Good evening. Well, as we continue tonight in our series, “The Parables Of Jesus” we come to our next parable, in fact, tonight we will look at 2 short parables that are actually placed together in the scriptures. But, before we dig into all of this, let’s open with a word of prayer.
What childhood dream has become a reality for you? (Or what dream of yours has become a reality?)
Well, accomplishing those things in life began with a small beginning. They started with just a dream. Well, the disciples probably started their ministry in the same way. It was small and it started out as a dream. But, from the first 2 parables that we have studied, we could expect the disciples to be discouraged by what Jesus was telling them.
After all, Jesus taught them in the parable of the sower, that many people would not be receptive to the Word of God. And then in the parable of the wheat and the tares, He taught them that Satan would do his very best to undermine and destroy the work of the Kingdom.
But, perhaps these 2 parables that we will look at tonight would have provided some extra encouragement to His disciples. This evening we will examine The Parable Of The Mustard Seed, and in the older translations of the Bible the second parable is The Parable Of The Leaven, newer translations say the parable of the yeast.
Well, let’s go ahead and jump right into the first parable. We will look at the parable of the Mustard Seed in Matthew 13:31&32. Here in Matthew 13:31&32 it says, “1”
Before we go on, what do you think that Jesus is trying to teach His disciple with this parable?
Well, let me give you a little bit of background information on the mustard seed. The mustard plant is well known for it’s hot flavored seeds. Among seeds sown in a garden, it is usually the smallest of all the other seeds. But, as a plant it often reaches 15 feet in height and in the Fall it’s branches become rigid, and the plant sometimes serves as shelter for the birds.
The mustard seed was frequently used to describe anything that was small. Jesus used the figure of the mustard seed on another occasion. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
So the mustard seed has a small beginning, but grows into a big tree. Well before we move on and look at the parable of the leaven, I want to point out a few insights that we can gain from this parable of the mustard seed.
First, The Kingdom Of Heaven Would Have A Small Beginning.
What do you think I mean by the Kingdom of Heaven would have a small beginning?
As prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 2:35&44. Here we learn that the Kingdom starts as a stone, and becomes a great mountain. The Messiah Himself has a small beginning if you think about it. In Isaiah 53:2 it says, “2”
I mean consider this description of Jesus and tell me that He didn’t have a small beginning. This child of poor parents grew up in the backward province of the Roman Empire. He was born in a barn, He did not appear in public until He was 30 years old. He taught for only 2 or 3 years, usually in nearby villages, and on a few occasions in Jerusalem. He made few converts, almost all of whom were poor and unlearned people. He was betrayed by one of His closest followers, and He was executed as a common criminal. And such was the beginning of the Kingdom of God.
That seems like a pretty small beginning, but as we know, it grew to be much bigger than that.
Second, We Need To See That The Kingdom Experienced Tremendous Growth Despite It’s Humble Beginning.
Just as in Daniel chapter 2, the small stone became a great mountain that filled the whole earth, so the growth of the early church was equally impressive. The 120 disciples became 3,000 in just one day in Acts 2:41&42. It was soon over 5,000 as recorded in Acts 4:4. And the number of disciples continued to multiply in Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. Later in Acts 21:20 Paul said there were, “myriad of Jews who have believed…” Today we can look around us and see growth and influence of the Kingdom of Heaven in the lives of believers around the world.
I received an article this past week about Bob Russell. When he began at Southeast Christian Church, it was around 150 people. Now to us that may seem like a large number of members, but realize that at some point in the beginning of that church, they were in the same place that we are now. But what is neat about Bob Russell’s church is that today it runs and average attendance of over 18,000. What once started as a mustard seed, is now a giant tree.
So we can get tremendous growth even though we have a humble beginning. All it takes is for you to have the faith of a mustard seed and to go out and tell others about Christ and about our church. Now we may not grow to be 18,000 members, but I promise you that if you have the faith and you make a commitment to telling others about Christ and about the growth of our church we will grow.
Now The Final Thing To Point Out Form This Parable Is That The Growth Of The Kingdom Is Beneficial To The World.
In the parable, Jesus said of the mustard plant, “…the birds of the air come and nest in it’s branches…” Well what does that mean?
Well, I think that I means the Kingdom Of God will be a refuge for those who “nest” in it’s branches. In Matthew 11:28-30 it says, “3”
So there is a quick look at the parable of the mustard seed, and a few points that we can take from that parable. Again the 3 points are, #1 the kingdom of Heaven would have a small beginning, #2 the Kingdom experienced tremendous growth despite it’s humble beginning, and #3 the growth of the kingdom is beneficial to the world. now let’s move on and look at the parable of the leaven or the parable of the yeast. Continuing on in Matthew 13:33 it says, “1”
Now, this parable is similar to the parable of the mustard seed. In fact, both parables are brief, and both parables describe the spread of the Kingdom of God. But there are some differences.
Before we look at this parable, what is leaven (yeast)?
Leaven is a small portion of fermented dough, used to ferment other dough. Once inserted into a batch, it continues to work it’s way around until the whole batch has risen. Today we usually use the term yeast, but it is the same thing.
Does anyone know what leaven symbolized in the New Testament?
In the New Testament, leaven is often symbolic of a corrupting influence. In Matthew 16 Jesus warned of “…the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees…” He was talking about the festering yeast, it was about their hypocrisy, false teachings, and the fact that it was a growing bad influence.
Paul also warned people of the leaven. In I Corinthians 5:6-8 it says, “4”
So, with all of this warning of the leaven, does this mean that leaven in this parable represents evil?
The answer is no it doesn’t. We have to sort out the good from the bad. Using the leaven, there are 2 things that this verse can teach us about he Kingdom.
First, The Kingdom’s Growth Will Be Pervasive. It will permeate, or spread throughout the entire world. The kingdom of Heaven will gradually make it’s influence felt on this world. You see, the Kingdom will be in this world but not of this world. There should be a considerable difference between us, and the rest of the world. And we need to be like the leaven or the yeast, and we need to work our way through the entire batch and cause all of it to rise. We need to have the same affect on those around us as the leaven does on the dough that it comes in contact with.
So how do we do that?
Okay, And The Second Thing Is That The Kingdom’s Influence Will Be Complete. Jesus said the entire loaf was leavened. No part of the loaf will be unaffected. As we go out into the world we need to make the influence of the Kingdom complete. We need to have as our dream that we will reach everyone that we come in contact with. Everyone that we meet we need to try and affect them for Christ.
Well, as we wrap things up, I have a few questions for us to discuss. What is the promise that we have is the small seed is sown?
Where have you seen faith like a mustard seed have a great impact?
Have you ever seen a leaven experience? (a time when something spread to others around you)
Does anyone have anything that they would like to add before we close this evening?
Okay then, just remember that what started as one small mustard seed, will become a great tree, and what started as one small part of the leaf will eventually affect the entire loaf.
Let’s Pray |
