THE PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE YEAST

(Luke 13:18-21; Matthew 13:31-33; Mark 4:30-32)

18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God[1] like?  What shall I compare it to?
19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden.  It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”

20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?
21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount[2] of flour until it worked all through the dough.

PARABLES OF GROWTH FROM INSIGNIFICANT BEGINNINGS

This pair of mini-parables, placed together by Luke and Matthew, illustrates the unstoppable growth and the gradual expansion of the kingdom of God, from insignificant beginnings to triumphant fulfillment.  These are parables of encouragement, reassurance, and hope.  The meaning of each parable is similar.  The contrast between the tiny mustard seed and the tree that grew from it is basically the same as that between the small amount of yeast and the large amount of bread.  The first parable comes from the man’s sphere of work (sowing) while the second comes from the woman’s sphere of work (baking bread).  The growth of the mustard seed is extensive while the infiltration of the yeast is intensive.  The power inherent in the seed, and in the yeast, symbolizes the inherent power of the kingdom.

The growth of the kingdom is out of all proportion to its tiny beginnings.  The kingdom of God was revealed in a single man, Jesus of Nazareth, and a mixed bag of followers who were planted like seeds in a vast world, yet the kingdom will climax in splendour.  One day the worship of God will spread throughout the earth: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)  The kingdom will be universal.  At present the kingdom is incomplete but its influence will finally prevail against all opposition.  God is the sovereign Lord of history and ultimately Christ will reign and evil will be defeated.  Meanwhile the kingdom’s work of world evangelism continues.

YEAST IS A SYMBOL OF INFLUENCE

In the second parable the kingdom of God is compared to yeast or leaven.  Yeast was a piece of fermented dough kept from the previous mixture.  Yeast in the Bible is a symbol of influence and the context determines whether the meaning is positive or negative.  It is an image of permeation or the hidden working of life that infiltrates a lifeless mass.  Those who understand yeast only as a symbol of evil and corruption have serious problems with this parable and ignore its context in Luke.[3]  Yeast was used in the Old Testament as a symbol of evil yet Jesus was bold enough to use it as a symbol of the kingdom of God at work.[4]  This surprising use of the image of yeast would surely grab the attention of his hearers.  This positive use of the image teaches that the kingdom will gradually, slowly, and surely permeate the world.

It is not necessary to allegorize the “three measures of meal or flour” (Verse 33 Amplified Bible); it was probably a common quantity for baking (Genesis 18:6; Judges 6:19).  It represents a very large amount and indicates the vastness of the world.  In this parable Jesus made the point that a little cause can have great results.  Though small in size the kingdom can infiltrate the entire earth.  The New Testament does not teach that the world will be Christianized by the gospel of Christ and this is not the meaning of this parable.  Humanity makes technological progress but morally remains the same.  Instead it is a picture of the hidden working of the gospel in human society until it reaches its final glorious fulfillment (Revelation 11:15).

THE KINGDOM HAS SMALL BEGINNINGS

The two pictures of the mustard seed and the yeast both contradicted the false hopes of Israel that God’s kingdom would be set up suddenly and spectacularly by political and military power.  There is little point in trying to identify either the “man” who planted the seed, or the “woman” who baked the bread, or find any mystical meaning in either of them.  The “field” (Matthew) or “ground” (Mark) or “his garden” (Luke) is Israel.  Matthew stresses that these parables are addressed to the Jews or “them” (13:31, 33) and affirm that Jesus, and through him the Church, brought the kingdom to Israel.  It was a warning to Israel that the Church is now the community of faith where God is at work gathering both Jews and Gentiles. 

In Matthew and Mark the contrast is made between the small size of the mustard seed and the large plant it becomes.  Luke does not mention the smallness of the seed.  He emphasises that the plant becomes so large that birds come to rest in its branches.  The mustard seed was the smallest seed his audience knew and was proverbially small (“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed.” Luke 17:6), yet it could grow into “the largest of all garden plants” (Mark 4:32) about three metres (8-10 feet) in height and offer shade and security.  Likewise in the second parable a small amount of yeast in dough was sufficient to make about one hundred loaves of bread.

Jesus taught that the kingdom of God begins with small things such as the healing of an apparently unimportant woman (Verses 10-16).  The preceding incident in the synagogue revealed Pharisaism at its worst: hypocritical, without love, and legalistic.  In contrast the kingdom of God is welcoming and open to all, including the Gentiles: “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Verse 29)  The warm welcome the people gave to Jesus’ reply to the critical ruler of the synagogue showed that the kingdom was growing (verse 17).

What began with the healing of a crippled woman in Israel held within itself the potential power to transform the world.  So Jesus emphasized not only the smallness of the mustard seed but also its potential for growth.  The small seed (Himself) was planted in his life and death and grew into a tree.  Although it was rooted in the nation of Israel, the birds, a symbol of the Gentile nations, will eventually come to roost in its branches.  In the Old Testament a tree was a familiar symbol of a great empire with subject nations portrayed as birds living in its branches: “All the great nations lived in its shade” (Ezekiel 31:6).  The parallels with Nebuchadnezzar’s tree and Ezekiel’s cedar tree growing from a twig would similarly have been understood by Jesus’ audience (Daniel 4:10-12, 21-22; Ezekiel 17:22-24; See also Judges 9:15). 

The final words of Jesus predicted the kingdom would reach out to all ethnic groups (Matthew 28:18-20).  The parable of the mustard seed is also a reminder of the promise to Abraham that through his descendants all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3).  There is room in the kingdom for all kinds of people and all nations.  As Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed.” (Galatians 3:28-29)  The Church is probably the most international community in the world.  We need eyes of faith to see that the kingdom of God is present and that it is impacting our world.

CHRISTIAN HISTORY IS A DRAMATIC COMMENTARY ON THIS PARABLE

At first the kingdom began with small numbers and seemed of no consequence.  For three years an unknown carpenter-prophet trained a tiny band of unimpressive followers in a corner of Roman-occupied Palestine that were eventually to “turn the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6).  When Jesus ascended into heaven there were about 120 believers (Acts 1:15).  Yet it is estimated that the catacombs of Rome contain four million Christian graves from the first three centuries.  One Saviour from an obscure village, one cross of shame, and one empty grave are God’s yeast at work meeting the needs of a spiritually hungry world.  Twenty centuries later Jesus Christ is the central character of human history.  Probably the only institution that has survived the last 20 centuries is the Christian Church.  Today over one billion people in the world call themselves Christian, despite their unhappy differences.

The parable refers to the kingdom of God of which the Church is the agent and the instrument in this age.  Like yeast, Christianity has influenced education, music, art, science, architecture, legal systems, social reforms such as the abolition of slavery, government, and many other aspects of history.  Many of the important social reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in England had their origin in Christianity.  For example, John Howard pioneered prison reform; Elizabeth Fry and Lord Shaftsbury worked for factory reform and the abolition of child labour; George Cadbury created model villages around his factories and pioneered accident insurance and superannuation schemes; John Ludlow promoted the Friendly Societies, which led to insurance and medical benefit schemes.  All these reformers were sincere Christians.

BELIEVERS ARE LIKE GOD’S YEAST

The size of the world’s problems may seem overwhelming and the resources of the kingdom insufficient by comparison.  Sometimes it seems the Church is small and powerless like the small mustard seed and the leaven hidden in the dough.  But the yeast always conquers the dough.  Just as the dough does not change itself, note that the power to change society comes from outside.  The Holy Spirit is always at work throughout the world in and through the Church, despite the failures and weaknesses of its members.  The indwelling Holy Spirit is like yeast, which not only transforms individual lives but has the dynamic to change entire societies and nations.  Understanding that the kingdom of God is growing just as Christ promised it would, is an encouragement to dispirited believers.

Some of the work of the kingdom is hidden or unobtrusive like the yeast at work in the dough.  The yeast releases its creative power when it touches the dough.  God has given it the power to make the much bigger dough ferment and rise.  So it is with our churches.  They may appear to be small and insignificant but it is not marketing techniques and business strategies that will make them grow.  It is in our openness to God’s power that our growth is certain.  These twin parables are a warning against confusing size with significance.  They are a rebuke to sensationalism, the cult of bigness, the best, and the greatest, and our pride in mega-churches.  These parables remind us not to despise small beginnings: “Who despises the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10)

Ultimately, the kingdom will work a total transformation of human society just as yeast transforms the dough into bead.  The yeast works from the inside.  Believers need to mix with the world trusting that the yeasty power of God in them is greater than anything else, and that the power of the gospel will be at work “all through the dough.”  We are to influence the whole of society so that every person is reached with the gospel of Christ.  We entrust the outcome of our Christian witness to God for the growth of the kingdom is God’s business: “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:7)

CONCLUSION

William Barclay comments:

“Anyone who asks the question: ‘What has Christianity done for the world:’ has delivered himself into a Christian debater’s hands.  There is nothing in history so unanswerably demonstrable as the transforming power of Christianity and of Christ on the individual life and on the life of society.”[5]

FOR REFLECTION

• Be encouraged by God’s promise: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)
• Are you optimistic about the future of your church?
• The kingdom of God grows slowly yet irresistibly like a weed in a crack in the footpath that eventually breaks up the concrete.
• In some parts of the world evangelism is restricted.  How can we develop a “theology of yeast” in these places?
• In the long run, the work of God’s kingdom is the most powerful force for good in the world.
• Ask God to multiply the effectiveness of your work for him “more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).

PRAYER

Lord, help me to pray and work for the spread and growth of the kingdom in the area where I live.  Open my eyes to the hidden work of your kingdom.  “Your kingdom come; your will be done” in every area of my life.  Amen.

                                                           Jim Peacock MA (Hons), Diploma of Teaching.