Sermon Tone Analysis

These two parables deal with the growth and the value of the Kingdom of God.

They are separated in the chapter by the explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds that we looked at last week, but they really fit together quite nicely.

Thinking of growth and value brings up the concept of investment, because what is investment all about if not the idea of growth and potential value?

You may or may not be much of a stock trader or an investor, but there are many people who are kicking themselves at this point in life because they didn’t invest in a certain company or companies when they were at their onset.

For instance - you’ve all heard of the company Apple - well, if you had invested $1,000 in Apple in 2001 and didn’t touch it, that same investment would be worth around $400,000.00 now.

Or what about the company Amazon?

You’ve probably heard of that.

Well, in 1997, if you had invested $1,000 in Amazon, then that same investment today would be worth a little over $1,300,000.

Now let me reassure you, I am not speaking from experience.

I wasn’t thinking much about investing in the stock market in 1997.

But the idea of investment and value - growth and potential value - are familiar to us.

Now, we understand and can grasp on to those ideas when it comes to tangible and immediate things like Money.

But what about he growth and value of the Kingdom of God?

If the question under the surface last week was “why isn’t the Kingdom taking off quicker,” Jesus keeps answering that question with these parables as well.

The answer seems to be in two main things - small beginnings and hidden value.

Small beginnings and hidden value.

Amazon and Apple were both these kind of companies that started in a garage, or started in inconspicuous ways, yet unknown to most people, they had incredible potential for growth and value.

Certainly some people took a risk, and by taking that risk they have become very wealthy.

But when it comes to the Kingdom, we aren’t talking about risk in the same sense.

And that is kind of what Jesus is answering with these two sets of parables.

If his followers were thinking, will this work out?

Is this going to go anywhere?

Is this worth it?

Then the answer that these parables give is “yes.”

Now, before we jump in - I want to make a bridge to application here at the forefront.

Because we are reading these parables from the other side of much of what would “prove” them to be true.

The growth and the value of God’s Kingdom is much more visibly apparent to our eyes than it was to the Apostles at this time.

After all, Christ hadn’t even died and resurrected yet.

But we are still prone to ask, naturally at times, is it all worth it?

Is the life of following Jesus worth it?

Is taking up the cross worth it?

And in the same way, the answer that these parables give is “yes.”

Jesus shows His followers that while the Kingdom of Heaven may appear to have small beginnings and a hidden value, it is a kingdom with big future and it is a worthwhile endeavor.

1.

Growth - Vs. 31-33

The first set of parables has to do with growth.

Jesus comes back to the imagery of planting with the first one, and though he departs from it on the second one, he sticks with the theme of common, everyday sights and sounds for his hearers - so lets try to get the picture from these two and then we’ll talk about their implications.

A. The Mustard Seed

The Kingdom, Jesus says, is like a “grain of mustard seed.”

Or simply, “like a mustard seed.”

Mustard plants are not that common here in Vermont, at least not the kind that Jesus and his disciples may have been looking at in their minds eyes.

Mustard was a cultivated plant in that day.

It would have been sown in the garden with other edible plants or plants for making spices.

Now, in this parable, we don’t have the explanation from Jesus - but it is also very simple, and in these cases, there really is intended to be one major meaning.

A man sows the mustard seed in his field - or in his garden.

There are two operative parts of this parable, really.

The fact that the mustard seed was sown, and the fact that it grows.

Sowing, and growth.

Sowing, and growth.

We have seen sowing in both of the previous parables that we have looked at.

The first was the sowing of the Word of God in the hearts of man.

And the second was the sowing of the sons of the Kingdom throughout the world.

This time, the Kingdom is the mustard seed that is sown in the garden, and grows to great heights.

Now, there are two questions about this parable that many people ask - and even cause some to doubt or ridicule.

The first is the statement that the mustard seed is the smallest of all the seeds.

If Jesus is speaking scientifically about all the seeds in the world, then technically that statement is not accurate - because as it has been pointed out, there are smaller seeds.

Now, did Jesus know there were smaller seeds?

Yes, I’m sure that he did.

Was he being purposefully misleading here to make a point?

I don’t think so.

The idea here is the seeds and the plants of the garden.

Those which were cultivated for food or spice.

The mustard seed was the smallest seed in that day commonly planted for food or cultivation.

There were seeds for flowers that were smaller, but a flower was not in mind for this parable.

A plant that started small and grew very large was - and that was the mustard seed.

The other question that comes up, is the mustard plant a tree?

Well, the mustard plants we have in the united states typically don’t reach the size of trees.

Although, they do grow incredibly quickly.

But, the plants that Jesus and his disciples would have had in mind often did reach the height of trees.

Commonly to 12 or 13 feet, and at times up to 28 or 30 feet.

And typically the crown of the plant is as broad as its height.

So you could have potentially had mustard plants that were 20 feet tall or greater, with a spread of growth that was 20 feet wide or greater.

That is certainly large enough to be tree-like, and indeed, large enough for birds to land and nest in it.

So the smallest of seeds grows quite quickly into a large and prominent plant - larger than any other plant in the garden.

The Kingdom, then, Jesus says, would start out small, but from its inconspicuous beginnings, would grow to considerable size.

Its hard to know exactly what to make of the birds that nest in the branches.

People have argued a bit over that meaning, whether it is positive or negative.

We can’t say certainly - the main point is miraculous growth, and the birds give the idea of those from the outside taking refuge, or finding home and shelter.

So at least, that is an image.

The Kingdom of God will reach such a place that it gives shelter and comfort to those on the outside.

In Daniel, there is a prophecy to Nebuchadnezzar about his kingdom that is very similar to this.

And in Ezekiel, Ezekiel prophecies of the fall of Assyria with similar language.

So the picture is of those kingdoms growing to such size that the nations come and rest in the branches.

Finding shelter, respite, provision, and comfort.

With that in mind, we can imagine how Jesus might have been referring to the Kingdom of God in that manner, then.

In the disciples eyes, there was insignificance and minority, but Jesus knew that it wouldn’t always be that way.

There would be incredible growth, so much so that others from all the nations might find respite and peace in the kingdom.

Now, there is a debate about whether the birds are “in the kingdom” or just benefiting from it.

But that brings up an interesting thing.

Because, as the Kingdom of God is supposed to be a microcosm and the place where God is reigning in the hearts of his people, there should be the sense in which the world around benefits from the common grace of that.

And certainly that has happened.

Christians around the world have and are starting hospitals and orphanages and shelters and food banks.

Christians have come up with world-changing inventions and ideas.

Christians have developed resources and provided services that have benefited countless people who never entered the Kingdom of God, yet they were sheltered in the branches, so to speak.

And some do enter - some do go from being a weed to wheat, so to speak.

And in benefiting from the righteousness and the good grace in the people of the Kingdom, they have seen and tasted a bit of God’s goodness.

And wasn’t that the promise all along?

Psalm 117:1

So the tiny mustard seed of the kingdom grows into a large enough and spreads wide enough to shelter the peoples of the nations.

B. The Leavened Bread

In the second parable, the imagery shifts from farming to baking.