Smoodock's Blog

Is bigger always better? Is more always something that is desired? When my wife buys a head of broccoli, she always ends up cutting away most of the head, keeping the tips for cooking. The large meaty trunk and its meatier branches, aren’t so good for eating. Yet, the store always sells more than what’s desired and charges by the pound! It is the way of the world. Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed and the similar Parable of the Leaven, are parables about what is undesirable in the Kingdom of God, yet many scholars have missed the point, when they offer an explanation of Jesus’ words here. It seems to them that, if the Kingdom of Heaven were to grow rapidly, it must be a good thing, believing they’ve really considered the context of Jesus’ words. They point out and place great value upon the appearance of it all, while ignoring the context and the real worth of it all. Judging by appearance is often problematic. Few perceive Jesus’ words in this way, and fewer still are prepared for the consequences of unwanted growth.

Previously, Jesus put forth parables that concerned hearts, good and bad for growth, and seeds that were good and bad for consumption. The end of both the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Weeds was to gain a reward for one’s labor, depicted in the harvest. Next, Jesus puts forth two other parables: the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32) and the Parable of the Leaven (Matthew 13:33), but these parables are put forth in contrast to the first two. These next two should be viewed from the perspective of what was not wanted in the end of the matter.

Jesus mentioned the Kingdom of Heaven was like the mustard seed that grew into a tree. At that point it appeared to be what it was not. It was, after all, an herb, but it appeared to be a tree. It grew large and hospitable to the birds of the air. The birds, if we were to recall, were the enemies in the Parable of the Sower. They removed the seed that was planted in the hearts of those depicted as the wayside. The birds acted against the labor of the Sower, yet they seem to be welcome in the Parable of the Mustard Seed. If the context of the Parable of the Sower defines many terms in other parables, as Jesus implies (Mark 4:13), then we must consider the fact that birds lodging in the branches of the “mustard tree” is not a good thing. The birds of the first parable have the same relationship to the Kingdom of Heaven as the weeds do in Jesus’ second parable. Why would it be different in his third?

The weeds compete with the good seed for the life-giving soil, and the birds of the air remove the word of God from the hearts of some folks before it is able to take root. Thus, it is implied in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, that there comes a point in the growth of the Gospel, where corruptive influence works against the will of God and welcomes his enemies who work against the Lord’s purposes. Mustard is a herb, not a tree, and has come to resemble that which it is not

As for the leaven, indeed, many scholars have assumed this was also a “good” thing. The leaven grew and grew until it permeated the whole three measures of meal, just as the growth of Christianity has permeated the whole world (Matthew 13:33). The problem is that leaven is always depicted in the Bible as an evil thing. Jesus mentions the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Luke 12:1), the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which is false doctrine (Matthew 16:11-12) and the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, which mixes politics and religion, and is the method folks use to accomplish their will, when it cannot be done through prayer alone. In other words, it is religion or one’s concept of morality that wants its way at all cost, vis-à-vis the end justifies the means. So, if God won’t answer one’s prayer, Herod/politics will (for a price).

The woman who introduces the leaven into the three measures of meal, vis-à-vis the offering made to the Lord (cp. Genesis 18:6). Every type of Christ depicted in offerings made to the Lord were without leaven (Exodus 23:18; 34:25; Leviticus 2:11; 6:17). The woman in the Parable of the Leaven should be understood as the enemy of Jesus’ second parable who introduced weed seeds into the landowners’ field. The woman is an enemy of the Gospel and does that which is wicked in the eyes of God (Zechariah 5:7-8; Revelation 2:20; 17:1-6). In the beginning she was represented as the Lord’s wife, but has now become the harlot, and would be judged in AD 70. She stands as a warning to the inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Church. Don’t do as she has done!         [EB1]