Matthew 13:33

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

IV. The Parable of the Leaven in Three Measures of Meal

There is a long list of expositors who make the leaven in this parable something evil and the parable itself a prophecy of the ultimate corruption of the church during the apostasy, basing their claims upon the fact that leaven is almost always used in Scripture as a type of something evil. Thus, the Israelites were commanded to purge out the old leaven during Passover; and the disciples were warned by the Saviour against the leaven of the Pharisees. All these considerations should be rejected in the light of Christ's word that "the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, etc." The figures in the Bible are not so stereotyped that symbols must invariably follow common patterns. It does seem bold and startling that Christ, in this parable, would reverse the usual meaning of leaven and make it something good, holy, and desirable; but another example of the same reversal is seen in the fact that Christ is "a lion" (Revelation 5:5), and so is the devil (1 Peter 5:8)!

In the parable of the mustard seed, one may impart some meaning of demerit to the birds, because they form no essential part of a mustard tree; but in this parable the leaven becomes a part of the whole three measures of meal; and, therefore, to construe the leaven as evil would be to make this a prophecy of the complete, final, and total corruption of the church itself, which cannot be. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

One difference in these two short parables is that, whereas a man sowed the mustard seed in his field, it was a woman who took and hid the leaven in three measures of meal. This may indicate that the church is meant, since the church is represented often as a woman, and as the bride of Christ. This view would make the leaven to be the word of God which the church preaches, or the influence emanating from it.

Many ancient commentators made much of the "three measures of meal," seeing in them the three dispensations of God's grace, the racial composition of the human family in the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and the three-fold nature of man as a being with a spirit, soul, and body! Such deductions appear as too speculative; and it is much easier, and as likely true, that the three measures were mentioned only because that was the usual amount a woman would have taken on an ordinary occasion. It was the excessive pressing of such details as these that resulted in a retreat to the position mentioned earlier of seeing only one point in a parable.

The following analogies would appear to be valid:

The leaven (yeast) represents the kingdom of heaven in its influence.

The leaven imparts its character to the whole loaf, the church changes the character of people influenced by it.

The leaven rises silently, unostentatiously, suggesting the manner of the church's growth.

A little leaven is capable, given time, of leavening a vast amount.

The influence of the church will become very wide and extensive.

The fact that a woman took the leaven may not be a vital part of the illustration; but, if so, probably represents the church.