31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 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.” 33 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.”
THINK ABOUT IT
The presence of a mustard tree in the middle of a field was certainly a strange image to Jesus’ listeners. Who would want birds perching where one was trying to grow food? Jesus was comparing the kingdom to a giant shrub or weed that starts tiny but grows and takes over the garden. The image of yeast was equally strange to Jesus’ listeners. Yeast was a symbol for sin and had to be completely removed from the house before the Festival of the Passover. The comparison of the kingdom with something that was symbolically negative would have been shocking. Rather than pretty images, these were disturbing metaphors for the completely unlikely and subversive way God’s kingdom actually works.
TALK ABOUT IT
When have you seen God work in an unexpected way?
In Jesus, Cap'n Kenny
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You misunderstand this parable... maybe that is why JC didn't explain it..The four soils show that not all will respond to the gospel... only 25% or so... then the weeds are mixed in with the wheat.. a picture of non-believers mis into the church.. false teachers.. etc. So the mustard seed doesn't just grow, it 'transforms' or mutates into something 'other' into a tree, not just an herb. It becomes so large. Think of the growth of 'christianity' they split and split and do it again.. health/wealth/word of faith, so many. This is the mustard tree... apostate christians mixing in with the true church. Same with the leaven.. which is 'always' a picture of sin... it doesn't change for this parable.. the leaven is also the apostate church mixing in with the 'true' church.. But JC reassures us, he seeks the hidden treasure (Israel) and the pearl of great price (gentiles) and then ends with the judgement parable of the fish. Do some research. AW Pink and a very few others teach this, but I think it is correct.
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