It might be the end of the story for you but the majority of Christendom and scholarly commentaries agree that the most likely intended meaning is something similar to these few examples below.
enter the domain of a first-century woman and household cook in order to gain perspective on the domain of God. In view is the invasive character of leaven, the work of which is hidden but pervasive. In this case, confidence is expressed in the ability of a typically small portion of yeast to invade even “three measures of flour”— that is, enough to feed as many as 150 people, 34 an enormous yield for a peasant household. Set in relation to the healing
Joel B. Green. The Gospel of Luke (p. 527). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co..
Combining the imagery of the mustard seed with the imagery of the yeast presents a picture of the penetration and expansive presence of God’s rule on earth. Jesus emphasizes how the presence of God’s authority among his people becomes more extended as his Spirit moves to draw more people into his saving care. The crucial point about growth is not numbers in the church or power in the culture, but a declaration about the protective presence of a caring God.
Bock, Darrell L.. Luke: The NIV Application Commentary from Biblical Text to Contemporary Life (pp. 383-384). Zondervan Academic.
The previous parable was concerned with the kingdom's extension sion through the world; this one rather with its transforming power. Where home-made bread was common people would grasp the point more easily than we do today. There seems no emphasis on the fact that the woman used three measures of meal (though this is the quantity used by Sarah, Gn. 18:6). It may have been the normal quantity, but it was not a small amount (Cf. NEB, 'half a hundredweight of flour'). Only a small amount of leaven is needed to make a large quantity of dough rise. Leaven is often used in Scripture to denote a bad influence, but there seems no reason for taking it in such a way here. The point is that a small quantity of leaven makes itself felt throughout a much larger mass. So with the kingdom. Leaven works quietly and unseen, and the kingdom works through Christ's influence on people's hearts, not in anything merely external and visible. It is perhaps worth noting also that leaven works from inside: it cannot change the dough while it is outside. But it is also important that the power to change comes from outside: the dough does not change itself.
Leon Morris. Luke (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) (Kindle Locations 2860-2866).
The metaphor of leaven, while disorienting, focuses on the end result (like the first parable). Bread cannot rise without leaven. Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry set in motion an invisible process that would change Judaism and the world. Like leaven, it has an inward vitality that gives it the power to affect with its own quality whatever it touches.24 The leaven disappears when mixed with the dough, but it permeates it and inexorably does its work. As leaven has the
power to transform the dough into something new while at the same time maintaining continuity with the old, God’s reign is transforming Judaism. It would also have been jarring to many in Jesus’ audience that he connects the reign of God to a woman baking. The amount of meal, “three measures of flour” (σάτα τρία), is also large. It is about thirty-six quarts, close to fifty pounds. This is not a typical amount for a peasant household’s daily bread-making but suitable only for a large, festive party. The dissonant images, when taken together, prepare for the equally whimsical images of banquets with the guests of honor coming from surprising quarters, the four winds (13:24–30), the highways and alleys (14:16–24), and a far country (15:11–32). Those whom one would expect to be in attendance, however, are shut out. God’s reign will rescue the lost and the marginalized and restore those oppressed by Satan and be a cause for celebration. But it will exclude the clubby, self-righteous people who resist including these others, murmur against this iconoclastic vision of what God is doing, and want to enter God’s kingdom on their own terms.
Garland, David E.; Clinton E. Arnold. Luke (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on The New Testament series Book 3) (pp. 927-928). Zondervan Academic.
Jesus’ Parable of the Leaven is found in two of the Gospels. It is a very simple story—a snapshot of life, really: “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; cf.
Luke 13:20-21).
Jesus uses this story as an object lesson to illustrate the kingdom of heaven. A woman takes yeast (leaven) and mixes it into dough. Eventually, the whole of the dough is leavened. What does it mean?
First, it’s important to define “kingdom of heaven.” By this, Jesus is referring to His domain as the Messiah. In the current age, the kingdom of heaven is spiritual, existing within the hearts of believers (
Luke 17:21). Later, the kingdom will be manifest physically, when the Lord Jesus establishes His throne on this earth (
Revelation 11:15).
In the Parable of the Leaven, we learn several things about the working of the kingdom in our present age. Each of these lessons stems from the nature of yeast.
First, the kingdom of God may have small beginnings, but it will increase. Yeast is microscopic in size, and only a little is kneaded into the dough. Yet, given time, the yeast will spread through all the dough. In the same way, Jesus’ domain started with twelve men in an obscure corner of Galilee, but it has spread throughout the world. The gospel makes progress.
Second, the kingdom of God exerts its influence from within, not from without. Yeast makes dough rise from within. God first changes the heart of a person, and that internal change has external manifestations. The gospel influence in a culture works the same way: Christians within a culture act as agents of change, slowly transforming that culture from within.
Third, the effect of the kingdom of God will be comprehensive. Just as yeast works until the dough has completely risen, the ultimate benefit of the kingdom of God will be worldwide (
Psalm 72:19;
Daniel 2:35). “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (
Habakkuk 2:14).
Fourth, although the kingdom of God works invisibly, its effect is evident to all. Yeast does its job slowly, secretly and silently, but no one can deny its effect on bread. The same is true of the work of grace in our hearts.
The nature of yeast is to grow and to change whatever it contacts. When we accept Christ, His grace grows in our hearts and changes us from the inside out. As the gospel transforms lives, it exerts a pervasive influence in the world at large. As we “reflect the Lord’s glory, [we] are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (
2 Corinthians 3:18).