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The Great Galilee Bake-Off

Another parable of growth, this time set in a more domestic environment. The lecture I had planned to do  today in Holden Village was entitled "In Praise of Corruption", given that a number of commentators point out that leaven (a fermenting "sourdough starter" rather than the little packets of commercial bakers' yeast that were in such short supply at the beginning of lockdown) was usually a metaphor for corruption in the Old Testament and rabbinic texts. Others point out the scandalous nature of using a "woman's task" as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven in a highly patriarchal society. 

However, Amy Jill Levine, the Jewish New Testament scholar casts significant doubt on both those readings of the text, perhaps leaving us with a relatively simple tale of someone getting their quantities completely wrong, leading me to imagine to this short scene:

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Matthew 13: 33


Presenter:     In tonight’s episode of The Great Galilee Bake-Off it is Bread Week and our contestants are making their signature bakes. Mary from Nazareth is making a sourdough loaf, but what does she think she is doing? Mary!? How much flour are you using?

Mary:             Oh, only 60 pounds

Presenter:     60 pounds!? But, that’s enough for 40 loaves!!

Mary:             It's always good to have a little something for visitors…

Presenter:     A little something!? Are you trying to prove something?

Mary:             Yes… about 60 pounds of dough!

Presenter:     I’ll do the jokes around here… Is this a family recipe?

Mary:             It’s certainly a favourite with my son…

Presenter:     Does he eat a lot of bread?

Mary:             No more than most, but he has a lot of friends… and sometimes they talk for so long that they forget it is dinner time…

Presenter:     Are you sure you’ve got enough leaven in there?

Mary:             A little goes a long way…

Presenter:     And what’s that you’re putting in? A secret ingredient?

Mary:             Just some mustard seeds…

Presenter:     But why mustard seeds?

Mary:             Ah… that’s another story…

Selah


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