Scary Verse

~Romans 11.9 And David says:
“May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them. "

This is Paul quoting what David says in Psalm 69--a scary verse. People who have little to eat and who give it little thought are unlikely to suffer this plight. But when the table is laden with plenty of variety and rich fare, as are most tables in the US today, it's possible for people to get so focused on the food, the comfort, the affluence, that they can lose track of what really matters: their spiritual lives and relationship with God.


~Romans 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

. . . another hats off to the power of spreading yeast in dough.

Is unleavened bread better?

~I Corinthians 5.6-8

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Here's another use of the spreading capabilities of yeast. Here Paul implies that in keeping the Passover, in remembering the sacrifice of Christ, unleavened bread is more appropriate.

I'll ponder the Passover lamb next time.

False Teaching Compared to Yeast

~Galatians 5.9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!

As Jesus does in Luke 12 and 13, Paul too uses the amazing permeating property of yeast to make a point.

Yeast 2

~Luke 13.20-21 He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

The Luke 12.1 reference to yeast was negative: hypocrisy spreads like yeast through dough. This uses the same spreading yeast to communicate how a tiny bit of the Kingdom of God can also spread far and wide to accomplish a good purpose. Yea!

Yeast

~Luke 12.1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Yeast and its relationship to health is a complex topic I don't know much about. It can be harmful to the body when present in abnormally high quantities. Jesus uses it as a metaphor for hypocrisy. I always thought that was just because yeast can grow and spread, but there could be more to it. I think we will see yeast again.

Yeast

~Matthew 16.5-12 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.
"Be careful, Jesus said to them. Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
They discussed this among themselves and said, It is because we didn't bring any bread.
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Bread is good; yeast is fine; but be careful of bad teaching because it is easily spread. Listen carefully to what God says to you so that you don't misinterpret it.

Size and Power

~Matthew 13:33-35 Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Yeast is powerful. Like the companion mustard seed story here, this one too makes the point that size is not a reliable indicator of power. So with regard to what to eat, be careful. People allergic to peanuts, for example, can have a whole body reaction to even a tiny bit. And, in the reverse, a little penicillin can have a positive effect.