Mat 13:31-32; Luke 13:18-19; Mark 4:31-32
The story...told by Jesus...Matthew 13:31-32 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.
The Mustard Seed Parable
Introduction:
1. Have you ever wondered what the church is compared to? You and I we make up the church and it is our duties to follow the commands of God. We are not liberty to do whatever we want whenever we want.
2. In this lesson I would like to look at a parable of our Lord concerning the likeness of the church. Now a parable is the laying along side of a spiritual truth with a physical truth. It is like a railroad track you have to rails that are going in the same direction but are not the same rail. So that a truth that you and I can relate to, it helps us understand a higher spiritual truth that we may not be easy to grasp.
3. In Mathew 13, Jesus taught a few parables on various things. This actually was a fulfilling of prophecies concerning the Messiah’s teaching, in Ps 78:2. Jesus did not do this teaching so they would not understand but the people’s heart was so dark they could not understand. If you have eyes that can see spiritual truths, these parables will not be as hard to understand.
4. I know also in parables for me it is hard to understand what each parable is concerning. For example the parable of the sower we know is about the sowing of the gospel and the ground the seed finds itself in. Today I want to talk about the parable of the mustard seed.
I. The Physical Meaning of the Parable
A. The kingdom of Heaven
1. The Kingdom had not yet came
a. As a Jew most people thought the kingdom would be an earthly kingdom
b. They knew a king, messiah, or anointed one was coming that would restore all things
c. They did not realize the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God.
d. Even the 12 apostles did not understand that the kingdom was going to be spiritual rather than physical. This was most of the problems associated with the Jews becoming Christians.
e. The average Jew thought the Christ would come and deliver them from their enemies and restore the nation of Israel to their place at the top of the food chain. So for them, if Jesus was the Christ then he would fight the Romans and deliver them from their rule much like the judges did when they were taken captive.
2. The Kingdom was the church
a. The Kingdom of God was not a physical one with physical borders
b. The kingdom of God is within us, it is the doing of God’s will. It is the making of our hearts and mind the throne of God. So that his will is our desire to perform.
c. The church was established on Pentecost when the Apostles received power from heaven and the first Gospel or good news sermon was preached and people were added to the church
d. The kingdom knows no color, race, or creed but is simply looking to add souls which have faith in Jesus to do His will and submit to the Word of God.
B. Grain of Mustard Seed
1. Smallest among garden plants
a. There is a little bit of controversy concerning the language used here
b. The smallest seed- Jesus meant that it was the smallest concerning the type of seeds those in Palestine would plant in a garden. The Jews had two types of gardens one for herbs and one for food.
c. People who are critics may say the seed of mustard is not the smallest therefore Jesus was not God because what He said is not true. The language is a parable and does not have to be literal; Jesus using a hyperbole or an exaggeration to stress the point of how insignificant the kingdom would start out as.
d. It could be that Jesus meant that the seeds like those of mustard are some of the smallest in the world. Not just the mustard seed but also other herb yielding plant seeds.
2. It is a seed
a. Either case it is a small insignificant seed. What do you know about seeds and planting them?
b. A seed must be planted, must be watered, and must have good ground to grow, must have sun, must have water, and must be kept free from weeds.
c. A seed can not do these things for itself but has to rely on God to provide and do these things just like you and I must weed our gardens and plant the seeds.
C. Tree that birds can lodge in
1. Given the right conditions it grows into a tree
a. The mustard of Palestine is not the exact same as the mustard we grow here
b. I read accounts of people and their testimony as to the size of mustard in the area of Palestine today. On talked of having a mustard plant big enough to climb in the branches of. One man, Dr. Thompson in recent times went there and took notice of mustard trees and concluded that because of the climate and conditions it was very possible for the mustard plant to grow to a tree like size.
c. The idea is this little bitsy seed that looks like nothing much can grow into a big huge tree that people and birds can climb in.
2. The tree becomes a place where birds can lodge
a. A bird to lodge in a tree usually means they have a nest or have made it their temporary home.
b. This mustard plant becomes a place where birds can live and take refuge within its branches.
II. The Spiritual Meaning
A. The Kingdom of Heaven
1. It is Spiritual
a. It is made of human hearts and minds and souls
b. This spiritual nature was the rule of sin and death. Our King delivered us from the dominion of our oppressor sin and put us into His kingdom of peace when we became a Christian.
c. We can not physically see this kingdom. We can see the buildings but we cannot see the possessions of our King and these possessions are called the souls of humans. Jesus owns our souls and we are his to control and use in whatever way He wants to.
2. It has all authority by the decree of the King
a. Jesus has all authority and He is on the throne of the universe
b. The Bible is His decree for us to live and be governed by.
c. It is hard for you and I to understand the idea of a king, because we live in a democratic republic. But we can relate because we still have court decisions, laws that are made, etc… So we know when we break a law we will have to face the punishment. We know that when a law is enacted we must abide by it. However in a democracy we can change the law by raising enough fuss about it to our lawmakers. The sovereignty of Jesus is not so, He has given us the Word of God and it is the only voice that will lead to salvation.
d. We have the greatest king and He loves His servants. When you and I love our King then it is not hard to do what He says do.
B. Grain of Mustard Seed
1. What does the seed stand for?
a. The seed is the Kingdom of God that will be established after the death of Christ
b. The seed is sow into the hearts and minds of humans by the preaching of the word.
c. The seed was planted by God, after the conditions were right for it to come to pass. If God had tried to establish the Kingdom any sooner or later it would not have worked. What I mean is God picked the best time to sow the kingdom of God.
2. Why is the seed an insignificant mustard seed?
a. The way the eternal kingdom started was very insignificant.
b. The beginning was the birth of Jesus from a virgin, then His ministry and training of the 12, and then His death and thankfully his resurrection.
c. Preaching did the establishment. The Kingdom was not established by a war and much physical power like many would have thought a kingdom would be established. Our country here won its independence by fighting a war with England, but the kingdom of God was established in a spiritual realm and not a physical one.
C. Tree that birds can lodge in
1. The Kingdom became a place where we can lodge and take refuge
a. Though the spiritual kingdom of Jesus began with just 12 men, it has grown to an enormous size so that you and I can take refuge within the kingdom.
b. It only took 12 dedicated men to turn the world upside down. It took one man Jesus to die to create the way we can enter. It took 12 men preaching and teaching to convert souls and grow the kingdom. That is a small amount of people to have so much success.
c. What an influence those men of God had on the world. It has been said that no one has ever affected the world like Jesus. He was so insignificant to His own people that they crucified him, thinking he was under their dominion but in reality they were under his.
2. Some suppose that the birds of the air means angels, I do not hold this view.
3. We are those found on the branches
a. You and I are the ones that have come and lodged within those branches of that strong tree
b. We were not the beginning of the tree abut we are able to stand on the tree that has grown large enough to hold us up and give us safety from sin and death.
III. Application to you and I
A. We are the kingdom
1. If you have put on Christ you are now citizens of the kingdom of God
a. You and I are the sons and daughters of God. We are the ones that have entered into Jesus’ spiritual kingdom and are acting according to His rule.
b. It is up to you and I to help perform the will of our King. In the beginning of the church people went everywhere preaching the kingdom of God.
c. Today many of us do not even invite people to church. Do you neighbors know when the services start? The Kingdom cannot grow at a congregation unless we invite others to be part of this branch, which is part of Jesus’ kingdom.
2. You can not spell the word preacher without the word reacher
a. Everyone may not deliver a sermon from the pulpit but we can all reach out to others
b. We do not have to do the actual teaching but just the reaching.
c. If you reach out to someone the elders will find a way to teach that person.
B. We are part of the seed
1. The seed of the kingdom is you and I.
a. We reach others in service to our king by the sowing the seed of the kingdom and that is the good news of Jesus.
b. We are the ones that will carry the seeds of the kingdom and plant them wherever God wants us to.
C. We are part of the tree
1. The tree is the kingdom of God that continues to grow larger and stronger as time allows
a. We are the reason the tree of the kingdom will continue to grow
b. If we do not plant, and then God’s kingdom will not grow.
c. You know if you want a field full of corn, then you got to plant some seed
2. We are the branches that birds lodge in
a. A faithful congregation is just a branch on the kingdom’s tree
b. This is a place people can rest in, but we also need an atmosphere of growth.
c. As Christians under the Great Commission, we need to find ways to try to invite, door knock, or convert people so our Lord’s kingdom will continue to grow.
Conclusion:
1. We have a King that rules from Heaven with all final authority. We are members of His kingdom. His borders cover the universe and everything in it. He has all the power that will ever be needed to do whatever He wants to do. It is a kingdom not made of brick and mortar but made of hearts and minds and souls. The King controls his servants from Heaven…his throne with His final words: The Bible, more specifically the New Testament of Christ. To those that obey there is life and peace eternally, but to those that disobey there is death and punishment. Jesus is our King and if we want to be saved from eternal death and inherit eternal life we have to obey the word of God. Knowing the word of God will not save you, it is obeying the word of God that saves you. May God grant each one of us eyes to see and ears to hear and feet to do the Word of God.
2. It is up to you and me. We are what is left of the kingdom of God. If you and I do nothing then guess what nothing is going to happen. God can open doors but it is up to us to walk through them. We are fellow workers with God; He is the King we are the servants. We must perform our duties as servants of the kingdom.
3. The kingdom is a wonderful thing to be a part of. It has privileges that no other kingdom has. When we become citizens of His kingdom, then we will enjoy the privileges of our King and His kingdom. Such things as provisions for our daily needs, the freedom from sin and death, help along the way for anything we encounter and a friend named Jesus that loves us.
4. You can become a citizen of the King today. If you are not part of the kingdom then you will not enjoy those privileges given to those that are Christians. As a Christian if you have fallen away then God is like the Father in the parable of the prodigal son, he is waiting for you to come home…saying it does not matter what you done son just come home. Do you still believe in your baptism? Yes or No? Have you been baptized? Yes, or no? If not I hope you will agree to be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39) …will you be baptized into Christ? Yes or no?
5. It is possible to fall away look at David the great King, he did not even realize he was not right until the prophet said you are the man… We can do the same become so far away from God that we think we are serving Him when we are fighting against Him, look at Saul who became Paul, He thought he was doing God a favor and was fighting directly against Him. As 2 Timothy 2:25-26, says …God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth and they may escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.” We can be taken captive and be serving the devil, we have to ask God to grant us repentance and forgiveness, but we as erring Christians have to do our part, stop doing evil and start obeying the Word of God. If you are not a Christian you do not have an Eternal Father to help you, but God is inviting you to become one of His children today, right now, today is the Day of Salvation… In order to make Jesus your Savior and Lord you must…as Jesus said…Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieves shall be condemned.
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