending on which version of the bible you’re using
The first is that it is to be taken in a positive light, and that, just like the mustard seed, it speaks of the incredible transformational impact that the kingdom can have on a person and on the world when it permeates throughout
For it’s at this point that He tells the parable of the leaven, or the yeast that is put in the dough
I like that, I really do and I think that it is sound theology and it preaches well, but this morning I want to spend my time coming at it from another angle, that this second parable was a warning by Jesus to be wary of the outer influences that can permeate into an individual and even into the church in general and spoil the growth that the seed of the Word is producing
Now it’s this point that causes exegetical preaches a problem because there is a lot of debate about whether this is meant to be positive
There’s three reasons for my choice this morning, 1. In almost every other use of this term “leaven/yeast” the context is a negative one
The second reason is because in 3 of the other 5 parables that surround these two Jesus describes scenarios where there are the unsanctified mixed in with the sanctified, in the parable of the Sower, the parable of the weeds, and the parable of the net
The third reason is one that you might not catch unless you have a version of the Bible that provides commentary on the passages
You see the original NIV says that the woman mixed the yeast “into a large amount of flour” whereas the New NIV says she mixed it into about “60 pounds of flour”
Other translations also use similar vague wording but what Jesus said was actually pretty specific
Jesus actually said that she took the leaven and added it to “treis saton” which means 3 seahs (a form of measurement) of flour
This is significant because 3 seahs of flour was the common amount used in order to make the grain offering to God as required by and
The amount could be less but 3 seahs was based on the story in where Abraham is visited by 3 “men” which was actually Christ and 2 angels
So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
Genesis 18:6
However as God gave Israel instruction on the proper forms of worship He indicated,
and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of the finest flour mixed with oil, and without yeast.
“ ‘Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the Lord.
Now as I mentioned at the outset, leaven/yeast was most often used as a symbol of contamination and there not to be any of it in any grain offering brought to God
So when I look at our second parable I see a warning from Christ that this woman, often used throughout the N.T. as a symbol of the secular world, takes the leaven and mixes it, or as the original Greek word says, “hides it” in with the dough spoiling this special offering made for God
Let me quickly give you 4 examples of what I am talking about, 4 forms of leaven that we are to be on the lookout for lest they permeate both us and the entire body of Christ
The first form of leaven/yeast we need to be on the lookout for is the yeast of hypocrisy
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Luke 12:1
The dictionary defines hypocrisy as “a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.”
In other words pretending to be one thing but secretly living your life another way
Jesus continues on in the next 2 verses to say,
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Luke 12:
Hypocrisy is a leaven that can spoil the whole offering, watch out for it
Next let’s take a look at the warning of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 16
How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:
In these verses we find our next two types of leaven, the teaching of the pharisees and the teaching of the Saducees
First the Pharisees
The teaching of the Pharisees can be summed up in one word, legalism
If you look at every time Jesus and the Pharisees clashed you will see that every single time it was over the law of Moses
Now I want to make sure that I’m clear about this point, at no time whatsoever did Christ ever do anything that could ever be considered breaking the law
In Jesus makes it very clear that His mission and His message were not in conflict with the law or the prophets
The conflict was that the Pharisees had taken the law which they claim consisted of 613 commandments covering just about every topic you can imagine and added to it literally thousands of “clarifications” known as the Midrash
For example the Law saws the “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”, But what does that mean?
They had taken the 613 commandments of the Old Testament and by way of “defining” them had added many of their own rules which were given the same status as if they were from God
Well the pharisees actually created 39 separate categories of what “work” means and in each of the categories there are many many sub categories so to follow the original commandment means to follow literally thousands of rules from how many steps you can take to how many letters you are allowed to write
For the Pharisees it was all about following the rules and the condition of the heart was of no importance and if you were smart enough to find some loophole in a rule good for you, but be assured that it would soon be closed
Matthew 23
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
In that same discourse Jesus warns us of the leaven of the Sadducees
If the problem of the Pharisees was their tendency to add to God’s law, it was the tendency of the Sadducees to take away from the law of God
They were the liberal theologians of the day casting off the restricting nature of the law for only those parts that meshed with what they liked
Just a few of the things that the Sadducees didn’t believe in are miracles or anything supernatural, the existence of angels, the existence of a human soul which also meant no resurrection and no after life
In Jesus tells a group of Sadducees that were trying to trap Him that their big problem was “…because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.”
They were religiously elite and prideful but in reality the were scripturally ignorant
It would be impossible for me this morning to over-emphasize to you the importance of knowing God’s Word
Listen to what David wrote,
How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
Be wary of the leaven of the Sadducees
The fourth and final leaven that Jesus warns us of might just surprise you a little bit
Mark
“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
We’ve already looked at the Pharisees so let’s consider the yeast of Herod
Herod’s yeast was his lust for power and wealth and all things material and so we call this the yeast of materialism
In leading up to the Parable of the Rich Fool Jesus gave this very stern warning
Luke 12:15
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And Paul warned the younger Timothy,
1 Timothy 6:9
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
The common denominator among all four of these things, hypocrisy, legalism, liberalism, and materialism is that, like the yeast it only takes a tiny amount hidden away where it can’t be seen to make the entire offering unacceptable to God
We are called to be a sacrifice, an offering to God and just like the grain offering a little bit of yeast can void this offering
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Paul reminds
And so I would encourage you this morning just as Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians,
Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:5-8
Let’s Pray