Of Leaven and Heaven

I’ve been leading a Bible Study this summer that explores the Parables of Jesus, which tend to be earthly stories with heavenly or spiritual meanings. Jesus often introduces these stories with, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” before giving His hearers a clue to the mysteries of the spiritual realm.

A recent lesson was on Matthew 13:33, “The Parable of the Leaven.” This short story features a woman mixing yeast with flour, and teaches that a little bit goes a long way. The leaven (yeast) is God’s Word, and causes the kingdom to grow. And, then, that’s it. It doesn’t teach about sin or death, righteousness or eternal life. It just stops, and keeps a narrow focus, not answering all the questions we may have as a result of what little was shared.

One of the things we’ve discovered is that the Church tends to think and operate in terms of black & white, or right & wrong. We like things tidy, buttoned up, explained and understood. In contrast, Jesus teaches without presuming that we’ll fully comprehend it. He seems to leave some aspects intentionally mysterious and unknown – for reasons that are likewise mysterious and unknown.

So, even as Jesus opens His mouth to reveal the truth, we are reminded that the fullness of God’s ways are not for us to have and to hold from this day forward. They are and will remain unattainable. That, in itself, teaches us something about the kingdom of heaven, too: that it’s not here, yet. It cannot be discovered by science. It is not governed by the laws of physics. It challenges human convention, and seems to defy human logic.

God uses terms like “redeem”, “love”, “sacrifice” and “submit” to describe His relationship with the world’s population, and likewise how humankind should interact with each other to achieve the best results.  They’re verbs, and require action on our part, if we're to live like God. Jesus speaks in parables, but the one other thing He teaches in Matthew 13:33 is that the growing of the kingdom involves some physical work. The woman does the work of mixing in the leaven with the flour…and, God’s people do the work of mixing in the Gospel with the daily routines of life.

May the things that remain mysterious cause us to seek the depths and riches of the kingdom of heaven.

Pastor James Gomez
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Sturgeon Bay