The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:30-32 )

Luke 13:18-21

18 ¶ Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

The Parable of the Leaven (Matt. 13:33 ) 20 ¶ And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” ——— In these two parables Jesus attempts to help the disciples understand what it means for something to start small as a seed, like a mustard seed, which is so small you cannot really see one seed, it needs to have multitudes to see them, and have it grow so huge, like the mustard tree. In this He is answering the question asked of him, “What is the kingdom of God like and what can I compare it to in order to understand it better.” This illustration is intended for us to see that when we first learn about the Lord, like when we are young, we only can see small portions of the Lord.

We cannot grasp all the fullness of who He is until over time and with much learning, fellowship and growing, praying and spending daily time with Him in His Word, slowly grows us in understanding of the Lord and His kingdom.

It really is a subject that will never be completely grasped, this side of heaven, but one day you look up and realize 28 years have gone by and you really have grown in the past 28 years and you really do know more than you did before and just see the blessing in that! The next illustration was Jesus’s way of saying, “I see blank looks on faces, let me explain it another way to help you understand it better.

So think of a lady who is baking bread and while preparing the dough the lady put in 3 measures of meal or yeast and the whole batch was soon leavened or given air or lift so the bread was lighter and less dense. So as the kingdom of heaven is spread through our lives like yeast and our lives expand with the kingdom of heaven on earth. The more you understand of the kingdom of heaven, which is eternal in focus and not earthly means, the more you become kingdom followers and not following the things of the world. Kingdom of heaven life is not built on a rushed church visit and hurried prayers before you eat at least very well, it will not expand at any exponential rate if the focus is growing your stock portfolio, catching the cutest guy or gal, living in the best home and all that the world says that is what we need. Not that those cannot be had, but where is the focus - eternity or retirement. This is just a message from Jesus to the disciples to the multitudes, to the Christians to us. The kingdom of heaven is desiring to be known and grasped by us and when we let it, it can just expand into every area of our life. Praise God.