| The Increasing Influence of the Kingdom (Luke 13:18–21) |
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So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” (13:18–21)
The kingdom of God was the constant theme of our Lord’s preaching and teaching. At the outset of His Galilean ministry, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14–15). Later in His Galilean ministry Jesus “began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:1). As He started the Sermon on the Mount He said to His disciples, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). Confronted by hostile Jewish leaders during His ministry in Judea, the Lord responded, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). After being “questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, [Jesus] answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or, “There it is!” For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst’” (Luke 17:20–21). The Lord’s post-resurrection ministry to the apostles consisted of “appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Clearly, Jesus’ ministry emphasized preaching the kingdom, because that was what the Father had sent Him to do (Luke 4:43).
The coming of the King had been heralded with much promise and hope. The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and announced that his son John would be the forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 1:5–20). A few months later came the momentous angelic announcements to Mary (Luke 1:26–38) and Joseph (Matt. 1:20–23). She was to bear a son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. He would be the Messiah, the Son of God, Immanuel (“God with us”), who would save His people from their sins. Angels made a startling appearance to some shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth, announcing to them that the Savior, Messiah, and Lord had been born (Luke 2:8–14). John the Baptist’s ministry to prepare the people for Messiah’s coming and kingdom drew large crowds (Matt. 3:1–6). John’s ministry reached its zenith when he pointed to Jesus standing nearby and uttered the dramatic words, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
At the outset of Jesus’ ministry, huge crowds followed Him, hoping that He would be the one to free them from the yoke of the hated Romans and set up His reign. But as time went on and Jesus showed no signs of being the political and military deliverer that they were expecting, the people became disillusioned. Adding to their disenchantment with Jesus was the aggressive Jewish leaders’ opposition to Him. They viewed Him as an extreme threat to their entire religious structure, as well as to the people’s trust and confidence in them. They were also enraged by His condemnation of their blatant hypocrisy. Seeking to discredit and destroy Him, they spread the lie that Jesus performed His miracles by Satan’s power (Matt. 9:34; 10:25; 12:24; Luke 11:15; cf. John 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20). Desperate to get rid of Him, the Jewish authorities long plotted His death, rejected Him as their king, and had Him executed.
After His resurrection, Jesus met with only 500 believers in Galilee (1 Cor. 15:6; cf. Matt. 28:10, 16–17), and when the church was born on the Day of Pentecost there were only 120 people present (Acts 1:15). From a human perspective, there did not seem to be much to Christ’s kingdom, even to His closest followers. Jesus’ inner circle consisted of only twelve men, and one of them was a traitor. It looked like a failed effort in a small nation—far from the aspirations of the Jews.
As the Lord’s ministry progressed, it became increasingly apparent for those who truly believed in Him as Lord and Messiah that His kingdom was not developing as they had anticipated. In their minds the kingdom was more than spiritual and internal; more than just the sphere of salvation where God rules as King over His people. Like their fellow countrymen, the disciples also expected it to be external; to manifest itself in a blazing, outward show of power and glory as Messiah vanquished all of God’s enemies and established His reign on earth in Jerusalem. That expectation prompted James and John to ask Jesus brazenly, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:37). Like Pilate, the disciples wondered in what sense He was a king (Luke 23:1–3), and failed to grasp the reality that His kingdom at that time was not of this world (John 18:36). The visible, earthly kingdom in which the Son of God reigns in glory and majesty with absolute, sovereign power was not for His first coming, but His second in the future (Rev. 20:4–6; cf. Ps. 2:6–9).
The disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus (Matt. 19:27), but so far had little to show for it. They were a ragtag band, with no money except for what they carried in a small box (and from which Judas pilfered [John 12:6]), who depended on the support of others to supply their needs (Luke 8:3). As the Lord’s ministry wound down, so did their hopes that the promised messianic kingdom they longed for would appear. Their perception of the kingdom as extremely small, weak, obscure, and despised prompted Christ’s teaching in this passage. These two parables, which also appear in Matthew 13, illustrate the truth that its small beginnings are no measure of its final ending. They emphasize that the kingdom’s external power, and internal influence will grow beyond what could be comprehended or expected.
THE EXTERNAL POWER OF THE KINGDOM
So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” (13:18–19)
The conjunction oun (so, or “therefore”) connects these parables with the incident in the previous section (13:10–17). The Lord had interrupted his teaching in a synagogue (v. 10) to heal a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years by a demon-caused illness (v. 11). That demonstration of His power over Satan’s kingdom revealed the presence of God’s kingdom (cf. Luke 11:20). The Lord then continued His teaching with these two parables, which illustrate the truth that the divine kingdom both externally and internally would expand exponentially from its small beginnings.
Jesus’ rhetorical question, What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? introduces the first analogy. In an agrarian illustration with which His hearers would have been familiar, Jesus likened the kingdom to a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden. A mustard seed was the tiniest common seed, and was proverbial in Jewish culture for something extremely small (cf. Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6). Some misinformed critics claim that Jesus’ statement in Matthew’s account of this parable that the mustard seed “is smaller than all other seeds” (Matt. 13:32) is factually incorrect, since there are other seeds that are smaller. “Seeds,” however, translates the plural form of the noun sperma, which when used in the New Testament literally (and not figuratively to speak of children or descendants), always refers to familiar seeds sown to produce food crops (Matt. 13:24, 27, 37, 38; Mark 4:31; 1 Cor. 15:35–38), not to all seeds in the plant kingdom. And as botanist Dr. L.H. Shinners explains,
The mustard seed would indeed have been the smallest of those likely to have been noticed by the people at the time of Christ. The principal field crops (such as barley, wheat, lentils, beans) have much larger seeds, as do vetches and other plants which might have been present as weeds (the biblical tares) among grain…. There are various weeds and wild flowers belonging to the mustard, amaranth, pigweed, and chickweed families with seeds as small or smaller than mustard itself, but they would not have been particularly known or noticed by the inhabitants…. The only modern crop plant of importance with smaller seeds than mustard is tobacco, but this plant is of American origin and was not grown in the Old World until the 16th century and later (cited in John A. Sproule, “The Problem of the Mustard Seed,” Grace Theological Journal 1 [Spring 1980]: 40)
The point of the story is that the smallest seed grew into the largest garden plant (Matt. 13:32). The mustard tree is actually a large shrub that can reach a height of fifteen feet. It was big enough that the birds of the air nested in its branches. Nested translates a form of the verb kataskēnoō, which literally means “to pitch one’s tent” and hence to settle permanently. The reference here is not to birds resting temporarily on the mustard plant’s branches, but building permanent nests because it is so large and sturdy.
The point of this parable is that viewed from an external, visible perspective, the eventually large size of the kingdom was not perceivable at the start. As noted above, at this point there were only a small number of people who followed Jesus. The kingdom was obscure; it was not distinguished by any majesty, power, or public display. Those things will mark its consummation, not its beginning. Most of the Jewish people were unaware of it (Luke 17:20–21), since its present form was not Messiah’s earthly reign, but the sphere of salvation where God reigns in the hearts of His people.
The Lord’s illustration is also a powerful prophecy. The kingdom will steadily grow until its consummation, which will be amazingly out of proportion to its beginning. That will happen when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory (Rev. 19:11–15) and “the kingdom of the world [becomes] the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever” (11:15).
Despite its humble beginning, the kingdom will enlarge to become the mighty force that the prophets envisioned. In the end, God will establish His Son as king, and He will shatter the nations and rule them with a rod of iron (Ps. 2). Under His reign the righteous will flourish, and there will be peace (Ps. 72:7). Isaiah predicted that when the suffering servant (Isa. 53) returns to reign over the earth Israel “will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And [her] descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities” (Isa. 54:3). God will fulfill His promise to Israel given through the prophet Micah:
I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; like a flock in the midst of its pasture they will be noisy with men. The breaker goes up before them; they break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the Lord at their head. (Mic. 2:12–13)
Later in his prophecy Micah recorded a further description of Messiah’s earthly kingdom:
And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war. Each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Though all the peoples walk each in the name of his god, as for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. “In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will assemble the lame and gather the outcasts, even those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever. As for you, tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come—even the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.” (4:1–8)
The One whose “goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic. 5:2) “will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth” (v. 4).
Zechariah also describes the coming earthly kingdom:
“Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord. “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” (2:10–12)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, “It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go.’ So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” (8:20–23; cf. 14:9–21)
That the birds of the air nested in the mustard plant’s branches may also signify that even those who are not a part of the kingdom will benefit from it. Birds were not part of the mustard plant and did not share its life; they merely built their nests in it. Similarly, the unbelieving nations of the world find protection, security, and temporal blessing because of the influence and growth of the kingdom.
The imagery derives from several passages in the Old Testament. Daniel records Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in which he saw
a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great. The tree grew large and became strong and its height reached to the sky, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all living creatures fed themselves from it. (Dan. 4:10–12)
Daniel’s tree symbolized the Babylonian Empire (vv. 20–22), which provided benefits to the nations that it conquered. The same imagery described the greatness of Babylon’s predecessor, Assyria:
Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high, and its top was among the clouds. The waters made it grow, the deep made it high. With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place, and sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field and its boughs became many and its branches long because of many waters as it spread them out. All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs, and under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth, and all great nations lived under its shade. (Ezek. 31:3–6)
Earlier in Ezekiel God described Messiah’s kingdom in similar terms, indicating that in that kingdom all the nations of the earth will be blessed:
Thus says the Lord God, “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 a high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will perform it.” (17:22–24)
As the visible kingdom developed it brought many benefits to grace this sin-darkened world. Christianity has opposed social evils, produced many of the world’s greatest scientists, promoted education, and in general given rise to much that has comforted and benefited mankind. In society, as well as in the family (1 Cor. 7:14), the unregenerate are blessed by their association with the redeemed subjects of the kingdom.
THE INTERNAL INFLUENCE OF THE KINGDOM
And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” (13:20–21)
The previous parable emphasized the external growth of the kingdom; this one focuses on its internal influence. As He did in the first parable, Jesus introduced this one with a rhetorical question, To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? His answer likens the kingdom to leaven, which symbolizes influence, often for evil (e.g., Matt. 16:6, 11, 12; 1 Cor. 5:6–8; Gal. 5:9). Here, however, it illustrates the positive influence of the kingdom.
Leaven was a fermented substance mixed into bread dough that permeated it and caused it to swell up, bubble up, and expand. Making bread was generally done by women, so in the parable a woman took the leaven and hid it in three pecks (about fifty pounds) of flour until it was all leavened. Over time, the leaven would transform the dough into something far better than unleavened dough, which produces hard, dry, flat, less appetizing crackers.
In the Lord’s illustration flour represents the world, and leaven represents the kingdom. Like leaven, which is mixed into the dough and thus hidden from sight, the kingdom is hidden in the world. The glorious manifestation of the children of God (Rom. 8:18–21) has not yet happened, so it is not obvious to the world who the subjects of the kingdom are. But like leaven transforms dough the kingdom, though hidden, influences the world through the testimony and righteous lives of its subjects, the message of the gospel, and the convicting work of the Spirit.