Going Ballistic

Daily Devotional – I’m Normal.™  I AM Ministries

“To promote Godly living in a culture committed to destroying it”

Normal I AM

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Going Ballistic

If you were raised in America, the story of George Washington cutting down his father’s cherry tree invokes thoughts of the integrity and honesty of our founding father and patriarch. Jesus also used stories (parables) to connect the minds of His disciples to Scriptural images and concepts. In Matthew 13, Jesus instantly connects Abraham to a parable concerning a woman making bread to give His disciples a glimpse of their future impact for God’s Kingdom.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Matthew 13:33). To Americans, this one sentence story falls flat, even if you are a baker. For the Jews in Jesus’ time, however, this mention connected them instantly to the patriarch Abraham’s obedience and hospitality towards the three angel visitors (Genesis 18:6).

The “large quantity of flour” in the parable is equal to three satas, a Greek word, which suggests the woman used about 22 liters of flour. This would be equivalent to more than five gallons of flour, which could make a large pile of leavened bread. Jesus’ implication was there were many needing to be fed, but He meant spiritual food instead of physical food.

Generations before, Abraham saw God and the other visitors, the patriarch ordered his wife Sarah to, “Quick, get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.” (Genesis 18:6). A seah is equivalent to about 22 liters, or more than five gallons of flour.

Jesus’ one line parable mentioning 22 liters of flour connected His listeners to their beloved patriarch Abraham. His meeting with God (some scholars think Jesus) was legendary and Abraham wanted sufficient quantity and quality food for His Heavenly guests. Those who were willing to entertain strangers have sometimes entertained angels to their unspeakable honor and satisfaction. Jesus’ disciples understood they had been called to entertain strangers as they ministered and, as per God’s promise, their rewards would be immeasurable.

The disciples’ faith in God and Jesus assured them of a good outcome from following the lesson of the parable. Being familiar with the Greek language, they also garnered surprising confirmations and implications. The word parable comes from the Greek parabole, literally “a throwing or casting beside”. Para means “alongside” and bole derives from ballein (“to throw”), from which we obtain our word “ballistic”. Thus, the disciples knew this parable meant they were to be part of an event that would go ballistic. Such events can even be described in mathematical terms through the equation for a parabola.

What was less sure was the context of the leaven. Scripture generally uses the image of leaven as a symbol of evil, corruption, or sin. God, in His sovereignty, uses His Son to impart a positive connotation to the metaphor. Whereas the fermentation process associated with leavening puffs up and increases the volume of the bread, it can also “puff up” a man’s ego and cause him to sin. In God’s hands, leaven can also cause Jesus’ Gospel to go ballistic, which is precisely what Jesus had in mind.

Moreover, the flour is a metaphor for our heart, and both flour and hearts need to be soft and pliable before they are useful. Leaven mixed with unground corn or wheat produces no effect; likewise, it is the tender heart that is apt to profit by the Gospel leaven. The Gospel has no effect on souls unhumbled and unbroken from sin. Spiritually, the Law grinds the heart, rendering it fit to accept the Good News. Our hearts must be broken before it will accept the Gospel leaven.

A small amount of leaven will disseminate throughout the dough and do its magic, making it grow large in proportion to the original mass. Thus was the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world. Jesus took twelve men and “broke their hearts”, which then accepted the Gospel leaven. The apostles, who were small in number, by their preaching mixed the leaven into the entire world where it had an unimaginably grand effect. The Gospel “went ballistic” and turned the world upside down. Jesus, the Bread of Life, has been feeding the world spiritually ever since. Not bad for a one line parable.

It is normal for Jesus to connect with us culturally in order to teach us and to help us spread the Good News of the Gospel. By using the phrase “three satas”, He prepared the hearts of His disciples to connect a beloved Old Testament story with the New Covenant parable. This set the stage for a worldwide spiritual transformation. Today the work of Gospel spreading continues. How will you go ballistic for Him?

In His love and service,

Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ

><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>
¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´`·.¸¸.·´¯

© Copyright 2015, I’m Normal.™  I AM Ministries, All rights reserved

Complimentary copies of the eBook “I’m Normal. I AM” are available now at http://www.imnormal.com. Or, send your request to http://www.jeff@imnormal.com.

Paperback versions of the book “I’m Normal. I AM” are available through AuthorHouse Publishers at http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=38944

Are You Normal? What’s Normal about You? To find out, visit our website at http://www.imnormal.com

 

 

This entry was posted in I'm Normal. I AM and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *