Matt 13:33 parable of the leaven

[Psalm 95]

Is leaven in this parable something good or evil?

“Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”
(Matthew 13:33 KJV)

 

[Psalm 95]

I was studying Matthew chapter 13 yesterday toghether with Scofiled notes and was amazed that the notes sad that Matt 13:33 had the total oposite meaning to what I always thought before.

Spending time today checking various refernce books I am still not clear on the meaning. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology seems to give to support for both views. The abridged version supports that leaven is something good.

 

[Psalm 95]

Bibliotheca Sacra
A CONTINENTAL DIVIDE IN SCRIPTURE INTERPRETATION
The Parable of the Leaven
BY THE REVEREND WARWICK AIKEN
Page 220

He who holds the word to mean evil preaches a gospel for the individual, the salvation of the lost man through faith in Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord, while the other school is seeking the reformation of the race by the best means available. The purposes, therefore, are diverse, the one pertains to the individual, the other to the group. The one presents the Gospel for the man on the street; the other proclaims the social gospel for the community, the nation, the world.

May the interpretation of leaven be this important?

 

[OldRegular]

Some dispensationalists will say the in this parable the leaven represents evil because they falsely distinguish between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. I believe this parable simply represents the spread of Gospel and the growth of the Church which is a visible manifestation of the Kingdom. Therefore, in this parable the leaven is representative of good.

 

[HankD]

Some dispensationalists will say the in this parable the leaven represents evil because they falsely distinguish between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. I believe this parable simply represents the spread of Gospel and the growth of the Church which is a visible manifestation of the Kingdom. Therefore, in this parable the leaven is representative of good.

Not every dispensationlist makes a distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 13 is about the mystery of the kingdom most of which appears to be the revelation that there will be both satanic opposition (the 4 soils) and infiltration (wheat and tares) against the kingdom of God/heaven on earth.

Jesus spoke of leaven as symbolic of evil.

Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.​

Therefore many dispensationalist see the parable of the leaven in the meal as evil infiltrating the kingdom.​

Hasn't it proven to be true with most of professing "Christendom" in the error of a "works" gospel and/or the apostacy of modernism?​

HankD​