Even faced with sin, do you believe?

As we continue our way through Matthew 13 and the Seven Kingdoms of Heaven parables found there, we come now to parable No. 4, the leaven hidden in the meal.

Before delving into the details, which are not many, it is interesting to note that of these seven, this is the briefest, weighing in at only 24 words. Yet within these 24 words, not only is Jesus forecasting Christianity’s continued course between his two advents, he does so using an illustration that in today’s feminist atmosphere is sure to cause contention — a woman baking bread. While I am sure there was no implication intended, surely Jesus could have been more sensitive, couldn’t he?

It is also interesting to note that within this group of parables, Jesus establishes a natural division among them as the first four are given to the multitudes as they listen to him from the shore of Galilee, while the last three are given to the disciples alone in a house. The significance of this, I believe, parallels the law of entropy, which states that in a closed system, things tend to disorder. As Jesus has been detailing progressive opposition to the word of God and the ensuing corruption it brings in the preceding parables, this parable shows where corruption within Christianity ends — false doctrine.

For those of you worried that all of Christianity is corrupt, take heart, for the next two parables are God’s promise that his program has never at one time, in the last nearly 2,000 years, stopped. And for those who think Biblical doctrine is unimportant, think again. Christianity sinks to no point lower than false doctrine. In fact, false teachers are called ravening wolves just six chapters before.

We know false doctrine is Jesus’ subject here because of the three principles in the parable. Let us begin with the first one mentioned, the leaven: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven.” In scripture, leaven is symbolic of sin.

In First Corinthians 5, we find the Apostle Paul dealing with the sin of fornication. As a class, fornication includes all sexual relations outside the bounds of Biblical marriage, one man to one woman for one lifetime. Also included in this are those sexual relations the Bible calls “near of kin,” which we call incest, regardless if sanctioned by marriage. This fornication he calls leaven in verse 6: “Know ye not that a little leaven leaventh the whole lump?”

Leaven is sin in both testaments. In the book of Exodus, we find the institution of the Jewish Passover. One of the primary components of this feast is unleavened bread. In fact, if any of you have ever experienced a Jewish Passover Seder, you will know how extensive the ceremony portrays the removal of all leaven from their homes. This is because it represents sin and unleavened bread represents a sinless sacrifice for their salvation. Though I am abbreviating this greatly, leaven here represents sin, testified of in both testaments.

The second principle is that of the woman. Verse 33 says, in part, “… which a woman took.” Again, in the Bible, religion is often portrayed by the feminine gender. In fact, Christianity itself is pictured as the wife with Christ being pictured as the husband. In the Old Testament, Israel is also portrayed similarly in relation to Jehovah God. The only difference between Israel and Christianity and this woman found in Matthew 13 is that the later intentionally introducing sin into the meal, something Biblical Judaism and Christianity never do. This is false religion.

While there are many false religions in the world today — and they all come from the same source according to Revelation 17 — this one is particular in its bent due to principle No. 3, the meal. Matthew says, “hid in three measures of meal.”

This meal pictures two things. First, Jesus is talking about his body. Remember the unleavened bread? Christ is our Passover, so says Paul back in Corinthians. But Jesus even uses this kind of terminology in John 6 when he refers to himself as the bread of life. Secondly, it being “three measures” of meal, what is being corrupted is the doctrine of the Trinity (three measures in one lump). And once this doctrine is damaged, so is that of his deity.

Either Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, or he is just a man.

John says in his first epistle, “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” Quite obviously, John believes he is God, and so do I. The only question that remains is, do you?

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla; contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.