A MUSTARD SEED AND LEAVEN.
Luke 13:18-21.
I. A Mustard Seed.
LUKE 13:18-19. A mustard seed is about the size of a pin-head: and in the right climate, the plant might grow big enough to hold the weight of an adult male. I have heard of a man who built a swing in his mustard tree; another was able to cover his tent with a branch of it, and partake of its produce. So much for small beginnings!
The point of the parable is self-evident: “What is the kingdom of God like? It is like a grain of mustard seed…” It begins small and insignificant, but grows like a mighty tree. That which looked so delicate in the beginning will grow big, yield fruit, and provide shelter.
The kingdom of God is currently operating both through the church, and in the individual Christian. Although the two ideas are not mutually exclusive, we shall look more at the operation in the individual when we come to discuss the leaven. In the meantime, we might view the parable of the mustard seed as one in which Jesus predicted the phenomenal growth of the church, which from small beginnings in Galilee is now as ‘world-wide’ as the Web - and still growing.
From small beginnings, and not without persecution, the church has grown into a force to be reckoned with. There have been internal troubles, but so long as the truth is proclaimed, souls have been won for Christ - sometimes in great numbers as at Pentecost, and in the great revivals - other times in the twos and threes which also will make up the company of heaven: one at the mill, another in the field, another in a bed (perhaps of sickness). We must not despise the day of small things (cf. Zechariah 4:10).
The “fowls of the air” (Luke 13:19) are not to be taken in a negative sense, as if they had no right to be there: but as the Gentiles, who come to find their shelter in the Messiah. I thank God that it is so.
II. Leaven.
LUKE 13:20-21. Leaven has a bad press. First, there is the purging away of leaven at the Passover (cf. Exodus 12). Then Jesus warns us of ‘the leaven of the Pharisees’ (cf. Matthew 16:6). Paul also has strong words about ‘the leaven of malice and wickedness’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Despite this, Jesus uses leaven as a similitude of “the kingdom of God.”
My mentor, prior to becoming a student of the Ministry, was a Master Baker. Subsequently - through a lifetime of Christian service - he never relinquished the habit of rising early in the morning, preparing his ingredients, mixing and kneading everything together, adding yeast, and going away for his devotional quiet time with the Lord. One of my dear relations commented on the aptness of combining the two exercises.
What is so remarkable about leaven, is that it is “hidden” (Luke 13:21). This shows us that the principle of the kingdom of God might be in operation in places - and in people - where we do not perceive it. The Word has been planted in someone’s heart, and yet we often do not know that it is so: time reveals an unexpected result.
This serves as a great encouragement to those who preach, and who minister. We may not always see the results of our labours, but we must persevere, nevertheless.
There are things which go on in the hidden parts of a life, which though out of our sight, are not unknown to God: and His Word will not return unto Him void (cf. Isaiah 55:11).
