These two parables (found grouped together in Matthew 13:31-33 also in Luke 13:18ff/Mark 4:20-32 [the Mustard Seed] and Luke 13:20ff [Leaven]) point clearly to the out-of-proportion effects of the work of the Kingdom of God in this world.
Jesus uses the familiar mustard seed as the point of departure for His parable. Arguably the "smallest of seeds," or "least of seeds," Jesus states that after being sown, it grows "greater than the herbs" (to which family it belongs) and becomes a tree (alternatively, "shoots out large branches," in Mark)*
The fact of the matter, which was undoubtedly not lost on His audience, is that mustard seeds do not grow into trees. The largest mustard variety, even in the time if Jesus, grows to about 10 feet high, and is more a bush than a tree. In fact, butterflies are fond of mustard pollen, but birds are not noted for making nests in bushes where they would be vulnerable to predators. There is, as in the other parables, something of the miraculous at work here.
Matthew places this parable next to the parable of the leaven, perhaps so we won't miss the point. The effect of the leaven on the bread is profound. Imagine a tortilla, pita bread or matzoh, all made without yeast, then imagine a loaf of sourdough bread. Better yet, if you are a baker, think of the phenomenal growth of bread dough after it has been leavened and left to rise. That's the kind of expansion we are talking about here. The effects are all out of proportion to the cause.
So it is with the mustard seed. Not only does it grow larger than expected, it even becomes something other than what it was at the beginning: a small seed grows into a tree large enough to shelter the birds of the air, not a bush with pretty yellow flowers.
Thus it is with the Kingdom of God.
As our discussion today noted, Jesus did not choose to go about the process of establishing a beachhead of the Kingdom of God in the territory of the Enemy by a frontal assault. He did not run for office. He did not establish a foundation. He didn't start a revolutionary movement. He didn't even have a bake sale.
His entire approach to establishing the Kingdom of God was "counterintuitive." It was the smallest seed that He chose as His disciples (some 70 or so at most in His retinue, 12 chosen for special appointment & teaching, and 3 as His supportive, inner circle), rather than doing a market saturation plan with spots airing during the Gladiator Superbowl.
Despite being born in a small town, spending several years out of the country as a tot, and being raised in a backwoods, rural town ("can anything good come out of Nazareth?"), the impact of the Kingdom of God He established is all out of proportion to what you would expect. Like the mustard seed, the establishment of the Church in the few, scared followers who gathered after abandoning Christ to the cross, has resulted in something miraculous.
I don't think one can overstate the impact that Christianity has had on the history of the world over the last two thousand years. While the human, fallen side of the Church has had many things to repent of, it is also true that the Roman Empire was staggered and eventually transformed by the presence of faithful Christians who could not be cowed by the threat of death or torture. Christian ethics and values seeped into every culture where it penetrated. Northern tribes of disparate origins were fused into great cultures with the advent of written languages created from scratch by Christian missionaries. Emerging kingdoms were steered toward justice and mercy where violence and vendetta were the norm. Slavery is now universally condemned as a result of campaigns and civil disobedience begun by Christians in Europe, Africa and North America. Child labor laws are the result of Christian struggle and efforts (thank you Charles Dickens, et al). Governments the world over take seriously the need to help widows, orphans and the poor (with varying degrees of success and seriousness, of course) largely due to the influence of the Christian imperative to do such things. The list goes on.
While there are certainly examples of cultures that have displayed (or at least given lip-service to) values that reflect the selfless, outward-reaching focus that is central to Christian service, I submit that the impact of the faith of believers since the planting of the seeds by Jesus is far and away the most significant factor in the improvement of the world's way of being that can be singled out in the sweep of history.
Even if you have a different analysis of these things, I will say that the small acts of kindness, compassion and mercy that I have experienced at the hands of Christians and done for others in His name are the most significant events in my life, with far-reaching effects that outstrip the size of the seeds planted.
If we are to follow the "foolish" model of the Kingdom of God, perhaps we should spend more time planting mustard seeds of mercy, grace, kindness, generosity and love to the other people in our lives and in our local communities rather than forming committees, electing candidates or having bake sales. Perhaps we would see outrageous harvests in our own lives and continue the building of the Church into the great tree of shelter that it has been and can be still.
*A footnote about so-called discrepancies in the Gospels: It is estimated that the significant similarities between the events and sayings of Jesus' life as recorded in the Gospels (particularly the "synoptic" Gospels of Matthew, Mark & Luke, but including John's Gospel) lie in the range of about 95%. In other words, the differences are less than 5% and those are insignificant in that they do not tell radically different versions of the same event or contradict each other.
It is also my contention (and this is not me alone) that the majority of the teachings of Christ that are recorded are gleaned from the repeated preaching of Jesus to large crowds as He journeyed from place to place. The teachings were recorded or reported by eyewitnesses who, traveling with Jesus, had heard the major public words of Jesus many times, making them ingrained in the minds of the Disciples, and are likely to be accurately retold from their memories with some insignificant changes in wording.
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