mustard seeds and leaven

Mt 13:31-32; [Jesus] 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. It 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.”

He 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.”

The Kingdom of God has entered the world in a form that is hardly perceptible but it will ultimately rule over all of the earth. This is a parable about contrast. Today it is small (not even revealed to some) but there comes a time when it will be great and apparent to all. This is clear from the mustard seed. The leaven is not teaching that this change is gradual but again reinforcing that what was once small compared to the whole lump of dough will one day permeate the entire loaf. The Kingdom of God will one day prevail so that no rival sovereignty exists.

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