The
parables for Day 66 are intriguing. Jesus says, the kingdom of God is like a
mustard seed that grows into a tree (13:18-19). Our commentator notes that the
mustard seed is small, but grows to be “a large tree, several feet high,” and
says the kingdom is like that. But that misses the point, I think, which is
considerably more ironic than he suggests. “Several feet high” is not a large
tree; it’s a shrub!
In
the Old Testament, the natural comparison to the kingdom is of God is the Cedar
of Lebanon. We had one in our yard in Georgia and they are big trees. But a
mustard tree, as I understand it, is more like a woody weed. A mustard plant
grows fast and is vigorous. Indeed, mustard plants can take over. But they are
not noble, not the kind of thing you would normally compare the kingdom of God
to. Comparing the kingdom of God to a mustard seed sounds more like parody than
a serious parable.
And
that is the point, as I understand it. The kingdom of God is not what we expect
it to be. It starts small. It spreads fast. It takes over. But it is NOT
particularly impressive or imposing. It is composed of very ordinary people
with very obvious wounds and limitations. The growth is in spite of its lack of
grandeur, not because it is grand. A contemporary comparison is Kudzu. And the
lesson is, God works in strange ways and with strange people—people like us.
The
comparison of the kingdom to yeast (13:20-21) makes exactly the same point.
Yeast could make bread ritually unclean. Jews were not supposed to eat leavened
bread at Passover, for example. So to compare the kingdom of God to yeast
leavening the wheat is borderline offensive. And again the point is, it starts
small, spreads fast, takes over. And it is NOT AT ALL what we expect it to be!
The
message of these two parables, at least as I understand them, is that God is
surprising. Thank God for that!
Fr. Harvey
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