A Closer Look at The Yeast of Matthew 13:33

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.”

No other verse in the teachings of Jesus has had a more varied interpretation than this one. One verse, a parable, so brief yet so controversial. There are two different ways to interpret this this parable. Much depends on how we view this group of seven parable, whether separately or dispensationally.

 1. The Traditional Interpretation.

The flour is seen as the world–something bad, something needing to be transformed and changed.

The yeast is seen as the Gospel, the agent of transformation, that must be hid within before it can effect any change.

The woman is the preacher of the Gospel, the one who hides the Word in the hearts of men.

The result is, just as the yeast works its way through the dough and literally transforms it, so the Gospel permeates the world and transforms the world, one soul at a time.

2. Problems with the Traditional Interpretation.

(a) It changes the Scriptural use of the “yeast.” Everywhere else in the Bible, yeast is seen as something bad, never good.

(b) The flour or dough is pictured as accepting the yeast, yet the world is forever opposed to the Spirit of the Gospel.

(c) The hiding of the yeast, the Gospel, suggests deception, a thought never associated with the preaching of the Word, but closely connected to the work of Satan, who sowed the weeds while “men slept.”

(d) The manner in which the yeast is more suggestive of sin than of grace. It mixes with the flour and gradually operates by the law of contagion. We never see sinners converted this way. Grace does not run in the blood. We do not see whole streets, neighborhoods or town being “leavened” with the Spirit of Jesus.

(e) The purpose of the yeast also suggests making the bread more tasty or palatable to man. The great and eternal purpose of the Word is to make man more favorable to God!

3. The Other Interpretation

The “other” interpretation views the kingdom in this parable as in a state of further development in the course of time, and may represent things as they are pretty much in our own day. Those who look at it this way see–

(a) The yeast as a good thing that has become polluted, as the truth of God, perverted by the carnal wisdom of man.

(b) The dough is a good thing that has been corrupted by the yeast of false teaching. As the dough or flour is very susceptible to the yeast, it may represent the professing Christian being corrupted by doctrines not of God. This corrupting process works like yeast.

(c) The woman who hid the yeast in the dough, as typical of those who are acknowledged as religious teachers. It was the woman’s work to hide the yeast in the dough. The false teacher’s business is to hide, to promulgate things contrary to Christ while acting as servants of Christ.

(d) The result is, the whole batch of dough was ruined. This interpretation sees the universal corruption of the Church as such–a Church that has become unfaithful, and so unit for the Lord’s use; a Church saying that it has need of nothing, all the while Jesus Christ is just outside the door, asking to be admitted.

4. Summary

There are many good, conservative Bible scholars who hold the to the first interpretation. They give many convincing arguments in support of it. However, I believe their arguments come up short.

This parable is the key parable of this chapter. The Gospel of Matthew is the key book of the Bible. Chapter 13 is the key chapter of Matthew, and verse 33 is the key key verse of chapter 13. So, what we have here is one of the key verses of the entire Bible.

The greatest threat to the Church has always been the intrusion of false doctrine which would lead to it’s apostasy. Jesus Christ Himself asked this question: ” When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). The way the question is asked in the Greek demands a negative answer; it is a leading question. Jesus is saying that when He returns, the world will be in total apostasy. Paul, writing to Timothy warns that the time will come when people will not pay attention to sound doctrine (2 timothy 4:3).

The final, total apostasy of the Church is revealed in the church of Laodicia.