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Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV)
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
Mustard seeds are tiny and produce large bushes, typically around 5 feet tall, but are not trees. But trees were symbols of kings and their kingdoms (see Dan. 4) and Jesus is saying that the mustard seed of God’s kingdom is going to produce a miraculous and unexpected tree of blessing. This parable points to the cross where Jesus, the seed, was “planted” in the “ground” to die in order to produce a new, unexpected kingdom (see also John 12:24). But this is a shock to our “see it to believe it” mentality. Why would I ever believe that a mustard seed would produce a tree? Or that a man who died on a cross is the Son of God? It’s totally unexpected. Is there something in your life that causes frustration, anxiety, or fear? Maybe something that is totally disappointing? Maybe that is the unexpected place God is miraculously working in you to bring about faith in Jesus and His kingdom?