Mustard and Bread

Matthew 13:31-35

³¹He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

³⁴All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.

³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

If you’ve ever planned a surprise party for anyone you know that “now but not yet” feeling. You’re sending out the invitations, planning the food, making sure no one ruins the surprise, and waiting with anxious anticipation for the big day. For you, the party planner, the details are all right in your face. But the party hasn’t arrived yet. As Jesus continues to teach His Disciples about the “here but not yet” aspect of His Kingdom, he uses two more fascinating (albeit brief) parables to help us understand this more clearly.

His first object lesson revolves around the mustard seed and its resulting plant. The first thing we must note is that this is not a botany lesson. It is a Kingdom parable. Much has been made by non-believers about the fact that the mustard seed is in fact not the smallest among seeds. There are smaller. And there are very few mustard plants that grow into a large tree. Most of them resemble bushes (which can grow fairly large) or even flowering weeds. Doesn’t the Creator of the Universe know any better? Of course He does. But this is a parable and parables quite often use hyperbole. (We will find more examples of this later in our study of Matthew.)

Pliny the Elder was a Roman author who lived in the first century.  He wrote about his experience with the mustard plant in his encyclopedic Natural History: “Mustard… with its pungent taste and fiery effect is extremely beneficial for the health. It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it is sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once. (Natural History 19, page 170-71)

Using this common everyday object, Jesus points again to the fact that within God’s Kingdom there are many things for which we have to wait. The farmer sows that little tiny seed (if he wants a problem on his hands, according to Pliny) and then has to wait for it to grow into a fruit bearing plant. Does that farmer possess a mustard tree (or bush, or plant)? Yes, but it still might be only 2 inches tall or even under the dirt! I do find it interesting that just a little mustard goes a long way and actually becomes pervasive. God’s Word is just the same. If allowed to grow, it becomes pervasive.

Jesus then turns His attention to leavening for bread. In this parable, a woman (Jesus actually uses a woman to make His point!) adds leaven to some flour. The shocking thing here is that she adds a little leaven to a great deal of flour – 10 gallons! Can you even imaging the amount of bread she’s going to produce?! The outcome is the same as that of the mustard seed. Something fantastic takes place and that flour is forever altered. God’s Kingdom comes along and quietly (sometimes) works in the background making changes that cannot be undone.