Matthew 13:31-35 Leaven in the Flour
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: April 5, 2019, Matthew 13:31-35
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
(Revelation of God) God’s definitions are difficult for me to understand. For example, God’s glory is His character. That’s hard for me to wrap my mind around since I think of glory as some kind of light streaming out from God that can kill sinful people. Another difficult definition for me is the kingdom of heaven. I think of the kingdom of heaven as a physical place with different levels of leadership. However, Jesus defines the kingdom of heaven as a way of being/a way of life. The kingdom of heaven is in us, but I always picture being in the kingdom of heaven rather than the kingdom of heaven being in me.
(Understanding the Text) The point that Jesus is making with these two parables is that when the kingdom first gets inside of you, it is tiny, but it will grow and spread throughout your whole being. The kingdom does not stay in only one part of you. It has to spread so that it leavens everything. If we try to limit where the kingdom will go, we will either be fighting a losing battle, or we will have to get rid of the kingdom from our heart by completely rejecting God. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus adds that when the kingdom of heaven grows in us, it either benefits those around us if we have become the kingdom, or it benefits us if we look at the kingdom as the tree giving us a place inside of us to call home.
Matthew says that Jesus was telling parables to fulfill a prophecy of the Old Testament; however, when I read the quote, it did not seem like a prophecy. “A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done” (Psalm 78:1-4). It sounded like a simple recounting of the history of God’s interactions with Israel to that point in time in order to teach them a lesson. I think maybe Matthew’s idea of fulfilled is not that this was a prediction but that the words fit what Jesus did. I could not find any prior references to a prophet in Psalm 78.
(Application / Prayer) My application to myself is that I need to allow Jesus’ ideas and teachings to permeate my whole being. I know that my sinful character rejects and rebels against much of the kingdom of heaven. I pray that the kingdom of heaven will transform me so that I am a blessing to others. I need to let You grow in me. I pray that You will fill my whole being and transform me into the kingdom of heaven.