Luke 13:18-21
Jesus said,
"What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a
mustard seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully
grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its
branches." Again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of
God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of
wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened."
Petition: Lord,
help me to value and seek the invisible strength of the Kingdom of Heaven.
1. The
Kingdom Grows from Small Beginnings: Jesus tells us two parables to help us
understand the Kingdom of Heaven. What does he want us to know about it? When
he speaks about the mustard seed, he is emphasizing that something that seems
inconsequential can grow to become something of great importance. Although the
mustard seed is so small as to be nearly invisible, it grows into a small tree,
big enough for birds to make a nest in. Its usefulness goes beyond its own
needs. It can give shelter and support to others.
2. You
Don’t Have to Understand Biology to Be a Baker: In the parable of the leaven, something
similar happens. Leaven has a mysterious property. Although it seems to be
nothing special itself, even a small amount of it, mixed with dough, causes the
dough to rise. The Jews listening to Jesus didn’t know why. They didn’t know
that the leaven contained yeast spores that under the right conditions of heat,
moisture and nutrients, would begin to grow and produce carbon dioxide gas
(which is what makes the dough rise). It was mysterious to them, what power the
leaven contained, but they knew that just a little of it would transform a much
larger quantity of dough, so that the resulting bread would not just be matzo,
but a much larger quantity of light, airy bread that is much nicer to eat. In a
similar way, grace transforms the ordinary acts of our day, making them much
nicer in God’s eyes.
3. The
Church Transforms Societies: Both these parables apply to the Kingdom
of Heaven. As he spoke, Jesus had before him just a few apostles who still
didn’t grasp his message very well. The Kingdom of Heaven was so small as to be
invisible, like the mustard seed. But it was destined to have incredible
growth, such that it would begin to help all humanity and not just those who
belonged to it. When he speaks of the leaven, he refers not just to the growth
that the Kingdom of Heaven would undergo throughout the centuries, but to the
transformation it would accomplish in the societies it entered. We see this in
the world today. The Church has not only grown, but it has also come to affect
many who are not in the Church and to transform society. The apostles, who did
not see the Kingdom very clearly, had a hard time accepting this. We have seen
much more, and yet we still doubt and hesitate.
Conversation
with Christ
Dear Jesus I have seen so much of your Kingdom that I should believe
without hesitation, yet I still worry about the final triumph of your Kingdom.
Help me to have a greater faith, not only to believe what you said, but to help
the spread of the Kingdom continue to come true in my society and culture.
Resolution:
I will try to be more optimistic about the Church in society, seeing how it
has influenced so much of what is best in our society – love for the poor, love
for enemies etc. Knowing that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, I will accept
that as it has happened so many times in the past, just when things look
bleakest for the Church, God turns the tables, and it enters into another
Golden Age. Didn’t John Paul II predict that we were just launching out into
the New Age of Evangelization?