The Kingdom of Heaven: From Modest to Magnificent, from Obscurity to Majesty (Matthew 13:31-33)

From Obscurity to a Majesty

If you’ve ever planted a seed, you know how unimpressive it looks. A seed doesn’t look like much—just a speck of dust in the palm of your hand. Yet, hidden within that tiny seed is the power of life, growth, and transformation. What begins small, unseen, and buried in the dirt can one day stretch toward the heavens, bearing fruit and giving shade.

Sequoia trees are some of the largest trees in the world. It’s seed is no larger than a flake of oatmeal, weighing less than one-thousandth of an ounce. Yet from that tiny seed can grow a tree towering over 300 feet high, with a trunk wider than a small house. What appears small and insignificant holds incredible potential when placed in the right soil under the right care.

That’s the image Jesus gives us in Matthew 13 when He says,

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.”

At first glance, the kingdom of God doesn’t look very impressive. It began with a baby born in a feeding trough, raised in an obscure village called Nazareth, followed by twelve uneducated men who often misunderstood their own Master. By every human measure, it looked insignificant—too small to change the world.

But what Jesus is teaching in this parable is that the kingdom of God, though it begins in obscurity, will end in majesty. What starts as a mustard seed will become a mighty tree. What begins as a small lump of leaven will one day transform the whole loaf. The kingdom that was planted in weakness will grow in power until it fills the earth with the glory of God.

What I want you to see this morning brothers and sisters, is that,

The kingdom of God will grow from modest to magnificent, from obscurity to majesty.

As we look at this parable, Jesus invites us to lift our eyes from the smallness of what we see and fix our faith on the greatness of what He is doing. Because the kingdom that began in a manger will one day cover the earth as the waters cover the sea and be ruled without opposition by the King of Kings.

Jesus paints a picture of the nature of the kingdom of God with three truths.

The Kingdom of God Has Modest Obscure Beginnings (Matthew 13:31–32; 13:33a)

We often measure success by size, speed, and visibility. We want instant results, large crowds, and visible fruit. But in doing so, we can despise the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10). We forget that the kingdom of God does not advance through worldly power, but through faithful sowing—one heart at a time, one act of obedience after another.

Our hearts are impatience and unbelieving. We doubt that small faith, small churches, or small acts of faithfulness can make a difference. Yet Jesus says otherwise: “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed… nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

When Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven, He doesn’t compare it to a mighty empire or an army of conquest. He compares it to a seed—a mustard seed. In the hills of Galilee, mustard plants were common sights, sprouting from tiny black seeds into bushes ten feet high. The seed itself was so small that Rabbis used it as a proverb for something insignificant—“faith as small as a mustard seed.” And yet, from that smallest seed came something surprisingly large, a plant strong enough for birds to find shade and rest in its branches.

In the same way, Jesus says, “This is what My kingdom is like.” It begins small, obscure, even hidden,—one Savior, twelve disciples, a small band of faithful followers. To the world, that seems weak. But from those humble beginnings, God would grow something magnificent, majestic, and global—stretching its branches across the nations until people from every tribe and tongue find their rest in Him.

In verse 33, highlighting the same idea, Jesus turns from the field to the kitchen. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour.” Three measures of flour—about fifty pounds—would feed 150 people. Yet just a small pinch of leaven permeates it all. Slowly, invisibly, the yeast works its way through the dough until it transforms the whole batch.

The mustard seed and the leaven teach us the same truth:

God’s kingdom begins quietly, even insignificantly, but it grows magnificently, even irresistibly.

Brothers and sisters, the gospel may appear weak in the world’s eyes, but you and I know, without a doubt, it carries the power to change hearts, families, and entire nations. The Spirit of God plants His Word in the hearts of men and women, and though it seems small at first like a seed the size of an oatmeal flake—a single sermon, a quiet prayer, a whispered confession of faith—it grows into something like a sequoia tree, that endures for eternity. Brothers and sisters, that is your faith in the hands of God, and that is His kingdom under the the rule of the incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ.

The Kingdom Grows From the Cross

Take a moment to ponder the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in light of the parable of the mustard seed.

Jesus came to earth as a human being—the Son of God made low. The King of Kings was born into poverty, the Lord of Glory wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. He was the righteous Seed sent to save His people.

And just as a seed must fall into the ground and die to become a tree, so the Son of Man was crucified and buried in the ground. For three days He stayed in the grave. But on the third day, He rose from the tomb—alive, victorious, radiant with power—to become the Tree of Life in whom all nations, tribes, and tongues find their rest.

His resurrection proves that what looks small and insignificant in the world’s eyes often carries heaven’s greatest power. What began as hidden and humble became glorious and world-changing through His church and will be perfected at His return.

Furthermore, because of His ascension into heaven and the outpouring of His Spirit on His people, the work of the kingdom continues. Just as leaven works invisibly in the dough, so the Spirit of Christ works invisibly in you—sanctifying your heart, transforming your desires, and spreading the fragrance of His kingdom in our church, community, and home.

The Mustard Seed of FBCL

I want to encourage you, brothers and sisters. I know we are in a season of transition right now. God has, in His wisdom, uprooted our church and is retiling the ground.

It feels, at times, like FBCL is a small seed being replanted in the soil. But take heart—God does His best work in the dirt. Don’t despise the day of small beginnings. Don’t underestimate what God can do through a small group of people who are faithfully committed to joyfully advancing the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.

Jesus used twelve ordinary fishermen, tax collectors, and sinners, to build His church and turn the world upside down.

Don’t underestimate what God can do through a faithful Pre-K Sunday School teacher, a praying mother, a teenager who stands for Christ witness to his peers, or a small congregation that loves the Word and treasures the gospel. God delights to take small, unseen acts of obedience and multiply them for eternal rewards.

When you share the Word, pray over your children, or quietly serve in Jesus’ name, you are planting mustard seeds and hiding leaven in the dough of this world. You may not see the fruit yet—but one day, the tree will fill the earth.

I promise you this: God’s kingdom will grow dramatically through your seeds of faith and your seemingly insignificant obscure labor in love.

The same God who raised His Son from the grave will raise His church, this church, from the ground again. What He plants, He grows. What He starts, He finishes.

So keep sowing. Keep praying. Keep believing. The kingdom of God is advancing—even here, even now, even through you.

The Kingdom of God Will Grow Dramatically from Obscurity to Majesty Via His Spirit (Matthew 13:32b; 13:33b)

“32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree…” 33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.””Matthew 13:32–33

Jesus is painting a picture of the unstoppable power and expansion of the kingdom of God. Just as the mustard tree’s growth is massive and the leaven’s influence pervasive, so too will the kingdom of God grow dramatically throughout the world.

But here’s the key question: How does God ensure that His kingdom will grow so dramatically? Jesus is no longer on earth in person? How will the kingdom reach beyond Jerusalem, Samaria, and he ends of the earth?

He sent His Spirit to empower His people.

The Spirit Ensures the Kingdom’s Growth

From the very beginning, God ordained that the kingdom would not advance through human wisdom, ingenuity, or power, but through divine empowerment. Every ideology ever formed—every political system, philosophical movement, or religious fad—began in the imagination of man. And though some of these ideas flared brightly for a season, they all will flicker out, swallowed by time, corruption, and death.

The mind and heart of man are corrupt. Our imaginations may be vast, but they are fallen. Every empire built by man eventually crumbles because its foundation rests upon sin-stained hearts.

And perhaps this is what the Pharisees and Sadducees thought would happen to Jesus’ movement. Maybe they assumed this new “sect” of Galilean fishermen and tax collectors would fade away like so many before it. After all, when Jesus was crucified, His disciples scattered. Peter denied Him three times. The rest hid in fear. The Shepherd was struck, and the sheep fled.

By every human measure, the kingdom appeared dead—buried in a tomb like its King.

But then came the outpouring of the Spirit.

The Resurrection and the Outpouring

The one thing the religious elite never expected was that Jesus would rise from the grave. And when He did, everything changed.

His resurrection transformed Christianity from an obscure idea into a living, eternal reality. The crucified Messiah now reigned as the risen Lord. The One who was buried as a seed had sprung up as the Tree of Life, giving shelter and salvation to all who would believe.

In His life, God dwelled among us. In His death, He atoned for our sins. In His resurrection, He conquered death. And in His ascension, He poured out His Spirit upon all believers.

That is the drama of the kingdom—the breathtaking movement of redemption from the cross to Pentecost. God did not leave the growth of His kingdom in the hands of frail men; He baptized His people with His Spirit so that they would be empowered to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

The Spirit Empowers the Mission

John the Baptist foresaw this when he said,

“He who is coming after me… will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)

John understood that the coming of the Spirit would mark a new covenant reality—God not just with us, but within us (John 1:33).

Before His ascension, Jesus promised His disciples that the Spirit would come to empower and equip his disciples spread his kingdom:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses… to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

That power was not a metaphor. It was the very presence of God igniting His people to speak, serve, and suffer for the gospel.

Furthermore, the Spirit empowers the church to continue the mission of Christ—to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:49). The same Spirit that filled Christ now fills you.

When the disciples gathered in fear in Acts 4, the Spirit shook the room, filled their hearts, and gave them boldness to speak the Word of God (Acts 4:31). When believers groan under persecution or weakness, the Spirit intercedes with groaning too deep for words (Romans 8:26–27). The empowered kingdom will dramatically grow with significance from obscurity to majesty. Jesus has made sure it will through his perfect life, death, resurrection, ascension, and outpouring of His Spirit.

Don’t measure the kingdom’s power by the world’s standards. We are not a political ideology or entity. We are not a religious institution. All of those things will die because Jesus reigns as King. We are the living church, empowered by the living God, who calls us to abundant life so we can help others have eternal life. Right now, in our day and age, the true church, may look small, irrelevant, and insignificant. Brothers and sisters, what looks small to man, however, is mighty in the Spirit.

Our church may feel like a mustard seed—humble, retiled, replanted—but the Spirit of God is at work in our midst. God is cultivating faith, igniting boldness, and preparing a new season of growth.

The same Spirit that empowered twelve disciples to turn the world upside down dwells in you. The same Spirit that breathed life into a tomb will breathe life into His church again. And we will grow dramatically bearing the fruit of the Spirit and reaping the harvest because God will joyfully advance his kingdom in Litchfield and to the ends of the earth through his Spirit-empowered people at FBCL.

So plant the seed. Sow the gospel. Trust the Spirit. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, the kingdom grows—dramatically, powerfully, majestically, eternally.

The Holy Spirit Ensures the Rich Diversity of the Kingdom Will Be Magnificent (Matthew 13:32c; Dan 4:20–22)

There are few things I can agree with in the progressive liberal ideology. But if I am honest, I can appreciate their zeal for diversity—though it is tragically misplaced. Their vision of diversity is built upon the shifting sands of human identity and social constructs, not upon the solid rock of God’s image and redemptive grace.

I find it deeply ironic that the very institution many progressive voices despise—the church of Jesus Christ—is, in fact, the only place where true diversity will ever be realized. The kingdom of God is the one society that actually fulfills what every human heart longs for: unity without uniformity, harmony without hostility, beauty without bias.

Jesus illustrates this beautifully in Matthew 13:32.

“It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Here, the Lord pictures His kingdom as a great tree—massive in size, stretching its branches to the ends of the earth. And notice this detail: the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

Jesus is describing the coming diversity of His kingdom—people from every tribe, nation, and tongue finding rest, refuge, and redemption in Him. As the Tree of Life grows, its branches spread to embrace all peoples under heaven.

This imagery echoes Daniel 4:20–22, where Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was pictured as a tree visible to the ends of the earth:

“Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant… under it the beasts of the field found shade, and in its branches the birds of the heavens lived.”

Daniel’s image was one of temporary human dominion, but Jesus’ image fulfills it with eternal significance. What Nebuchadnezzar’s empire could only imitate in earthly power, Christ’s kingdom accomplishes in divine grace. The tree Daniel saw reached upward to heaven and outward to the earth, but it eventually fell in judgment. The tree of Christ’s kingdom will never fall—it grows forever.

And look at what grows under its branches:

The nations are fed and satisfied by its fruit.

The weary find rest in its shade.

The birds of every color and kind find a home in its limbs.

This is not worldly diversity. This is holy diversity—redeemed diversity.

The kingdom of God is the epitome of true, eternal diversity. Not a diversity based on skin color, politics, or language, but on the shared redemption of God’s image bearers who have been made new in Christ. What unites them is not a social vision, but a Savior.

This is what I love about the gospel and the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit does what no government, no philosophy, and no social movement can ever accomplish—He unites people who have absolutely nothing in common.

Only the Spirit of God can take men and women from every ethnicity, every economic status, every level of ability or disability, from every corner of the earth, and bring them together in one body—the church of Jesus Christ.

The gospel doesn’t erase our differences; it redeems them. In Christ, diversity doesn’t divide—it displays the glory of the Redeemer who bought people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The poor and the rich, the strong and the weak, the educated and the uneducated—all kneel at the same cross, all drink from the same cup of mercy, and all are clothed in the same righteousness of Christ.

That’s what makes the church such a miracle of grace. The world divides people into classes and categories. But in the kingdom of God, there is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4–6). The Spirit unites the unlikely, reconciles the hostile, and teaches us to love one another more than we love ourselves.

Every Sunday, when we gather to worship, we witness a living testimony to that miracle—a glimpse of the coming kingdom, when all of God’s redeemed people will stand shoulder to shoulder around His throne, crying out with one voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” (Revelation 5:12)

The Holy Spirit makes that possible—uniting the nations under one Savior, binding strangers into family, and transforming sinners into saints who gladly love each other as Christ has loved them.

The Kingdom of God will be Magnificent

The etymology of the word magnificent comes from the latin root magnifcus which combines magnus, which is “great” or “large” with facere, which means “to make or to do”. We understand the word to mean to evoke grandeur, beauty, or greatness. The word points us toward perceiving something as worthy because its scale, beauty, or moral greatness. And that is precisely what God does with His kingdom. He takes what appears insignificant—small faith, humble beginnings, quiet obedience—and makes it great. The magnificence of the kingdom is in divine expansion and rich diversity. What begins as invisible grace planted in the soil of a redeemed heart grows into a visible witness of God’s glory, so vast and beautiful that it provides shelter for all kinds of unique image bearers.

This is the paradox of God’s magnificence: greatness clothed in smallness, glory veiled in humility, majesty born in a manger, and power displayed through a cross. From Bethlehem to Calvary to the ends of the earth, the kingdom’s magnificence unfolds as Christ reigns in hearts of those red, yellow, black, and white, in the homes of the rich and the poor, in the church churches in the free and the persecuted, and in every nation of people on God’s green earth.

Like the mustard seed, the gospel may begin unnoticed, but it will not remain small. It grows, it spreads, and it beautifies everything it touches—until, as Habakkuk 2:14 says, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

Do Not Despise Small Beginnings

So when you see little signs of grace sprouting in your life or in your church, don’t despise the day of small beginnings. The Lord who plants seeds of faith is making something magnificent, even majestic, like a sequoia tree—a kingdom where every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and every heart finds rest under the branches of His redeeming love.