Sermon Tone Analysis

RECORD

As you know we are in the midst of a series based on the parables of Jesus, but not just any parables, the lesser known parables, the parables that are often skimmed or overlooked entirely

This morning we are actually going to look at two such parables

Now don’t worry they are actually two of Jesus shortest parables consisting of only three verses in total

But I don’t think that it’s there size that puts them on our lesser known list, I believe that these two parables don’t receive a lot of attention because for any serious expository style preacher, of which I am one, you have to do a lot of wrestling with these verses to get to their core and even then there is a lot of disagreement amongst scholars

What am I talking about?

Well let’s get to our text first, it’s found in beginning at verse 31

is also known as the parabolic discourse because in it is contained 7 different parables of Jesus all spoken about what the kingdom of Heaven is like

Our two parables this morning sit right in the middle of the seven but as I hope you are beginning to see, the other five definitely have a part to play in the understanding of our text which we will see shortly

The first of our two parables is the parable of the mustard seed and this one seems quite forward

Most of those who were waiting for the arrival of the Messiah were looking for a huge entrance

They were looking for a conquering warrior, one that would arrive on the scene with great pomp and circumstance with trumpets sounding His arrival and enemies falling all around Him

They were looking for a man like Saul of whom says, “He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.”

1 Samuel 9:2

They certainly weren’t looking for the illegitimate son of a redneck girl from the boonies

But Jesus was making it clear that the kingdom of Heaven was not going to begin with a big bang, that the kingdom of Heaven begins with what seems like the smallest and most insignificant act which produces results that are surprisingly enormous

You could point out that this is how the church itself began, consider the insignificant act of a Jew being crucified by the Romans

Nothing special about that, 1000’s of Jews were crucified by the Romans

But in this seemingly small and insignificant act God was redeeming mankind

Think about the day of Pentecost, it really was nothing more than a prayer meeting with 120 people and yet God stepped in in the form of the Holy Spirit and from that was birthed what we know as the church, in fact that 120 became over 3000 in a matter of a few minutes

Setting aside the corporate church for a second this is also a great explanation of personal salvation

We want to do big things for the kingdom and so we want to make big productions to see the kingdom explode in our community but it usually happens with the planting of a little seed

Something you said, something you did that sits inside of someone until it germinates and something begins to grow from that little start and it continues to grow until it has turned into something so big we could have never imagined that God would do that

This is why Paul, when praying for the Ephesians said,

Ephesians 3:14-

So the kingdom may have humble beginnings but Jesus also made it clear that the results would be paramount to this giant mustard tree that came forth form this smallest of the seeds

But He continues with another parable which is where exegetical preachers run into a problem because there are two schools of thought regarding this parable, the Parable of the Leaven or yeast depending on which version of the bible you’re using

The first is that it is to be taken in a positive light, and that, just like the mustard seed, it speaks of the incredible transformational impact that the kingdom can have on a person and on the world when it permeates throughout

For it’s at this point that He tells the parable of the leaven, or the yeast that is put in the dough

I like that, I really do and I think that it is sound theology and it preaches well, but this morning I want to spend my time coming at it from another angle, that this second parable was a warning by Jesus to be wary of the outer influences that can permeate into an individual and even into the church in general and spoil the growth that the seed of the Word is producing

Now it’s this point that causes exegetical preaches a problem because there is a lot of debate about whether this is meant to be positive

There’s three reasons for my choice this morning, 1.

In almost every other use of this term “leaven/yeast” the context is a negative one

The second reason is because in 3 of the other 5 parables that surround these two Jesus describes scenarios where there are the unsanctified mixed in with the sanctified, in the parable of the Sower, the parable of the weeds, and the parable of the net

The third reason is one that you might not catch unless you have a version of the Bible that provides commentary on the passages

You see the original NIV says that the woman mixed the yeast “into a large amount of flour” whereas the New NIV says she mixed it into about “60 pounds of flour”

Other translations also use similar vague wording but what Jesus said was actually pretty specific

Jesus actually said that she took the leaven and added it to “treis saton” which means 3 seahs (a form of measurement) of flour

This is significant because 3 seahs of flour was the common amount used in order to make the grain offering to God as required by and

The amount could be less but 3 seahs was based on the story in where Abraham is visited by 3 “men” which was actually Christ and 2 angels

Genesis 18:6

However as God gave Israel instruction on the proper forms of worship He indicated,

Now as I mentioned at the outset, leaven/yeast was most often used as a symbol of contamination and there not to be any of it in any grain offering brought to God

So when I look at our second parable I see a warning from Christ that this woman, often used throughout the N.T. as a symbol of the secular world, takes the leaven and mixes it, or as the original Greek word says, “hides it” in with the dough spoiling this special offering made for God

Let me quickly give you 4 examples of what I am talking about, 4 forms of leaven that we are to be on the lookout for lest they permeate both us and the entire body of Christ

The first form of leaven/yeast we need to be on the lookout for is the yeast of hypocrisy

Luke 12:1

The dictionary defines hypocrisy as “a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.”

In other words pretending to be one thing but secretly living your life another way

Jesus continues on in the next 2 verses to say,

Luke 12:

Hypocrisy is a leaven that can spoil the whole offering, watch out for it

Next let’s take a look at the warning of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 16

Matthew 16:

In these verses we find our next two types of leaven, the teaching of the pharisees and the teaching of the Saducees

First the Pharisees

The teaching of the Pharisees can be summed up in one word, legalism

If you look at every time Jesus and the Pharisees clashed you will see that every single time it was over the law of Moses

Now I want to make sure that I’m clear about this point, at no time whatsoever did Christ ever do anything that could ever be considered breaking the law

In Jesus makes it very clear that His mission and His message were not in conflict with the law or the prophets

The conflict was that the Pharisees had taken the law which they claim consisted of 613 commandments covering just about every topic you can imagine and added to it literally thousands of “clarifications” known as the Midrash

For example the Law saws the “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”, But what does that mean?

They had taken the 613 commandments of the Old Testament and by way of “defining” them had added many of their own rules which were given the same status as if they were from God

Well the pharisees actually created 39 separate categories of what “work” means and in each of the categories there are many many sub categories so to follow the original commandment means to follow literally thousands of rules from how many steps you can take to how many letters you are allowed to write

For the Pharisees it was all about following the rules and the condition of the heart was of no importance and if you were smart enough to find some loophole in a rule good for you, but be assured that it would soon be closed

Matthew 23

In that same discourse Jesus warns us of the leaven of the Sadducees

If the problem of the Pharisees was their tendency to add to God’s law, it was the tendency of the Sadducees to take away from the law of God

They were the liberal theologians of the day casting off the restricting nature of the law for only those parts that meshed with what they liked

Just a few of the things that the Sadducees didn’t believe in are miracles or anything supernatural, the existence of angels, the existence of a human soul which also meant no resurrection and no after life

In Jesus tells a group of Sadducees that were trying to trap Him that their big problem was “…because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.”

They were religiously elite and prideful but in reality the were scripturally ignorant

It would be impossible for me this morning to over-emphasize to you the importance of knowing God’s Word

Listen to what David wrote,

Be wary of the leaven of the Sadducees

The fourth and final leaven that Jesus warns us of might just surprise you a little bit

Mark

We’ve already looked at the Pharisees so let’s consider the yeast of Herod

Herod’s yeast was his lust for power and wealth and all things material and so we call this the yeast of materialism

In leading up to the Parable of the Rich Fool Jesus gave this very stern warning

Luke 12:15

And Paul warned the younger Timothy,

1 Timothy 6:9

The common denominator among all four of these things, hypocrisy, legalism, liberalism, and materialism is that, like the yeast it only takes a tiny amount hidden away where it can’t be seen to make the entire offering unacceptable to God

We are called to be a sacrifice, an offering to God and just like the grain offering a little bit of yeast can void this offering

Paul reminds

And so I would encourage you this morning just as Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians,

1 Corinthians 5:5-8

Let’s Pray