Spreading the Kingdom

Luke 13:20-21 NIV
“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’”

One reason Jesus used parables is because they connected abstract spiritual truths with regular everyday activities. The Parable of the Leaven is a perfect example of a real-life experience portraying a spiritual truth.

When someone was making bread in the first century, a little piece of dough, from the last time they made bread, was added to the new batch of dough. The old piece of dough would have fermented and become leavened by this time. When leaven was added to a new batch of bread, it would act like yeast, causing the bread to rise. In this lesson, leaven provided a perfect image of the kingdom of God.

When Jesus gave the disciples the Great Commission, He tells them that the kingdom of God will start with them. Through the power of the Spirit (leaven) of the gospel would begin to work its way through those who had come to Jerusalem during Pentecost. From there, it would impact the rest of the world. Like leaven, God’s kingdom would transform everything it touched, eventually changing the character of every culture.

Jesus said, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:20b-21, NIV). God’s Kingdom living here on earth works to transform lives from the inside out.

Prayer:
Lord, as the Kingdom of God is in us, transform our lives from the inside out. Through the Kingdom, transform those in the world that will be opened to You. It may not come with great fanfare, but gradually as we spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, those in the world who will believe and receive you will then be changed by the Gospel message. Amen!