Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric November 2, 2021
Mustard Seeds, Yeast, and the Secrets of the Kingdom
Matthew 13:31-35, CEB - He told another parable to
them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and
planted in his field. It’s the smallest
of all seeds. But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It
becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.”
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is
like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the
yeast had worked its way through all the dough.”
Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables,
and he spoke to them only in parables. This was to fulfill what the prophet
spoke:
“I’ll speak in parables;
I’ll
declare what has been hidden since the beginning of the world.” (quote of Psalm
78:2)
The kingdom of heaven is like a
mustard seed and it’s like yeast. Both the
mustard seed and yeast are indisputably small, but both lead to almost unbelievable
results. The mustard plant is one of the
largest plants and the small amount of yeast transforms an entire bushel of
flour. It’s clear from this pair of
short parables that Jesus wants us to see that the kingdom that starts out as
an easily overlooked blip on the radar of humanity will eventually have a huge
and transformative effect on the world.
And of course, two thousand years later, what seemed unlikely to the first
hearers of these parables is so obvious to us; Christ and His kingdom have
impacted and transformed the world in ways impossible to describe. That would
be enough to perceive from these bite-sized parables.
But wait…there’s more. The mustard seed eventually becomes an
enormous mustard plant/tree which provides shelter to the birds in the sky. Likewise, the smallest of nations, Israel, gives
birth to Christianity, which becomes a “shelter” for all of humanity. And then, there’s even more! The feminine image of tucking yeast into flour
becomes an image of the multiplying power of the kingdom of heaven. There are other insights possible as
well. The nature of parables is that
they have multiple layers of meaning.
They are able to speak on multiple levels to multiple audiences in
multiple cultures and times. The
secrets of the kingdom continue to be revealed through these powerful nugget
stories generation after generation.
That’s why Jesus used them. And
Matthew sees Jesus’s use of parables as a fulfillment of prophecy uttered in
the seventy-eighth Psalm – yet another amazing development growing out of these
pint-sized parables.
I love the parables. I keep coming back to them and every time, I
get something new. And every time that
happens, I am once again amazed by the wisdom and cleverness of Jesus. My determination to continue to learn from
Him for the rest of my life is deepened.
I don’t anticipate a time when I will have learned all that He can teach
me. I suppose that could instill a sense
of futility, but for me, the opposite has happened. The possibility that I will be learning the “secrets
of the kingdom” until the day of my death is invigorating. I’m thinking that just how Jesus wanted it.
Question: What are
you seeking to learn in your current season of life?
Prayer: Teach us your
secrets, Master Jesus. Help us to see
what we need to learn next. Lead us on
the path to deeper understanding. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for teachers of all kinds today.
Song: I Love to Tell
the Story – Alan Jackson
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