The parable of the leaven (parable of the leaven)
Table of contents
- The parable of the leaven (parable of the leaven)
- The parable of the leaven (Luke 13 20-21)
- Summary of the Parable of the Leaven
- The Parable of the Leaven Moral Lesson
- What is the main message of the parable of the leaven?
- Reflection on the parable of the leaven
- 1. Something small becomes big and powerful
- 2. We don't see any growth until BOOM!
- 3. Tiny doesn't mean weak
- 4. Spread the yeast in the world
- 5. The gospel is unstoppable
- 6. Spiritual growth is a gradual process
- Why is leaven like the kingdom of God?
- the parable of the leaven
- Commentary on the Parable of the Leaven
- More parables!
The parable of the leaven is also known as the parable of the leaven and is found in two gospels of the Bible. The books of Luke (Luke 13:20-21) and Matthew (Matthew 13:33) contain this brief parable along with the parable of the mustard seed.
The parables of the yeast and the mustard seed are similar in that they both describe faith growing from a tiny speck into something amazing and beautiful. The specific features of how leaven works distinguish the parable of leaven, as described below.
The parable of the leaven (Luke 13 20-21)
The parable of leaven is found inLukas 13:20-21jMateo 13:33. It's one of the shorter parables with only a sentence or two.
The parable describes the kingdom of God as leaven thoroughly mixed with 60 pounds of flour.
Summary of the Parable of the Leaven
The summary of the parable of leaven is this: When a small amount of leaven is mixed with a large amount of flour, the leaven can cause the dough to rise gradually and imperceptibly. This is how the Spirit of God works in us.
The Parable of the Leaven Moral Lesson
The parable of the leaven has no specific moral lesson. The parable of the leaven uses the leaven analogy to describe how the Spirit of God works in us and changes us for good.
What is the main message of the parable of the leaven?
The core message of the parable of the leaven is: just as a small amount of leaven mixed with the flour causes the dough to rise gradually and unobtrusively until a fluffy dough is formed, so the Spirit of God works in us. Slowly it seeps into all levels of our being, growing and spreading unnoticed until we are transformed in our being into children of God.
Reflection on the parable of the leaven
Even a one-sentence parable, like the parable of leaven, gives us some food for thought in our daily lives.
1. Something small becomes big and powerful
Our faith and commitment as Christians usually does not happen overnight. Most of the time, it starts with a little speck we probably wouldn't even notice, like reading a Bible verse, crying out a prayer in sorrow, or the kindness of a stranger. These little bits seep into our being and change us over time, until finally we realize that the Spirit of God has possessed us and changed our nature.
2. We don't see any growth until BOOM!
The way the yeast helps the dough rise is almost imperceptible, much like watching grass grow. As we actively work on our growth as Christians, we may not always recognize the growth we are achieving until we look back and see how far we have come in our journey. Allow yourself the grace to slowly and steadily grow into strong faith.
3. Tiny doesn't mean weak
God's Word may seem like a small dose to feed souls, but don't underestimate the power of His Word. Its message penetrates our hearts gradually and quietly, but it has great power and power to change us completely.
4. Spread the yeast in the world
The apostles were the first people Jesus commissioned to spread his message of repentance and salvation to the world. So we too are called today to spread this leaven in our own sphere of activity. In every little way we spread the good news to our family, neighbors and community, we bring about gradual and unstoppable change for the kingdom of God. Don't underestimate simple actions.
5. The gospel is unstoppable
When we read and ponder the Word of God, it changes us completely. Our growth as Christians knows no bounds and no one can take or dampen us. Our greatest growth will come whenseek it with all my heart.
6. Spiritual growth is a gradual process
people are impatient. We want change and we want it.Now! As we progress on our Christian journey, the most important aspect is not how fast we are moving, but that we are moving in the right direction. We should always seek a deeper relationship with God, discerning His will for our lives and following Him to the best of our ability. Small and imperceptible continuous steps bring us to where we need to be. Small steps, like a few grains of yeast, can make a big difference.
Why is leaven like the kingdom of God?
Leaven is like the kingdom of God, for it only takes a small amount of yeast to infiltrate the flour and imperceptibly leave it rising until it is fully transformed into a plump, lofty mound of dough. In the same way, a small amount of God's Spirit within us subtly and gradually changes us until we fully become the person He intended us to be.
the parable of the leaven
The Parable of the Leaven is also known as the Parable of the Leaven. You will find their meaning and message for our lives today in the rest of this article.
Commentary on the Parable of the Leaven
The commentary on the parable of the leaven (parable of the leaven) can be found atBible Study Tools.com. This link will take you to the free oneSuccinct commentary by Matthew Henry, but you can find other Bible commentariesHERE. They include free and paid versions. I was referring to Matthew Henry's pithy comment on this post.
This post may contain affiliate links. This is myfull disclosure.
More parables!
Do you love parables like me? Feel free to read life lessons about these others (listed below),these activities for adults and children, TheList of similes and meanings. More parable lessons are in progress. see you soonHERE!
- 6 Mustard Seed Faith Lessons
- 3 Lessons The Prodigal Son Parable Can Teach You About Life
- 4 Lessons from the Parable of the Hidden Treasure
- The parable of the talents teaches us 5 life lessons
- 3 ways the parable of the lost sheep shows how much Jesus loves us
- 5 Love Lessons from the Parable of the Good Samaritan
- Which earth do you like? The parable of the sower explained
- 4 moral lessons from the parable of the ten virgins
- 3 life lessons from the parable of the rich fool
- Lessons about God from the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard
- Parable of the Lost Coin Spiritual Lessons
- The Parable of the Two Sons - 3 Lessons of Spiritual Life
- The Parable of the Weeds: 4 Sobering Life Lessons
- The parable of the obstinate widow
- Lessons from the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
- The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price Lessons
- Lessons from the parable of the great banquet
- Parable of the wise manager Life lessons for today
- Parable of the Yeast Life Lessons for Today
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FAQs
What does the parable of the yeast teach us? ›
Through the parable of the yeast, Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of heaven is alive, it's everywhere, it takes attention and patience to grow, and it transforms everything it touches.
What lesson have you learned from the parable is there a lesson for you from the three servants? ›Ultimately, it was not each servant's job to compare his talents to those of the others, but rather, to be grateful for and make the most what he did receive.
How does the prodigal son relate to us today? ›The story of the prodigal son is a picture of God's love for us as His children. God's love for us does not depend on our faithfulness; it is unconditional. He loved us while we were still sinners. Though we are demanding and do not remain faithful, God is still our faithful and loving Father.
What is the parable of mustard seed yeast in Matthew 13 31 33? ›“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
What moral lessons can we learn from the parable of the leaven? ›Without the leaven the flour cannot be made to rise. Without Jesus and His kingdom the world cannot be saved, cannot be changed. Both work silently and unseen. The power of the kingdom is not physical and yet it produces definite results.
What does the parable of the yeast Luke 13 20 21 mean? ›Rejoice: Once you mix in yeast, it is invisible.
Jesus' point is that the kingdom's power is massive. It starts out small, but it can leaven the whole, huge batch. Thus in the end, the kingdom will leaven the whole world. The kingdom will swell to encompass the whole of creation in the resurrection.
- God gifted and entrusted us with blessings.
- He expects us to use our gifts wisely.
- He doesn't judge us all by the same standard.
- We will be held accountable.
- We are called to grow in the Lord.
The moral of a story is the lesson that story teaches about how to behave in the world. Moral comes from the Latin word mores, for habits. The moral of a story is supposed to teach you how to be a better person.
What lesson do we learn from this poem? ›Although we commit mistakes and face failures there is always a hope for a next chance in our lives. We must have a strong desire to try and make our life and our world better.
What the life lesson did the story of prodigal son has taught us? ›The main message of The Prodigal Son is that it doesn't matter how far we stray from our Heavenly Father or how much we squander the gifts he provides, he is always delighted when we turn back to him. His unconditional love is waiting for us to return home where he greets us with open arms.
What is the main teaching of the prodigal son? ›
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the father forgives his son when he returns and welcomes him home. In the same way, God waits for humans to realise what they have done wrong and ask for forgiveness and welcomes them back when they do.
What is the object lesson of prodigal son? ›Children understand the concepts of punishment and making mistakes, but it's important for them to know that with God, there is always grace. This message tells the parable of the prodigal son to illustrate that God welcomes us “home” with open arms when we repent of our sins.
What lesson do the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast teach? ›The mustard seed was the smallest seed, but it grew into a huge plant. This is Mark's third parable of growth. In this parable, Jesus teaches that although the Kingdom of God started small, with Jesus and the disciples, it would grow and spread across the world to unlimited numbers of followers.
Why is the kingdom of heaven like a mustard seed or yeast? ›The picture part is the mustard seed that grows into a large plant, the reality part is the kingdom of God, and the point of comparison is the growth of the kingdom from small beginnings. The nesting birds may refer to Old Testament texts which emphasize the universal reach of God's empire, such as Daniel 4:12.
What does it mean that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grew? ›In the Bible, Jesus literary states that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. He meant that the Kingdom of God during his time was unseen to the point that it seems insignificant. It was hardly noticed during its start, the same as almost no one pays any attention to a mustard seed.
Why is yeast like the kingdom of God? ›The kingdom of heaven, he said, is like that yeast. This helps us see that even though we may not always notice it, God is working constantly in and through people's lives throughout this whole wide world, building up his kingdom and providing us with the “bread of life” that we need in order to have life to the full.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from the Bible? ›When asked which commandment was the most important, Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39).
What does the Bible mean by a little leaven? ›So, when the Apostle Paul says in Gal 5:9, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump,' what is he saying to the Galatians and to us? He's saying that a little bit of 'untruth,' a little bit of 'false teaching,' a little bit of 'impure thoughts' is leaven that can affect and transform the whole person.
What is the parable of the yeast Luke 13? ›Quote. “If the kingdom is like yeast hidden in dough, then we should stay well away from even the apparently harmless assertion that the kingdom is the yeast and the world is the dough. If the world alone (the world without the kingdom) is represented by anything in the parable, it is by the flour, not the dough.
What are significance of Jesus as the living bread and water? ›So what does Jesus mean when he says, “I am the Bread of Life?” Well, simply put, he means that we are not satisfied spiritually unless we know Jesus; we are not spiritually satisfied unless we have Jesus in our lives. Or to be more blunt, we cannot survive spiritually without Jesus.
Why would Jesus give us his presence in the form of bread and wine? ›
The bread and wine symbolize the more complete offering of our life, which is also transformed during the Mass as we become one with Jesus and are also made into his body, as members joined to the head.
What do you believe is the main lesson to be learned from this parable of the sower? ›What the parable of the sower teaches us is that God is generous. He's extended his grace to EVERYONE. Even those he knows will likely reject it, he gives it to them anyway in hopes they will cultivate their heart and experience the life he came to give them.
Does a parable teach a lesson? ›A parable is a simple story that tells a lesson.” “Many of you have already learned about some of the parables Jesus taught when He was here on earth.
What lessons can we learn from God? ›- #1 Love God with all that you are. ...
- #2 Love others. ...
- #3 Nothing is more important than the Kingdom of God. ...
- #4 Don't love money. ...
- #5 Don't worry about earthly needs—trust God to provide. ...
- #6 Spiritual greatness is achieved through serving others and being humble. ...
- #7 Losing your soul to gain the world isn't worth it.
What is the moral message embedded in the short story 'Three Questions'? Three Questions' by Leo Tolstoy contains a universal truth. The true purpose of life is to help others. The learned men provided different answers to the Tsar's three questions and the Tsar did not agree with any of them.
What is a life lesson you have learned? ›One of the most important life lessons that you need to learn is the importance of patience. Patience is defined as an individual's ability to wait for something significant to happen without feeling frustrated due to the delay. In life, you'll have to wait for a lot of things without feeling negative.
How can you apply the lesson to your daily life? ›- Learn through reading. ...
- Express yourself. ...
- Allow yourself to make mistakes. ...
- Be honest. ...
- Be open to—yet critical of—criticism. ...
- Share your insights and skills with others to promote positive change. ...
- Keep going, even when things get tough. ...
- Love what you do.
If documented and disseminated properly, lessons learned provide a powerful method of sharing ideas for improving work processes, operation, quality, safety and cost effectiveness, etc. and helps improve management decision making and worker performance through every phase of a project.
How does the parable of the lost sheep relate to us today? ›Just as the parable of the lost sheep challenged its first hearers to view the outsiders in their world from a different perspective, so Jesus' message should do that for us today. It shows us the priority God puts on the lost, hurting, broken and excluded.
What is the solution of the prodigal son? ›Ans. The younger son decided to confess his sin to his father and tell him that he had realized his mistake. He decided to tell his father that he had sinned against his father and God. He also told his father that he didn't deserve to call his son anymore and requested him to treat him as one of his servants.
What 3 things did the father give the prodigal son? ›
Upon his return, his father treats the young man with a generosity far more than he has a right to expect. He is given the best robe, a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet.
What is an object lesson example? ›What is an object lesson? Simply put, an object lesson is a lesson that teaches an abstract concept using tangible objects. For example, if you want to teach your kids about the Holy Trinity, you might show them an apple.
What does object of our faith mean? ›What a sweet and powerful reminder of the object of our faith and the reward of our faith. The object is Christ and the reward is peace with God. Faith in Christ is the only pathway to perfect peace that passes all understanding. There is a lot going on in our world right now.
What is the difference between kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven? ›Kingdom of God, also called Kingdom Of Heaven, in Christianity, the spiritual realm over which God reigns as king, or the fulfillment on Earth of God's will. The phrase occurs frequently in the New Testament, primarily used by Jesus Christ in the first three Gospels.
What does it mean that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in field? ›Let's keep reading in verse 44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field”—so the focus is on the value of the kingdom. The worth of having God ruling over you and, for you, over everything else. It's not hard to see why that is so valuable.
Why is the kingdom of God compared to wheat and weeds? ›Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a person who sows good seed in a field. While he sleeps, an enemy comes and sows weeds among the wheat. This would have meant that the two grew up together and their roots would have intertwined.
What is the meaning of the parable of the mustard seed and yeast? ›The mustard seed here is speaking to the external advancement of the kingdom of God, everywhere on the earth. While the yeast that he's talking about is getting at the internal growth and transformation that the gospel makes in a person's life.
What is the spiritual significance of the parable of the mustard seed? ›In the culture of the day, the mustard seed was often used proverbially for the smallest thing one could think of. Jesus adapts that use in this parable. His point is that the beginning of the kingdom is tiny to the point that it seems insignificant.
What does Bible say about yeast? ›Matthew 13:31-33
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
In the Bible, Jesus literary states that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. He meant that the Kingdom of God during his time was unseen to the point that it seems insignificant. It was hardly noticed during its start, the same as almost no one pays any attention to a mustard seed.
What is the lesson behind the mustard seed? ›
Matthew 17:20 “… Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” We can see in these two passages how a mustard seed can produce big change, both physically, and metaphorically.
What is the lesson of faith as a mustard seed? ›(Hold up one mustard seed and look closely at it.) Jesus said that God is so powerful that if our faith is even as small as this little seed, then we can do incredible things with His power. Maybe we should try that. (Place the plant in front of the children.)
Why is yeast considered a living thing? ›Yeast: a living organism formed of only one cell
In spite of its inert aspect, a block of yeast is, in reality, formed from a gigantic number of unicellular organisms visible only under a microscope. A small 1cm cube weighs about 1g and contains 10 billion living cells of yeast!
Yeast cells share many basic biological properties with our cells. Genetic manipulation in yeast is easy and cheap compared to similar experiments in more complex animals such as mice and zebrafish. At least 20 per cent of human genes known to have a role in disease have counterparts in yeast.
What is the parable of the yeast Luke? ›Quote. “If the kingdom is like yeast hidden in dough, then we should stay well away from even the apparently harmless assertion that the kingdom is the yeast and the world is the dough. If the world alone (the world without the kingdom) is represented by anything in the parable, it is by the flour, not the dough.