Lord Jesus your kingdom—the “the Kingdom of Heaven, is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” Matt. 13:33
Bread from Heaven and Bread of Life (John 6:22-29)—starter, yeast, leaven … Jesus, we’re thankful for all the carbohydrate and bread images you chose to tell us more about yourself and your Kingdom. Irrespective of our personal gluten and wheat choices—this parable is powerful, timely, and hyper-encouraging.
A woman mixes a little yeast (sourdough starter) into a lot of flour—enough to yield 40-60 pounds of dough, which would yield 60-ish loaves of bread and about 480 hearty-slice sandwiches. This story is hope-filled on many levels. First, she was obviously thinking about providing bread for a lot of people.
Her heart was bigger than her bungalow, her vision bigger than her kitchen, and her “table” was as big as your Kingdom. She had confidence in the permeating, transforming presence of the right leaven.
She didn’t own a bread factory, but as the Bread of Life in this parable, you want us to see how belonging to you puts us in a bigger and better Story than we realize—a Story 10 months pregnant with hope, with no possibility of birth failure. No matter how fearful, stressful, woeful, or awful things seem in our world, on the perfectly timed Day the entire earth will be filled with your truth, goodness, and beauty, Jesus. Hallelujah!
The firstfruits of your Spirit, the yeast of your grace, the “starter” of your resurrection all guarantee that you will finish your commitment to make all things new (Rev.21:5). Turn our whines into worship, our frets into faith, our sweaty palms into hands engaged in Kingdom-service. Hope, generosity, and kindness are the order of this and every day. So Very Amen.
