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31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." ~ Matthew 13:31-32
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus is utilizing seven parables in His teaching. In fact, He is on His third parable, the parable of the mustard seed. By using parables, the Lord Jesus was able to share truths that immediately connected with His listeners which they largely understood. As a result, they became more engaged so that in their minds they experienced the story for themselves. When the Lord Jesus taught in parables, He engaged the people’s imaginations, allowing them to arrive at the most important truths in life.
Through His teaching the Lord Jesus was describing His kingdom. The term "Kingdom of heaven" occurs some sixty times in the synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. The King, of course, is God Our Father who is in heaven. Broadly speaking, the Kingdom of heaven is the application of God's definitions for all things in our lives. It is the culture of God come upon the hearts and the lives of all who willingly submit to His authority. Submitting to the kingdom of heaven is seeking to be defined by God. It is taking to heart what God has said on a given subject.
The Lord Jesus described His kingdom through the smallest known seed at that time. His kingdom always starts out small and ends up big. As His kingdom germinates in our hearts, we are defined more and more by Him. To recognize the nature of His kingdom requires faith on our part. Augustine once said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." The more we place our trust in Him we learn of His undying faithfulness to us. As a result, we learn to take risks on Him and His ways more and more.
Through His teaching of the parable of the mustard seed, the Lord Jesus provided another agrarian story that His hearers quickly understood. The mustard seed represents the ability of our faith to grow. Such faith is built upon trusting God whom we can't see with our eyes but whom we are learning to see with our hearts. Thomas Aquinas once said, "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." Our faith in the God of the Bible has the ability to grow only as it is exercised. Like the muscles in our bodies, the more we exercise them, the stronger they will become. So, when we find ourselves being broken down of our will in the middle of a trial, we must continue to pursue God with our hearts and our minds. When we avail ourselves to a deepening personal relationship with Him, the result will be that we will become stronger in our trust of Him.
There is a species of mustard called the Khardal mustard, which is a bush, and it grows up to fifteen feet tall. Before it is buried in the ground to die it is pretty insignificant. But, once it grows up into a bush it is strong enough to support birds that nest in its branches. The mustard seed is small and unimpressive, yet as it grows it can produce a great benefit for others. With the Lord Jesus it is always about others. Required for us to get to this place is that we must embrace our smallness and His bigness. The problem is God's definition of bigness is different than ours. Through the teaching of this parable we learn His kingdom begins small, but expands with time and trust. In its beginning it is always insignificant and humble. But, we mustn't dismiss the small things in this life. God gives grace to the humble and this is how His kingdom works. As long as King David was small in his own eyes he experienced the grace of God in Goliath proportions.
If we are willing to let Him, God will include us in the building of His kingdom in this world today. When we trust in Him, concluding He is with us, He will actively guide our steps. We will learn in time to let go of the anxious worry which so often distracts and defines us. We can be fully where we are, living out of our relationship with the Lord and others. This is the normal result of the application of the gospel of the Lord Jesus to the human heart. If we let it, the gospel will take away our pride and emphasis upon self and lead us in the way of selflessness. As we learn to be defined by Him and walk in His ways, others will be drawn to Him through our yielded lives.
The Lord Jesus gave explanation for the first two parables so that we could pursue our understanding of the remaining five. By explaining the first two, the Lord Jesus gave us a start which is always fueled by our pursuit of Him. It is clear from the first two parables in this chapter that every element in this parable has significance. Again, the mustard seed grows up to be a rather insignificant and unimpressive bush. In fact, its process of development illustrates the absurdity of our growing faith in the God of the Bible. In our fallen state, faith in the God of the Bible is not normal. But, it is possible for us to have faith in Him as it grows through increased use. Enduring the pain of trials renders for us a heart that sees God more vividly. Martin Luther once said, "Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times." It is only as we go through the trials of this life which drive us to the Lord Jesus that we develop the muscle memory of heart that enables us to trust Him even through the most severe trials. And, when we avoid the trials, we essentially avoid Him. The trials grant us the heart to pursue and embrace Him.
