Two Instructive Parables

    “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).

    In these four verses our Lord Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a grain of mustard seed and a leaven hidden in three measures of meal. Our Saviour was a great story teller. He constantly used parables, told stories to illustrate and enforce his doctrine. He never used spell-binding oratory, intellectual argument, philosophy, logic, or theological history to teach the gospel. He deliberately spoke in plain, simple language to clearly set forth and illustrate gospel truth. That is the kind of preaching that should be cultivated among God’s servants (1 Corinthians 2:3-5; Mark 4:33, 34).

    When the Lord Jesus preached, he always preached in the plainest, simplest manner imaginable. He who is the embodiment of wisdom and knowledge never used complicated words and phrases. He never once referred to the original language, or even defined a word. He did not use words that required definition. Instead, he told stories and illustrated the truths he taught by parables.

    In contrast with today’s preaching, our Lord’s example of preaching speaks volumes. He preached in such a way that people understood what he preached. He never tried to impress his hearers with how smart a man he was or how much he knew. He did not display knowledge. He taught knowledge. There is a huge difference. Those who follow the Master’s example do not try to impress men. They instruct men.

    Our Master taught with plainness and simplicity. He did not preach what he could not illustrate; and when he was finished, the people who heard him understood what he had said. Our Saviour taught with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15). He knew exactly what they needed, and what they could bear, and taught them accordingly. The Son of God expounded all things to his disciples. He kept back nothing from them. He expounded to them all the Word of God. Faithful men follow his example.

    The word “parable” is the same word that is translated proverb in other places. Solomon’s wise sayings and instructive similitudes are called proverbs, or parables, by which he taught us wisdom. “Behold, a greater than Solomon is here”! By his parables he teaches us wisdom. “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

    Speaking in parables our Lord fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament scriptures (Psalm 78:2). And the matter, the subject, and the theme of these parables, Matthew tells us, are “things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” The gospel of Christ and the purposes of God toward the Gentile world were wrapped up in the Old Testament by the types and shadows of the law, which have now been fulfilled by Christ, in whom God has revealed himself and made known his grace.

    The Master’s reason for speaking in parables is explained in Matthew 13:9, 10. As the mighty, sovereign God of heaven and earth, he exercises his sovereign mercy, giving grace to whom he will, and making a clear distinction among men. To some he reveals his Word. From others he hides the meaning of his words. That is his prerogative as God (Matthew 11:25, 26; 20:15; Exodus 33:19).

    In the two instructive parables of the mustard seed and the leaven our Saviour shows us what we may expect to be the result of gospel preaching throughout the ages of time.

    First, let us learn the parable of the mustard seed.

    “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” (vv. 18, 19).

    Remember, parables are common, familiar earthly illustrations of spiritual, heavenly truths. In this case the parable is drawn from a commonly used proverbial expression during the days of our Lord’s earthly ministry. The parable of the grain of mustard seed is designed to teach us never to despise the day of small things (Zechariah 4:6-10).

    The first thing I want to show you from this parable is the veracity of holy scripture. Ignorant men who think themselves wise, reprobate men who think themselves spiritual, pass judgment upon the Word of God. They claim to be Christians, claim to be people of faith, and claim to honour Christ, while denying the veracity of the Bible. Not long ago, I heard a man in an interview with ABC News say, “I believe the Bible; but I don’t take it word for word.” A woman, in the same segment said, “I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God; but I do not think you have to take it all literally.” Regrettably, those comments fairly well represent the opinions of most who profess to be Christians in our day.

    In this day of spiritual darkness and perversion there is almost a universal abandonment of belief in the verbal, plenary inspiration of God’s holy, inerrant Word. Rejecting the veracity and consequently the authority of holy scripture, men and women everywhere are turning to necromancy, astrology, and sorcery for spiritual counsel and aid. Long ago John Hazelton wrote, “Satan assumes the garb of an angel of light and his deceptions in this disguise are deadly.”

    “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? (To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:19, 20).

    Frequently, those who think they are smarter than God point to this parable to show that our Saviour was either ignorant or misinformed, because he spoke of the mustard seed as the smallest of all seeds and of the mustard plant as a tree. Those who make such judgments are ignorant and misinformed. When our Lord said that the mustard seed is “the smallest of all seeds in the earth, he was not talking about all seeds without exception, but all the seeds a man sows in his garden. Though we usually think of mustard plants as bushy, leafy plants, there is a variety of mustard that grows into a pretty good size tree-like plant, sort of like a banana tree in size. We must never allow men, with their imaginary proofs of inaccuracies in the Bible, to shake our faith in the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

    Second, the mustard seed was used by our Lord as an illustration of our faith in him. Though it is never mentioned in the Old Testament, many varieties of mustard plants grew in abundance in and around Palestine. Some grew in the wild. Others were cultivated for various purposes. In the New Testament it is mentioned only by our Saviour. Twice he compares true faith to a grain of mustard seed (Matthew 17:14-21; Luke 17:3-6). Mustard seed is mentioned only five times in the Word of God. When it is used to illustrate faith, as in Matthew 17:20 and Luke 17:6, it teaches us four specific things about the character of true faith.

    True, saving faith begins as a very small thing. A grain of mustard seed. The fact is, true believers always recognize that their faith is a small, very small thing. We often look upon our brothers and sisters in Christ as being men and women of great faith; but anyone who thinks he has great faith probably has no faith at all.

    It is not the greatness of our faith, but the greatness of our God and Saviour, the Object of our faith, that gives it merit, power, and efficacy.

    Far too many have faith in their faith, which is to say they have faith in themselves. We must never imagine that there is some mystical power to faith. The power of our faith is Christ, the Object of our faith. It is not our faith that moves the mountain of our sins or plucks up the sycamore tree of trouble; but the blood of Christ and the power of Christ, who is the Object of our faith. The question is not, “How much faith do I have?” but “What is the object of my faith?” Great faith in an idol is as useless as spitting in the wind; but faith, even as a grain of mustard seed, in the God of glory is mighty, effectual, saving faith.

    With God, nothing is impossible; and therefore, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

    Nothing can stand in the way of, hinder, or defeat that man and those people who, being called of God, believe him. It was impossible for Egypt to destroy Israel, because Moses believed God. It was impossible for the Red Sea to stop the march of God’s elect, because Moses believed God. The walls of Jericho must fall. Joshua believed God. The land of Canaan must be possessed. Caleb believed God. The Philistine giant had to die, because David, defending the cause of God’s glory and his people, believed God. Jairus’ daughter had to live. He believed God. The centurion’s servant must rise. That centurion believed God. Our Saviour was not lying when he said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.”

    Yet, nothing is more abominably wretched than the paralyzing effect of unbelief. When the Lord Jesus came into his own land, among his own people, we read, “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). Just in proportion as we believe God, we experience his power and grace. Just in proportion as we believe him, we see his glory. Nothing is as costly as unbelief (Isaiah 48:16-19).

    Third, the parable of the mustard seed illustrates the growth of God’s church and kingdom in this world. The purpose of the parable is to teach us to never despise the day of small things. But it is also intended to assure us of the certain growth and blessedness of Christ’s church and kingdom in this world.

    Like faith in the heart, the church and kingdom of God in this world began as a very small thing. The expression, “as a grain of mustard seed”, was a common, proverbial saying among the Jews, referring to anything small and insignificant. As a rule, God’s works in the world are always looked upon by men as trivial, insignificant things. Certainly, that is the way it was with the Church of the New Testament.

    Those who were chosen to be the foundational apostles of Christ’s kingdom were poor, unlettered fishermen. He who is the Lord and Master of this Church, the King of this Kingdom, was a despised Nazarene, a crucified Jew. The doctrine proclaimed by this Church, and preached everywhere was the doctrine of grace, life, and eternal salvation by the merit and efficacy of a crucified Substitute. In the eyes of men nothing could have been less likely to be successful, nothing more despicable, nothing could have been more offensive. Yet, this was God’s work, God’s Church, and God’s Kingdom.

    God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; and his ways are not our ways. God almost always does things exactly opposite of what we would, and of what we imagine he does. The gospel does not triumph all at once. The church and kingdom of God is not set up all at once, neither amongst us in the world, nor within us in our hearts.

    The church of God sprang from a very small seed sown in the earth, a crucified Saviour (John 12:24). God’s works almost always begin in obscurity, with what appear to be insignificant things. The work of the gospel, the spread of God’s church and kingdom is a gradual thing. Like the grain of mustard seed sown in the ground, its growth is almost unobservable, but steady. As the full grown mustard seed is the greatest and largest of all herbs, so the church and kingdom of God shall, in the end of the world, be immeasurably great and large (Psalm 80:8-11). The number of God’s elect shall be ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. Untold millions and billions of people shall inhabit heaven’s glory with Christ!

    Once planted, this Church and Kingdom grew into a great Kingdom. Our Lord’s parable here was prophetic. Again, he was telling his disciples not to despise the day of small things. Though it appeared a small, despicable thing, like the mustard seed, the Lord prophesied that his Church would become a great, large Kingdom. He said, “As the mustard plant grows to be the greatest of all herbs, so shall my church grow to be the greatest of all kingdoms.”

    So it has come to pass. It began to grow on the day of Pentecost. Three thousand were born into his Kingdom on that day. The Church grew so rapidly that nothing can account for it except the finger of God. A few days after Pentecost, five thousand were added to the Church at once. Wherever God’s servants went preaching the gospel, it proved to be the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:14-17). Today, the Church of God is the greatest empire the world has ever known; and it is not done growing yet. God still employs the same means today as he did in the beginning for the building of his Church that is, gospel preaching (1 Corinthians 1:21-31; Matthew 16:18). In spite of all the predictions of wicked men, in spite of all the foes without and all the treachery within, the Church of God still progresses, the Kingdom of God still enlarges itself, the mustard plant still grows!

    What is true of the Church is true of each member of it. The beginnings of grace in the life of a believer are very small; but where there is life there is growth; and those who are born of God are grown by God. The more they grow, the smaller they appear in their own eyes. Yet, when God is finished with us, we shall at last be transformed into the very likeness of Christ!

    The fourth thing that is evident in this parable is this: The church and kingdom of God has a very ennobling, sanctifying influence upon the rest of the world. Though no one in the world knows it, and few in the Kingdom of God realize it, the Church and Kingdom of God has a profoundly sanctifying effect upon the rest of society. That is, at least in part, what is meant by the birds of the air flocking to and nesting in the mustard plant. The Church and Kingdom of God, like a great tree, provides shelter for the world and influences it for good. We have an example of what I am talking about in 1 Corinthians 7:14, where God the Holy Spirit tells us that, “the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife by the husband.”

    As in a home the unbelieving are sanctified by the believing in a moral sense, so in the world, the unbelieving are sanctified by the believing. Read your history books. Education did absolutely nothing to improve the moral condition of the Greek and Roman worlds. Plato and Aristotle made absolutely no impact upon society for moral good. That which has improved every society, every culture, every family, and every relationship under its influence is the gospel of Christ.

    Fifth, in this parable of the mustard seed, our Lord reminds us again that the church and kingdom of God in this world is a mixed multitude. The fowls of the air also represent the mixed multitude in the visible Church and Kingdom of God in this world. The visible Church has always been inhabited by both the clean and the unclean. There is no such thing as a perfect Church in this world. Every true Church has within its fold both goats and sheep. It is a nesting place for birds clean and birds unclean. It is a garden enclosed; but a garden with wheat and tares growing side by side. What are we to do about this? Nothing! Do not try to scare off the crows. If you do, you will drive away the red birds. Do not try to pull up the tares. You will pull up wheat every time. Never try to separate sheep from goats. We are not equipped for it. Only the Lord himself can distinguish the true from the false. It is his work to do the separating; and he will do 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” (vv. 20, 21).

    This parable is misinterpreted by many. We are often told that the leaven refers to the ever-increasing evil of the world. But our Lord is not talking about the world. He is talking about “the kingdom of heaven”. He is talking about his Church. The parable of the leaven is very much the same in meaning as the parable of the mustard seed. It teaches us that the gospel prevails by degrees and works like leaven in the hearts of God’s elect.

    “A woman took leaven.” The woman, the weaker vessel, represents gospel preachers, who have the treasure of the gospel in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7). The leaven was hidden in three measures of meal. The regenerate heart, like meal, is soft and pliable. Leaven will never work in corn, but only in ground meal. So the gospel has no effect upon the stony, unregenerate heart. It only works upon broken hearts that have been ground by the Holy Spirit in conviction.

    Once the leaven is hidden in the dough, it works. So the word of God, hidden in the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners by God the Holy Spirit, works and brings forth fruit. The change it works is gradual, but it works (Hebrews 4:12). God’s work is like the growth of the mustard seed and the spread of leaven; small and gradual in our eyes, almost unobservable. Let us never despise the day of small things. But when he gets done …

    “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 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” (Zechariah 4:6-10).