20 And again [Jesus] said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures
of meal till it was all leavened." (NKJV)
I wonder if to some degree Jesus might have had his own mother, Mary,
in mind when he said, "a woman".
"Three measures of meal": could these represent Mary's poured out
life for Jesus? She certainly ministered to him as mother for what was appropriate
during the first three decades of his life. Her efforts: "leaven", hidden in the
"three measures of meal", three decades of motherhood divided into Jesus'
ages 1-10, 11-20, and 21-30, "till it was all leavened", fully matured for
Kingdom work.
And what happened after those three decades? Jesus left his mother and
home to be baptized by John, to endure the temptations in the wilderness,
and full of the Holy Spirit, to return temporarily to Nazareth to usher in the
Kingdom at the town's synagogue by reading from the Prophet Isaiah
concerning Himself:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
(Luke 4:18-19 NKJV)
The first three decades of Jesus' life were very quiet,
just about hidden, as it were. And Mary served the
Incarnate God in a family environment.
In due course, Jesus set out on Heaven's mission
"to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10 NKJV),
that is, to full-bore present the Kingdom of God.
An example of this was when Jesus commissioned
and sent out 70 disciples and instructed them, saying:
"And heal the sick there, and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’"
(Luke 10:9 NKJV).
I am not trying to force my wondering into Luke's text.
If none of it was intended, then I'll accept it as a thought
I needed for my own edification.
If I am only right in a small way, wouldn't that be
fitting for "a woman" whom the nations shall call
blessed? (Luke 1:48).
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures
of meal till it was all leavened." (NKJV)
I wonder if to some degree Jesus might have had his own mother, Mary,
in mind when he said, "a woman".
"Three measures of meal": could these represent Mary's poured out
life for Jesus? She certainly ministered to him as mother for what was appropriate
during the first three decades of his life. Her efforts: "leaven", hidden in the
"three measures of meal", three decades of motherhood divided into Jesus'
ages 1-10, 11-20, and 21-30, "till it was all leavened", fully matured for
Kingdom work.
And what happened after those three decades? Jesus left his mother and
home to be baptized by John, to endure the temptations in the wilderness,
and full of the Holy Spirit, to return temporarily to Nazareth to usher in the
Kingdom at the town's synagogue by reading from the Prophet Isaiah
concerning Himself:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
(Luke 4:18-19 NKJV)
The first three decades of Jesus' life were very quiet,
just about hidden, as it were. And Mary served the
Incarnate God in a family environment.
In due course, Jesus set out on Heaven's mission
"to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10 NKJV),
that is, to full-bore present the Kingdom of God.
An example of this was when Jesus commissioned
and sent out 70 disciples and instructed them, saying:
"And heal the sick there, and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’"
(Luke 10:9 NKJV).
I am not trying to force my wondering into Luke's text.
If none of it was intended, then I'll accept it as a thought
I needed for my own edification.
If I am only right in a small way, wouldn't that be
fitting for "a woman" whom the nations shall call
blessed? (Luke 1:48).
