Okay okay this is not actually a special bread recipe, sorry to all you food enthusiasts for misleading you with the title. In fact, this blog is based off of a revelation I received after pondering one of the famous parables from our Lord, Jesus Christ. In this same chapter Christ said;

Matthew 13:13

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

I knew his intentions were to hide the kingdom truth in plain sight from the religious and pharisaical followers, whose purpose was to exploit what was revealed for personal gain. Therefore as a follower of Christ I went to the Lord for him to reveal to me what concept he was teaching in the following scripture;

Matthew 13:33

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

It is one of the shortest parables Christ spoke to the crowd, in a long list of other parables prior to this one. As customary I would like to get the definition of words out of the way so here are a list of definitions I compiled from the online Merriam Webster dictionary;

Leaven

• ‘a substance (such as yeast) used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid.’
• ‘a material (such as baking powder) used to produce a gas that lightens dough or batter’
• ‘something that modifies or lightens’

Hid

• ‘to put out of sight’
• ‘to conceal for shelter of protection’
• ‘to screen from or as if from view’

Meal:

• ‘the usually coarsely ground and unbolted seeds of a cereal grass or pulse especially’
• ‘a product resembling seed meal especially in particle size or texture’

It is important to analyse the characteristics of leaven and the condition in which leaven is activated. Christ mentioned a woman in his parable and how she was  processing leaven. This process He described resembels making bread. Why would Christ want to point out the Kingdom of Heaven is like the leaven used in the process of making bread? Okay so what does leaven do in bread making? We know the definition tells us it is used to ferment dough, it adds gas to the dough making it lighter. It does not do it automatically though, water is added as a catalyst to begin the fermentation process as the leaven is mixed (hid) in the flower (meal). I guess we need to know what exactly is leaven made up of and what is the process of fermentation.

Key things to remember here;

1. We are the wheat flour or meal in this parable.
2. Water is required to activate the yeast mixed into the flour.
3. Leaven (yeast) is the active agent in growing and changing the texture of the dough, prior to it being baked. Making it edible for food.
4. What does the transformation of flour, water and yeast represent?
5. God and Jesus’s interest in this parable on the Kingdom is to turn the wheat flour into bread, highlighting the process to do so

1) We are the wheat flour / meal in this parable:

In Matt Chp13:30 Jesus speaks of burning the tares and gathering the wheat into his barn. Believers in that parable were considered the wheat that was growing among the weeds until harvested and taken into the barn. What is the usefulness of farming wheat? Wheat which is considered part of the grass family, has its seeds ground to make flour that is used for bread. This process is what makes the meal that is referred to in the parable we are focusing on in this blog.

In the parable, Jesus said that the woman took three measures of meal. If we are the wheat ground to make meal, then the parable is saying the woman took three measures of a person. I believe this directly represents the mind, body and soul of a person. Remember we were created in the image and likeness of a Triune God and so we too are made up as three parts. Jesus in the parable was making reference to the whole person, when it involves mixing in the leaven (Kingdom rule of God) to the meal (Believer). God is not just interested in having his rule in your mind, while your soul and body commit adultery in the world, bowing to other idols. He wants to have his kingdom rule spread all through your mind, body and soul, just as in the parable, ‘the whole was leavend‘.

2) Water is required to activate the yeast (leaven) mixed into the flour.

Water is considered the source of life here on earth. Though it has been used in the bible with many meanings, we will focus on what Christ has said as it pertains to water, because we are getting revelations from the parable he spoke. One instance of this is;

John 4:13-14

¹³ Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

¹⁴ But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Jesus used water as a teaching moment with the samaritan woman at the well. He offered her living water. What is this living water Jesus refers to that leads to everlasting life? After reading several verses in the bible, in their context, new life and restoration is synonymous with the living water mentioned in the bible. Jesus is also at the center of providing that living water that leads to everlasting life. I read verse after verse trying to pin down exactly what is the living water that Christ deposits in a believer and then it wells up and the believer themselves becomes a spring for living water. Then I came across the verse that I believe ties everything together and it’s context was related to the Body of Christ, the church.

Ephesians 5:25-26

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

In the bible water is used to cleanse, especially in batism where it is viewed as an outward expression of cleansing your self from the old life of sin, into the new life in Christ. The water Jesus refers to and offers is the living word of God, that is now used to spiritually cleanse and wash the souls of his people in the body of Christ. In a normal recipe water is added to the dried ingredients to begin making the dough. In our bread recipe for salvation, the water added is the word of God that helps activate the leaven (Kingdom rule of God) mixed into the meal (wheat flour) .

3) Leaven (yeast) is the active agent in growing and changing the texture of the dough, as it is baked into bread. Making it edible for food:

I am sure we all know, if leaven is mixed into wheat flour completely, it would be impossible to separate them again. Yeast and flour are fine grains and try as you may, you can’t completely separate them after they have been thorughly mixed together. This speaks to our salvation and the permenance of the change we experience when we become a born again believer under the Kingdom Rule of God. Regardless of where we are in our lives our salvation in Christ is secure. See the following verse:

John 10:28-30

²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

²⁹ My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

³⁰ I and my Father are one.

I am about to get a bit geeky here, but this is how I study. Getting down to the micro details to understand the concepts and big picture. In all that getting get understanding right!!!

Okay after doing some research leaven is actually a tiny fungi called (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), don’t try to pronounce it. The yeast metabolizes these simple sugars and exudes a liquid that releases carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol into existing air bubbles in the dough. As the sugars are metabolized, carbon dioxide and alcohol are released into the bread dough, making it rise. The leaven present, acts as an active agent for growth. If a loaf of bread is made without leaven, it turns out flat and hard almost inedible when baked. Why am I saying all of this, because it is the basis for my ‘Bread Recipe for Salvation’. Leaven is likened to the Kingdom of God in the parable, which Christ taught was necessary for all men to have. Therefore if a man were to get the Kingdom of God in him with the characteristcs of leaven,  it would create changes in that man, causing him to grow and change into something else.

What does the transformation of flour, water and yeast represent?:

All of the above leads to this final concept. Our salvation is reflected in the bread making process. We are the wheat that God planted, when the seed of his word is planted in the hearts of men that respond. As believers we have surrendered to the Kingdom of God’s rule (leaven) in our lives here on earth, through Jesus Christ. The leaven that was given to us, has the potential to grow us in faith and transform us into something greater than ourselves. To activate the leaven in bread making water is added. As we established in the above verse in Ephesians, the living water is the word of God. Therefore the water (word) given to us flows from God through Christ to us, for the purpose of activating the kingdom principles in our lives. How does this work? Well the word (water) we are provided through Christ, not only purifies us through obedience, but as we seek God, it helps define who we are as his children and citizens of the kingdom. This builds our faith, because we are no longer lost, but confidently aware of who we are in Christ and what we have access to here on this earth.

As any good baker would do, they would kneed the dough to make sure the leaven is evenly distributed. It is important to note that in your salvation process you will feel like you’re being kneaded into renewing your mind, by the convictions we experience from the word of God. Your desire to be obedient and please him, ultimately will cause you to turn more and more to God for his guidance and direction. This process helps spread the Kingdom Rule of God (leaven) into every aspect of your life, to the point that your complete reliance is on Him for everything. Then a good baker will allow the leaven to do its work causing the dough to rise. The combination of the word of God (water) and his Kingdom rule in your life (leaven), strengthens and builds you up in faith. It causes growth in a born again christian.

When a baker bakes bread you apply heat, which helps change the dough into soft edible bread. This can be compared to the maturity a Christian gains during the fiery tests and trials of life, where they learn to lean on God and trust in his word. They learn to walk not by sight, but by faith in the promises and word of God. They no longer are babes in Christ, but mature children of God, that understand their purpose in this life. To be capable and ready to lend support to the needy, feed the hungry, take care of the sick, spread the Gospel of God to others and love thy neighbor as thy self. Then we would have become what God and Christ is trying to make us, by working out our salvation, ‘The Body of Christ’. That is what the church is referred to in the bible and Christ himself in communion said that the bread represented his body. Take a look at these scriptures;

John 6: 35

³⁵ And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6: 47:51

⁴⁷Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

John 6: 54:56

⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

I believe the above verses are overwhelming evidence that Christ referred to his flesh as bread. Nothing I can say will be more convincing than our Lord’s own explanation. Now see the following verses that ties Jesus’s flesh (body) to being the church;

Ephesians 1:19-23

¹⁹ And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

²⁰ Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

²¹ Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

²² And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

²³ Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

We as believers make up the church. The building is not the church, the believers in Jesus Christ all around the world make up the church, which is the body of Christ. We all are blessed with different gifts of the spirit and therefore make up the many members of the body of Christ, with a purpose to fulfill. Reaching out into the world to share God’s love and preach the gospel of the kingdom on toward salvation. We the body of Christ are the salt of the earh, preserving and providing sustanace to a world filled with spiritually dead people. I hope now you can understand why Christ likened our salvation in his parable to the process of making bread. Here is a verse from the bible to support again, the fact that we are likened to bread, which helps define our role in the body of Christ. We are to provide sustanance for the people that are still spiritually dead in this world. Truly I believe that is our core purpose as a mature Christian. Another bible reference that reflects this concept is, Jesus as the vine and we are the branches grafted onto the vine. Branches receiving nourishment from the vine bear fruit, which is used as sustanance. The sustanance I refer to here that the body of Christ provides, are the fruits of the spirit. Are you getting the picture now? See verse below;

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

¹⁶ The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

¹⁷ For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Taking communion is generally recognized as a reminder of the new covenant we have through the death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus says in John 6:53-58 that unless we partake of his body and blood we have no life within us. I believe it is also a reminder of where our life sustanance comes from. As a branch and part of the the body of Christ, we feed on Christ to be renewed and nourished. We are nourished not just for ourselves, but to mature and provide fruit that can feed others who are lost. Yes if we keep feeding others it will deplete us, but if we remain connected to the vine we will be constantly nourished and replenished to keep going.

In conclusion the parable is the process for building the body of Christ. Spread the gospel as wheat seed into the hearts of men. Those that believe will receive the gift of salvation and God’s kingdom rule in their lives. We water and nourish their belief with the word and life’s challenges will point them back to Christ, creating a deeper need for God. This process spreads the Kingdom rule of God further and deeper into their lives. Eventually they become mature citizens of the Kingdom that they too now can offer seed and water(word) to those in need. No special gimmicks or entertainment on Sunday. Just seed and water, seed and water. Churches now have adopted worldly ways of attracting people, bright lights and promised entertainment, when they have Christ, who if lifted up, will draw all men to him.