A Parable of Contrast

This parable is one of several kingdom parables that Jesus used to described the nature of God’s kingdom that has broken into this age.

These kingdom parables challenge the conventional wisdom of Jesus’ day. The coming of God’s kingdom was closely associated with the coming day of the Lord told by the Hebrew prophets.

That day God would universally bring the kingdom of God on earth. It would be ushered in with apocalyptic signs and wonders.

What Jesus is saying here in this parable is that before this great day of revelation, the kingdom would come in an insignificant form like a mustard seed.

This parable is a parable of contrast. Small beginnings and large results. With the coming of Jesus into the world, the kingdom of God has broken into the present age in an insignificant form.

The result will be large in the sense that the kingdom will grow throughout this age in the hearts and lives of all who enter in. The prophetic day of the Lord is to be a day of judgement.

The righteous will be separated from the unrighteous. This parable reveals that before this day of the Lord, God is offering salvation to all who enter into the kingdom now!

This “plant” has been growing since Jesus arrived on the scene over two thousand years ago. I like to think of our local Christian community as a little “branch” of this mustard plant.

In my quiet time each morning, I pray for this plant. I pray for our little branch, but I also pray for all of the little branches that are now spread throughout our globe.

I pray for God’s servants throughout the globe that are serving the kingdom. In the world’s eyes this kingdom grows mysteriously. They see buildings and organizations and people that name Jesus as Lord.

What they do not see is the movement of the Spirit of God in the hearts and lives of God’s people.

We who have the Spirit know that this kingdom is forcefully advancing and will continue to grow until Jesus appears at the end of this age.

Let us continue to pray for the health of God’s people here and all over the world.

 Pastor Fred