Mustard Seeds, Dough, Arguments, and Works
[15] Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? [16] And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” [17] As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
[18] He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? [19] It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
[20] And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? [21] It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
One of my favorite things in this passage is how much the teaching of Jesus is aggravating and disturbing people, but how they can’t talk because all of His works are so great.
Sure, they can argue about what day the Sabbath should be and what should and shouldn’t be done, but here is this lady. She was sick for 18 years and Jesus just healed her.
You can’t argue with that!
Whenever some high-level so-and-so makes a proclamation, it’s taken by the culture according to what that person has done. If that person is an irrelevant has-been, nobody cares. They dismiss the person like they are a parody. If the person is serious in their actions and in the works they have done, they are taken much more seriously.
Once Jesus has their attention, He tells them a few more things about the Kingdom of Heaven that are in the same context. Always view Jesus’ teachings in the context of the actions surrounding those teachings.
The mustard seed grows big and provides shelter for all of the birds of the sky. Our faith and testimony make Jesus attractive. People from all over the world want to come and rest in His life. Just like Jesus healed that lady so easily that it wasn’t even considered work, the work of Christ in our life comes through with little to no effort. Following Him fully is work enough.
That’s exactly how the Gospel of the Kingdom spreads. Like yeast in a hunk of dough. You don’t see it. You barely smell it. But 4 hours later, that dough is huge! What happened?!
The Gospel happened. Jesus works in our lives and loves to live it. That’s how He’s been teaching and healing for over 2,000 years.
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