FROM THE INSIDE OUT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

He told them still another parable: “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.”

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”

Matthew 13:33-35

Again He asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Luke 13:20-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, we found Jesus comparing the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, knowing full well that His way of life, Christianity, would not remain in its pupil stages but rather grow exponentially and expand into something great, just as the resultant plant from the tiny mustard seed would grow into a giant tree.

Indeed, as we see Christianity today over where it was in Jesus’ day (first century AD), we can see His prophetic vision in the parable come to life. That small mustard seed of the gospel of message of salvation through Jesus has developed deep roots in societies and cultures all over the world to the point where there isn’t any continent you can travel to where you won’t find Christians and the Gospel shared.

Well, Jesus didn’t waste any time moving to another parable after the one about the mustard seed. For as we see in today’s passages from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, our Savior had another illustration to explain the kingdom of God. Look again at His words in Matthew’s account:

He told them still another parable: “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.”

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”  Matthew 13:33-35

Where yesterday’s parable alluded to the growth of the kingdom, painting an external imagery, here we find Jesus conveying a growing of the kingdom from the inside out, using the matter of yeast in dough as an analogy.

Have you ever made bread?

In order to get it to rise, you need to add yeast which is an amazing substance. Yeast cells actually feed on simple sugars which are present when dough is mixed. As the yeast cells, metabolize those simple sugars, they release carbon dioxide and alcohol into the bread dough, causing it to rise. In other words, the expansion action happens from the inside of the dough and leads to a visible growth on the outside.

Now of this from a spiritual perspective which is the point Jesus is trying to get at. Once the Gospel is received and a person accepts Jesus as Savior, the apostle Paul proclaims this truth:

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Dough without yeast will not change. It remains the same. The same thing happens to a person without Jesus. There is no real legitimate change made unless they receive Him as Savior. And when they accept Jesus, they gain the influence of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, both serving to instruct them on the way Jesus lived and thus the way they are to live. God’s word and the Holy Spirit become the yeast within a believer, causing them to grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord. A Christian from that point on expands more and more from the inside out, more and more becoming the person God wants them to be, molding them to be mirror images of His Son.

Indeed, anyone in Christ becomes new. They are no more the same than the dough after the effects of the yeast.

What makes this parable even more interesting and fascinating to me is that it runs counter to the way yeast is portrayed elsewhere in the scriptures, even by Jesus Himself. Study the scriptures more and you will find yeast being compared to sin which will spread and grow inside someone if they let it enter in and take root. It’s why in the Old Testament you find the bread made without leaven (unleavened bread) which simply meant, bread without yeast.

Frankly, the illustration works both ways because we have a choice to make and there are only really two options.

We can choose Jesus and then allow God’s word and the Holy Spirit spread and grow within us, bringing us into the kingdom of God from the inside out.

or

We can opt for sin, rejecting Jesus in our lives for the wickedness of the world and allowing evil and transgression to infect us and spread through our flesh and souls, leading us down the path of destruction. In other words, we grow away from the kingdom of God and do so from the inside out.

So how is it in your life? What kind of yeast is actively growing within you, impacting you from the inside out?

Only you and the Lord know the answer to these questions.

Amen.                                                                                                                 
In Christ,
Mark
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