Parable of the Mustard Seed(4)

In Matthew 13:36 he gives us a narrative break in Jesus’ secret stories.

“Then Jesus left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him. They said, “Explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”

Jesus has been sitting in a boat on the Sea of Galilee just off the beach in Capernaum teaching a large crowd. And we know that when he speaks to the crowds that he teaches in parables.

And so far Jesus has shared with them the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds, and most likely the story of the mustard seed, and the story of the yeast before getting up and going into the house.

And as we learned last week that once inside the house Jesus explained to the disciples the meaning of the story of the wheat and the weeds before sharing with them a final three stories - the story of the hidden treasure, the story of the pearl and finally a story about a fishing net to round out the chapter.

Our main focus this morning however, will be on the stories of the mustard seed and the yeast.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 13:31. Let’s stand together and read God’s Word.

31 Jesus told the crowd another story. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Someone took the seed and planted it in a field.

32 It is the smallest of all your seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree. Birds come and rest in its branches.”

33 Jesus told them still another story. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast,” he said. “A woman mixed it into a large amount of flour. The yeast worked its way all through the dough.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd by using stories. He did not say anything to them without telling a story.

35 So the words spoken by the prophet came true. He had said, “I will open my mouth and tell stories. I will speak about things that were hidden since the world was made.” (Psalm 78:2)

C. The mustard seed (13:31–32)

Here we have the second of Jesus’ stories that focuses on the nature of the kingdom.

Jesus begins his story with this comparison, “the kingdom of heaven is like…a mustard seed.”

It is a parable closely related to the previous two in that it describes a man, who represents the ‘son of man,’ planting seeds.

Yet, this story of the mustard seed actually is more closely related to the next story Jesus will tell concerning the yeast because they both describe the kingdom as something very small initially but as it grows it becomes very large encompassing the entire world.

1. It goes into the ground the smallest of seeds (13:31–32a).

Unlike the first two sowers that scattered large amounts of seed this time the sower plants a single seed.

Jesus tells them it is the smallest of “your” seeds.

It wasn’t the smallest seed in the world but it was the smallest one that they would have known. (Tropical orchid was smaller)

What Jesus was pointing out was that this tiny seed represents the kingdom of heaven in its introductory phase to the world.

The kingdom had a very modest start with just a small group of 12 faithful followers which would soon become only 11.

When this nearly microscopic seed was tossed into the ground it was almost invisible, so small that no one really even noticed its presence.

The Pharisees and Scribes didn’t recognize it.

The Romans for sure, didn’t recognize it.

Yet, Herod had heard prophetic rumblings of a coming Messiah so in his paranoia had all the babies killed in Bethlehem. But did he really understand the kingdom of heaven had come?

It was just like - very few recognized that the kingdom of heaven had already arrived with the ministry of Christ.

After hearing from the angel Gabriel, Mary and Joseph knew.

After Mary’s visit, Elizabeth and Zachariah knew.

After Gabriel’s announcement the Shepherds knew.

And having watched and followed a star, the three wisemen knew. But not many.

2. The mustard seed grows out of the ground into one of the largest of plants (13:32b).

The tiny mustard seed grows to a height greater than the rest of the garden plants.

It germinated within 5 days and grew very rapidly within a single growing season into a tree.

It is estimated that the mustard plant or tree ranged in size from 5 - 16 feet.

Just as a mustard seed grew from a very small seed into a relatively large tree in an amazingly short period of time, so too, the messianic kingdom being introduced through Jesus, though it began small in its introductory phase, grew quickly and extended itself throughout the world.

By alluding to the mustard as a tree Jesus gives the allusion to what was a very important image from the Old Testament prophets.

Jesus is arguing over some botanical classification but he was pointing his hearers to several texts from the OT that describe the expansion of a world-wide empire as an enormous tree providing a nesting place for birds.

Daniel 4:10-12 - “Here are the visions I saw while I was lying on my bed. I looked up and saw a tree standing in the middle of the land. It was very tall.

11 It had grown to be large and strong. Its top touched the sky. It could be seen anywhere on earth.

12 Its leaves were beautiful. It had a lot of fruit on it. It provided enough food for people and animals. Under the tree, the wild animals found shade. The birds of the air lived in its branches. Every creature was fed from that tree.

Ezekiel 17:23

“23 I will plant it on the high mountains of Israel. It will produce branches and bear fruit. It will become a beautiful cedar tree. All kinds of birds will make their nests in it. They will live in the shade of its branches.”

Ezekiel 31:6 (NIrV)

“All of the birds of the air made their nests in its limbs. All of the wild animals had their babies under its branches. All of the great nations lived in its shade.”

In Daniel 4 we have the world-wide vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s domain.

In Ezekiel 31 we see the kingdom of Assyria and in Ezekiel 17 we see the restored kingdom of Israel which is to become the messianic kingdom.

So the description we have of the mature mustard seed as a tree is no mistake but a signal indicating to us that the story Jesus told is about the expansion of the messianic kingdom throughout the world.

And it also indicates to us that we cannot “unhitch” our theological doctrine from the Old Testament as some modern-day blind guides have suggested.

As we put this secret story of Jesus into perspective - like the mustard seed, Jesus’ kingdom initially was puzzlingly small in size.

He had no entourage of groupies.

He had no massive army.

He had no huge number of subjects, only a handful of Galilean Jews.

But the Old Testament tells us and in fact it insists that the Son of Man, the coming Messiah, would be worshiped according to Daniel 7:14 “And he was given authority, glory and a kingdom. People from every nation and language worshiped him. His authority will last forever. It will not pass away. His kingdom will never be destroyed.”

And Zechariah 14:16-19 tells us this, “But some people from all of the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will still be left alive. All of them will go up there to worship the King. He is the LORD who rules over all. Year after year they will celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 Some nations might not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King. If they don’t, they won’t have any rain. 18 The people of Egypt might not go up there to take part. Then they won’t have any rain either. That’s the plague the LORD will send on the nations that don’t go to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 Egypt will be punished. So will all of the other nations that don’t celebrate the Feast.”

Here we are given an OT promise and picture of the 1000-year reign of Christ which will encompass every family of the earth.

The story of the Mustard seed confirms the OT promise that THE Messiah will have a massive number of subjects from all over the world.

Providing for us a theological mandate from Jesus to go and make disciples of “all nations.”

But Jesus doesn’t end his stories there. He continues on with yet another parable of the “kingdom of heaven” is like, which leads us into his next narrative concerning the yeast.

Look again at verse 33. “Jesus told them still another story. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast,” he said. “A woman mixed it into a large amount of flour. The yeast worked its way all through the dough.”

D. The yeast (13:33)

1. It is placed in the flour (13:33a): Only a small amount of yeast is used.

The story of the yeast is closely related to the story of the mustard seed in that it also describes the surprisingly large effect of something small and insignificant.

Here again Jesus takes an everyday scene from life in the ancient world and uses it as an analogy to show the growth and advancement of the kingdom of heaven.

Instead of a seed Jesus speaks of the effect of yeast in flour.

Leaven or yeast used to make bread in that day was not like the modern day baker’s yeast used to make dough rise today.

The leaven used in ancient times was actually a small lump of sourdough, a fermented mixture of flour and water.

This small lump of sourdough was usually a pinch of dough left over from the day before when they ladies made the family bread.

This small bit of sourdough would be kneaded into the fresh batch of dough and the microorganisms from the sourdough starter would then permeate the new larger amount of bread dough.

Jesus spoke of a woman mixing the sourdough leaven into a batch of dough because that is who customarily prepared and baked the family’s daily bread in ancient Israel according to the rabbinic law.

Here in the NIrV translation the word used for putting the leaven into the dough is “mixed” but in the ESV translation it is the Greek word for “hid.”

The word “hid” suggests as some scholars point out, that she was trying to hide the leaven out of sight because it was close to Passover.

If this were to be the case which it is not, Jesus would have told us.

But because neither Jesus or Matthew mentions anything about this being during passover we determine it was just another normal day in the life of a family.

Having leaven in the house during Passover could result in the death penalty.

It is just a story about a woman mixing leaven into her dough to make the daily bread.

What Jesus is hinting at here with his analogy of the yeast is: “Just as the buried leaven was unseen initially it would soon be recognized by its amazing effect, and the presence of the kingdom of heaven might not be recognized until its presence became obvious through its amazing effects.”

Quarles, Charles L. Matthew. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander et al., Lexham Academic, 2022, p. 337.

2. It permeates every part of the dough (13:33b).

With his illustration Jesus showed how just a pinch of leaven was wholly sufficient to cause a massive quantity of dough rise.

What’s interesting is the large amount of flour Jesus mentions in his story.

In the NIrV it just says large amount of flour. While the CSB says it was 50 pounds, and the ESV and NLT say 3 measures.

ONE measure was typically about 12 dry quarts which would give us about 36 quarts of flour or just over 4 bushels.

Why this is of interest to us is because this would be way more bread than one family would need in a day.

In fact, this amount of flour was estimated to be enough to feed over 150 people, about the population of a small village.

So this vast amount of dough affected by such a small pinch of leaven was necessary for Jesus to make his point.

Just as a tiny seed could produce one of the largest garden plants, this tiny bit of sourdough affects a huge quantity of flour.

Jesus’ main point is to show us that although the kingdom of heaven seemed extremely small, it would steadily advance and grow until it reached the most remote parts of the world.

Although the kingdom arrived in the ministry of Christ and for now it looked apparently small and obscure (like a mustard seed or a tiny pinch of sourdough).

However, in time, that kingdom which started small would extend to the ends of the earth.

The kingdom was present but hidden from the sight of most.

But a day will be coming when the presence of the kingdom of heaven will be clearly evident to everyone.

The truth of the parable for us then is this:

If God can be trusted in regards to the potential of the tiniest seed or the smallest pinch of leaven; how much more can he be trusted regarding the potential unleashed by the ministry of Christ!

Jesus had confidence in the Father’s power to grow the kingdom automatically.

Look at Mark 4:26-29

“Jesus also said, “Here is what God’s kingdom is like. A farmer scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day the seed comes up and grows. It happens whether the farmer sleeps or gets up. He doesn’t know how it happens. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain. First the stalk comes up. Then the head appears. Finally, the full grain appears in the head. 29 Before long the grain ripens. So the farmer cuts it down, because the harvest is ready.”

Then over in Acts we find further confirmation of the unstoppable advancement of the coming kingdom.

Look at Acts 5:38-39. A Pharisee named Gamaliel is speaking to the Sanhedrin concerning the apostles work and teaching: “So let me give you some advice. Leave these men alone! Let them go! If their plans and actions are only human, they will fail. 39 But if their plans come from God, you won’t be able to stop these men. You will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

And we know that the kingdom of heaven will continue to advance until there are loud voices shouting in heaven and the 7th angel’s trumpet sounds: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will rule for ever and ever.”

Conclusion: As we reflect on these secret stories of Jesus, let us be encouraged to embrace the small acts of faith and service in our lives, understanding that they contribute to the greater work of God's Kingdom. Just as the mustard seed grows into a mighty tree and the leaven transforms the dough, our faith, no matter how small, can lead to significant change. Let us be open to the ways God is working in and through us, trusting that His Kingdom will continue to grow and flourish in our midst.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

We come before You with hearts open to Your Word, grateful for the lessons found in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. As we reflect on the profound truth that Your Kingdom grows from the smallest beginnings, we ask for the courage to embrace our own small acts of faith. Help us to recognize that no effort is too insignificant in Your eyes and that You can use even the smallest seed to bring about great transformation.

Lord, challenge us to step out of our comfort zones and to be agents of change in our communities. May we be willing to share Your love and grace, even when it feels like our contributions are small. Teach us to trust in Your timing and Your power, knowing that You are at work in ways we may not always see.

As we leave this place, inspire us to be like the mustard seed, growing in faith and spreading Your Kingdom wherever we go. Let us be the leaven that influences those around us, bringing hope, joy, and transformation to a world in need.

We ask for Your guidance and strength as we seek to live out these truths in our daily lives. May our actions reflect Your love, and may we be bold in sharing the good news of Your Kingdom.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Jesus shares these final three stories with only His disciples.

E. The treasure in the field (13:44)

1. The discovery (13:44a): A man finds a precious treasure.

2. The delight (13:44b): He is overjoyed at what he finds.

3. The decision (13:44c): He sells all that he has to buy the field.

F. The merchant and the pearl (13:45–46)

1. He seeks this pearl (13:45).

2. He buys this pearl (13:46).

G. The sorting of fish (13:47–50)

1. The information in this parable (13:47–48): Upon catching a net filled with fish, the fishermen sort out the good from the bad.

2. The interpretation of this parable (13:49–50): At the end of the world, the angels will likewise separate the righteous from the wicked.

H. The homeowner and his treasure (13:52): A wise teacher of God’s Word can display both old and new precious truths (Old and New Testament) like a homeowner can show off both old and new treasures.