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THE CASE OF THE PURPOSEFUL WOMAN!
I didn't want to say something to her and come
across as stupid. Or worse yet, if something could be worse than coming
across as being stupid in this pride-filled world in which we live, I didn't
want to say something and insult the recipient of my words. But it seemed
to me that Julie, a young coworker, was expanding where young women are supposed
to expand after being married for a couple of years. That is, she appeared
to be pregnant.
But to blurt out, "Are you pregnant?" could
have devastating results. I mean maybe she was just putting on a little
bit of weight that she wasn't too happy about and certainly didn't want the
watching world to notice. And in today's Anna-Nicole-Smith's world the
next stupid question I could've blurted out would have been, "Who is the
father of your baby?"1
Well, I've lived long enough that I've learned
to avoid asking a coworker or a neighbor whether or not they are pregnant. My
reasoning is that if they aren't pregnant, my question will invariably result
in having to issue an apology which may or may not be accepted. If they
are pregnant, it will eventually make itself abundantly clear or another coworker,
or another neighbor, will say to me -"Did you know that Julie is pregnant?" To
which the right response would be, "You're kidding! I never would've
guessed if you hadn't told me."
Of course, such conversations or non-conversations
have been around for a long time. After all, in Matthew 1:18 - 21 we
read:
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together,
she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph
her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do
not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you
are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their
sins."
You will note, judging from the first half-dozen
words of v. 20, that God let Joseph struggle with Mary's pregnancy prior to
giving him some divine insight into the matter. But we often fail to
consider that Mary must have struggled with the reality of being pregnant as
well. After all, she knew what Joseph did not know - she knew she had
laid with no man. And yet the angel Gabriel, Gabe, assured her of a
child (Luke 1:26 - 45). In response to her question as to how this could
be, he told her that the "The Holy Spirit would come upon her and the
power of the Most High would overshadow her." In short, "God
will impregnate you."
So somehow, God hid a divine sperm within her
and she became pregnant. Maybe, for just a few moments, she just thought
it was a very vivid but unreal dream. But as she dressed the next morning
she knew she had to tell someone and so she rushed off to see Elizabeth. And
to her surprise, Elizabeth immediately confirmed the dream!
But how did Mary become 100% convinced that
she was pregnant? The reality of it began to manifest itself in her body! This
manifestation was such that it wasn't too long before the watching world noticed
that Mary, dear sweet Mary, was pregnant. It was a reality that the world
could not ignore.
With this in mind I want you to read the fourth
kingdom parable as found in Matthew 13:33. It reads:
He told them still another parable: "The
kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount
of flour until it worked all through the dough."
In reading this we would do well to also look
at what Luke has to say, in Luke 13:18 - 21 we read:
Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom
of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed,
which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and
the birds of the air perched in its branches."
Again he asked, "What shall I compare the
kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into
a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
It appears that Jesus momentarily struggled
with coming up with a parable that he could use to describe the kingdom. Then,
in a flash, he shared two parables with the disciples. He shared the
parable which I have referred to as "The Case of the Smallest Seed!" and
immediately shared another parable which I'm calling "The Case of the
Purposeful Woman!" Both parables have the same theme - that of unexpected
growth in regards to the kingdom of God.
In the first of these two parables, the mustard
seed suggests more-than-you-would-ever-expect outward growth. In the
first century, the kingdom appeared to have died a slow death on the cross. But,
the early disciples turned their world upside down and today the kingdom is
populated by people from just about every nation, kingdom, and tribe. In
the second, the yeast suggest inner growth; an inside-out transformation. It
suggest a growth that slowly manifest itself to the watching world; somewhat
like a pregnancy.
Now before we go any further I must tell you
that my view, my take, on this parable is one that others would question. For
example, Ray Stedman in his book Behind History writes as follows:2
"Now let's look at the leaven. The disciples would quickly recognize
its meaning. It is used all through the Old Testament, and always the
same way. Never once is leaven used as a symbol of anything good. Everyone
in this crowd knew that this woman had no business putting leaven into the
three measures of meal (which according to Ray Stedman, based on Genesis 18,
represented fellowship).
It's Ray Stedman's view that within the kingdom
of God the leaven of hypocrisy, rationalism, materialism, and legalism would
have a corrupting influence on the church. True! But, I don't think
the argument for corruption within the church can be made from this parable.
I take issue with Ray Stedman's view on this
parable for a number of reason. First, I'm not convinced that Sarah,
in Genesis 18, served her guest unleavened bread. Second, while leaven
is normally used in Scripture to denote the corrupting influence of evil, Mr.
Stedman is wrong about it always denoting evil. For example, in Leviticus
23:15 - 18 we read:
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day
you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16
Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present
an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 From wherever you live, bring
two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast,
as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. 18 Present with this bread
seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two
rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain
offerings and drink offerings-an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to
the LORD."
You see leaven itself is not the problem. It
is normally associated with evil only because it is such a great vehicle for
describing the pervasive nature of hypocrisy, rationalism, materialism, and
legalism. But, it is an equally great vehicle for describing the
work of God's Spirit within our lives, personally and corporately. I'm
convinced that this little parable, which is so often ignored, is speaking
of the permeating and beneficial effect of the Holy Spirit within each of our
lives, and hence within the kingdom of God.
William Arnot (1808 - 1875) was a Free Church
Minister and the author of several books. In regards to this parable,
he wrote,
"Boldly, as a sovereign may, this Teacher (Jesus) seizes a proverb which
was current as an exponent of the adversaries' successful stratagems, and stamps
the metal with the image and superscription of the rightful King. The
evil spreads like leaven; you tremble before its stealthy advance and relentless
grasp; but be of good cheer, disciples of Jesus, greater is He that is for
you (and in you) than all that are against you; the word of life which has
been hidden in the world, hidden in believing hearts, is a leaven too. The
unction of the Holy Spirit is more subtle and penetrating and subduing than
sin and Satan. Where sin abounded grace shall much more abound."
William Arnot believed that the disciples knew
leaven to be analogous to a pervasive influence. They also knew
of the pervasive nature of evil within men, including themselves, and within
the world. So Jesus gave them a parable that spoke of the unstoppable
and pervasive spread of the kingdom within their lives and hence within the
world.
Now let's go back to the parable and make a
few observations. It reads.
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into
a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
First, we must not overlook the fact that this
parable was uttered in the same breath as that of the parable concerning the
mustard seed. This suggest that it too has to do with unexpected growth.
Second, it speaks of yeast or leaven which naturally
refers to an automatic pervasiveness. For once it is placed within the
dough, and I really don't think the amount of flour indicated was anything
out of the ordinary, its pervasiveness cannot be kept from permeating every
aspect of the dough.3 4
We see this in our own lives, slowly but surely
the Spirit within us deals with every aspect of our inner world. Normally,
or maybe it is just my experience, the Spirit immediately deals with the one
issue that keeps us from really knowing God - such as opening up our heart
and mind so that we can understand the Word. Then as we read and/or study
the Spirit begins chipping away at some bad habit or some erroneous bit of
thinking and replaces it with something that is more pleasing to God and to
those around us.
At times, it may not seem like we're growing
very quickly. But then something happens in our life and we discover
that we respond to it entirely differently than we would have responded in
the past. It is at that moment that we realize we have grown more
than we would of ever imagined.
Third, the word translated "mixed" in
the NIV is better translated "hid." It indicates something
was put into something without it being broadcast to the whole wide world. It
is for this reason that I liken it to a pregnancy. Initially, it is unnoticed
by the world. But as the Spirit transforms us the world sees that there
is something different about us. Granted, those in the world may not
be able to hang a "label" on what is different, nevertheless they
notice a marked difference in us.
Finally, notice the purposefulness of the woman. In
the same manner, Jesus walked toward the cross knowing full well that he was
walking out of the lives of his disciples. Why did he do it? Because
it was for their benefit, as well as ours! In doing so he was able
to send the Spirit so that it could take up residence within us; and you have
to admit this act was initially hidden from the watchful eyes of the world.
Now, just for the fun of it let me suggest that
you make a list of everything that changes once a man and a woman knows they
are going to have a child; i. e. that the woman is pregnant. How does
this compare with the fact that in Christ we are a new creation? What
changes in our life when the Spirit takes up residence within us? How
is the change manifested to the world? How close are the two list?
1 This past week, it was determined that Larry Birkhead
was the father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter. But in this mixed up
world, Howard K. Stern , a former companion of Anna Nicole has been caring
for the child since her mother's death. Hence, the custody of the infant
remains unresolved.
2 Ray C. Stedman, Behind History, Word Books, Publisher,
Waco, TX, 1976, p. 86. While I take issue with Ray Stedman in regards
to his interpretation of this parable, I have great respect for him and acknowledge
that he may be right and I may be wrong - I just don't think I'm wrong!
3 One of the basic laws of hermeneutics, which is the science
and methodology of interpretation, maintains that Scripture never uses a symbol
in two different ways. It's on this basis that some would say
that I am mistaken. But they see leaven as a symbol of evil. I
don't! I see it as a vehicle to be used whenever pervasiveness is involved. As
a vehicle it can be used to illustrate the pervasiveness of sin or the pervasive
nature of the Holy Spirit. As such, it is being used in a consistent
manner and hence I do not see that it is in violation of the principles
of hermeneutics.
4 Note! In Scripture the lion is used to symbolize
both Satan and Jesus. This is possible because the lion is not a symbol
as much as it is a vehicle for illustrating some aspect of the nature of Satan
and Jesus.
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