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Before we bow in a word of prayer, let me read Isaiah 41:17, “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them Myself.” We think quite often that no man or woman can teach God’s word; only God can teach His word. The Lord may teach through human instruments, and we praise Him when He does. The New Testament says, “He has given pastors and teachers to be quickened to the body, but only the Lord can reveal Himself to the heart of His people. So, it’s foolish, then, to look to any human to quench the thirst of our hearts. That’s just foolish. What many can do in ministry is to point others to the Lord Jesus, and in fact this is the essence of all true ministry; to open the word and then say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” This morning as we open His word may He open our hearts to trust in Him alone to reveal Himself through His word. On the other side of this is that all those who are given the privilege to share from God’s word in any capacity, to trust the Lord to answer the thirst of His people. That’s His problem. He’ll answer their thirst, often in spite of us.
Heavenly Father, we come before You, and how thankful we are for Your Holy Spirit. We are thankful that You are King of all things; You are sovereign in this world in everything that touches Your people, no matter what experience it is, no matter what circumstance, or situation, we know, as our dear brother Job learned, there are no second causes. It’s You who gives, and it’s You who takes away. Your eternal purpose in all of that is that we might be drawn more toward Your Son, that we may in some way be prepared of heart to grow in the knowledge of who He is. We come as we are, and we pray for those that may be experiencing things that You’ve allowed, things that in themselves may not be good, but we are thankful that You can work all things toward the good of conforming them to the image of Your Son. We look to You and we say, “Thank You.” We praise You. Now, as we come to Your word, it’s with hearts with great anticipation of what Your Spirit wants to do in us and through us in revealing Lord Jesus to our hearts. We pray that the gathering this morning would not just be another gathering of Your people, but in a special way we pray for eternal work, a work that only You can do, and long to do, and actually the only work You do, eternal work in our heart. In Jesus name we’re thankful. Amen.
Let me review just a bit what we’ve been looking at this weekend together and pick up right where we left off. This weekend we’re looking at the three seed parables from the gospel of Mark; the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of Seed Growing Secretly, The Parable of Mustard Seed. In these parables we have seen that seeds are the Lord’s wonderful illustration of life, specifically life in union with Jesus. So, in the first parable, the Parable of the Sower, we see how the life of the Lord Jesus is sown and received in our hearts, how the life of the Lord takes root in us, and we begin to live by His very life. It begins when the Holy Spirit sows the revelation of Christ from His word in our hearts, and we respond in childlike reliance. He sows, and because He sows we may receive. And because He continually sows we may continually receive, and through this union we begin to live by His life in us. And now it’s not about us living for Jesus, but it’s about Jesus living in and through us; Jesus living for Himself in us.
And then the second parable, The Seed Growing Secretly, we learn that once we’re enjoying union with the Lord, receiving life from Him, then as an effortless, spontaneous outworking we begin to grow. We grow through no effort of our own but simply by enjoying the life of Christ and resting in Him for all things. Maybe in the past we were anxious about our growth, and maybe we doubted whether we were going forward at all in our life with the Lord, and maybe we tried all kinds of programs and messages that promised Christian growth, and we were disappointed. To the question, “How can I grow as a Christian?” illustrated by the parable, the answer is simple; keep your eyes on Jesus and leave it all with Him. He’ll be faithful to finish the work He has begun in us according to His will, and in His own time.
There parables are quite amazing, because the Lord created these seeds to be an amazing illustration of life and growth in Him. You go down to the store in the spring and your purchase the seeds you want to plant, and you take them home and take them out of the seed packet, and they look so pitiful. They look dead. They are all shriveled up and you wonder how these things are ever going to end up looking like the picture on the front of the seed packet. Is this really going to end up as a tomato? But you follow the directions and you put them in your garden or in a pot, and you water them, and put them in a sunny spot. If they are out in the ground, you know that there are all kinds of hindrances they have to face; too much water and they are going rot, too little water and they are going to dry up. The soil has all kinds of enemies in it lurking about; all kinds of bugs, bacteria and fungus that can devour the little seeds. But then an amazing thing happens. That tiny shriveled up seed sprouts and as it begins to grow it pushes its way up through the soil and heads toward the sky, and that little seed that looked so helpless, defies all hindrances, and it grows and eventually yields fruit. It starts out so small, but that doesn’t seem to hinder it, because it’s filled with life. Once it’s planted, though it’s small to start, because it’s alive, it will grow and grow until it’s full grown. The Lord made it this way.
A seed is a tremendous illustration of life. Jesus said that is just like My kingdom in your life; it starts out so small. It looks so fragile and it looks like everything is against it, but expect it to grow anyway. It grows and it grows, and it grows until it’s mature. We learn through firsthand experience that nothing can really stop it; nothing can stop the kingdom of heaven in our lives by growing, because it’s growing by the power and authority of the King of the kingdom of heaven. Our King is victorious over all that might hinder our life and our growth in Him. We learn to rest because we know Him as the only source of life, life for the Christian. We may come to Him continually, draw from Him all that we need for our Christian life, and we find that that He alone is all-sufficient.
That brings us to the third and final parable this morning; the Parable of The Mustard Seed, Mark 4:30-32, “And He said, ‘How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed which when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” The Holy Spirit presents this parable three times in the gospel. It’s in Mark 13, and it’s also in Luke 13, and here it is in the gospel of Mark. In case you didn’t recognize them, on the handout sheet along with a picture of a mustard plant is also a picture of a mustard seed. None of those pictures are life size. The seeds are smaller than that. I had to blow that up so you could see it. I showed my wife the picture of the mustard plant on the handout, and I said, “What do those look like to you?” And she said, “Tombstones.” If you look carefully and close one eye or something you can see tombstones. It’s not a great representation but I hope it’s enough for us to see this morning.
I enjoy all the parables, but I particularly like this one because it is so sweet and concise. It’s a concise illustration of some very precious truths. Before we start looking at some of the very precious truths in it, I’d like to begin by pointing out what some have regarded as problems with this parable. There are no problems with this parable, but those who criticize the Lord Jesus love to turn to this parable and point out what they think are inconsistencies with it and what we see in nature. Sometimes when Christians hear these things it confuses them and often it sours their hearts to this parable, and that is sad. So before we get to the spiritual message of the parable, let me first try to clear the air as to what some see are problems with it. You may not have heard any of this before, and perhaps you could care less about what the critics of the Bible have to say, and that’s not a bad thing. I’m bringing this to your attention just in case you hear this in the future, because I think it would be a good way to highlight some of the key facts of the parable. That’s why I’m bringing this up.
In verse 31 Jesus said, “But the seeds of the mustard plant are the smallest of all the seeds.” Did He mean that literally? Are the seeds of the mustard seed smaller than all the other seeds in the plant kingdom? In verse 32 Jesus said, “The mustard seed grows up to be larger than all the garden plants.” Some translate it that Jesus uses the word “herb”. Other translations call it a “bush”. Matthew in his gospel says that when this mustard plant is fully grown it’s a tree. Well, what is it? Is the mustard plant an herb, a bush or a tree? Some commentators say that in this parable Jesus was intentionally describing something outside of the norm, and that a mustard plant was never to grow into the size of a tree like this one did. Some say that when this guy planted these seeds it wasn’t his intention to plant a tree, but surprise, that’s what happened. So, there are some questions people have raised about this parable.
Some say that the birds in the parable represent something evil, but the birds in the parable of the sower just before it, there Jesus said the birds represent the devil who comes to snatch away the seed on the wayside soil. Other say, “No, the birds in this parable are good birds, and aren’t evil birds. It’s amazing that the parable is only a few verses long, but people have come up with all these questions about it. It is true that the mustard plant in the Lord’s day as well as in our day generally grew to be a very short bush, and it could, if left untrimmed, grow into a shrub about six or seven feet tall, and it could look like a tree, but generally it was not very large. Just a brief observation of other seeds will reveal that in the plant kingdom there are seeds that are much smaller than the mustard seed.
So, how should Christians approach these apparent discrepancies in the parable? Well, let me begin with this; it’s true that the mustard seed is not the smallest of the seeds in the plant kingdom, but it is one of the smallest seeds. Because it is so small it was used in the Lord’s day as a figure of speech to point out the smallness of something. The mustard seed became known for its minuteness, and because of that it was used in a proverbial way in describing something small. I know that for a fact because we see it in the Bible. Luke 17:3-5 “There the Lord Jesus said, ‘Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times a day and returns to you, seven times saying, “I repent”, forgive him.’ And the apostle said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’” When the apostles followed these words about forgiving others, they got a little nervous because that’s quite a standard. And many think the Lord did not mean seven times literally, but that He meant all the time; always forgive those who ask for forgiveness, no matter how many times they hurt you, sin against you or spit in your face, whatever, forgive them all of the time because in Matthews gospel it says, “seventy times seven”.
When the apostles heard that they got in wrong and they started looking to themselves and to their faith, and they thought that what was going to enable them to obey the Lord’s words here concerning forgiveness was their faith. Naturally, they asked for more faith. And to turn their eyes away from their faith and to the only true object of faith, the Lord Jesus Himself, Jesus said in the next verse, Luke 17:6, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uproot and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’” His point was, “You do not need more trust; you need to trust Me.” Little faith is enough when that faith is placed in a great Savior. Do you see how the Lord Jesus used the mustard seed here? This mustard seed had become well known for its minuteness and was used as a figure of speech referring to something very small.
Some when they turn to this parable question why the Lord seemed to use the mustard plant to illustrate largeness when it only grew to be six or seven feet tall. In verse 32 He said, “Yet, when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants.” That does seem a little odd, doesn’t it? Here are some interesting things I’ve read. Although there are smaller seeds than the mustard seed and although there are plants larger than mustard plants, there are no larger plants that come from the smaller seed. So, the Lord says here that the mustard seed is the smallest seed. He’s not saying that the mustard plant is the largest plant because obviously that’s not true. But He is saying that the mustard seed is the smallest seed to grow into such a large plant. In any case, it’s clear that the mustard seed was used in the Lord’s day as a proverbial saying describing something very small. My mother used to say, “That guy has more trouble than Carter has liver pills.” So, Carter must have made a lot of liver pills. That’s what she meant. Was it true that the guy had more troubles than Carter had liver pills? Probably not, because it was proverbial.
Now all of that actually, with ten minutes left, has very little to do with the spiritual truth of the parable. Having addressed it, let’s be happy to set this aside, and move on to the heart of the Lord here, the good stuff. The message of the parable is very precious, and the message is extremely important because whatever the Lord is communicating in this parable, His purpose is to teach us about the kingdom of heaven. And He says, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God? Or by what parable shall we present them?” Well, what is the kingdom of God?
In our first parable Ed shared on Friday evening it was a wonderful and concise description of the kingdom of God. He said, “The kingdom of God is anywhere where Jesus is crowned the King; anywhere where Christ’s Lordship is welcomed—that’s the kingdom of God. Jesus is the absolute King of heaven and earth and Lord overall. That’s truth, but not everyone on earth welcomes His Lordship. This is a parable concerning those who do. That’s what the parable is about. It’s describing the realm or the place or the heart of those who willingly live their lives with Jesus as their King. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.” What does that tell us about living life with Jesus as our King? This parable describes what our lives will look like when we trust Christ as King. And it’s not just for individuals, but it’s also true of the group, corporately. What will a Christian fellowship look like when the believers in that fellowship trust Jesus as their King? That’s what this parable is about. It’s about the kingdom of God and about embracing Christ as Lord of all. What is it to know Jesus as Lord? How is that manifested in our lives? That’s what the parable is about.
I think most would agree that at the very least the mustard seed in this parable represents insignificance. The mustard seed is something very small, and even when it grows up it never really matures into anything fantastic. That’s like the picture in the handout. In terms of bushes or bushes that can sometimes look like small trees, the mustard plant is just not very great. What makes the parable so interesting is that the Lord Jesus is using something so insignificant, the mustard seed, the mustard plant, to picture His very kingdom. How shall we picture the kingdom of God? Well, He said that it’s like a mustard seed; something so very small and so very insignificant, something like a mustard plant.
So, you know what He’s not saying. He’s not saying that the kingdom of God in your heart is insignificant. You know that’s not true. The kingdom of God in your life is everything. What Jesus is referring here to is how this often looks like in the eyes of man. That’s His description. To the eyes in our head the kingdom of God appears to be as insignificant. As a mustard seed. According to the parable of the sower the message is this; the life of the Lord Jesus sows my life when the Lord Jesus sows His sees upon me and I welcome it. The parable of the seed grown secretly, the message is this; the life of our Lord continues as He releases His life through us. According to this parable, the mustard seed, the message is this: the life of our lord is manifested in and through that which is insignificant.
To develop this, I’d like us to turn to the passage in the Old Testament that Ed and I believe may share some wonderful light on this. It’s an amazing illustration. I think that’s what you are going to say in your heart when we look at it. You are going to say, “That’s an amazing illustration.” It’s amazing because it’s inspired of the Lord. It’s not my illustration and it’s not Ed’s illustration. It’s the Lord’s illustration. The passage I’m referring to is in Ezekiel 31:3-9:
“Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high; And its top was among the clouds. The waters made it grow, the deep made it high; And its top was among the clouds. The waters made it grow, the deep made it high. With its river it continually extended all around its planting place. And it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. Therefore, its height was loftier than all the trees of the field. And its boughs became many and its branches long because of many waters as it spread them out. All the birds of the heaven nested in its boughs, and under its branches all the beast of the field gave birth, and all great nations lived under its shade. So it was beautiful in its greatness in the length of its branches; for its roots extended to many waters. The cedars in God’s Garden could not match it; The cypresses could not compare with is bough, and the plane trees could not match its branches. No tree in God’s Garden could compare with it in its beauty. I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, and all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.”
This passage is about a kingdom, not the kingdom of God, but an earthly kingdom, the kingdom of Assyria. In the passage the kingdom of Assyria is not compared to a mustard seed. It’s compared to a tall and magnificent cedar tree. In the Bible cedar trees are often used as an illustration of something mighty and glorious, especially the cedar trees that grew in Lebanon. They were renowned for their greatness and beauty. In this passage the nation of Assyria is compared to a great cedar tree. In verse 3 we see that the cedar tree was very tall, and so tall it grew up into the clouds. In verse 5 we learn that it was higher than all of the trees around them. Verse 6 tells us that the birds of the heaven nested in its branches and under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth and great nations lived under its shade. It’s an amazing tree. Verse 7 says that its beautiful in its greatness and in the length of its branches its roots grew far and wide casting into the many sources of water around it. Verse 8 tells us that even the trees in God’s garden, the Garden of Eden, could not match this tree. “No tree in God’s Garden could compare with its beauty. Verse 9 tells us that all the trees in the Garden of Eden were jealous of this tree. This was quite a tree!
Now Assyria, as you know, was a very wicked nation. It’s the nation that the Lord sent the prophet Jonah to cry against it. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and it was the nation that one day destroyed the northern tribes of the nation of Israel ruthlessly. This was the nation. They cut the heads off their captives and put them on poles, and they would line the main road into the capital of Nineveh. This was a ruthless nation. When the Holy Spirit describes this nation, He describes it as this magnificent, beautiful tree, a tree that to look upon would just take your breath away, a tree that could be seen for miles and miles away, and it’s height reached up into the heavens.
What does that have to do with the parable of the mustard seed? Well, it’s a contrast. When the Lord describes Assyria, the kingdom of man, it was this tremendous cedar tree. But when the Lord describes His kingdom He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God? It’s like a mustard seed which when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it’s sown it grows up and branches and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” When Jesus describes His kingdom it’s a tiny little seed, and when it grows up, sometimes in its maturing it may even reach a whole six or seven feet. Wow! This is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the ruler of heaven and earth, the One who spoke, and the universe came into being, the One who gave life and breath to all. I would suspect that His kingdom would be pictured by something that rises not just into the clouds but way up into those third heavens; it’s branches covering the whole earth. But that’s not what Jesus said. He said that the kingdom of God is like a little bush, an herb, really; a shrub with little branches, and when the birds come, they nest under it.
I don’t think you can read this parable and the passage in Ezekiel and not see the strange contrast between the kingdoms of this world with all their glory and the kingdom of God with its glory. We know that the Lord could have chosen any seed, any plant in which to describe His kingdom, because all seeds contain life. So, He could have chosen any tree, any plant, and chosen the mighty oak tree or the beautiful Magnolia tree with it’s large, fragrant white blossoms. Or He could have chosen the large Sequoia trees in the Pacific Northwest. But no, He intentionally chose the mustard plant. When people mention beautiful trees or even beautiful bushes you won’t hear them talk about the mustard plant; “Let’s go to Home Depot and buy a mustard plant.” They don’t sell them. That’s because the mustard is not a very good-looking plant. Even when it grows to a larger size and resembles a tree it’s not a very good looking tree. It looks like tombstones. The pictures I’ve seen of the mustard tree, and I looked at a lot this week, indicate that it is a scrawny, little twisted thing, kind of ugly, compared to all the other bushes and trees in the plant kingdom. Although the mustard plant in this parable grew large enough to become a resting place for a few birds, it wasn’t anything that would be admired by this world. From maple trees you can get maple syrup, from oak trees you can make beautiful furniture, but from the mustard plant, what do you get? A condiment for hot dogs.
Blossoms of trees and bushes usually smell pretty nice, even when the plant might not look very nice. Some are more fragrant than others, but what I read about the mustard plant, it’s blossoms don’t even smell nice. In fact, they are rather pungent. In fact, it grows around here. Do you see the little plants in fields covered with yellow blossoms? Try to steal one of those one time. Go pick one. The mustard plant is not a plant that you would expect the Lord Jesus to use as an illustration of His kingdom. The more you see of the Lord’s kingdom upon this earth with your eyes focused on Jesus, the more you will see that the mustard plant is indeed a very accurate depiction of our Lord’s precious kingdom. In reality the kingdom of God is beautiful, and beyond comparison, but not to the eyes of the world, and that’s His point.
When God rules, this is what His kingdom will look like. When God rules your life He’s going to be manifested through that which is insignificant. When God rules any Christian fellowship, this is what it’s going to look like. This parable is about the Lord Jesus manifesting His precious life in and through His people. It’s about missions and evangelism. The birds come and they find shelter in it. When Jesus manifests His life He chooses to use that which according to human eyes is very small and of no account in this world. This is His doing. You know these verses:
1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God has chosen mustard seeds. He’s chosen the weak things of the world, to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world, and despised, God has chosen things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.”
Zechariah 4:10, “For who has despised the day of small things?”
When Jesus rules He always uses the day of small things in order to accomplish His sovereign will upon this earth. It happens completely unnoticed by those who are living according to the world’s principles. They can’t even see it. If they could they would not understand it. If they could see it they would see the foolishness of trying to stomp it out. They would quickly see that all their efforts against it are in vain. But they don’t see it. To them it’s a stupid little mustard plant, but to those who have given eyes, the kingdom of God is like it.
In God’s kingdom God works through that which is insignificant. For example, two unknown poor slaves send their little baby boy down the Nile River in a basket, but at the same time the daughter of Pharaoh, the king, has come down to the river. She hears the baby’s cry, and through that one little act God delivered an entire nation from four hundred years of Egyptian slavery. Amazing—the day of small things, a little baby’s cry. A shepherd boy picks up five little stones from the brook and he puts one in his sling, and the world starts laughing at him, but by the power of God the giant comes down with just a little stone. It’s the day of small things. A boy has a lunch with a few loaves and some fish, and the apostles themselves say, “What is this to feed so many?” In the end everyone is full, and they gather twelve baskets of leftovers. This is the kingdom of God. You look at it and it doesn’t look like anything. It’s insignificant; it’s a mustard plant. But, boy, God uses this. It’s a root that pops out of the desert. It’s a little cloud that forms in the sky. It’s Paul meeting down by the river with a handful of people. He shares Jesus and then dear Lydia responds, and all of Europe is opened up with the gospel of Jesus Christ. One little meeting with a handful of people; this is the kingdom of God!
There was those who were looking for some large, magnificent thing, some fantastic work to impress the world, some big show. This is missing. The Lord manifests Himself through that which is insignificant. His kingdom is never going to be beautiful with these eyes. It will be beautiful. Heaven will see it and rejoice, and the Father will be pleased, but God is going to use insignificant you and insignificant me, our little dinky lives, doing little dinky things, but it must be Him to advance His kingdom in ways that we’ll never fully be aware of until we get to heaven.
2 Corinthians 3:5&6, “Such confidence we have through Christ toward God, not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves,” we’re a mustard seed, “but our adequacy is from God.” To be used of God there is only one qualification, and that is inadequacy—weakness and helpless dependence upon the Lord. The apostle Paul did not say, “When I am weak, I will trust the Lord and He will make me strong.” No, he said, “When I am weak, that’s when I’m strong,” because it’s in my weakness that I trust the Lord to be strong in me and for me. I don’t need for the Lord to make me strong. If He’ll be strong in my behalf, I can remain weak and trust Him to be strong in whatever situation I found myself.
It was like when I was in fifth grade and Billy Martell was being a bully toward me. And I was avoiding little Billy. I was the second smallest in my graduation class in High School; Billy was the smallest, and he was a bully. Well, he didn’t know that I had a friend in a twelfth grader, and one day my friend in the twelfth grade saw what little Billy was doing to me, and he went up to little Billy and gave him a lesson. Little Billy didn’t bother me after that. I didn’t have to be strong. I had a strong twelfth grader. I can be crying, I can be hopeless, I can be distraught, I can feel crushed, but so what; that’s not going to upset my victory in the Lord. Our victory is in a Person, not in a proper set of circumstances. We never have to rise above circumstances. Jesus already has for us. He’s not going to take us from our inadequacy to adequacy. He’s going to take us from our inadequacy to Jesus. When we go to meet Jesus, that’s all we need. He’s not going to make us strong or patient or loving or kind or courageous. When His life flows through us everything will be differently, but not because we are changed. We are weak and we will remain weak, but things will be different because of His life—the seed—as He flows through us to others.
Sometimes it’s a real hurdle for Christians to get over this. We want to so much to be adequate; talented and articulate for Jesus, so they can splash in the kingdom, to accomplish something great that will bring Him glory. It’s a wonderful motive, but it causes us to trust Him and step out, even when our own heart makes fun of our weakness, even when we can’t shake off the feelings of our inadequacy in our service unto Him. We ask ourselves over and over again, “What can I do? How can I really serve King Jesus?” Those feelings of inadequacy will never go away. Good news! It’s because our inadequacy will never go away. With an eye upon Jesus those feelings won’t matter, will they? There’s a big difference between God providing for me and God being my provision. Jesus is not going to give me a pound of wisdom or a bushel of patience or a gallon of courage. God will provide for us by giving us Himself. He gives Himself and then invites us to trust Him to live His wise and patient and courageous and loving life through us. We remain helpless, while he is strong through us, so all the world may see Him as strong. That’s the witness to the world—Jesus living through a mustard bush.
Now the Lord concludes this parable with birds coming to this mustard plant, finding rest and protection in it, and I don’t think these birds are evil, like they are in the parable of the sower. I don’t think when Jesus uses a figure of speech or illustration one way, He always uses that figure of speech for illustration in the same way throughout the Bible. Sometimes He may, but I don’t think we can conclude that because God declares birds to be evil in the parable of the sower, that they will represent evil in every parable. In fact you can go back to Isaiah 64 and the birds there are tremendous, beautiful Christ-loving birds. So, I see nothing in this parable indicating that these birds are evil. This is the kingdom of God, and this is the realm in which Jesus rules. Where Jesus rules and His Lordship is welcomed and trusted, His kingdom is not going to look like Assyria, some magnificent, impressive, self-sufficient thing. It’s going to look like a mustard plant, and its not going to be very attractive to the world, and it won’t be attractive to you or me, unless the Lord works a miracle in us to see.
There are going to be some birds that are going find this mustard plant attractive, ones that are looking for reality, those who are looking for life in Christ. There’s something about the life of God that will attract certain birds, and there are some that are going to be drawn to the Lord Jesus and find rest and shade in Him, even though He is despised and rejected by the world. They may have been to the big trees and thought there was life there, but they found that it was just excitement, and it was just busyness, but not life. Eventually they find it to be such a sham, and when they saw the mustard tree, the Lord opened their eyes, the eyes of their heart, to see the kingdom of God, the life of Christ, and they found a home there. But I don’t think there are going to be many birds come there to that mustard plant, coming to the King, to the kingdom of God—perhaps a remnant.
Sometimes I see those in the Lord’s kingdom become very discouraged in the fact that they are a mustard seed ministry. It’s very sad to see when they try to copy the big cedars around them, hoping that will encourage their growth, so they can stand toe to toe beside them. But that’s something they lack. Why would you want to become something that you lack? The birds that are coming are not coming because of the bells and whistles. They are coming for no reason but because they are drawn to the Lord Jesus. He’s the bush, and He’s why the bush is attractive to them. We shouldn’t want birds coming for any other reason than that—to see Jesus.
There’s many other things we could look at in this parable, and perhaps many other ways we could develop it. This is really a surface way, but we believe this is the main principle in it, that the Lord manifests Himself through that which is insignificant, and when all the work is done, they’ll be no doubt who did the work, and He will receive all the glory. Let me close with this wonderful verse from Micah 4:6-7:
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will assemble the lame and gather the outcasts, even those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever.”
Do you want to see the Lord’s kingdom? There it is; He’s King over the crippled; He’s King over the weak, that the strength may be all of Him. These parables are all about union with our Lord Jesus; He sows, we respond, and we live not by our own life, but by the life of Christ within. And because His seed abides in us we grow—mysteriously, spontaneously, victoriously. And what do we grow into? A mustard plant. Yes, but a mustard plant that is alive with the life of God, and the life of God in Christ is the beauty and the strength and the glory of that which is of no account in this world. The great work of Christ through such a small, fragile thing. May He be praised!
Thank you for your attention this weekend, and may the Lord move us forward in our union with Him. Heavenly Father, we are thankful, thankful for these precious parables, and the wonderful truths represented in them. We’re thankful for the Holy Spirit who guides us in the truth, that we might understand, that we might live the truth that is expounded in them. And as we come before You we ask You to do another miracle, to open our heart eyes to these precious things. As we come before You we ask that You incorporate these things into our lives, maybe gradually, systematically, whatever—maybe overnight. We don’t know how you are going to work in our heart. It doesn’t matter because we can trust You in all things, but we pray that You’d make these a part of who we are in our union with Him. In Jesus’ name we are thankful. Amen.