The kingdom of heaven”, said Jesus, “is like unto leaven, which a woman took and had in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened” (Mat. 13. 33; Luke 13. 20).
Much of the teaching of Jesus was spoken in parables, as a testimony against those who “thought they were righteous”, but whose “heart was waxed gross and whose ears were dull of hearing”. They were spoken also as a warning message to those who had elected to follow him, and whose lives had to be moulded after the fashion of his.
In the great throng that had gathered together to hear the words of Jesus were all classes of society. There were the poor, the illiterate, the beggar, the robber, the tax gatherer, the high and low, rich and poor. The scribes and pharisees could not understand why Jesus spoke to such a multitude as this. If academic learning alone could save men, surely they would have been his obvious choice. They were the learned of the day; they were the teachers; they knew the law; they were looking for the Messiah—but they were self-righteous, too, and felt they had no need of the forgiveness that Jesus was proclaiming, no need to change their lives, and so he passed them by.
Among the Jews leaven was sometimes used as an emblem of sin. At the time of the Passover the people were directed to remove all the leaven from their houses, symbolising the putting away of sin from their hearts. Christ warned his disciples, “Beware ye of the leaven of the pharisees, which is hypocrisy”. But in this parable leaven is used to represent that which is to be placed within the heart to bring about a complete change, not only of belief and outlook, but of character as well. It illustrates the quickening, softening and enobling influence of the Word of God, if applied to the heart. None is so sinful, none has fallen so low as to be beyond the scope of this power. In all who submit themselves to the “working of the spirit” a new principle of life is generated which will grow until it has filled the whole being.
Man cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will, nor can he be transformed by a profession of faith, nor by his declaration, “I believe”. This can be the means, but it is not the end. Unfortunately it is so easy to make it the end and to go no further than a mere change of intellect without a change of life and action. The leaven, something wholly from without, must be put into the meal before the desired change can be wrought. As it works outward from within, leavening the whole, so it is that Christ within the heart can transform the whole life. No external change alone is sufficient to fit us for a place in God’s kingdom. A profession of faith, and the possession of the grace of Christ in the heart, are two different things. Combined they make up the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. But a knowledge of this truth is not enough. It is to be implemented in the heart and allowed to work there until the whole life is changed and brought “into subjection to the will of God”. Thus only can we “conform to the image of his Son”, and become “vessels meet for the Master’s use”.
This is the real purpose of our calling in Christ. It is a call to repentance from the works of the flesh, or the habits of the natural man. With diligence we are to cultivate the fruits of the spirit: virtue, temperance, patience, faith, meekness, brotherly kindness, charity. There is no other way! All Our religious activities, whether it be reading, learning, meetings, preaching and so forth will avail us nothing unless they are directed toward this end—unless this inner process is at work!
The leaven hidden in the meal works invisibly to bring the whole mass under its leavening process. So the leaven of truth works silently, continuously, to transform the soul. The natural impulses are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives are implemented. The mind and outlook are changed. Received into the heart, the grace of Christ will regulate the desires, purify the thought and sweeten the disposition. No longer will the things of the world be all-absorbing. Human praise will not be looked for. Self-will shall not struggle for recognition, for the humility of Christ will take its place. With this leaven abiding in the heart the whole man will be changed. The coarse will become refined, the rough gentle, and the selfish generous. It will control the temper and the voice. The working of its power within will be seen in politeness, kindness, forbearance, long-suffering and thoughtful regard one for another.
But how few of us measure up to these things? Even after almost a lifetime in the truth, what fruit has the vineyard of our own character produced that can be of use to the Master? On the other hand, have we looked deep into our lives and felt satisfied that the leaven of Christ is truly at work? Shorn of all the externals, all our outward veneer, all our words, all our profession of faith, all our claims to be Christ’s brethren, what would there really be left that Christ could use? After all, that is how we will stand before him in the great day: not as what we appear to be, but as we really are. For all the secrets of men’s hearts will then be laid bare. “Therefore”, said the beloved apostle, “examine yourselves, and see whether ye be in the faith”. Examine yourselves, lest there be any trace of self-righteousness or hypocrisy, in which soil the leaven of truth cannot accomplish its work. Examine yourselves, lest our natural and cultivated tendencies to evil have not been submitted to its transforming power.
Let us be fully persuaded of the real message of so many of the parables of Jesus: that not any one of us will drift into the kingdom of God. We are to be fitted in this life for a place there. Our lip-service will not gain us admission. Our hearing and knowing will avail us nought, unless they be used in the development of “Christ in us”.
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate”, said Jesus at the conclusion of this parable (Luke 13. 24-27), “for many I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and bath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou bast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you I know you not. . . . And behold there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last”.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay