Like a mustard seed

Therefore, He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

Luke 13:18-21

Introduction

In these parables, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to two things that begin small but grow to immense size: a mustard seed and leavening (or “yeast”). This can be a confusing passage when we fail to recognize the nature of the Kingdom Jesus is referring to. There are many Kingdoms throughout scripture, and while they all share common properties (like having a King), they are also distinct in their own ways.

One famous difference can be found in John 18:36 when Jesus states His Kingdom is “not of this world”, and this is accentuated by the apostle Paul when He tells us Jesus’ death and resurrection “disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them.” (Colossians 2:15)

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom Jesus speaks of in this parable is not an earthly Kingdom, but instead might be thought of as “wherever the King reigns.” In fact, in Luke 17, He declares that the Kingdom of God is not “here” or “there” but is in fact “in your midst.” It was among the people because He was among the people. And this Kingdom is like a mustard seed or a measure of leaven because each of these things begins small and rapidly grows to immense size.

Jesus started with twelve. These twelve were given the mission to take the good news of His coming, death, resurrection, and ascension to “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) And they did just that. From the beginning of the book of Acts to the end, many thousands were brought into the Kingdom of God, acknowledging Jesus as the King.

Our duty

Just as leaven is made up of many thousands of microscopic yeast cells, so too the Kingdom of God is made up of many thousands of individual believers. Together we make up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), with Jesus as the head above all. And as yeast multiplies and grows until it fills a lump of dough in its entirety, so too we are given the task of multiplying the members of the Church until we fill the whole earth.

You play an integral role in the Kingdom of God through evangelism, the one thing we are charged with that we can no longer do after death (Luke 16:31). So go and do well, sharing your faith with as many as will hear it.

May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.