Culver Community Church
Pastor Chris Sweeney
Sermon Notes
April 29, 2018
Matthew 13:31-35 Kingdom Parables – Mustard & Leaven
{Matthew 13:31-32} Although told in public, the point of this story is really for the disciples (and future generations of believers). After hearing that many will reject the Kingdom and that good and evil will be allowed to continue to grow together, they would have a dim view of this Kingdom. An earthly kingdom is defined by its borders and power – but Jesus just taught them there would be no borders and that Jesus was not coming in some great display of power to eliminate those who refused His rule! You see they believed Jesus was the Messiah (their God-sent King), but could not understand where, how or when the Kingdom would catch up to the King! If there was no recognizable kingdom – could they be wrong about Him as the King?
In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus teaches that the Kingdom begins like a very small seed (the s the smallest seed that farmers in Palestine cultivated. Which brings us to a controversy – often critics of the inerrancy of the Bible or of Jesus point to this story and declare, “Ha, Jesus is wrong! Mustard seeds are not the smallest.” This is true, wild orchid seeds are no more in size than a speck of dust and tobacco, which didn’t travel from America until at least the sixteenth century, also has a smaller seed. This has little to do with the lesson, but let’s address it so that you can defend against this. God is omniscient, His Word is inspired and without error or mistake. Jesus in telling this parable is taking an illustration from every day real life – one that the crowd would be familiar with and instinctively understand. Please note that Jesus was not comparing the mustard seed to all other seeds in the world (or speaking to a crowd of botanists). He is talking about seeds that a local, farmer might have “planted in his field,” Crops were grown for various reasons (food, beauty, firewood, construction, oils, etc.) Jesus in this parable further narrows the range of flora down to garden plants (plants grown to produce food). The black mustard seed was indeed the smallest seed sown by a first-century farmer in that part of the world.
The Kingdom, just like this miniscule seed comes from very small even obscure beginnings. The Kingdom of Heaven came to Earth with Jesus Christ, God who took on flesh and brought Heaven to us. Think about that – the Kingdom we are talking about began here as a small clump of cells in the womb of a young virgin from the line of David! At this time, the disciples would look around and see Jesus, the Twelve and a small group of faithful supporters. They were outnumbered and might have felt as if they could get lost – just like a tiny mustard seed. The numbers of those who rejected Jesus, who stopped coming to hear Him or just came for the show, grew day by day! Remember, last chapter the leaders declared that Jesus was working for the Devil - not the kind of press an up-and-coming movement wants to receive! But that’s not the end of the story! God’s Kingdom will grow from this humble beginning, just as the smallest of seeds grows to the largest of trees. Again, critics will say the mustard plant is not a tree and it is definitely not bigger than the largest of trees (certainly no giant redwood!) Once again, put this in context – Jesus is not talking about trees grown and cut for timber – this is of “garden plants”. That being said, this bush grows larger than any other herb in the garden. Today, we grow most herbs in window boxes (mustard will not fit!) While the mustard will never be used to build a log cabin, it typically grows to the size of a small tree (about 12 feet tall). Jesus tells us that this bush is large enough for birds to “perch in its branches”. This word for “perch” or lodge is not just land or rest upon, but to pitch one's tent, to fix one's abode, to dwell. Now a bird will light upon almost any bush, but in order to build a nest and settle down, a bird looks for stability! This plant has got to have stable, thick branches that will support the weight and not flop all over the place with the next gentle breeze!
Jesus tells us that we don’t need to worry about small beginnings, there is no correlation between the size of the seed and the final outcome. The Kingdom, will not be swallowed up or defeated. It will, like the mustard seed grow exponentially. The first century Jew, familiar with scripture would think of other tree/kingdom references (Ezekiel 17:23 & Daniel 4:11-21). Daniel describes a tree “visible to the ends of the Earth” – large and strong enough to have influence over the whole earth! That is exactly what Christ and His church have done – at Easter, we looked at the transforming power of the gospel on this world (affecting even those who don’t receive the Kingdom). Some see the birds as a description of this – they are not of the kingdom (possibly evil like in the Parable of the Sower) but they land and take advantage of its growth. This mirrors the truth of the Wheat and the Tares – Kingdom citizens and the wicked will be together until the end. The most important lesson is Don’t be a bird – be a part of the mustard plant, God’s Kingdom. As believers, we need to be part of the Kingdom, reaching out and growing until the whole Earth is touched by God’s gospel!
{vs. 33} This next parable is called the Parable of the Yeast and pairs closely with the mustard seed. This is one of the most often confused and misinterpreted of Jesus’ parables, which is hard to understand because He uses straight forward language. Many will claim that the yeast or leaven represents the influence of evil in the Kingdom. This is in part because yeast is most often used as an example of sin in scripture– or more specifically, the invasive influence of sin! Leaven once introduced to dough, works slowly and steadily until the entire amount is changed. It is also impossible to remove or cut out from the dough once introduced. However, it does not need to represent a bad influence – how many of you like bread? Without the yeast, it would be very different – unleavened bread is hard, flat and boring (it’s basically a cracker). However, introduce a tiny amount of yeast, a little time and then bake it up and you have soft, warm, fresh-from-the-oven goodness! Jesus specifically says “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast” so there is no way to understand the yeast as evil or corrupting because it illustrates the Kingdom, God’s Kingdom. God is not in any way involved, supporting or institutionalizing what is evil!
So what does this tell us? Like the mustard story we see small beginnings leading to great (total influence). In the story, we have sixty pounds of flour – that’s not just a loaf or two! This was apparently very common – we see this when the Lord and two angels came to visit Abram (Genesis 18) and Gideon prepared dough in this amount, to offer a loaf when the Angel of the Lord visited him (Judges 6). Even in an amount that large, it only takes one small piece to leaven it all! Like this, the Kingdom works from within – beginning with a small amount, but nothing will stop it from influencing the entire world! God has chosen to hide first, His Son; followed by twelve disciples; which lead to a little more than one hundred; then to five hundred; then to three thousand on the day of Pentecost until today - nearly every people and corner of the world has been affected! “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Today, we continue to leaven the dough – are you active yeast or have you fallen dormant? Jesus is looking for yeast that will move through this world and touch those in need, to share the gospel and to represent Him in word and deed!
{vs. 34-35} In these parables, Jesus describes what has never been seen or understood – the workings of Heaven on Earth! We now know that the Kingdom is not an Earthly one, but a spiritual one and that it will come unseen, and begin in the hearts of those who receive the Word. We also know that God will continue to grow His kingdom right alongside the wicked of the world. However, take heart, this Kingdom will not be overcome – it continues to work (leaven and grow) and nothing can stop it! Today, Satan tries to make us feel the same way that the first disciples did – overwhelmed, overpowered and ineffective! The lesson of the yeast and the mustard seed is small influences have enormous effects and believers are a part of His unstoppable work!