In Matthew 13:31-32, we read, “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
Next, let’s look at “The Parable of the Leaven of Bread.”
In Matthew 13:33-35, we read, “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
Introduction: The Bible tells us that the Lord, “…taught them many parables.” What a blessing it would have been to hear Him teach just one parable, but the Bible says, “He taught them many parables.”
Look at Luke 13:34-35, we read, “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
Illus: Walter Wink said, “Parables are tiny lumps of coal squeezed into diamonds, condensed metaphors that catch the rays of something ultimate and glint it at our lives. Parables are not illustrations; they do not support, elaborate or simplify a more basic idea. They are not ideas at all, nor can they ever be reduced to theological statements. They are the jeweled portals of another world; we cannot see through them like windows, but through their surfaces are refracted lights that would otherwise blind us--or pass unseen.” (The Christian Century (Nov. 5, 1980). Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 6.)
In this sermon we want to look at these two parables.
WHY DO WE WANT TO LOOK AT THESE TWO TOGETHER?
We want to look at “The Parable of The Mustard Seed” and “The Parable of The Leaven of Bread,” because they treat the same subject from different points of view.
“The Parable of the Mustard Seed” and “The Parable of the Leaven of Bread”, are called by some, “The Sandwich parables.”
Illus: William M. Taylor noted, "They . . . constitute a pair, and must be studied together if at least we would get at the full truth regarding the subject of which they both treat."
To put it another way:
• The parable of the mustard seed reveals the growth of the kingdom of God AMONG US (in the world)
• The parable of the leaven reveals the growth of the kingdom WITHIN US (in our hearts)
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Both of these parables show how fast growth can take place, and something that is very small, can in a short time become very large.
• One parable is considered to be POSITIVE (Mustard Seed)
• One parable is considered to be NEGATIVE (The Leaven)
Remember, a parable takes something that is earthly, and uses it to teach us something spiritual. This is why the Lord frequently said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like…”
In these two parables, He show us what the kingdom is like in comparison to a MUSTARD SEED and to LEAVEN.
First, let’s look at-
I. THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED
Look at Matthew 13:31-32, we read, "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches"
WHY DID THE LORD CHOOSE TO USE A MUSTARD SEED IN THIS PARABLE TO TEACH US THE THINGS HE WANTED TO TEACH US?
The expression "A grain of mustard seed" is a figure of speech used in scripture to denote the smallness of things.
For example, in Luke, the Lord alluded to the smallness of a mustard seed in relationship to small faith.
Look at Luke 17:6, we read, “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
In every parable that he spoke, He had a purpose for using that particular parable.
In the parable of the “Mustard Seed”, His purpose was to use this parable to ENCOURAGE HIS DISCIPLES in reference to the kingdom.
HOW COULD A MUSTARD SEED ENCOURAGE HIS DISCIPLES?
For us to understand what He wanted to teach them, we need to consider some things about the MUSTARD SEED. For example:
• It is very small in size
• It can grow from 5 to 20 feet tall very quickly if it receives the right kind of nourishment
• As it grows, the branches become strong enough for birds to find rest and shelter
Look at verse 32, we read, “So the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
When it comes to Christianity it all started as a small mustard seed. For example-
A. LOOK AT THE GROWTH OF CHRIST
The Lord came as a small helpless infant, but He grew into manhood, becoming the greatest individual to ever walk on this earth.
Christianity began in the life of the Lord Jesus.
• Look at Isaiah 11:1, we read, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
• Look at Isaiah 53:2, we read, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
The Lord is like a Mustard Seed in that He came as a small infant. But from that small seed came forth the most magnificent personality that ever walked on this earth.
Illus: The world's tallest couple were Martin Van Buren Bates of Whitesburg, Kentucky, and his Canadian-born wife, Anna Swan.
• He was seven feet, two and one-half inches tall
• His wife was seven feet, five and one-half inches tall
Spiritually, Jesus stands taller than any other person.
We do not know his physical dimensions. It is likely that they were average. His spiritual dimensions we do know. He stood taller than any other person. (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
You can take all the great men and women who ever lived on this earth, and put them all together, and they cannot match His greatness.
But when you look at His greatness, and you look at His birth, it is simply astounding that this little Jewish child, born on the wrong side of the tracks, could attain such greatness.
B. LOOK AT THE GROWTH OF HIS KINGDOM
In this parable, Jesus spoke of how the birds of the air came and nested in its branches.
Illus: Many churches started in small buildings with only a few people. But the Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, in that it grows rapidly if it has the right kind of nourishment.
Illus: If you began with just twenty disciples, each converting just one person a year, and their converts doing the same ...the growth would be like a mustard seed! For example at the -
• End of year 1 = 40
• End of year 5 = 640
• End of year 10 = 20,480
• End of year 15 = 655,360
• End of year 20 = 20,971,520
• End of year 25 = 1,342,177,280
All it takes is for each person to bring one soul to Christ each and every year!
II. THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN
Look at Luke 13:20-21, we read, “And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”
The church today has the world mystified! The growth of Christianity is greater than anyone can imagine.
Why? There is no other organization on the face of the earth that has:
• People by the millions attending one day a week
• People by the millions going out each week and inviting other people to attend the house of God
• People by the millions taking 10% of their income and giving it to the Lord’s work each week
The lost world thinks it is something if they can fill football stadiums a few times a year, but yet throughout the year, millions faithfully attend the House of God each week.
How did this come about? This small mustard seed the Lord planted began to grow.
• “The Mustard Seed” represents the positive side of these two parables.
• “The Parable of Leaven” represents the negative side of these two parables.
While the Lord wants the church to grow from something small into some thing large, “the Parable of The Leaven” shows us a problem that could keep that from happening.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Look again, we read, “And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”
In this small parable, the Lord shows us the Kingdom of God is like a woman, who took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal, and it caused it all to be leavened.
• God has always desired the church to grow into something precious, that people can flock to for rest and nourishment.
• Satan has always desired the church to be filled with chaos and confusion, so the Spirit of God cannot move in the midst.
Notice the word “took” in verse 21. This means the woman in this parable deliberately, with no one looking, hid the leaven in the meal, wanting to cause it all to be affected by the leaven.
Notice, how leaven works:
• IT WORKS SILENTLY
• IT WORKS SLOWLY AND GRADUALLY
• IT CHANGES THE BREAD
Leaven represents evil, and she deliberately took it and hid it in the food.
The woman here represents the devil. He is always up to something in every Bible-believing church. You can rest assured that in every Bible-believing church, the devil is silently and gradually trying to accomplish his evil will.
Illus: A church in South Carolina was being blessed of the Lord. The congregation was inviting people to attend their church so they could receive the blessing that they themselves received.
But they began to notice some things. Christians who were visiting their church were excited about the church, some even signed cards saying they wanted to join. But what is strange is that that many of these visitors, who seemed excited about becoming members of this church, would just stop coming. They did not understand why this was happening.
But then one of the visiting families made the pastor aware that someone in his congregation had called him, and said some terrible things about the pastor and some of the deacons.
While the Lord was using some to bring folks into the church, the devil was using a woman who aggressively was doing everything she could to destroy that church.
She was like leaven, working quietly trying to affect the church with her evil influence. It does not take too many of these to completely destroy a good church.
Christians may miss church every now and then, but I am here to tell you that the devil never misses a service of a Bible-believing church. He is there purposely trying to leaven the whole church.
Conclusion:
I. THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED
II. THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN OF BREAD
