Parable of Yeast, Matthew 13:33

Parable of Yeast, Matthew 13:33

In reading this single verse and considering it a while, I find that my thoughts keep returning to the fact that we now know that yeast only works on gluten-based ingredients. Yeast gives off byproducts which is then trapped by the gluten. It doesn’t actually do anything to the other ingredients, the liquid for example. The yeast feeds on sugar and creates CO2 and alcohol, new products which then interacts with the gluten. The gluten actually traps the yeast byproducts. And that yeast changes everything.

Feed on the Word

The yeast creates these byproducts by feeding on sugar, much like we ourselves need to feed on the word. Psalm 119:103 says ‘How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ When we digest the word, that process has a knock-on effect within and around us. The word works in us to produce the character of Christ within us. It changes everything and the original person is no longer the same but is a new creation. Much as the inability to separate the original ingredients when making bread, the old has gone and the new has come. That new character can’t help but issue forth from us and affect those around us.

Encouragement

We should be encouraged by this to also let the Word infiltrate every area of our lives, as the yeast is worked into every part of the dough. The woman works the yeast all through the dough. It is amazing to consider the quantity of flour this woman works. 60 pounds? This is no ordinary housewife, but one who prepares with generosity! Five dozen loaves of bread generally come from 60 pounds. 60 pounds=60 loaves. Could this also be reference to the Bread of Life? The Bread of Life will abound. He meets not just the minimal of our needs, but so much more.

Through the Fire

I doubt it is anything but foresight that this dough must then be fired before it is useful. We walk through the fire and challenges daily and seasonally. The yeast, the Word, accompanies us in these seasons; even better, the Holy Spirit does. In this too, we build the strength and character necessary to serve Him in these seasons of life.

This post has been updated and revised from the Parables of Matthew series from August 2019.