The Yeast of the Kingdom of God

My last post focused on the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. In it I said that this gave us an image of bread dough being puffed up by the yeast that was mixed into it. This was a picture of pride and arrogance; and the desire to be in control. In this post I want to contrast this with another image of yeast that Jesus gave in the Gospel stories.

 We find this in Matthew 13: 33:                                                                                                                 “Jesus also used this illustration: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough.’”

We have to understand this image in the context in which it is given. This 13^th chapter of Matthew starts off with Jesus telling a story about a farmer sowing seeds across his field. The seeds fell into different types of soil. The type of soil, together with the surrounding conditions (hard and resistant; shallow with underlying rock; full of thorns which choked the plants; or fertile soil), determined whether or not the seed produced a good harvest.

After hearing this story his disciples asked Jesus why he always taught using stories. Jesus replied by saying that they had been permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven but others had not. To those who were open to his teaching more understanding would be given, and they would have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who did not listen, even what they had would be taken away from them. That was why he taught in stories because people saw what he saw, but they did not really see. They heard what he said, but they did not really hear or understand. Jesus said however that his disciples were blessed because they could see, hear and understand what he was saying.

We are told in Mt 13:35 that this fulfilled the prophecy that said,                                                                 “I will speak to you in parables.  I will explain mysteries hidden since the creation of the world” (From Psalm 78:2)

 

Jesus then went on to explain what the story of the farmer planting his seeds meant. You can read his explanation in Mt 13:18-23. He also told two other planting parables: the first about weeds and wheat growing together; the second about the kingdom of God being like a mustard seed which is planted. He said that it was the smallest of seeds, yet grew into a large tree. The story of the weeds and wheat is explained in Mt 13: 37-43.

 A third story was also given, which is the one that we started this post off with, concerning yeast being mixed into bread dough. An explanation of this story is not given. So what does it mean?

The meaning of the story is unlocked by the overall context we have been looking at. The Kingdom of God is not immediately obvious. It is a ‘hidden’ reality. Only its effects become evident. A small amount of yeast is kneaded into a large amount of dough, and becomes invisible to the eye. Yet, despite being invisible, that yeast is very active. But its effects take a while to be noticed. After the yeast is kneaded into the dough it is usually left to ‘prove’. Only after a time does the dough slowly begin to rise to a degree. However, the full effect of the yeast only becomes apparent when the dough is put into an oven. Heat is needed to allow the catalytic effect of the yeast to become obvious to the eye. The bread begins to rise in the heat of the oven. Then something full and rounded emerges; which smells great, is wonderful to look at, and is nutritious and tasty. That’s the effect of the yeast; and the effect of the Kingdom of God. Looking at the lump of dough before it goes into the oven, it is nothing like what emerges afterwards. That is what the Kingdom of God is like. It brings about personal transformation.

We saw in my last blog that the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees puffed people up with pride and arrogance; and led them to want to be in control. The yeast of the Kingdom of Heaven operates very differently. We find this verse in James 4:10,

 “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honour.”

This is the opposite of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. If I allow the Lord to be in control then I can have an expectation of being upheld. I can be confident in any situation I find myself in; because I am not alone. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive within me. The Holy Spirit lives within me to guide me, direct me, and to lead me into truth; besides giving me peace. Isn’t that awesome?

In order to experience this however, I need to constantly choose to surrender control to the Lord. He never forces his control on me. The choice I make has implications though. I can choose the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees and operate according to my ego identity; but then I am on my own and in spiritual darkness; cut off from the presence of the Lord. The better option is to live in humble dependence on the grace of the Lord; and derive all the amazing benefits of living in the light of his presence. It is both so simple and yet so difficult at the same time. Constantly choosing the better option is not something I always do; and so I often have to suffer the consequences of my choice. Yet as I grow older my blackened, burnt fingers are starting to teach me not to reach out for forbidden fruit.

Questions for reflection:

*Have you experienced the yeast of the Kingdom of Heaven?

 

*Do you, like me, struggle to choose which yeast to avail yourself of?

  

 

 

 

Yeast

A primary reason why I started this blog revolved around exploring the fact that when Jesus was asked by people to give them a miraculous sign that he was who he said he was, he replied that the only sign he would give them was the ‘Sign of Jonah’. We have looked at the story of Jonah in the Old Testament and seen aspects of what it reveals. I turn now to focus on the Gospel accounts of this and look at them in context.

There are two references to the sign of Jonah in the Gospel of Matthew. The second one is found in Mt 16: 1-4.  To paraphrase this, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied that they knew how to interpret the weather from the appearance of the sky but were unable to interpret the sign of the times. He continued by saying that it was a wicked and adulterous generation which looked for a miraculous sign, but none would be given it except the sign of Jonah.

A short time later Jesus told his disciples to be careful and be on their guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  At first they thought he was referring to the fact they had not taken any bread with them. He reminded them about two previous incidents. In the first he had miraculously fed five thousand people from five loaves of bread after breaking them into pieces and then handing them out. There were basketfuls of scraps left over. Likewise, in the second incident four thousand people were fed from seven loaves, with basketfuls of scraps. He chided them for not having faith that he could repeat this; but also for failing to recognizing that he was not talking about bread. They then understood that he was instead referring to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

My previous blog post was about having our eyes open and being spiritually awake. This is exactly what Jesus is talking about. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew the religious Law by heart and could quote any passage you wanted, yet they could not recognize the spiritual reality that was in their midst. They were asking Jesus for a definitive miraculous sign but as can be seen from what has been said above, many miraculous signs had already been given. What more proof did they need?

They had a legalistic interpretation of the Law but could not grasp the ‘spirit’ of the Law. Their eyes were blinded so that they could not perceive the true meaning of the Law and its ultimate intention. It was not giving them true understanding or bringing ‘life’ to them. They were instead trapped in a legalistic perception which kept them in bondage and spiritual darkness.

 It’s not that the Law in itself was bad. Jesus had said that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. What mattered was how the Law was interpreted and acted upon. This was something which needed to be learnt. It also needed the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In order to take on a new understanding the old understanding needed to be discarded. Old patterns of thinking and acting are not easily let go of. They become very entrenched within our consciousness.

It is clear from what we have seen above that the disciples of Jesus also had to be taught to see in a new way. The difference between them and the Pharisees and Sadducees was that they were willing and open to both learn and change their perception of reality.

We need to consider the image of ‘yeast’ that is given by Jesus. It was spoken about in the context of bread. What does yeast do when it is put into bread dough? It makes the rise i.e. it puffs the dough up. If we consider my last post where we looked at the character and attributes of Satan, is that not an apt description of him? He was beautiful, wise and powerful, so he became puffed up with pride. He was rich; and so became violent in order to both protect what he thought was his; as well as to try and get more. Ultimately it is about having power and control.

 That provides a good picture of what yeast does. This was the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They wanted to have power and control. If they acknowledged Jesus for who he clearly was then they would have to surrender their power and control to him. It was the last thing they wanted to do. No matter how many ‘signs’ he gave them, it would have no effect on them. As Jesus declared, the only sign that mattered was the sign of Jonah. What happened to Jonah? He was swallowed by the great fish and through that experienced transformation. The only way the Pharisees and Sadducees would accept Jesus as Lord was if they too were swallowed by a figurative great fish (in whatever guise it came). This would bring them to a place where they lost their power and control and were forced to recognize their dependence on the Lord. They would no longer be puffed up, but flattened and deflated.

The concept of ‘ego’ has only recently emerged in Western thinking, and was not around in the time of Jesus. Today we would more likely talk about the Pharisees and Sadducees needing to have their egos deflated. Whatever language we use, the reality is the same. That is what the sign of Jonah is all about.

It is the reality that I face in my own life. I have to constantly ask myself whether I am being puffed up; and am seeing myself in terms of my ego identity. This is to see myself in terms of what I have in a material sense; and what I have achieved; and my social status in my community. The healthier alternative is to see myself in terms of my relationship with my True Father. To recognize that I am an adopted son of the Living God. My place in his family gives me my position and true identity. It is unconditional and has nothing to do with how hard I work or what I achieve. All is gift and grace. I just have to accept it by faith and receive it with grace; acknowledging the generosity with which it is given.  

Questions for reflection:

·         Do you recognize Jesus for who he is, or are you waiting for a miraculous sign?

·         Are you able to accept that miracles do take place today?

·         Are you living in the reality of your true identity in relation to your true Father?

 

 

Waking Up

This post follows on from my previous posts which have detailed how I came to realise that I was in a state of spiritual bondage; and that I underwent deliverance ministry to be set free. I came into spiritual bondage through both the effects of generational curses because of involvement in the occult of family members in previous generations; together with my own involvement via meditation after reading esoteric books. This experience woke me up to the fact that we are involved in spiritual warfare; and have to actively fight for both our own freedom and that of others. We will look at this in more detail now.

In the third chapter of the Book of Genesis we see how the serpent tricked the woman into eating the forbidden fruit (and so did the man). This resulted in the fall from grace of Adam and Eve; and them become alienated from the Lord. They were also banished from the Garden of Eden.

Another consequence of this was that the serpent was cursed by God and destined to slither on the ground on his belly. The Lord also made a crucial statement:

“From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

In effect a perpetual state of war was declared by God between the descendents of Eve and the serpent and his offspring. That is the de facto reality of human existence regardless of what we read in history books. It is at the heart of the history of mankind; everything else pales in significance.

We are given a graphic description of the serpent and how he too was banished from the presence of the Lord and caste down from his place as the most wonderful created being of the Lord (Ezekiel 28:11-19).He is described as having had the perfection of beauty and wisdom. The Lord had ordained and anointed him as a mighty angelic guardian (cherub).He had lived with God on ‘his mountain’ (sharing in his power and authority). This passage gives two reasons why this mighty, beautiful and wise creature fell from grace:

“Your great wealth filled you with violence, and so you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire” (28:16).

“Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings” (28:17).

We see from this that he was corrupted by great wealth and wondrous beauty which bred violence and pride respectively. Despite his great wisdom he forgot that he was a created being and wanted to be like the Lord who had created him. He wanted to elevate himself onto the same level as the Lord of all creation. His name was Lucifer (which means ‘Light Bearer’). He thought that he was the light, rather than the ‘bearer of the light’. His was a reflected light; in the same way that the moon reflects the light of the sun. The true light came from God and was God. The true light was later revealed in Jesus, who ‘was’ the true light of the world.

Lucifer was appointed as the angelic guardian of the humans in the Garden of Eden. After his banishment from the presence and mountain of God he took revenge by conspiring with the humans to partake of the forbidden fruit. They too, like him, were banished from their previous state of peace and communion with the Lord. The humans also found themselves cut off from the original mandate that they were created for. This mandate was to care for and rule over the world in union with God. Just as Lucifer had shared in the power and authority of God in the heavenly realm (on his mountain); Adam had joint dominion over the earth with the Lord. After their fall from grace the situation of the humans changed. They lost the mandate to rule over the earth in union with God.

The Lord had given both Lucifer and the humans freedom of choice. The humans had chosen to listen to Lucifer and abide by what he told them to do. By doing this they freely chose to submit to him rather than to the Lord. They therefore came under his authority. Through this he usurped their authority and dominion over the earth. Lucifer became ruler of the world. The humans did not realise until it was too late what they had given up. In most cases humans still don’t realise that this is in fact the case, believing that they control and rule the world.

The actual ruler has lived in the shadows throughout human history; and has allowed the humans to believe that they are in control, whilst he pulls the strings of the puppets on the stage without their awareness. It has taken me over fifty years to fully grasp this reality. Whilst most people, like me, have been oblivious to this, there have always been those whose allegiance has been to the accursed snake. They have consciously and actively chosen to align themselves with him; hoping to gain advantage from this, for themselves and their families. Most people are duped into coming under his power and influence without realising the fact. I have come to see that this normally happens through abiding by cultural norms of thought and behaviour. Lucifer most often appears as an ‘Angel of Light’ who provides society with reason, knowledge and wisdom. There is always a subtle twist in the ‘truth’ that he presents.  People follow a trail of inviting cookies that lead them deeper and deeper into a forbidden forest; where they become ensnared and end up in bondage. Believe me, I’ve been there.

It has been said that today most people are sleep walkers who are subject to mass cultural hypnosis. They blindly, unconsciously, take on the attitudes and understanding of their society.  They are trapped in rationalism and are oblivious to spiritual reality, even if it poked them in their blinded eyes. We need to listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote:

“Awake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14b).

We need not despair about the situation however because as we saw in the prophetic passage in Genesis 3:15, the offspring of the woman (Jesus) has already crushed the snake’s head and decisively defeated him. However, we as her other offspring still have to fight the battle even though the victory is already won. The paradox of the Kingdom of God is that it is already established by Jesus and what he accomplished, but at the same time is not yet fully here. We have to help fight to fully establish it against a fierce enemy.

Question for reflection:

·         Are you awake and fighting for your freedom and that of others?

 

  

Be Hot or Cold

In my last post I shared why I decided to commit myself to love and serve the Lord. I had a frightening confrontation with the forces of darkness which made me realise that on my own I was defenceless and vulnerable. This made me see that I needed to be in right relationship with the Lord of the universe and under his protection. By giving my life to the Lord I came into a new relationship with my True Father and was adopted into his family. Through what Jesus did on the cross for everyone I was made right with my Father and had a position in his family. By virtue of that position I had the rights and privileges of a flesh and blood son. I shared in the inheritance of all those who lived in this great household.

For the first seven or eight years I was captivated by this reality and revelled in it. At first I launched myself into studying Scripture and getting to know as much as I could about what it meant to live as a child of God. I was initially involved in youth ministry, which gave me a foundational understanding of a Christian way of life. When I went to university to study social science I intensely wrestled with coming to a Biblical understanding of what I was learning. It was difficult because everything I was being taught came out of a rationalistic, secular humanist, worldview. I therefore had to constantly translate what I was learning and see it through different lenses.  In and through this endeavour I came to a rational, but faith- based, understanding of the social world I lived in.

The next stage of my spiritual journey involved being caught up in the Charismatic Renewal, which began in the 1970’s. The Lord poured his Holy Spirit out on the world- wide Christian Church (cutting across many divides such as Roman Catholic / Protestant, as well as different denominations). I caught the tail end of it and experienced being baptised in the Holy Spirit in 1980. Part of that new experience of the Holy Spirit being at work in my life was receiving the gift of speaking in tongues. This prayer language enabled me to pray in a new way; and allow the Holy Spirit to pray into situations using vision and insight that would otherwise not be possible.

That was not the end of the story however. The Holy Spirit then led me to become involved in an Ignatian (Roman Catholic) lay movement which focused on practicing contemplative prayer as a way of life. This was a very different way of relating to the Lord. It involved embracing silence and solitude and adopting attitudes of listening and waiting on the Lord. The focus was on deepening relationships with God, myself and other people. The experience was like nothing I had before. There was a profound movement within me towards developing an intimate relationship with the Lord. As this happened my eyes were also opened to begin to see myself in a new way.

There was a movement within me to begin to dialogue with God in a way that I did not know was possible. At the same time I was enabled to start to dialogue with myself; especially my ‘shadow’ (that part of myself I did not accept and was scared of) which I had buried deep within me. The more I came into the light of the Lord’s presence, the more the darkness within me was revealed. I had to both own and confess my inner darkness and sin. Through the forgiveness I received from my Father I was gradually set free; and as I came to peace with God at deeper levels I was enabled to come to peace with myself as well. My eyes were opened to see and appreciate myself in a new way; at a deep level of being.

At that point in time I did not know that I was in spiritual bondage and that our adversary had a spiritual hold over me. This led me to, in a sense, hit a spiritual wall; and strong resistance welled up within me. This caused me to drop the ball and not continue playing the game. Instead, I turned and walked away. The intense commitment and involvement that I previously had rapidly dissipated. The spiritual fire which I had within me soon grew cold. Over time I drifted into a state of spiritual apathy and indifference. This lasted for twenty long years. During that time I metaphorically moved far away from my Father’s house. I built up a reasonably successful joinery business and felt that I was now self sufficient, relatively financially secure and in control of my own life and destiny.

This was until I had a sudden heart attack six years ago, which came with no warning. It made me see that I was not self sufficient, nor in control of my life and my destiny. I realise now that my True Father was calling me home once more. He was waiting for me with open arms. I was ready to start afresh and vigorously take hold of my true inheritance because I had been shown that the grass is not really greener on the other side. For twenty years I was separated from my True Father’s love by my own choice. It has impressed on me the fact that hell is more a state of being than a place. Being separated from the love of my Father was an experience of hell. I ‘never’ want to experience that again. It has shown me in graphic terms what is at stake and has moved me to re-commit myself to love and serve the Lord at a deeper level.

This paved the way for me to begin to confront the spiritual bondage that I was in. It made possible the process that I went through of being set free from this bondage. Because I have been through this it has firstly opened my eyes to see the extent of the control our enemy and adversary had over me. I have also come to realise that this is far more widespread than I had ever believed possible. In the second place, I have become conscious that I (we) are involved in massive spiritual warfare on a very wide scale. Since my deliverance I have been confronted with a huge amount of material in various forms (written, CD, DVD and film) which confirms this. I would previously have written off the people espousing this; and seen them as being crackpot religious extremists. A few years ago I would never have dreamt that I would find myself amongst their ranks. I will share something of this in future posts.

There is a Scripture I want to share in light of what I have said above. It comes out of a letter sent to the Church of Laodicea that is found in Revelations 3:14-22. The particular verses are:

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!”(15, 16). May this Word speak to your heart.

Questions for reflection:

·         Are you hot or cold; or apathetic and indifferent?

·         Do you accept that we are involved in massive spiritual warfare?