The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven
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Since you have the text we want to examine tonight there in your song sheet, open your Bibles to Ezekiel 17…
Tonight we are going to consider the parable of the mustard seed and the leaven. Matthew records these two parables in the midst of the other parables of the seeds, and the soils, and the tares, and the wheat. Which become a great encouragement to us as Christians. Especially after considering the parable of the tare among the wheat. My friends, tonight I want to show you the plans and the promise of our Lord Jesus for the Church amidst a sin cursed world that will slowly get worse and worse.
Jesus uses two parables, and really it seems two different illustrations in order to say one thing. He uses a planting and harvesting illustration that men could understand. And one of breaking bread that the women who would have overseen the baking of bread could relate to. The illustrations are drastic. Take for example you have the mustard seed. This seed would have been known to be the smallest seed in all of planting. It really is, if you have ever seen one. It is no bigger than the head of a pen. This seed was extremely small… yet, have you ever seen the outcome? A mustard tree can grow upward of 10-12 feet tall. An extremely small seed to large tree is the picture. Such a simple illustration, but there is something larger going on. This is where Ezekiel 17 comes in… Look at verse 19-24…
19 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “As I live, surely My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will put on his head. 20 “I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. 21 “All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the remnant will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken.” 22 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on an exalted and lofty mountain. 23 “On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may lift up boughs and yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. And birds of every kind will dwell under it; they will dwell in the shade of its branches. 24 “And all the trees of the field will know that I am Yahweh; I bring down the exalted tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do it.”
The Lord is prophesying the capturing, and deportation, and the destruction of Israel. And in that prophecy he speaks of Christ. His son. He will take a sprig… A small stick, from the lofty top of the cedar. The Largest tree the ancient near east had known of. He is going to take the top most, the smallest stick from the highest tree and plant it on an exalted mountain. Mountains are often the symbol of power and governance. Psalm two also says, Psalm 2:6
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
The Lord is telling Israel, that you as a tree will be cut down. There will be nothing left, other than the smallest spring. That is Christ. Israel was to be the tree of God, the sons of God, the people of God. But all that will be left is the faithful and true, Jesus Christ. We hear the same word from Daniel 3… The stone that comes and tears apart the kingdoms will turn into a great mountain and fill the earth. Jesus, the KLing of Kings, humbling himself to take the form of man, a grain of wheat placed into the ground and died, From him will come a kingdom that grows and spreads out wide. Even though the birds of the air have been explained to be messengers of satan in the other parable, the quotation from Ezekiel 17 is a nod to the gentiles. Even the gentiles will find blessing from it.
But the second illustration is in the same vein. 3 sata of flour was enough flour to make enough bread to feed one hundred people. In other words this was a feast! The picture here is a beautiful one because it is the same one that we have heard in genesis. Yahweh appeared to Abraham and upon request came and ate with him. In doing so, Abraham prepared a feast Genesis 18:6
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry, prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.”
The ratio of leaven or yeast to flour is 1 to 100. Yeast is typically 1 to 1.5 % of the weight of yeast. Which is incredible to think on that without the yeast the flour does grow and expand. There is something deeper going on here too. I don’t have time to get into all of it, but I will suggest to read through Leviticus 23 especially 15-22… The Lord called the nation of Israel to present to him two loaves of bread baked with leaven as a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. Which is different than the passover right… During the passover they were to eat the bread with no leaven, because they were eating in a hurry. Leaven takes time to work in the bread and cause it to rise. But now, in the feast, they were celebrating with fresh baked beautiful loaves of bread.
This is symbolic of the body of Christ. Christ is the bread with no leaven. Leaven is often used to describe sin in many places. For example, Luke 12:1
1 At this time, after so many thousands of the crowd had gathered together that they were trampling on one another, He began saying to His disciples first, “Be on your guard for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
So some believe this passage to be talking about the enemies of the kingdom, just as the other parables had some indication of that. What would the message be if we were to say the kingdom of heaven was like a woman who hid sin? The kingdom is grown through sin that permeates in the church? The end result is fully leavened bread… I do not take the parable this way. The leaven parable is paired together with the mustard seed parable to show unbelievable growth.
This is the point of each of these parables. God’s kingdom will grow, to be a large tree…Will grow to be a feast at the marriage supper of the Lamb…. It is foolishness to the world. They are confused at such comparisons…. A small seed and some yeast. This is the kingdom of heaven we are talking about! Where are the military generals, where are the gold and purple metal works? Where is the beautiful tapestries in the huge temples? Jesus is turning expectations on their head even in there parables… Preparing the world for what he will do with twelve uneducated, cantankerous, fishermen… The death of one man, will usher in the Holy Spirit to empower 12 men and multiple women and that turns into thousands and thousands and here we are today. High up in the tree, somewhere in the loaf, but the church has grown steadily over the last 2000 years. And you are a part of that story.
God uses us… Psalm 8 says, what is man that you are mindful of us? He uses the small and insignificant things of the world in order to shame those who are wise in their own eyes. That includes you and me… Come with me now to 1 Corinthians 1…
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are,
29 so that no flesh may boast before God.
And turn a couple more pages to 1 Corinthains 3… look at verse 18-23 1 Corinthians 3:18-23
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”;
20 and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”
21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you,
22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
My friends, do you believe this? How has your hunt to become foolish in the eyes of the world been going? What absolute foolishness for men to take their selfish ambition and seek to big their lives bigger and better through worldly means. Whereas to live for the glory of God is to die a little more every day to the ways of the world. And what of our message? Has your message been better life, bigger life, more productive life? Or life in Christ? The gospel is foolishness to the world. All this talk of sin, and putting of sin, and putting on a holy lifestyle. All this talk of abstaining from impurity, and praying with our wife, and spending more time at bible study than in front of the tv watching games and blowing money and living for yourself. It is foolishness to the world. But let it be known, he who desires to find his life will lose it…
This is the promise of the kingdom of God. The small and weak things of the world will win. Not in their own strength. But through the blessing of the Lord. Just as he has been happy to prove throughout history. Take up the armour of God, take up the sword of the spirit, take up Christ, and live full throttle for Christ to be made known in your heart, and your family, and in the world. With man the work of the kingdom is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
