Gospel of 31 October 2023

The kingdom of God is like the yeast that leavened three measures of flour

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus said, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.’

Another thing he said, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God with? It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’

Still Life with Cheeses, Artichoke, and Cherries,

Painting by Clara Peeters (active 1607-1621),

Painted in 1625,

Oil on panel

Reflection on the painting

In today's reading, Jesus explains that the Kingdom of God is like a small lump of yeast. If you have baked bread before, you know how much difference yeast makes. Baking the dough without yeast would just produce a heavy, hard loaf, almost stone-like. But the yeast makes the bread rise to its full potential: soft and flavoursome. Also, size of the bread increases manifold because of the yeast: a small amount of yeast will leaven a large amount of flour… What better paintings to look at when talking about bread than some Dutch still lives. Whilst at first glance they appear to be devoid of narrative, deeper meanings come to life when we analyse all the elements present in these scenes. Almost every detail stands as a metaphor. Our painting is by Clara Peeters, one of the only female artists painting still lives at the time when the painting was made, in 1625. The painting shows a small, delicious-looking crusty loaf of bread in the foreground. Its sides show how the yeast has leavened the bread and made it rise to its full potential. The rest of the painting shows some large cheeses. Milk at the time was regarded as the 'noble liquid'; think for example of Vermeer's Milk Maid, which was painted only 25 years after our painting. The flowering artichoke and tasty-looking red cherries are reflected on the silver plate and seduce the viewer. The artichokes have at their core a tender heart which is protected by strong layers of leaves. That is how the Christian heart should be: soft on the inside and shielding itself from evil. Cherries and strawberries were considered the fruits of paradise and thus represented human souls. An eaten cherry at the edge of the table, with only the stem and pit remaining, is a gentle reminder of original sin with Adan and Eve having eaten the fruit in paradise. And then in the background on the left we have salt. Salt to flavour food, but also salt used to preserve.