Matthew 13:31-35 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
Today’s focus contains what some would consider two divergent parables. But we will consider them within the context of Jesus’ earlier parables in chapter 13. Both of these parables can be interpreted as describing an attack on the kingdom of heaven. Of course, the kingdom of heaven is a spiritual realm, differing greatly from the fleshly kingdom, for the earthly kingdom ends with death, but the kingdom of heaven exists forever. In the first parable, a large plant comes from a very small seed, similar to the kingdom of heaven that grows quickly, nurtured by the surrounding environment. The mustard plant grows so well that it can be classified as a tree where birds can land and examine the garden. This plant has a spiritual dynamism about it as with the garden itself, for everything in this spiritual world grows unusually large and is very healthy. Yet the mustard tree is very much alone in the garden—in many ways out of place despite growing well. In the other parable we have a woman introducing yeast into flour. This yeast permeates the whole batch, causing the dough to enlarge and change its character. Both of these parables concern the kingdom of heaven: a spiritual domain, outside of the of the senses that control our understanding of life. As a spiritual realm, God’s kingdom is eternal, unable to be gained by physical means. The kingdom identifies itself in people through their thought life, their consideration of what reality is, the meaning of life, why they exist. In general we have classified our spiritual musing as another world, more that just electrical/chemical responses of our physical brains. Most humans have ascertained that our lives consist of more than just our physical existence. This kingdom is where our spirits abide with the Spirit of God. Because the spirit of man exists in a temporal body that will pass away as quickly as the morning mist, Jesus emphasizes the need to know God, to cast off this transitory existence and enter the eternal kingdom of God. In the above focus, Jesus describes with parables how this kingdom of heaven can easily be contaminated by destructive thoughts and activity. In Jesus’ earlier parable about the sowing of wheat, we see seed sown on different ground. Some seed falls in minds that are totally vacant of consideration of eternal life. Other seeds fall on rocks: minds sensitive for a while about eternal issues, but they quickly lose interest in spiritual issues because of a lack of depth. Other seed falls into good ground, but the weeds grow more quickly and stronger, choking out the real seed with ideas of materialism and the concerns of the world. The last seed falls on plowed ground, deep and good. This seed produces spiritual understanding of life and thrives to the end. As Paul said, I have fought the good fight, I have endured for the purposes of God, for the healthiness of the kingdom; therefore, I am ready to die. As seed in good ground, we all need to persevere, obeying God’s will rather than placating our selfish will.
The mustard seed parable reveals how quickly a spiritual kingdom can grow. The kingdom of heaven is LIKE a mustard seed, grows quickly, even to abnormal heights. But because the mustard plant grows quickly and is strong enough to allow even birds of the air to perch on its branches, the seeds of the garden are open to invasion. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-12) The birds represent thoughts, activities, and ideas that do not originate within the garden. They are as the tares representative of attacks from the evil one: spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This evil is a direct attack from the devil and his cohorts. Illusions that are not coherent are examples of falsities from the devil. The birds in the midst of the garden have access to it; they can quickly descend to gobble up any seed that falls to the ground. The birds can tear at the ground, destroying nascent plants and eating the exposed seeds. When the mustard seed grows into a large tree, the garden is not necessarily a safe place for God’s truth to grow. Additionally, tares simulating truth exist with the seed, destroying the purity of the garden. Usually cults attack young Christians, carrying them away to false doctrines. As the kingdom grows quickly so do the cults. The mustard seed grows quickly as does a small amount of yeast in an environment of flour. In Jesus’ second parable of contamination, He points out how yeast, injected into flour can permeate all the dough. The shape of the final product: the baked dough will be very different from the original purity of the dough before the yeast was added. Yeast is an indication of sin in the spiritual world. When the Israelites were ready to escape from the sinful country of Egypt, they were not allowed to put yeast into the dough. They were to flee Egypt quickly and not tarry for the yeast to ferment. With the parable of the yeast, the woman had an inordinate amount of flour, 60 pounds, as with the large mustard plant. Even though she was dealing with a large amount of dough, almost impossible to knead, the corrupting yeast permeated the whole batch. As with the mustard tree, the flour became exposed to the sin of the yeast, making the kingdom less secure, safe, and viable. Jesus said to the disciples, beware of this corruption in thought, for it will invade the whole loaf, destroying your faith. Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:8-12) The disciples argued over a temporal thing, bringing bread on their trip. They were attacking their dependence on God by arguing, discounting what Jesus had just accomplished: Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Their minds were considering the reality of their situation by fleshly standards of accountability, not by the supernatural activity of Jesus. This lack of dependence on Jesus Christ and his answers to life will always lead to cultish thinking. In that kind of environment, the birds of the air can swoop down into the garden and destroy the garden’s tranquility. Under this kind of thinking, every standard of righteous and holy living can be questioned because the yeast (sin) has invaded the whole loaf. Jesus said beware of this attitude, for the religious leaders pretend to be part of the true kingdom of God, but their hearts are far from God. They live fleshly lives, and the birds of the air cooperate with them, causing the garden to be damaged by the lies of the devil.
Jesus’ parables can be interpreted in many rational ways. We have brought these two parables together to point out a truth of contamination in the kingdom of God or in the realm of spiritual thinking. Humans have a physical world that demands their attention to survive, but the spiritual world is our true existence. The physical world will end for all of us, but the kingdom of God goes on forever. Jesus spoke in parables to reveal truths that have been hidden from men from the beginning of time. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world. In Jesus’ travels, we see miracle after miracle: deaf ears open, the blind see, the crippled walk, and the dead rise. All of this was done to manifest that the kingdom of God was near. As Christians we know Christ’s teaching was centered on salvation. As our Savior, we have faith in his works, not ours; his goodness, not ours. For millenniums, people have tried to prove their true discipleship to the Lord by their works, miracles, spiritual swooning, supposed gifts and ways of living. A lot of the cults try to prove they know the correct way to God by showing you how good they are or how great their churches are or how righteous their communities are. The Shakers who existed a few hundred years ago attempted to reveal the truth of their doctrine by how orderly their communities were, how well they got along with each other. They forsook sexual activity in an attempt to claim purity from lustful thoughts and activity. But their attempt at nirvana as with all others failed, for sin as yeast is in all men of Adam, the father of rebellion. For years others have tried to establish utopian societies, mostly built on biblical terms. But all eventually fail, for man’s nature is much more intense and adamant about having its own way than we want to admit. Cooperation and less militancy is always a part of proving to the world that your utopian ideas are better than others. But all of this is yeast; all of it is used to divert true seed from coming to maturity. The evil one hates the church of God. He waits as the birds to devour any seed that is unattended, exposed to the open air. He will devour the weak, tear up the young, carry away that which he wants to destroy. Wicked ideas of the carnal mind, even freedom of conscience, can be ways of deceiving the true seed. In the modern world, doing our own thing is very important to us. Living your life to the fullest without consideration of others is often very pivotal in our way of living. Constructing our own personal way of salvation; depending on our own self-reliance, our own self-help techniques are strong parts of our modern society. But the Bible instructs us to be primarily concerned about our relationship with Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Self-help ideas are not necessarily bad, they can be good in many ways, but reliance eventually has to be on the miracle worker: Jesus Christ. He alone raises the dead. Only Jesus has been with the Father, and He has gone back to the Father. He will escort us over that eternal threshold into the household of God. The birds will devour, the yeast will invade, but the kingdom of God holds true in the likeness of Jesus Christ. When we hold to the works of Jesus Christ by faith, we become as He is, eternal. IN JESUS, we quickly leave this world of the kingdom of flesh and its ideas of salvation, and enter into the journey toward the Promised Land. We have an unadulterated faith in him, knowing that He knows the path to God and his eternal household. Bless you today, dear friends.
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