In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal explores Jesus' parable of the leaven from Matthew 13:33 , revealing profound insights about the nature of God's kingdom on earth. This short but powerful parable illustrates how the kingdom of heaven operates not through outward glory or conquest, but as a hidden, transformative influence throughout the world. Tony examines how this parable connects thematically with other parables in Matthew 13, showing that believers are called to be like leaven - seemingly small and hidden, yet profoundly impacting the entire "loaf" of society. This teaching offers a refreshing perspective on how Christians can understand their role in the world and how God's redemptive purposes work through His people.

Key Takeaways

• The kingdom of heaven operates not through outward glory but as a hidden, transformative influence in the world
• Just as leaven permeates an entire batch of dough, Christians are called to influence the whole world around them
• The parable of leaven shares thematic connections with the parables of the sower and the wheat and tares in Matthew 13
• God preserves the world (the "whole loaf") because of His redemptive purposes for those within it
• The seemingly small presence of believers in the world has a disproportionate impact, similar to how a small amount of leaven affects a large amount of flour
• Common grace benefits both believers and unbelievers as part of God's redemptive plan
• The church may not always appear dominant in society, but its influence continues to work invisibly and powerfully

Understanding the Parable of Leaven

The parable in Matthew 13:33 is deceptively simple: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened." Tony notes that just as leaven is often the same color as flour but with a different texture, and just as a small amount can affect an entire batch, the kingdom of heaven may seem small and unassuming in the world, yet its influence permeates everything around it. This parable teaches us that God's kingdom doesn't operate through visible conquest or outward glory. Rather, it works quietly from within, transforming the whole of society as believers live out their faith in various contexts - whether at work, with family, or in other relationships. The impact of the kingdom, like leaven, is not always immediately visible but ultimately transforms everything it touches.

The Kingdom's Hidden Presence

This parable helps us understand that while the church may not always be the dominant visible institution in the world, its influence continues to work powerfully. Tony explains how this connects with the parable of the wheat and tares, where both grow together until the harvest. Similarly, the kingdom of heaven is present within the world, often hidden from plain sight but still exerting tremendous influence. This perspective counters triumphalistic views that expect Christianity to always visibly dominate culture, while also rejecting defeatist attitudes that minimize the church's impact. Instead, it offers a balanced understanding that even when believers are in the minority, they serve as God's means of leavening the whole of society with kingdom values and influence.

Memorable Quotes

"We should look at this parable and think about how the kingdom of heaven on this earth is not going to be about outward glory. It's not gonna be about outward conquests, accoutrements or accolades."

"As we go into our workday, as we interact with our family, whether that's our immediate family, our wives or children, our parents, or it's our extended family, some of whom may not even know Christ, as we interact with our fellow Christians in the church or online, as we interact with unbelievers online, we are to be like leaven that is hidden in the flower and our presence in the flower, our presence in the world actually leavens the whole world."

"If it were not for God's intent and desire to save a remnant from fallen humanity, if it was not for the covenant of redemption in which the father, son and the spirit pacted together to redeem a people for their very own, God would've had no reason not to just destroy the whole thing and start over. But because he has seen fit to redeem out of the fallen whole, a portion, he is leavening the whole with that portion."

Full Transcript

we should look at this parable and think about how the kingdom of heaven on this earth is not going to be about outward glory. It's not gonna be about outward conquests accoutrements or accolades.

[00:00:21 ] Introduction and Experiment Setup

Welcome back to episode 467 of the Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Tony and this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey, brothers and sisters, if you are joining us for this second part of, uh, episode 467, any of you have not listened to Jesse's contribution, then you are like me. I also have not listened to Jesse's contribution yet, but, uh, you should go back and listen because, uh, we're doing a fun little experiment this week, Jesse and I.

Our schedules didn't quite line up, so we thought we would do something interesting.

[00:01:03 ] Exploring the Parables of Christ

Uh, we've been working through the parables of Christ, which has been an absolute joy, and we come to these two sort of little micro parables that, um, commentators and editors often clump together. And Justin and I thought it would be a fun experiment for us each two separately talk about, uh, one of the parables.

Uh, and then next week, uh, we're gonna come back together and we will probably talk through all of it after we've had some chances to, uh, process and marinate in it a little bit. We thought it'd be fun to see kind of how the two episodes gel together or don't gel together, uh, when uh, we have not talked about it and did not record together.

So I'm gonna go ahead and kick off. I don't know if Jesse did affirmations or denials. I don't know what Jesse did. I, all I know is he recorded an episode and I'm sure that it's amazing. Uh, but I'm just gonna go ahead and kick off right into the, uh, the. Uh, reading here. So we're looking at Matthew chapter 13.

Uh, we've spent our entire time in this series so far in Matthew chapter 13, and I'm gonna pick it up at verse 33. It reads here, he told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, that a woman took and hid in three measures of flower till it was all leavened. Now this is a short parable.

Uh, it's, it's pretty straightforward. And this episode will be a little bit shorter. I don't know how long Jesse went. I mean, I, I guess I kind of have an idea 'cause I edited the, uh, episode, but I dunno how long you went. So I'm gonna keep this short and sweet and we're gonna talk more about all of this next week.

So I just wanna share a few observations with you first. I think it's important for us to sort of recognize that. Matthew as the inspired, uh, writer of this, uh, gospel and in some ways, uh, as an inspired compiler and editor of Christ's public Ministry. Right. He's writing the gospel, but he's also a witness to the events.

He is probably, um, ordering things in particular ways to make a theological point. Christ probably also taught this same message multiple times in multiple venues, so there's nothing shady or a historical going on. Um, but Matthew is. Putting together these, uh, counts and particularly these parables, which probably were all given at the same time.

Um, Christ probably deliver them all at the same time as well. And there's some good reasons in the text to think that. But these parables all fall within the context of each other. So when we talked about the parable of, uh, the soils, um, or the parable of the sower, we, we recognize, um, that the kingdom of heaven is not as obvious as we would think, right?

The sower sows the seed, um, he sows it promiscuously a across various different kinds of soils, fully knowing that some of it will not be receptive. And then of course, we saw the outcome. And then when we looked at the parable of the weed, weed, uh, wheat and the tears, uh, we see that, you know, the, the good sower recognizes that the wheat and the weed will grow up next to each other, and that at the end of all things, he will separate those things and will, you know, destroy the wicked and will reward the righteous.

And an interesting feature of this chapter is that Christ often tells a parable, and then there's either some commentary, or in this case today, there's actually additional parables in sort of inserted, and then Christ gives the, uh, interpretation of the parable. So the, the parable of the mustard seed immediately follows in the parable of the 11, kind of considering those together.

Immediately follows the parable of, uh, the explanation, or no, sorry, the parable of, um, the weed and the weeds. And so he gives us this parable right in the middle there. Then he gives us a little explanation and a second, you know, explanation of why he speaks in parables. And then he goes on to interpret and.

There's a, a technique that was often used in ancient text, in ancient documents called an iuso, where they would start an account. Uh, they would start sort of a literary segment with, um, a phrase or a concept. Then they would explain, you know, they would give all their explanation and then they would close that same section with a similar theme or a similar, um, kind of, um, concept.

We see this in Luke, right? We see at the beginning of Luke. There's a statement that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. Then we see the, um, the account of Jesus in the temple. And then we see again at the end of that, it says again, he grew in wisdom