You must be born again to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). When you do, your life a radical turn for the better.
When you enter his kingdom, God leads you along paths you never dreamed of, including getting rid of those vices and sins that undermine you. Then the kingdom causes growth in you, so you can follow him wherever he leads.
Who knows? Maybe he will lead you to go global and advance the kingdom where it is not yet known.
Before we begin the exegesis …..
Quick definition of a parable:
Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah and means “alongside”) and bolē (pronounced boh-lay and means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a new truth. […] The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable.
For more information, click on this link:
The translation is mine. If you would like to see other translations, click here:
If you don’t read Greek, ignore the left column.
Now let’s begin.
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Parable of the Yeast (Luke 13:20-21) |
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20 Καὶ πάλιν εἶπεν· τίνι ὁμοιώσω τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ; 21 ὁμοία ἐστὶν ζύμῃ, ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ [ἐν]έκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον. |
20 He said further: “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast which a woman took and hid in forty-seven pounds of wheat dough until the whole was leavened.” |
Here is Matthew’s version, which is almost identical to Luke’s:
Matthew 13 (scroll down to v. 33)
47 lbs. = 21 kg; literally “three measures” where one measure = 16 lbs. or 7 kg.
With these preliminaries concluded, let’s take things verse by verse.
20:
“kingdom of God”: What is it? As noted in other verses that mention the kingdom in this commentary, the kingdom is God’s power, authority, rule, reign and sovereignty. He exerts all those things over all the universe but more specifically over the lives of people. It is his invisible realm, and throughout the Gospels Jesus is explaining and demonstrating what it looks like before their very eyes and ears. It is gradually being manifested from the realm of faith to the visible realm, but it is not political in the human sense. It is a secret kingdom because it does not enter humanity with trumpets blaring and full power and glory. This grand display will happen when Jesus comes back. In his first coming, it woos people to surrender to it. We can enter God’s kingdom by being born again (John 3:3, 5), by repenting (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:5), by having the faith of children (Matt. 18:4; Mark 10:14-15), by being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son whom God loves (Col. 1:13), and by seeing their own poverty and need for the kingdom (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; Jas. 2:5).
In Luke’s Gospel, it also includes the Great Reversal in Luke 1:51-53, where Mary said that Jesus and his kingdom were bringing to the world. The powerful and people of high status are brought low, while the humble and those of low status are raised up. It also fulfills the reversal in 2:34, where Simeon prophesied that Jesus was appointed for the rising and falling of many. It is the right-side-up kingdom, but upside-down from a worldly perspective. Jesus would cause the fall of the mighty and the rise of the needy, and the rich would be lowered, and the poor raised up. It is the down elevator and up elevator. Those at the top will take the down elevator, and those at the bottom will take the up elevator.
Here it is the already and not-yet. The kingdom has already come in part at his First Coming, but not yet with full manifestation and glory and power until his Second Coming.
5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully
Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God
Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God
Basic Definition of Kingdom of God
1 Introducing the Kingdom of God (begin a ten-part series)
21:
The comparisons or similes are revealing. (Simile means “is like.’)
The kingdom is compared to a small amount of yeast or leaven. A woman puts it in 47 lbs. (21 kg) (literally “three measures”) of wheat dough, and the whole, massive lump of dough rises or leavens. It could feed one hundred people. The point of this simile-parable is the same as the previous simile about the mustard seed. The kingdom starts out small, so small that the lump of dough can hide it. The leaven is unobserved.
The kingdom is not one a fireworks and great glory, as we see in Daniel 2:44. In that OT passage the kingdom levels every worldly kingdom in its path. The kingdom that Jesus proclaimed is at first small and starts invisibly. Then it grows to be massively influential, globally powerful, but only when people surrender to it.
So does this power and influence mean that Christians should take over governments and six other so-called “mountains”? No. The kingdom does not so permeate the world’s political systems that outward righteousness is achieved. Rather, it is better, in my view, to preach the gospel, train the new converts to live righteously and lovingly in Christ, and together, in unity, their righteous lives and deeds will transform society, individually saved, and united together, by preaching the gospel and getting other people saved. But a plan to take over the seven “mountains” sociologically is misguided.
“The power is implicit in the kingdom (v. 18), as Jesus’ healing of the woman has just demonstrated” (Liefeld and Pao, comments on vv. 18-19). So God’s power is entailed or implicit in the kingdom. These commentators say the same thing here in vv. 20-21.
GrowApp for Luke 13:20-21
How have you seen the kingdom of God become powerful and influential first in your life and then in society or your corner of society? Hint: Look for the salvation of souls and the spread of righteousness when the gospel transforms the individual.
If you have not seen this, how do you pray for it? You can read Acts 4:29-31. Or you can begin with v. 21 to get the context.
Note how the apostles did not take over the Sanhedrin, but they were so united that they had apostles and elders to form their own church governance, for guidance (Acts 15).
SOURCES
To see the bibliography, go to this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 