The kingdom of heaven

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs 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 yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.

- Matthew 13:24-34a

Jesus' parables are interesting simply by virtue of the fact that I try to picture myself listening to them as one of the crowd. Since he spoke in these "riddles" to the crowds, we must understand that rather than the preaching and explanations and extended doctrine and understanding we're treated to as believers, the crowd only would have heard these parables. As we've said here before, the parables themselves work as seed: those who thirst for more will find the word taking root within them.

Here Jesus first expands on the parable of the Sower (see commentary here). After the word, the seed, the truth, is sown, comes the adversary, sowing falsehood. Commentary I read points out that the false resembles the true: the weeds and wheat are similar - they resemble one another, and it's difficult to uproot one without uprooting the other. After true prophets come false prophets, and after Christ, Antichrist. The "enemy" (the devil) comes while everybody is asleep, reminding us always that we need to "pay attention to how we listen" so that truth magnifies in us and we are able to use discernment. Clearly whatever doctrine and teaching, true and false, will come about during these times before Judgment is to be allowed to grow together, the good and the bad, the false and the true - and this applies, obviously, to all of us. To create upheaval trying root out the one will disrupt the other. So, it's up to us to be aware ourselves, and to understand we don't live in a perfect world, but we do share responsibility for our own discernment.

Jesus goes on to teach two other parables, about the properties of the kingdom of heaven. These properties reflect the properties in the story from Luke yesterday of the distribution of food to feed 5,000 people. The small grain of the mustard seed, planted in a field, grows to become a large shrub so that it even shelters the birds. Mustard seeds are one of the tiniest, and the shrubs grow to be large and hardy - enough to shelter the birds. According to a Wikipedia article: "Their growth is persistent and powerful enough to crack cement when growing." That's quite a good metaphor for the word that grows and expands to include so much over time. Jesus is telling us a parable about himself and his word - despite the weeds, it will take root and grow.

He compares the kingdom to a little yeast, which leavens three measures of flour. The message here is clear - that the word Jesus is preaching has potency - it will grow and magnify and transform all that is around it. The weeds will spring up, but they will not defeat the word, and those who carry that word in them must be persistent. He's giving us faith in the potency of that word and the energy it uses in this world to build itself and to sustain us. These parables also work as analogy on the individual scale: if we persist in pursuit of that faith as a seed that's planted in us, we will find ourselves and our lives hopefully transformed over time, and bearing fruit, growing - despite our own natural flaws.

Perhaps what I like best about these parables, aside from their obviously intriguing (and to me, delightful) way of drawing us into mystery, asking us if we want this thing he's teaching us about - is the faith that is put into a highly natural process. Naturally, we will have weeds with which to contend. Naturally, we must take the bad with the good. Naturally, leaven mingles with the flour, and naturally the small mustard seed grows remarkably into a hardy great bush, with formidable and tenacious gradual growth. These are things that reassure - this is not a great, dangerous upheaval; the Judgment and fire come in a time that we don't know and aren't to concern ourselves with at this time. This is now a time for growth, and patience, endurance and persistence: and gently, for it's a natural process, not harsh. It's in tune with the world and its ways of growth.

I love the image of the mustard seed - may the tiniest seed grow for you to a great and hardy bush, so that the birds may nest and sing in its branches. Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. May this process be as gentle and as intriguing for you as Jesus' parables would be to those crowds. There is nothing heavy-handed here - without a parable he told them nothing - the seed will grow in its own time, in the good soil.