The Parable of the Mustard Seed: Matthew 13:31-32

It was my privilege to preach again at Risen Life Church in our latest sermon series on parables about the kingdom.  I was the fourth sermon in this series and preached on the parable of the Mustard Seed found in Matthew 13:31-32.  Now the first thing people would say to me when I would tell them that I was preaching on the parable of the mustard seed was that, “they have some mountains I could move for them.”  However, this is not that parable.  I preached on the other mustard seed.  The lesser preached mustard seed parable in which the mustard seed grows into a large tree.

The primary point of this parable is to draw a contrast between the perceived humble beginnings of the kingdom of heaven with its final grand and pervasive ending as the most important kingdom ever.  Jesus is telling the disciples and us that the Kingdom of God will start off small in comparison to all other kingdoms, insignificant as a small mustard seed, and will eventually become as big as a tree. This kingdom will be more significant than any kingdom we know now, providing shelter even for all of creation.  We want to let our minds marinade over this parable as we let the Spirit reveal to us the vast and pervasive nature of the kingdom of heaven as the only kingdom that matters.

If we will let it, I believe this parable speaks to one of our deepest fears about being followers of Christ; the seeming imperceptibility of the Kingdom of God in our daily lives and the perceived weakness of a spiritual kingdom in light of an ever-present world.

From this parable I drew three main points:

1. When one considers the humble beginnings and perceived weakness of the kingdom of heaven we see that this parable contrasts this perceived weakness of the Gospel in its beginnings with its final strength so that we can walk in faith believing God’s plan to turn weakness into strength by His power on His time.   This calls us as Christians to embrace the weakness of the Gospel so that by faith we can hope in its strength.

2. When we take a fun walk in God’s garden of trees found in the Bible, we should put great trust in our God. He is telling us, “You see all these kingdoms of the Earth?  Mine one day will be shown to be bigger and better than all of them!  Hope in that!”  In the mean we are to be faithful to what God has called us to.

3. Finally, when we understand how large God’s kingdom will be (and already is) and how much better it will be than any kingdom we have ever experienced, we should seek to include ourselves in His kingdom.  This is done through a life of faith in Christ’s work on the cross.  Have you included yourself in His kingdom?

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