Matthew 13:33 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Fermented Whole

Matthew 13:33 – Parable of the Fermented Whole

|| Luke 13:20, 21

MT13:33 Jesus related to them another parable: “The Realm of Heaven may be compared to[1] leaven,[2]

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[1] May be compared to: There is something about the development of Christ’s Church (the realm of profession) which is like leaven.

[2] Leaven: The Greek is ZUME. Or, TCNT: yeast. What do we know of “leaven” in the Christian Bible? The word occurs 8 times in the Gospels. Leaven is used of the three sects or groups and their doctrine or ideas: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians (Matthew 16:6, 11, 12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1). Note it is “three measures” the woman mixes and perhaps these may be: conservative, liberal, and political. Paul uses leaven as a metaphor for wickedness and badness (1Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:9). This agrees with Plutarch, the Greek historian, who wrote: “(Leaven) itself also the product of corruption, and produces corruption in the dough with which it is mixed.” (Moralia, IV, “The Roman Questions,” 109) In view of the above it does not seem twisting matters to view this parable as a prediction about the fermentation of the Christian Church. It began in the purity of the Nazarene’s teachings and example and within three centuries was bastardized and mongrelized until it was virtually unrecognizable from the original. Virtually every inspired Christian writer foretells an apostasy or falling away (Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 4:3, 4; 2 Peter 2:1ff; 1 John 2:18, 19). Interestingly, nowhere in these parables does Jesus foretell some kind of restoration of “true religion.” There are, of course, a variety of opinions on this parable. Barclay prefers the theme of the transformation of the individual by Christ.

Pparable of the leaven – etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Matthew 13:30-34 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England

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Preceding

Matthew 13 – Parables on Kingdom mysteries

Matthew 13:1-9 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable: the Soil and the Seed

Matthew 13:10-15 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Why Speak in Parables?

Matthew 13:16-17 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Happy Eyes and Ears

Matthew 13:18-23 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Seed and Soil

Matthew 13:24-30 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Field and the Harvest

Matthew 13:31-32 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Mustard Seed

False teachers and false prophets still around

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Additional reading

1. What Jesus did: First things first
2. Leaven 
3. Act of Faith held on February 6, 1481 – Religious fanaticism and fundamentalism of all times
4. Marriage of Jesus 7 Impaled

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Related

1. The Jesus god of Christendom
2. Will God’s people be stumbled by the name of Jehoshua
3. The Prostitute and Christ
4. Parables of Hunger: The Parable of Leaven
5. Warning! Get Out of Her – My People!