작지만 작지 않고, 연약해 보이나 연약하지 않은 하나님 나라 이야기!
13:31–35 More parables of growth (see Mk. 4:30–34; Lk. 13:18–21). Both the mustard seed and the yeast are parables of small beginnings. Mustard seed was proverbial for something minute (cf. 17:20), yet the full-grown plant could grow to 3 m. A handful of yeast eventually permeates a large amount of flour (lit. ‘three measures’, enough to make bread for 100 people!). So God’s work, the kingdom of heaven, may appear unimpressive at first, but appearances can be deceptive, and no-one will be able to ignore it in the end. In the meantime the disciples must be patient. Human valuation misses the point; little becomes great when God is at work.
Ezekiel’s point was that the Lord would replant Israel, but, in Jesus’ hands, the image also suggests that he will include the Gentiles, for nesting birds can be an image for Gentiles who come to Israel for shelter (Ezek. 31:6; Dan. 4:12, 20–21).
Earlier, Jesus had identified the good seed as “the word of the kingdom” (v. 19). Taking the parables together, we see that they teach that Jesus scatters both his people and his truth through the world.
When Jesus makes the essential identification, he says not that “the field is the church” but that “the field is the world” (v. 38). The kingdom is broader than the church, which is the concentration point and vanguard of the kingdom, but not the whole kingdom. God’s kingdom embraces the church, but also business, government, schools, and families. Wherever the kingdom advances, it encounters a cosmic struggle. Wherever gospel and kingdom go, Satan resists.
The main point is clear: the Lord who plants the church also protects the church, even if he does not eradicate evil as quickly as the righteous might hope. Whether we perceive it or not, the Father protects the righteous until the fullness of time. Blomberg demonstrates how the parable teaches three main points, corresponding to each figure in the parable: God, the bad seed, and the good seed. “God permits the righteous and the wicked to coexist in the world, sometimes outwardly almost indistinguishable from one another.” At the chosen time, the wicked will be judged and destroyed, while the righteous will shine forever in God’s presence. Further, the parable progresses toward a positive resolution: at first, the weeds appear to triumph, then we learn that the wheat has survived, and finally the farmer harvests and preserves his crop. So the parable moves from obstacles to the kingdom, to the kingdom’s growth, to its consummation (vv. 27–30).
