The Mustard Seed And The Leaven
Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Luke 13:18-21)
The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven Bread illustrates to us the impact of God’s seed in our lives. The Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed and the tiny proportion of yeast combined in flour to make bread. These two illustrations show us how powerfully His Kingdom works. It is like a tiny mustard seed that when planted grows into a great tree—where birds of the air can come and rest on it. It is also like yeast used in baking bread—a small bit of it combined with the flour will make the bread rise.
These two parables remind us of our true nature as children of God. We are created in God’s own image and likeness. We are the salt and light of this world in Christ Jesus. Even though we undergo trials, pain, and suffering, we are not overcome by darkness and neither are we defeated. Hebrews 12:28 says, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” We belong to a Kingdom that is powerful, unshakable, and immovable.
It was on a Sabbath day when Jesus shared these parables. Because it was during this time that He healed and delivered a crippled woman with an evil spirit, the leaders of the synagogue were against these acts of Jesus. But that didn’t stop Him from accomplishing God’s will.
Sometimes, throughout the many years of serving God and running in the race of faith, we can forget the power of God’s seed through the Word in our lives when overcome by certain situations. Financial problems, health problems, relationship problems, family problems, and so on can easily trip us up and cripple our faith. The enemy makes these big scenes in our lives in order to draw our attention to it and keep our minds on our problems instead of on the LORD. Yet, these parables of the mustard seed and the leaven remind us that even though we may take smaller steps of faith each day, and even though we may undergo fire in our lifetime of faith, the tiny seeds of faith in our lives will soon grow and impact our very lives as well as those of others around us. (Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.) says we are not to despise small beginnings, for the LORD loves to see the work begin.
What are the things in our lives that stop us from accomplishing the will of God? What are some of the things in life that we allow to cripple us, not realizing that the Spirit of God, Who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us (Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.)?
