The preaching of the Gospel is like yeast or leaven, working from the inside out. The dough that is kneaded with yeast looks the same as that which has no leavening agent…at least at first. Given the right conditions, the right ingredients, the dough with yeast behaves much differently. It’s a very interesting parable for me since my dad spent many years working as a baker. He taught me the simple rules of making yeast breads and emphasized the importance of temperature, kneading (not too much) and most significantly, proofing.
My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.Psalm 78:1-3
Parable of the Yeast: Matthew 13:33-35, Mark 4:33-34
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The preaching of the Gospel is like yeast or leaven, working from the inside out. The dough that is kneaded with yeast looks the same as that which has no leavening agent…at least at first. Given the right conditions, the right ingredients, the dough with yeast behaves much differently. It’s a very interesting parable for me since my dad spent many years working as a baker. He taught me the simple rules of making yeast breads and emphasized the importance of temperature, kneading (not too much) and most significantly, proofing.
The environment is important to the process of making great bread, but it’s not rocket science or brain surgery, you simply have to pay attention to the process. I don’t know the chemistry of baking, but I do understand there is a delicate balance of ingredients for every recipe.
How you mix the ingredients matters and kneading the dough has its own technique. It’s not hard, but it does matter. You can knead the bread too much, essentially popping all the life out of the dough by being too aggressive. As the yeast mixes with the sugar and produces CO2, something you punch down in the second kneading stage, you can overdo it and turn a nice loaf of bread into a biscuit!
It takes time to make the best bread and it take the right temperature. Too cold or too hot and the dough simply doesn’t rise properly. Again, it’s not so difficult as to be impossible, but it does mean we have to pay attention to the process.
Sixty pounds of flour! That a bunch of bread, yes? I don’t know what yeast was like back when Jesus taught this parable, but in modern times, yeast comes in 1-pound bricks. The machinery I’m familiar with includes a large bowl where you dump 100-pound sacks of flour. Crazy process to watch, not good for my current diet plan! The point here is there is very little yeast compared to the amount of flour. I don’t remember the industrial sized recipe, but the little packets of yeast we use at home contain 2-1/4 teaspoons of yeast for four to six cups of flour (depending on what you’re making).
The yeast, such a small part of the recipe, makes all the difference in producing good bread. No yeast, no bread.
Lord, may we be the yeast in the world. Help us to cultivate the right environments, to be patient, unafraid to work, to implant the knowledge of Grace and Hope to a dying world.