About the Text
(31) What is a "mustard seed"?
The mustard seed is so small that it can barely be seen with the naked eye. It quickly
grows into an herb plant about 8-10 feet tall. In Jesus' parable, however, the mustard
plant grows miraculously taller than normal, perhaps over 12 feet, so that bfrds would
build nests in its branches.
(32) Who is the "man" in the parable? Jesus. In the
previous parable, the parable of the weeds, Jesus also is the sower.
(33) In the second parable, how much flour did the woman take?
About one bushel. This was enough to make bread for about 100 people. A lot of bread!
The New International Version of the Bible translates the phrase from the original
language to a "large amount." Other Bibles translate the phrase to "three
satas," using the actual units of measurement in ancient times.
Just as it is in bread-making today, it only takes a tablespoon of yeast to make a lump of
dough the size of a shopping bag to rise to the size of a refrigerator.
(35) Why was it God's intent for Jesus to speak in parables? As explained by the
parable of the sower in verses 1-23, Jesus' parables "weed out" false disciples
and keep the true ones. Those who truly believe in Jesus Christ will be attracted to His
parables. Although these parables are often hard to understand, they nevertheless reflect
the divine mystery and majesty of Jesus. It was not Jesus' intent at the time that His
disciples fully understand His teachings inunediately, but rather be simply attracted to
Him.
The full, clear understanding of Jesus' teachings would not come until later. For example, in John 2:22, John states that the disciples did not understand the meaning of Jesus words about the temple until much later, when He was raised from the dead. After this resurrection, all of Jesus' teachrngs became clear. The writings of Paul, Romans for example, show that God intends the message of Jesus Christ to be clearly explained to the world.
Key Memory Verse
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
Insight
The influence of Jesus Christ is destined to grow enormous, even though we may only see humble beginnings.
The Bottom Line
Don't worry about the results of your work for the Lord, especially at the beginning.
To the world, Jesus' death on the cross seemed to be not
only a humble beginning of a new religious movement, but also a humiliating
beginning. The world mocked Him, rejected Him, convicted Him, and tortured Him. What an
awful beginning! Or so it seemed. In reality, Christ was doing is most powerful work. He
was taking the punishment for our sins so that we could finally be reconciled to God and
experience the abundant life. Those who truly believe gain entrance into a Kingdom (still
largely invisible) that is growing by leaps and bounds.