A GROWING KINGDOM

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

Matthew 13:31-32

Again He said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when He was alone with His own disciples, He explained everything.

Mark 4:30-34

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Luke 13:18-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about the time of Jesus for a moment and ask yourself:

How many Christians were there?

Compared with the people of the world during that period, very few. Christ followers definitely were in the minority, that’s for sure. Early on, they were confined to Samaria and Judea where Jesus concentrated His ministry with a few outliers as people from lands bordering the Promised Land had visited to see the man everyone was talking about. Later, after Jesus ascended, we know that His apostles would take the Gospel message to all parts of the world but even then, Christians fell in the minority as the fledgling Jesus movement began.

In other words, Christianity started very, very small but as we see in Jesus’ parable today, one found in three of the four Gospels, the number of Christ followers and believers would grow and do so in a big way. Look again at His words here:

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”  Matthew 13:31-32

Consider Christianity today in the 21st century. It’s estimated that there are more than 2.4 billion Christians out of a world population of around 7.2 billion. That’s a far cry from the days of Jesus, for sure and a validation of what He said would happen.

For going back to the scripture passage for today and Jesus’ parable, we find Him describing the kingdom of God as “a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field”. Mustard seeds are some of the smallest seeds one could plant but the result of that small seed was far from diminutive. For as Jesus so beautifully explained, when that plant would grow, it would become one of the largest, turning into a great tree that would allow birds to come and perch on its branches.

Jesus’ point was that the kingdom of God was not going to remain in its pupil stages forever. For a day would come when that little “mustard seed” of Gospel beginnings would grow and grow and grow to where it is today…and the good news is that it is still expanding.

The Lord is far from finished adding to His number of disciples and increasing the breadth and depth of His kingdom here on earth.

Christians, that’s where we come in. We are all to play an active part in helping Jesus further His kingdom every day by carrying out His call to make disciples of all nations. His command wasn’t optional and so we have no other higher form of work to do than to help others come to find their salvation through Jesus, the Savior of the world.

As we enter into a new week, let’s all renew our commitment to do our part in what has been, is, and will continue to be a growing kingdom.

Amen.                                                                                                                 
In Christ,
Mark
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