31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
Matthew 13:31-33
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Matthew 13:44-52
A little over a month ago, I shared a passage from Genesis with you in which three messengers (or angels) appeared to Abraham. When he looked up and saw them, he offered them hospitality and when they accepted he went to Sarah and told her to “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.”
Now here we are in the New Testament and Jesus is telling parables about the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven, including verse 33, in which he likens the Kingdom of Heaven to yeast that a woman takes and mixes in three measures of flour, leavening the entire three measures.
What’s going on here?
The first thing we have to understand is that Jesus is using these parables to teach his disciples (and us) about the nature of the kingdom of heaven. He’s not talking about a place, but about the “rule” of heaven.
In this sense, he’s making the same point that Moses made as he spoke to the people of Israel before they entered into the Promised Land:
“11Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” <sup14< data-preserve-html-node="true"/sup> No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Moses is telling the people that heaven is not a place far away – instead it is near. One of the first things Jesus said in his ministry – “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”
So, he uses parables about small things and . . . in a sense . . . worthless things. We need to understand that the mustard seed, which in fact was very small, did produce a large bush reaching as high as 15 feet.
But it was considered a trash bush – a weed (think about tumble weeds out west or kudzu here in Mississippi) and could be an invasive plant that took up valuable cultivable land.
From the viewpoint of his disciples and those who were listening to him, they would have understood that negative view of the mustard seed as opposed to our culinary viewpoint.
The same thing with regard to yeast.
You may think of yeast as the packet you buy in the grocery store of active dry yeast or the jar of instant yeast (much easier and less finicky than proofing active dry yeast). But the yeast that Jesus was talking about had a negative connotation.
First, for the Jewish listeners, it was what they were ordered to remove before the Passover. Get any yeast out of the house!
Second, for even the gentile listeners, they understood that yeast or leaven was spoiled flour or leftover bread allowed to ferment (spoil).
If you want to make your own sourdough starter (think about what the word “sour” means with reference to dough) and you don’t have some from a relative or neighbor, what you do is take equal parts of flour and water, mix them together in a clean glass jar or container and then cover them with a loose lid or cloth and leave (“leave” – get it?) in a place that’s out of direct light and basically let it ferment or spoil . . . you know, go “sour”.
Lately, I’ve read about some of the White House folks who have been eating a lot of sauerkraut as part of a healthy regimen. You know what sauerkraut is, don’t you? It’s fermented or “sour” (spoiled) cabbage (literally, sauerkraut means “sour cabbage”).
What was the point that Jesus was making in this regard?
He was taking examples that were not only small, everyday things, but, like Moses in the passage from Deuteronomy, they were very near to you – not far away.
How is that a good thing?
For that matter, how is it a good thing to trespass in someone’s field and hide treasure so that you can sell all you own and buy the field (knowing the treasure is there). Again, there is a negative connotation here that the people listening to Jesus would have understood. Someone has treasure (how did he come by it?) and hides in property that he doesn’t own (trespassing) and sells his legitimate property (not very much) if order to buy the property with the hidden treasure.
Or how about the merchant (generally disfavored at the time) who sells everything he has to buy one pearl of great worth. You bet his wife had something to say when got back from the grocery store that evening.
What point was Jesus making?
Once again, like Moses, the first point is that God’s kingdom is not far away – it’s right here and right now.
Second, as Jesus was trying to get his disciples (and other listeners) to understand, what may have been considered worthless or even garbage, is actually of great value.
Think about what his listeners considered valuable. Think about what they would here from the Roman (and before that the Greek and the Persian) folks.
The gods of mythology were larger than life.
Larger. Than. Life.
They were literally bigger than regular mortals. They were beautiful. They were strong. They were magnificent.
Jesus was telling his disciples that all of that splendor was a trap. He was telling them, don’t fall for the easy answers or the easy way.
He was telling them to hang in there. That a little seed could take over! He has telling them that just a little yeast could leaven a whole lot of flour.
I baked bread again yesterday morning. I started on Friday morning when I got up early and took just a little bit (less than a teaspoon) of my rye sourdough starter (about 50 grams) and mixed it in with 1,000 grams of flour. Twelve hours later and all of that flour was bubbling and ready to form into loaves which I then placed in bannetons and put in the refrigerator for another eight to twelve hours to . . . what?
That’s right – to ferment (the refrigeration was to slow down the fermentation in order to build stronger flavor).
There’s still the negative potential. When you try to make a starter from scratch you can get nice, friendly bubbles from nice, friendly bacteria, or you can get something that you’ll need to throw away. Your starter can go bad if the wrong stuff gets in there.
Which is why you have to be careful.
You have to get rid of the weeds (tares) from the wheat. You have to get rid of the morning glory from the butterbeans. Or as Jesus said in verses 47-48, you have to throw out the trashy fish and keep the good (have you ever seined a lake?).
The good news . . . the Good News . . . is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It’s right here and now in the little things all around us.
But as Moses ultimately told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy –
“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.”
Deuteronomy 30:15
And then he told them they had to choose.
We have to choose likewise.
Back to sourdough.
In order to keep my sour or spoiled flour “healthy” I have to pay attention. If I let it sit too long, it’ll go bad. I have to “feed” it with fresh flour and water and, unless I want to “weed” it by discarding some of it (either throwing it away or using it to bake bread, which was something that people used to do daily before they brought home bread from the store).
So too, we have to “feed” ourselves (Church, Scripture, Prayer) and “weed” putting aside envy, sloth, greed, etc.
It’s the little things that teach us.
It’s the treasures in hiding
that we can see
if only we open our eyes.