Matthew 13:33

Matthew 13:33. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven— The meaning of this parable is commonly thought to be the same as that of the preceding; but there seems to be this difference between them; the parable of the grain of mustard seed represents the smallness of the Gospel in its beginnings, together with its subsequent greatness; whereas the parable of the leaven, which, being hid in a quantity of meal, fermented the whole, expresses in a very lively manner both the nature and strength of the operation of truth upon the mind; for though the doctrines of the Gospel, when first proposed, seemed to be lost in that enormous mass of passions and worldly thoughts with which men's minds were filled; yet did they then, through the Divine Spirit, most eminentlyexert their influence, converting men's thoughts and desires intoa conformity to truth. The precise difference, therefore, between this and the foregoing parable is, that the former represents the extensive propagation of the Gospel from the smallest beginning; but this, the nature of the influence of its doctrines upon the minds of particular persons. Our Saviour mentions here three measures of meal in particular, because this seems to be the quantity they usually kneaded at once. See Genesis 18:6. Macknight, Beausobre and Lenfant.