Babble

This is mostly a post just to say that I have a good reason for not posting much this past week, i.e., that I have been very sick. So it doesn't count as breaking my resolution.

Unrelatedly, here is something I have been wondering about: "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." (Matt. 13:33) Given that this immediately follows the parable of the mustard seed, I'm pretty sure the point is that the kingdom of heaven grows and spreads--that it starts small but expands to permeate everything. One might say that the kingdom of heaven (salvation) is contagious.

But that seems to imply that the kingdom of heaven will encompass most people, contrary to the sequence that immediately follows Luke's rendition of the mustard and yeast parables: "'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?' 'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many will try to enter and not be able to.'" (Luke 13:23-24) What's the deal? Are those juxtaposed so that we balance the breadth and the narrowness in our minds? Or is the message some completely other thing?

Also, why does Matthew frame the mustard seed and yeast with the parable of the weeds and its explanation? They don't seem to go together, and I wouldn't have guessed that the mustard/yeast were of greater importance, especially considering how briefly they are described.

Apologies for the incoherence here. I have other things on my mind, mainly sleep.