Leaven - Hypocrisy all through the Church. Lord help us!

[Vine Abider]

A brother gave a message about the "Woman hiding leaven" parable (Matt & Luke 13) this Sunday that a few of us were chewing on and fellowshipping about this week.  It's a very short parable and here it is:

Another parable He spoke to them: 'The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.'

A popular notion on this parable is stated by many commentators, who say this is the one instance in the Bible where leaven is positive, whereas all other instances are negative.  However, some commentators do admit there is an obvious problem of interpreting leaven as positive here, since it would be a complete turnaround from all other instances of leaven in scripture.

So what is the leaven the Lord is referring to?  A couple of chapters later Jesus states:

Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

In Luke 18:9-14 we have the instance of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which quite tellingly illustrates what the Pharisees are really about:

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 

And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In Matthew 23:13-29 He says repeatedly (8 times! is that an emphasis or what!?) this:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 

The Greek meaning of "hypocrite" is a pretender or an actor, so the Lord was pointing out that the Pharisees were actors.  That is, on the outside they played the part and looked like they were good and righteous, but inside they were corrupt and "full of dead men's bones"!

So looking at the Pharisee, in Luke 18 who "prayed thus with himself," he had an outward display that he was good and doing what God wanted.  But what did God really want?  God wanted what the tax collector exhibited - transparency and honesty - or a humble heart and contrite spirit who admitted his shortcomings and sin before God! 

After fellowshipping and looking at these verses, the message of leaven was clear to me - the Lord wants us to be real with Him, admit we don't have it in ourselves to satisfy Him, and not to look to ourselves for performing what God desires. We can still take scripture and try to perform and look good outwardly, but inside we may be lacking the operation of the Spirit Who would really change us . . . that is, we're putting up the façade of an actor.  This culminates in what the Lord told the church in Laodicea (Rev 3), who thought they were rich and needed nothing, yet were actually, "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

So what does the leaven the woman hid in the flour represent today?  I think it’s simple and basically the same as was 2,000 years ago: It’s the erroneous religious idea that we can satisfy the Lord by an outward effort apart from Christ’s indwelling Spirit (aka: “Christian Self-Help” or “practicing the new covenant in an old covenant way”).  In other words – living the Christian life through our own resources and strength.  It's an "I got this!" approach and it’s apart from Him.  This outward Pharisaical display, devoid of the supply of His indwelling life, does nothing to change us and is fruitless.  It's an act.

Regrettably, this (leaven) seems to be much of the approach being preached, and regrettably practiced, these days.  For instance, someone preaches all about the wonderful behaviors in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and says, “This is what we should be doing!  Now remember what Jesus said next time you encounter such a situation. Be strong to practice it and be the Christian you should be and can be, if you just set your mind to it!”  How refreshing if instead a preacher would say, “Look, these are certainly lofty standards that no person, except Christ Himself, ever attained to. But we must remember that He lives right inside us! So next time you encounter that challenging person, simply tell the Lord, ‘Thank you Lord you live right inside me. I can’t do this of myself, but supply me now with Your strength and Your love, to love this person as You do.’”   Oh my, I think I would jump up and shout for joy if I heard that on Christian radio some day!

One last thought - What does pride do?  We are told pride "puffs up." Leaven also puffs up. 

 

[PATrobas]

Amen brother. Couldn't agree more.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2 Cor.4:7

 

[AnOrangeCat]

10 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

The Greek meaning of "hypocrite" is a pretender or an actor, so the Lord was pointing out that the Pharisees were actors.  That is, on the outside they played the part and looked like they were good and righteous, but inside they were corrupt and "full of dead men's bones"!

So looking at the Pharisee, in Luke 18 who "prayed thus with himself," he had an outward display that he was good and doing what God wanted.  But what did God really want?  God wanted what the tax collector exhibited - transparency and honesty - or a humble heart and contrite spirit who admitted his shortcomings and sin before God! 

This is a pretty relevant topic to current times, IMO. I see a lot of this sort of thing present in the modern day establishment. Looking at the Gospels the religious leaders of His time were the one group of people that Jesus didn't seem to have much patience for. As you pointed out he didn't mince words in speaking about them, and then there was driving the money changers out of the temple. My take on this is that at that time in history they were effectively a secular force that had put on airs of being religious, but was ultimately concerned with its own gain.

There were obviously exceptions, Nicodemus seemed to be genuinely seeking the truth, and surely there were others. But on the whole the picture painted of the Pharisees at the time was one of hypocrisy, corruption, and exploiting believers.

11 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

How refreshing if instead a preacher would say, “Look, these are certainly lofty standards that no person, except Christ Himself, ever attained to. But we must remember that He lives right inside us! So next time you encounter that challenging person, simply tell the Lord, ‘Thank you Lord you live right inside me. I can’t do this, but supply me now with Your strength and Your love, to love this person as You do.’”   Oh my, I think I would jump up and shout for joy if I heard that on Christian radio some day!

I hear you there. That said I think we need to examine ourselves with this as well. It's 100% true that it's Christ who gives us the strength to do good and overcome out shortcomings and that we're bound to fall short multiple times. Growing up my mother was pretty bad. Alcohol, street drugs, prescription pill abuse. You name it, she tried it. In her later years she acknowledged that she'd been bad as a mother and tried to make it up to us. She failed, but I thought it was really admirable. More importantly she also seemed to turn back to Christ.

The thing is she kept the addictions. She'd say things like "God is working on that but I'm not ready yet." I have an opinion on what that really meant, but it's irrelevant. In the end she died of drug and alcohol related complications, possibly a case like the man in I Corinthians who Paul stated his flesh would be destroyed that his spirit might be saved. I do think that at times people can use the weakness of the flesh and things like "Waiting on God" as an excuse, and that leads to complacency.

I believe that the struggle against sin and the flesh is important. We're bound to fail. I've been involved in a struggle of my own for several years. I kept a day to day record of it, and going over this year's record compared to the last I feel like I've stopped reaching higher and hit a point of complacency. When it comes to striving to be more Christlike we should do our best to keep growing. It's one example of how we can leave everything else behind to follow Jesus.

[BibleStudent100]

11 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

A brother gave a message about the "Woman hiding leaven" parable (Matt & Luke 13) this Sunday that a few of us were chewing on and fellowshipping about this week.  It's a very short parable and here it is:

Yes, usually leaven has denotes negativity, but in this instance, it generates a positive response in Christians.  And just as one word (like lion, that can refer to Satan [1 Peter 5:8], but can also refer to Jesus [Revelation 5:5]) can have double meanings, both positive and negative, leaven does so likewise.  So here is another understanding  of this short parable:

The housewife deliberately added the leaven, and the results were positive. The leaven was hidden in the mass of flour. Thus, the leavening process was hidden from the view of the housewife. This reminds us of the man who sows seed and sleeps at night. Jesus said that “the seed sprouts and grows tall, just how [the man] does not know.” (Mark 4:27) What a simple way to illustrate the unseen progression of spiritual growth. We may not see the growth initially, but eventually its results become manifest.  Like leaven, the Kingdom-preaching work that has prompted this spiritual growth has expanded to the point that the Kingdom is now being preached “to the most distant part of the earth.”

[Vine Abider]

1 hour ago, BibleStudent100 said:

Yes, usually leaven has denotes negativity, but in this instance, it generates a positive response in Christians.  And just as one word (like lion, that can refer to Satan [1 Peter 5:8], but can also refer to Jesus [Revelation 5:5]) can have double meanings, both positive and negative, leaven does so likewise.  So here is another understanding  of this short parable:

The housewife deliberately added the leaven, and the results were positive. The leaven was hidden in the mass of flour. Thus, the leavening process was hidden from the view of the housewife. This reminds us of the man who sows seed and sleeps at night. Jesus said that “the seed sprouts and grows tall, just how [the man] does not know.” (Mark 4:27) What a simple way to illustrate the unseen progression of spiritual growth. We may not see the growth initially, but eventually its results become manifest.  Like leaven, the Kingdom-preaching work that has prompted this spiritual growth has expanded to the point that the Kingdom is now being preached “to the most distant part of the earth.”

That is probably the more popular or traditional approach.  But, as the brother shared here Sunday, one is hard-pressed to find where leaven is meant in a positive way in the bible.  I think Jesus Himself states it well, when a couple chapters later He defines it as, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees." That is not a positive.

[Vine Abider]

1 hour ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I do think that at times people can use the weakness of the flesh and things like "Waiting on God" as an excuse, and that leads to complacency.

I believe that the struggle against sin and the flesh is important. We're bound to fail. I've been involved in a struggle of my own for several years. I kept a day to day record of it, and going over this year's record compared to the last I feel like I've stopped reaching higher and hit a point of complacency. When it comes to striving to be more Christlike we should do our best to keep growing. It's one example of how we can leave everything else behind to follow Jesus.

Agreed - the excuse can be made, "The devil made me do it." (one of my kids liked to say that)

It's often been a challenge to me knowing what is my part and what is His.  Ultimately I think it comes down to me letting Him operate in me.  That is, I really can do nothing to change myself except for some superficial "window dressing."  But His promise is that if I truly surrender and give it to Him, He will supply the overcoming life in and through me.  I'm still, very much, learning this lesson . . .

[Mr. M]

15 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

A popular notion on this parable is stated by many commentators, who say this is the one instance in the Bible where leaven is positive, whereas all other instances are negative.  However, some commentators do admit there is an obvious problem of interpreting leaven as positive here, since it would be a complete turnaround from all other instances of leaven in scripture.

So what is the leaven the Lord is referring to?  A couple of chapters later Jesus states:

Using leaven for the manner it was intended is neither positive or negative, but lawful.

1 Timothy 1:8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully:

"Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself, I am the Lord" is from Leviticus

The ability to quote the verse doesn't amount to much. 

Applying ourselves to an honest and sincere abiding in Christ 

will result is sanctification and an "unfeigned love".

This is how the Kingdom of heaven works into us "like leaven".

This is tree of life operation, not "knowledge of good and evil".

We do not overcome evil by doing good. We overcome evil by

knowing the presence and operation of the Spirit of God in our fellowship,

And "God is good all the time", even when our obedience results is suffering.

God/Not God is the only measure of Truth. Attempts to prove good over evil

will only result in "not good enough". In Christ we strive for what is perfect,

i.e. mature, fully functioning as God intended and the Spirit leading us.

Okay, I am kind of riffing in the Spirit now, so peace and knowledge

of the Holy to all.

Edited October 4, 2024 by Mr. M

[Dennis1209]

4 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

This is a pretty relevant topic to current times, IMO. I see a lot of this sort of thing present in the modern day establishment. Looking at the Gospels the religious leaders of His time were the one group of people that Jesus didn't seem to have much patience for. As you pointed out he didn't mince words in speaking about them, and then there was driving the money changers out of the temple. My take on this is that at that time in history they were effectively a secular force that had put on airs of being religious, but was ultimately concerned with its own gain.

There were obviously exceptions, Nicodemus seemed to be genuinely seeking the truth, and surely there were others. But on the whole the picture painted of the Pharisees at the time was one of hypocrisy, corruption, and exploiting believers.

I hear you there. That said I think we need to examine ourselves with this as well. It's 100% true that it's Christ who gives us the strength to do good and overcome out shortcomings and that we're bound to fall short multiple times. Growing up my mother was pretty bad. Alcohol, street drugs, prescription pill abuse. You name it, she tried it. In her later years she acknowledged that she'd been bad as a mother and tried to make it up to us. She failed, but I thought it was really admirable. More importantly she also seemed to turn back to Christ.

The thing is she kept the addictions. She'd say things like "God is working on that but I'm not ready yet." I have an opinion on what that really meant, but it's irrelevant. In the end she died of drug and alcohol related complications, possibly a case like the man in I Corinthians who Paul stated his flesh would be destroyed that his spirit might be saved. I do think that at times people can use the weakness of the flesh and things like "Waiting on God" as an excuse, and that leads to complacency.

I believe that the struggle against sin and the flesh is important. We're bound to fail. I've been involved in a struggle of my own for several years. I kept a day to day record of it, and going over this year's record compared to the last I feel like I've stopped reaching higher and hit a point of complacency. When it comes to striving to be more Christlike we should do our best to keep growing. It's one example of how we can leave everything else behind to follow Jesus.

Thank you for your courage in sharing part of your testimony. After reading part of your story, I felt compelled to share part of mine. I have come to accept and appreciate what is engraved on my grandparents' headstone (Proverbs 3: 5-6). As I have said in my testimony, it is not pleasant to air out my personal and family “dirty laundry.” We tend to want to bury our sins, embarrassments, and secrets six feet deep.

Numbers 32:23 (KJV) But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

I can somewhat relate to your mother’s struggles; I was a functioning alcoholic for decades. The commonalities between street drugs, prescription, and alcohol abuse are the same. It feels good getting drunk or high, and we temporarily escape reality, deadening our senses to the emotional and physical circumstances we experience, peer pressure, etc., some more heavily than others. We become physically and psychologically dependent or addicted to that relief, escaping perceived harsh realities. My only younger brother escaped with a 45-caliber handgun.

It all starts with the first time. My first time was getting drunk shortly after I was in the Army. At that time, the famous saying was, “If it feels good, do it.”

Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

My grandparents trained me. I backslid into sin and the lusts and pleasures of the flesh; I knew better, and I began to love my sin. Alcohol became my idol and master of my life:

Matthew 6:24 (KJV) No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

There seems to be another commonality between every type of addiction; in a word, I see it as procrastination. Besides the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of being a druggie, who wants to be seen and known as one? It is shameful and embarrassing.

Our town has a liquor store with a bright neon sign that reads, “WINE and SPIRITS.” I can assure everyone there is a spirit in every container of alcohol and every drug used to escape our “circumstances and problems.”

Over the decades, I have often thought, "Lord, please do not give up on me; one day, I will repent and change my ways (procrastination)," knowing I am not guaranteed a tomorrow.

There is a secular proverb that rings true for drug addiction: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The closest Biblical example of this secular proverb is Mark 10: 17-27.

It would be much too long to banter on, but the particulars of my testimony are published on Worthy.

1 Timothy 1:16 (KJV) Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

James 5:16 (KJV) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

At times in my turbulent life, I thought I could feel someone praying for me. That could only have been my grandparents. I believe the Lord stores all the prayers of the saints in a golden vial (Rev. 5:8-14) to be fulfilled either yes, no, or wait for His timing and purpose.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Other secular proverbs can be Biblically applied, such as “better late than never” and “You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.” November 24, 2016, was a doozy for me.

As much as I would like to go back in time and change so much, I cannot. I can do nothing except through our Lord Jesus Christ. My only option is to ask for forgiveness and:

Philippians 3:14 (KJV) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

[Jayne]

15 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

A brother gave a message about the "Woman hiding leaven" parable (Matt & Luke 13) this Sunday that a few of us were chewing on and fellowshipping about this week.  It's a very short parable and here it is:

Another parable He spoke to them: 'The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.'

A popular notion on this parable is stated by many commentators, who say this is the one instance in the Bible where leaven is positive, whereas all other instances are negative.  However, some commentators do admit there is an obvious problem of interpreting leaven as positive here, since it would be a complete turnaround from all other instances of leaven in scripture.

So what is the leaven the Lord is referring to?  A couple of chapters later Jesus states:

Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

In Luke 18:9-14 we have the instance of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which quite tellingly illustrates what the Pharisees are really about:

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 

And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In Matthew 23:13-29 He says repeatedly (8 times! is that an emphasis or what!?) this:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 

The Greek meaning of "hypocrite" is a pretender or an actor, so the Lord was pointing out that the Pharisees were actors.  That is, on the outside they played the part and looked like they were good and righteous, but inside they were corrupt and "full of dead men's bones"!

So looking at the Pharisee, in Luke 18 who "prayed thus with himself," he had an outward display that he was good and doing what God wanted.  But what did God really want?  God wanted what the tax collector exhibited - transparency and honesty - or a humble heart and contrite spirit who admitted his shortcomings and sin before God! 

After fellowshipping and looking at these verses, the message of leaven was clear to me - the Lord wants us to be real with Him, admit we don't have it in ourselves to satisfy Him, and not to look to ourselves for performing what God desires. We can still take scripture and try to perform and look good, but inside we are devoid of the transforming Spirit Who would really change us . . . that is, we're putting up the façade of an actor.  This culminates in what the Lord told the church in Laodicea (Rev 3), who thought they were rich and needed nothing, yet were actually, "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

So what does the leaven the woman hid in the flour represent today?  I think it’s simple and basically the same as was 2,000 years ago: It’s the erroneous religious idea that we can satisfy the Lord by an outward effort apart from Christ’s indwelling Spirit (aka: “Christian Self-Help” or “practicing the new covenant in an old covenant way”).  In other words – living the Christian life through our own resources and strength.  It's an "I got this!" approach and it’s apart from Him.  This outward Pharisaical display, devoid of the supply of His indwelling life, does nothing to change us and is fruitless.  It's an act.

Regrettably, this (leaven) seems to be much of the approach being preached, and regrettably practiced, these days.  For instance, someone preaches all about the wonderful behaviors in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and says, “This is what we should be doing!  Now remember what Jesus said next time you encounter such a situation. Be strong to practice it and be the Christian you should be and can be, if you just set your mind to do it!”  How refreshing if instead a preacher would say, “Look, these are certainly lofty standards that no person, except Christ Himself, ever attained to. But we must remember that He lives right inside us! So next time you encounter that challenging person, simply tell the Lord, ‘Thank you Lord you live right inside me. I can’t do this, but supply me now with Your strength and Your love, to love this person as You do.’”   Oh my, I think I would jump up and shout for joy if I heard that on Christian radio some day!

One last thought - What does pride do?  We are told pride "puffs up." Leaven also puffs up. 

 

Hmmm......I'm still pondering on this.

[Vine Abider]

Here's something I read by T. Austin Sparks which addresses much of the same things regarding leaven (outward self-help religion) in the ekklesia.

Let our lives lovingly express truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him. (Ephesians 4:15 AMP) Any system of religion that just puts on from the outside, and covers over the inner life by mere rite and ritual is false, it is not true. The work of God is to reconstitute human nature. And that, of course, involves two things. On the one side, it involves a breaking down. And if you know anything about God's dealings with lives who come into His hands, there is undoubtedly a large place for that – a progressive breaking down; a getting to the root of things, and undeceiving us. If we have any illusions about ourselves, they will all be gone when God has done with us. If we are governed by any kind of falsehood about ourselves, and our position, and our work, when God has done with us, that will all be gone. He is going to break us down until we see ourselves stark, as an unclean thing, with all our righteousnesses as filthy rags. So He will break us down, and He does. But there is the other side, of course, all the time, for God is not only, and always negative; there is the constructing, bringing up to the place where anything that is false, anything that is not absolutely transparent and true, straight, clear, is hateful to us. More and more our inner man revolts against our own falsehood. Any exaggerations come back on us at once with conviction of wrong; any false statement hits us hard, and we know that we have not spoken the truth. It is a tremendous thing to get into the hands of the Holy Spirit, until, like God, the one thing that we hate is anything that is false. "I hate", said David, "every false way." We must come there. But we must be lovers of the truth. And this is going to pursue us everywhere; it will pursue us into our own life within ourselves, that we are not deceiving ourselves at all. Before God we know exactly what God thinks about us, and we know where we stand in the light.... And the nearer we come to the Lord, the more meticulous the Holy Spirit is over this matter of truth; the closer are His dealings with us. It is very true, you see, "perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord" – perfecting. The nearer we get to the end, the more stringent will be the Lord's dealings with anything false in our lives. It is a time matter, but God is very faithful – He is very faithful; He does not let things pass. Do we want Him to be faithful? Well, it is not comfortable to say, "Yes," but it is good that He should be faithful with every inconsistency, every contradiction, every falsehood, in the inward parts. By T. Austin-Sparks from: Truth in The Inward Parts