Tagged: Christ
The Victorious Underdog: The Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven
Following is chapter 5 of The Kingdom According to Jesus. You may order the entire study from a number of the nation’s leading booksellers.
Matt. 13:31-33 (HCSB)
31 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
32 It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until it spread through all of it.”
The parable of the mustard seed also is found in Mark 4:30-32 and in Luke 13:18-19.
The parable of the leaven also is found in Luke 13:20-21.
The context
Jesus continues teaching the crowds from a boat at the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. Already, he has given them the parable of the sower, and the parable of the wheat and tares. He has explained to His disciples the meaning of the parable of the sower, as well as why He is teaching the mysteries of the kingdom in parables. Later, He will explain the meaning of the parable of the wheat and tares. But for now, He presents two short parables that describe how the kingdom of heaven begins humbly, almost imperceptibly, on earth.
Remember what Jesus has said in Matt. 12:28; it is crucial in understanding His parables in chapter 13: “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” Jesus declares that the long-awaited kingdom of heaven has come – but not in the way the Jewish leaders were expecting. Rather than as a political and military machine, the kingdom has come quietly and with great spiritual power, invading Satan’s kingdom and binding him (the “strong man” of Matt. 12:29) so that He may plunder the evil one’s kingdom.
The scribes and Pharisees will have none of this teaching and reject the King and His kingdom. So in chapter 13, Jesus leaves Peter’s house and sits beside the sea. Multitudes gather around Him, having witnessed His miracles and having heard His declaration that the kingdom of heaven has come. Jesus gets into a boat – perhaps Peter’s boat or a boat made available for Jesus’ use whenever He needed it – and begins a series of eight parables on the kingdom of heaven. The parables of the mustard seed and leaven are the third and fourth of these parables.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Central theme
The central theme of this parable is that the kingdom of heaven has begun on earth humbly, almost imperceptibly. It is like a tiny, insignificant mustard seed; in fact, to ancient Jews the mustard seed was the proverbial symbol of something of little importance. Nevertheless, it is God’s kingdom and must not be despised or ignored.
It should be noted that some see this parable as an illustration of the monumental growth of the kingdom, from humble beginnings to towering majesty. True, the kingdom starts small, then grows quickly and powerfully. From 120 believers gathered to pray following Jesus’ ascension, the early church grows to more than 3,000 in a single day following Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts. 1:15 and 2:41). Yet this is not the key point of the parable, for Jesus could have used better illustrations, like an oak, to illustrate a sturdy and towering kingdom. His point is to emphasize the “mystery” that the kingdom, as a present reality, is not in the form Jewish leaders are expecting.
George Ladd comments: “The Kingdom of God … is here as something tiny, as something insignificant, as something as small as a mustard seed. The important thing is that even though it is like a tiny seed, it is still the Kingdom of God. Jesus says, ‘Do not let its apparent insignificance deceive you. Do not be discouraged. The time will come when this same Kingdom of God, which is here like the tiny seed, will be a great shrub, so great that the birds of the heaven will come and lodge in its branches’” (The Gospel of the Kingdom, pp. 58-59).
Central character
The mustard seed, or khardah, symbolizes humble beginnings and denotes the smallest of weights and measures.
Details
The great shrub growing from the mustard seed often reaches heights of 10-20 feet within a matter of months. Some say the “birds” symbolize Satan and his evil ones, who find their place in the church. Others say the birds foretell the denominations of Christendom. But more likely, if there is any significance at all, Jesus uses the birds to illustrate the strength and security believers find in the kingdom.
Spiritual application
Nearly 2,000 years after Jesus told this parable, the kingdom of heaven continues to be more like a mustard seed than a towering tree. But believers should look up. Christ reigns today in the hearts of men, and His kingdom is growing. One day it will be impossible to ignore.
The Parable of the Leaven
Central theme
The central theme of this parable is the same as the theme of the parable of the mustard seed: The kingdom of heaven has begun on earth humbly, almost imperceptibly. For background, note that the Hebrew housewife could not buy a yeast cake at the corner market. She had to take a piece of dough that already was leavened and put it in a batch of unleavened dough, where it would do it work without fanfare.
There are two general interpretations of this parable, both of which miss the main point. First, some say the parable illustrates the gradual but complete spread of the kingdom. Certainly, it’s true that yeast works its way through the dough until the entire lump is leavened. And it’s true that the kingdom of heaven reaches around the world one heart at a time until people from “every tribe and language and people and nation” become its citizens (Rev. 5:9). But the main point of Jesus’ parable has to do with the imperceptible nature of the kingdom; it is not now here in power and glory, as the Jewish leaders expected; rather it hides itself in people’s hearts and comes quietly through its King, a Galilean carpenter.
The second interpretation of this parable is that it illustrates the spread of false teachings throughout the kingdom, since leaven in scripture normally typifies impurity or evil. It is true that Jesus warned His followers about the leaven of the Pharisees (hypocrisy), Sadducees (rationalism) and Herodians (worldliness) [see Matt. 16:6-12; 22:16-21, 23, 29; 23:27-28; Mark 8:15]. However, as with the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus’ point is to show His followers that the kingdom has already come, but not in the way they expected – not as a glorious political and military machine led by a conquering king, but as transformation of the human heart made possible by a Suffering Servant.
Central character
The kingdom, Jesus said, is like leaven. So leaven, not the dough or the woman who kneads it, is the central character. The kingdom of heaven, as God’s reign, is good; therefore, leaven cannot symbolize evil in this context, even though it normally does in other scripture passages. The leaven in Jesus’ day consisted of a piece of fermented dough kept over from the former baking. This preserved lump of dough either was dissolved in water in the kneading trough before the flour was added, or was “hidden” in the flour and kneaded along with it, as in the case of this parable.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia helps draw the distinction: “The figurative uses of leaven in the New Testament, no less than with the rabbis, reflect the ancient view of it as ‘corrupt and corrupting,’ in parts at least, e.g. Mt 16:6 parallel, and especially the proverbial saying twice quoted by Paul, ‘A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump’ (1Cor 5:6f; Gal 5:9). But as Jesus used it in Mt 13:33, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven,’ it is clearly the hidden, silent, mysterious but all-pervading and transforming action of the leaven in the measures of flour that is the point of the comparison.”
Details
This is such a simple parable that we risk clouding the message by treating it as an allegory. It is true that the woman is used figuratively in scripture three ways: as a kingdom (Babylon, for example), a city (Jerusalem), and the church (both the true church and the apostate church). Some would argue that the woman in this parable symbolizes the apostate church, which hides her false teachings among true teachings and thus permeates the entire body of Christ with “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Others would argue that the dough signifies the church, or the fellowship believers have with God; both are corrupted by false teachings. But assigning these meanings to the woman and the dough misses the point and fails to recognize that a parable has one simple lesson, not many hidden meanings. So it’s best for us to consider the details as “window dressing” and focus on the simple message of this parable: that the kingdom of heaven is among us, but not in the way it was anticipated.
Spiritual application
Though the kingdom of heaven is within the hearts of believers today and its King is not reigning outwardly, Christians should take heart. The King of kings and Lord of lords will return one day in power and great glory, just as surely as the yeast will permeate the dough and rise in the oven.
Isaiah 56: Israel’s Blind Watchmen
LISTEN to PODCAST: Isaiah 56 – Israel’s Blind Watchmen
READ: Isaiah 56 – Notes
STUDY: Isaiah 56 – Worksheet
Prologue
Where we are:
| Part 1: Judgment | Part 2: Historical Interlude | Part 3: Salvation |
| Chapters 1-35 | Chapters 36-39 | Chapters 40-66 |
When this takes place:
Chapter 56 is part of the second major section of Isaiah and deals less with Judah’s immediate plight than with its future deliverance from Babylonian exile and ultimate glory.
Key verses:
Isa. 56:10-11 – Israel’s watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are mute dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep. These dogs have fierce appetites; they never have enough. And they are shepherds who have no discernment; all of them turn to their own way, every last one for his own gain.
Quick summary:
Chapter 56 begins the final section of the book of Isaiah. While chapters 40-55 survey the Babylonian exile and speak of redemption largely in terms of a Jewish homecoming, chapters 56-66 focus on the homeland, which is seen partly as a place of corruption (Isa. 56:9 – 59:15a) and devastation (Isa. 63:7 – 64:12), but also as a place of restoration and beauty when touched by the Lord’s hand (Isa. 60-62). “The final chapters (65–66), like the prelude (56:1–8), show God’s welcome of the outsider and the heathen to his holy mountain and eternal kingdom, but press home the peril of an everlasting exclusion from these glories” (D.A. Carson, New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, 4th ed., S. Is 55:6). Specifically, chapter 56 contrasts God’s grace and man’s wickedness, as evidenced in the lives of Judah’s leaders.
Take note:
The Gentiles who believe will be included in God’s blessings for Israel. The Gentiles’ inclusion in God’s plan for worldwide blessing is addressed in many passages of Scripture, for example:
- Gen. 12:3: I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
- Acts 15:16-18: After these things I will return and will rebuild David’s tent, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and will set it up again, so that those who are left of mankind may seek the Lord – even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does these things, which have been known from long ago (quoting Amos 9:11-12; Isa. 45:21).
- Gal. 3:6-9: Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, so understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons. Now the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and foretold the good news to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed in you. So those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.
- Eph.3:4-6: By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah. This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
A House of Prayer (Isa. 56:1-8)
Isaiah begins the chapter with a command from the Lord to live righteously “for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed” (v. 1). The word “salvation” may be seen here as both spiritual deliverance (from idolatry and other sins) and physical protection (from the Assyrians now and from extinction during Babylonian exile later). While salvation always has been a work of God’s grace, the Jews are exhorted to live righteously as an acknowledgement of their special relationship with Yahweh. Since the Sabbath is a sign of Israel’s covenant with the Lord, keeping the Sabbath signifies belief in the covenant and trust in the covenant-keeping God (v. 2). In a similar manner, our good works as Christians are the natural response to God’s work of grace in our lives and are intended to bring glory to God (Matt. 5:16; Eph. 2:10).
In verses 3-5 the Lord reminds believing Gentiles that they have a part in His salvation and a place in His kingdom. God’s intention always has been to redeem people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). Equally gracious is God’s promise to eunuchs who, under the Law, are excluded from the full rights and privileges of citizenship (Deut. 23:1). The reason for their segregation is that their parents have deliberately mutilated them for the purpose of serving in the palaces of kings and noblemen. Such a focus on status and cultural extremes would serve to take their eyes off Yahweh and prevent them from having children who would honor the one true and living God. Though the eunuchs are not at fault for their parents’ actions, the consequences are a reminder to all Jews not to allow foreign beliefs and practices to influence them. Eunuchs, however, are never excluded from God’s salvation, and the Lord adds to spiritual deliverance the promise of full citizenship in the Messianic kingdom, including “a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters” (v. 5).
Foreigners who “love the Lord’s name” will be regathered along with believing Israelites. They demonstrate their belief in Yahweh by serving Him and honoring His covenant with Israel. It should not be overlooked in this passage that Gentiles are invited to observe the Sabbath along with the Jews. Warren W. Wiersbe explains: “God never before asked the Gentiles to join the Jews in keeping the Sabbath, but here He does so. He calls the very people He prohibited from entering His covenant nation: foreigners and eunuchs (Deut. 23:1–8). This is another picture of the grace of God (see Acts 8:26ff). The invitation is still, ‘Ho, everyone! Come!’ It applies to sinners today, but it will apply in a special way when Israel enters her kingdom, the temple services are restored, and the Sabbath is once again a part of Jewish worship” (Be Comforted, An Old Testament Study, S. Is 55:1).
In the future, the Lord will bring Jews and Gentiles alike to His holy mountain, where they will rejoice in His house of prayer. There, they will offer burnt offerings and sacrifices on His altar. But a question arises: If this promise points to the Millennium, which comes well after Messiah’s sacrifice on the cross, why are animal sacrifices necessary, or even appropriate? One possible explanation is that these are not blood sacrifices, but spiritual ones. The apostle Paul, for example, exhorts us as Christians to present our bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God; this is our “spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1). The writer of Hebrews tells us to “offer up a sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15). And Peter reminds us that we are “living stones … built into a house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). In this case, the Lord’s “altar” could be a reference to the cross, where the Old Testament sacrifices are fulfilled and done away with and which sanctifies our sacrifices of prayer and praise.
Another possible explanation is that God will reinstitute the sacrificial system as a memorial to His Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The shed blood of innocent animals will serve as a reminder of the penalty for sin and the great price Jesus paid to redeem us from our sins. In either case, the focus of this promise is that redeemed people from across the world will gather in Jerusalem and worship the Lord.
Sleeping Watchmen (Isa. 56:9-12)
While much of chapters 49-57 offer a glimpse of Israel’s future glory, the closing verses of this chapter and all of chapter 57 describe the spiritual situation in Isaiah’s day and serve as a condemnation of the nation’s wicked. In verse 9, the “animals of the field and forest” are invited to “come and eat!” This is a call to the Gentile nations – Babylon in particular – to devour Israel as punishment for her spiritual stupor. Israel’s “watchmen” – the priests and other religious leaders – are described as “blind” and “ignorant.” They are ravenous dogs who love to eat and sleep, yet as mute beasts are unable to sound a warning of approaching danger. The leaders also are depicted as shepherds with no discernment, acting like the very sheep they are supposed to lead. Concerned only with their own comfort, they drink wine, guzzle beer and tell themselves the future is bright.
Warren Wiersbe comments: “Spiritual leaders are ‘watchmen’ (Ezek. 3:17–21; 33:1–11) who must be awake to the dangers that threaten God’s people. They are ‘shepherds’ who must put the care of the flock ahead of their own desires. When the foreign invaders (‘beasts of the field’) come, the shepherds must protect the flock, no matter what the danger might be. See Acts 20:18–38 for the description of a faithful spiritual ministry” (Be Comforted, S. Is 56:9).
Closing Thought
Matthew Henry writes: “[W]hy are the dogs set to guard the sheep if they cannot bark to waken the shepherd and frighten the wolf? Such were these; those that had the charge of souls never reproved men for their faults, nor told them what would be in the end thereof, never gave them notice of the judgments of God that were breaking in upon them. They barked at God’s prophets, and bit them too, and worried the sheep, but made no opposition to the wolf or thief…. They loved their ease, and hated business, were always sleeping, lying down and loving to slumber. They were not overcome and overpowered by sleep, as the disciples, through grief and fatigue, but they lay down on purpose to invite sleep … It is bad with a people when their shepherds slumber (Nah. 3:18), and it is well for God’s people that their shepherd, the keeper of Israel, neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, S. Is 56:9).
The Parable of the Wheat and Tares
Following is chapter 4 of The Kingdom According to Jesus. You may order the entire study from a number of the nation’s leading booksellers.
Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43 (HCSB)
24 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.
26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared.
27 The landowner’s slaves came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this!’ he told them. “ ‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’ the slaves asked him.
29 “‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn. ’”
Jesus Interprets the Wheat and the Weeds
36 Then He dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached Him and said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us.”
37 He replied: “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
38 the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and
39 the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 Therefore just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears should listen!”
The context
Jesus continues teaching the crowds from His boat at the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. He has just explained the parable of the sower to His disciples, as well as why He is teaching the mysteries of the kingdom in parables (see chapters 2 and 3). Now, without further delay, Matthew records that Jesus “presented another parable to them” (v. 24). As with the parable of the sower, Jesus later explains the parable of the wheat and tares to His disciples.
Keep in mind what Jesus has said in Matt. 12:28. It is crucial in setting the stage for Jesus’ parables in chapter 13: “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” Jesus declares that the long-awaited kingdom of heaven has come – but not in the way the Jewish leaders were expecting. Rather than as a political and military machine, the kingdom has come quietly and with great spiritual power, invading Satan’s kingdom and binding him (the “strong man” of Matt. 12:29) so that He may plunder the evil one’s kingdom.
The scribes and Pharisees will have none of this teaching and reject the King and His Kingdom. So in chapter 13, as Jesus leaves Peter’s house and sits beside the sea, multitudes gather around Him, having witnessed His miracles and having heard His declaration that the kingdom of heaven has come. Jesus gets into a boat – perhaps Peter’s boat or a boat made available for Jesus’ use whenever He needed it – and begins a series of eight parables on the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the wheat and tares is the second of these parables.
Central theme
The central theme of this parable is that God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom will exist side-by-side during this “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). Contrary to the Jewish expectation that the Messiah would be a conquering political king, Jesus comes the first time as the Suffering Servant to invade Satan’s kingdom and rescue His own out of it (Col. 1:13). This is the “mystery” of the kingdom. The day will come when Jesus “abolishes all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24), but that day is future. For now, believers and unbelievers will live together – in many cases indistinguishable from one another – until the resurrection and judgment.
Central characters
The “good seed” are believers and the “weeds” or “tares” are unbelievers – more specifically, unbelievers who are “holding to the form of religion but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Manners and Customs of Bible Lands gives us a clearer image of these false professors of the faith by describing the nature of tares:
In the Holy Land, tares are something called ‘wild wheat,’ because they resemble wheat, only the grains are black. Thomson has this to say about the tares:
“The Arabic name for tares is zawan, and they abound all over the East, and are a great nuisance to the farmer. The grain is small, and is arranged along the upper part of the stalk, which stands perfectly erect. Its taste is bitter, and when eaten separately, or when diffused in ordinary bread, it causes dizziness, and often acts as an emetic. In short, it is a strong soporific poison, and must be carefully winnowed, and picked out of the wheat, grain by grain, before grinding, or the flour is not healthy. Of course the farmers are very anxious to exterminate it, but that is nearly impossible.”
Interestingly, Satan’s deception is so great that even the tares suppose themselves to be children of the kingdom (Matt. 7:21-23).
Details
Jesus describes Himself (the Son of Man) as the sower. Apart from Him, there is no everlasting life. And like the sower in His preceding parable (Matt. 13:1-9), Jesus determined that the gospel of the kingdom would be spread broadly, taking root across all racial and ethnic lines (Rev. 5:9-10). That’s why the “good seed,” or believers, would not just be restricted to the nation of Israel.
“The field” is the world, the mass of humanity stretched across the globe. God has placed believers everywhere.
“The enemy” is Satan, who craftily plants his counterfeit Christians wherever believers spring up. He does so “while people are sleeping,” a warning to the church to be ever vigilant against false teachers who, Paul says, are “savage wolves” bent on destroying the flock (Acts 20:29-31).
“The harvest” is the end of the age – this present evil age (Gal. 1:4) – at which time God will separate true believers from false ones.
“The harvesters” are God’s angels, who assist Him in resurrection and judgment (Matt. 24:30-31).
Spiritual application
The day is coming, says Jesus, when there will be a harvest and a gathering – resurrection and judgment in which He will separate believers from nonbelievers (John 5:28-29). Just as the tares are gathered and burned, those who have rejected Christ will receive the same judgment pronounced on Satan: everlasting separation from God in hell (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10-15).
Believers, however, will receive glorified bodies similar to Christ’s resurrected body, be rewarded for their faithfulness and spend eternity with Him (John 14:1-3; Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 1 Cor. 15:51-57; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; Rev. 21:1-8).
While eagerly anticipating that day, believers should be diligent to “confirm your calling and election” (2 Peter 1:10) and to be on guard against false professors of the faith who are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15).
Isaiah 53: The Suffering Servant (Part 2)
The audio file below covers verses 4-12 of Isaiah 53 and completes the study of this chapter. Click here to listen to or download the message covering Isa. 53:1-3.
Are there times we shouldn’t talk about Jesus?
12th in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.
Consider Matt. 8:4 – Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them.”
Is the leper whom Jesus healed really not to tell anyone? Obviously, he has to say something to the priest in order to fulfill the requirements of the law. But what about his family, friends and others in the community? Is he expected to hide this obvious miracle from their eyes — especially since now, for perhaps the first time in years, he’s able to have personal contact with the ones he loves? What’s the point of Jesus’ stern command?
Quite simply, it appears Jesus is making it clear that the time has not yet come for Him to be fully revealed as the promised Messiah. Although in some private settings — as with the Samaritan woman at the well and in the presence of His closest disciples — He affirms His Messianic identity, He carefully calculates the day in which He must ride triumphantly into Jerusalem and be hailed King of the Jews. Until Palm Sunday, however, He must continue His earthly ministry without inciting His followers to prematurely declare Him King or His detractors to prematurely seek His death. All is done in God’s perfect timing. His command to the healed leper to hold his tongue looks to His future date with destiny, when He is declared King and fulfills the role of Suffering Servant in a single week.
The apostle Paul puts it well in Gal. 4:4-5: “But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (KJV)
One final note: After Christ’s resurrection, the recipients of His grace are never commanded to hide the message of the Messiah.
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