Keep the Faith: The Kingdom Is Growing

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I love stories. Maybe that’s why I enjoy reading. I also love telling stories, although my kids say I tend to repeat the same stories over and over. They’re wrong, of course, but for some reason, when we’re all together, and I ask, ‘Did I ever tell you…?” they all shout “YES!” before they even know what I’m talking about.

Jesus also loved to tell stories, and we call them “parables.” A parable is a made-up story that usually teaches just one lesson. The Lexham Bible Dictionary says that “over one third of Jesus’ instruction was done via parables.”

In this series, we’ll look at a few of Jesus’ parables as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, and we’ll start in chapter 13. These are the “Mystery Parables,” a title which comes from the word mysterion in 13:11, meaning a truth that was previously hidden but is now being revealed by God.

At this time in Jesus’ ministry, opposition to him was growing stronger, so he began to teach in parables, giving truth and light to those who wanted to know and darkness to those who had closed their hearts. His parables revealed truth to those who were open to it and concealed it from those too stubborn to see it.

Here in chapter 13, Jesus reveals the “mystery” of what will happen in the kingdom of heaven between his first and second coming; Jesus is sharing the truth of his reign as King while he’s physically absent from earth. Let’s look first at the parable of the mustard seed:

He put another parable before them, saying,” The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)

There’s a running battle in our family over which is better on a sandwich, mustard or mayonnaise. Kim and I are united against our children – mustard is far superior, and mayo is the Devil’s condiment. We have obvious biblical evidence for this, since Jesus never told a parable about mayo.

What is Jesus saying in this parable? The teeny-tiny mustard seed, when planted, grows into a bush that can be between 8 and 12 feet tall. Jesus is saying that’s what God’s kingdom will be like. In Matthew, while Jesus was teaching, the kingdom was very small and insignificant, with only a small band of followers who didn’t fully understand what was happening. One day, though, the kingdom would be great and have an equally great impact on the entire world.

This was quite a shock to those listening to Jesus that day. The Jews weren’t looking for a kingdom with a small beginning. They expected the Messiah to come and immediately set up a powerful, physical kingdom. Jesus is setting the record straight for those who were willing to listen. His kingdom had already come in his person, and while it was small at first, it would grow to great size.

Jesus then followed up with another short parable:

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13:33)

Leaven is just a remnant of the dough from a previous bread-baking that had fermented. When it was added to the new dough, it caused the bread to rise. An interesting detail here is that “three measures of flour” was enough to feed over one hundred people. This woman is some baker!

Jesus is sharing a similar truth as in the story of the mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven will start small, like leaven, but it’s going to grow to the point where it impacts every part of society. He was saying, “Don’t be disappointed or surprised about the kingdom’s small start. Once the leaven starts its process in the dough, it’s impossible to stop. The kingdom of heaven is going to grow in numbers and influence, and nothing will be able to stop its advance.”

We live in a fallen and cursed world. You see it all around you – our culture is moving away from God and his ways at light speed. More of his truth is being rejected every day. Sometimes it feels like God is losing. He is not!

Jesus, in these two parables, is saying to us today, “Keep the faith. My Father’s plans will come to pass!”

God’s sovereignty will see to it that his plans will succeed. That will always be the case.

But we have work to do as well. Here’s that fine balance between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility. Salvation is by God from start to finish. It’s all him. Yet he entrusts us with the important job of sharing his truth with those who need it.

Right at the end of his time on earth, Jesus said these words:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

God called us, his Church, to be responsible for “making disciples,” for telling those far from God the Good News of the cross and, once they accept Christ, to help them grow in their walk.

But let me ask you, do the unsaved people all around you even register on your radar? Do you even notice them? Of all the things you’re dealing with in your life, is there any room for thinking about unbelievers? Does it even cross your mind who in your daily path is an unbeliever in desperate need of Jesus?

Do you ever pray for them? When’s the last time someone asked you if you had any prayer requests, and, instead of sharing all the things you need, you said, “Well, there’s this guy at work,” or “There’s this girl at school”?

Author Lee Strobel once asked this question: “What if tonight you’re alone in your room and Jesus physically appears to you. And what if he looks at you and says, ‘I’m going to answer every single prayer that you prayed last week.’ If Jesus said that to you tonight, would there be anybody new in the kingdom of God tomorrow?”

I’m so grateful for these two little parables. Every time I look at the world and think, “It can’t possibly get any worse,” it gets worse. The church is under attack from every side. The darkness is growing.

This is all part of God’s plan. He is in complete control of every part of his Creation. Jesus was saying to his listeners that day, “The kingdom may look small now, but it’s going to grow to be so massive that it impacts every part of the world.” He’s telling us today, “Sometimes it looks like evil may be winning, but take heart. The kingdom of heaven is alive and well, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”