The smallest beginning
It would be good if, at the start of the session, you encouraged everyone to get hold of a seed (any seed) for use in the time of prayer at the end of the study.
A few background notes
PARABLES
Jesus did not create a new literary genre by teaching in parables. He made great use of a genre which was already of long tradition and which was familiar to all throughout the Mediterranean world.
What is a PARABLE? Several definitions, including “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Jesus relied heavily on parables (Mk 4.34a) and there are about 35 recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. However it is worth pointing out that in his early ministry, Jesus did not use parables. When he did, his disciples were surprised (Mt 13.10). So why did Jesus use parables?
1 to reveal the truth to those who wanted to know it
2 to conceal the truth from those who were indifferent
Those, like the Pharisees, were biased against Jesus’ teaching from the very beginning of his ministry and they would have dismissed the parables as irrelevant.
On a few occasions (parable of the Sower; parable of the Wheat & Tares) Jesus gave an explanation, but this was not his normal style. So how should we interpret Jesus’ parables?
1 Look at the context. Often Jesus used a parable to say something about the Kingdom of God. Read the verses before the parable as this often helps us to understand why he told it. Usually the setting is taken from ordinary life as it was lived at that time.
2 Try to work out the “meat” of the parable – not every detail carries a deep spiritual meaning. Some details are there simply to enhance the story being told.
3 Jesus’ parables will never contradict any other part of the Bible. They are told to illustrate doctrine and the teaching Jesus was giving can be found elsewhere in the Bible.
After telling some of his parables, Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” (Mk 4.9,23). As we look at some of Jesus’ parables may God give us ears to truly “hear”.
KINGDOM OF GOD/HEAVEN
As already mentioned above, quite a number of Jesus’ parables are about the Kingdom of God.
The first recorded words of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel are: THE TIME IS FULFILLED AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME NEAR, REPENT, AND BELIEVE IN THE GOOD NEWS.” (1.14)
“The rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe.” Our God is a Creator God; every authority has been established by him (Rom 13.1) so at one level we could say that the kingdom of God incorporates everything that is.
In a more narrow sense, the kingdom of God is a “spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who are willing to submit to God’s authority.” By acknowledging the lordship of Christ we become part of the kingdom of God.
The term is also used to describe the literal rule of Christ on earth during the millennium (Daniel 2.44; 7.13-14) – other prophets predicted the same thing. Jesus has set up his spiritual reign in the church on earth, and one day he will return to set up his physical reign.
There is much more that needs to be said about the Kingdom of God, but that will have to wait for another series!
STARTER:
What do you understand by a “parable”?
Jesus told about 35 parables in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). How many can you name? (You can stop after 10!)
READ Matthew 13.31-35
These 2 parables have similar features:
1 both stress the small beginning of the kingdom
2 both stress its gradual increase
3 both stress the extensiveness later attained
PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED
Comparison of a great kingdom to a tree was not a new thought – Daniel (4.10-12) and Ezekiel (31.3-9) had similar analogies, though the contexts are, of course, very different.
The mustard seed described is very different from those we are familiar with. It took several years to bear fruit and become a large tree/bush. There are seeds smaller than a mustard seed (e.g. orchid seed so small and fine that it is almost dust-like) – so was Jesus wrong?
Jesus was not comparing the mustard seed to all other seeds but to seeds that a local Palestinian farmer might have sown. The black mustard seed would have been the smallest seed sown by a first-century farmer at that time. And this seed will typically grow to heights of nearly 4 metres (12 feet) – quite large enough to hold a bird’s nest. Jesus was addressing a local lay audience, not an international conference of botanists! There is nothing wrong with using everyday terminology to communicate a simple truth. For example, we might speak of a beautiful sunset, when, technically and scientifically, we know the sun never actually “sets” – it is the Earth that revolves.
Any thoughts on the birds lodging in the branches? When did Jesus use birds in another parable? Here the birds seem to illustrate the ultimate magnitude of the kingdom, but in the parable of the Sower birds represent Satan. Is it possible for “evil birds” to try and build nests in the kingdom of God? Can you think of any examples? The truth however remains – evil will never thwart God’s purposes.
Try to imagine Jesus’ disciples hearing the parable of the mustard seed for the first time. Would they have understood that they were going to have a crucial role in building the kingdom? Could they possibly have even considered the impact they were to have? Do we today look for new ways of building God’s kingdom in our own communities – or does our relative “success” as a church in Ashtead make us feel complacent?
“In comparison with the massive edifice of pagan religion, and the age-old splendour of Judaism, the infant Christian church must have felt very insignificant and small: the semi-illiterate first disciples of Jesus must have felt even more so.” (Michael Green) And yet …..
What does “faith as small as a mustard seed” mean to you? Jesus is directing our attention not to the strength of our faith, but to the OBJECT of our faith. If our faith, even of only the size of a mustard seed, is placed in the hands of an all-powerful God, then great things can happen? “It is not necessary to have great faith, even a small faith is enough, as long as it is faith in the great God.” (Leon Morris)
THE PARABLE OF THE YEAST/LEAVEN
Yeast, when put into the dough may be hidden but it will permeate the whole loaf. “Obscure and hidden the kingdom of God will pervade society and permeate the whole world.” (Michael Green) Is this still happening (a) in Ashtead, (b) in our own country, (c) throughout the world?
Why did leaven/yeast have a “bad press” in Judaism? It had to be removed from the house before Passover could be celebrated. So why would Jesus use leaven/yeast as an image of the kingdom of God? Respectable Jews probably thought of his followers as a group of uneducated and disreputable people! But this is what God is like – he takes all sorts of people (even the disreputable) and transforms them, and them he uses them to transform society. Despite its many failings, consider some of the ways the church has, throughout history, sought to transform society – medical care, social work, education, slavery, defence of the aged and helpless etc. The kingdom may be hidden and obscure, but over the centuries it has had a very positive impact on society – what about its impact today?
A few further thoughts …
In Jesus’ day, Jews had two types of bread, leavened and unleavened. Bread was a staple food and had to be made every day, using wheat (expensive) but more usually barley. There were mills people could go to, but too expensive for most people so each day there was the task of collecting, crushing, preparing and baking the bread.
· For bread to rise it needs an active ingredient. People kept some of the dough from the previous batch to be used in the next batch. In the same way, the kingdom of God has to be passed on from one generation to another. We each have a responsibility for the next generation of Christians. How effective are we in passing on the “dough” of the gospel, realising that the Church is only ever one generation from extinction?
· Leaven has a purpose – to make the mixture rise. Jesus summed up that purpose in his final words recorded in Matthew’s Gospel (28.19-20) – we are to lead people to be fully committed followers of Jesus.
· The kingdom of God may have small beginnings, but it will increase – and we have a part to play in that! Every time we share the love of Christ in practical ways then the “leaven of Christ” is reaching out to others, until the day … Habakkuk 2.14. How evident is the kingdom of God in my life/your life?
The parables in chapter 13 must have been a great encouragement to Christians facing huge challenges. Why is the response to the Gospel so mixed? Why does evil seem to prevail? Why is the kingdom so insignificant and hidden? Don’t worry -THE LORD REIGNS!
They are also about WAITING and this is what the kingdom of God is like. And we don’t like to wait! God has his own timetable, but do we try to make him conform to our timetable?
PRAYER
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.” Opening words of a prayer by Pierre Teihard de Chardin.
If people have managed to get hold of a seed, encourage them to hold it in the palm of their hand (if not, imagine it!). A seed, small and fragile – in many ways like our faith. But what potential! READ the following poem/prayer:
The Song of the Seed
Life unfolds
a petal at a time
slowly.
The beauty of the process is crippled
when I try to hurry growth.
Life has its inner rhythm
which must be respected.
It cannot be rushed or hurried.
Like daylight stepping out of darkness.
like morning creeping out of night
life unfolds slowly
a petal at a time
like a flower opening to the sun,
slowly.
God’s call unfolds
a word at a time
slowly.
A disciple is not made in a hurry.
Slowly I become like the One
to whom I am listening.
Life unfolds
a petal at a time
like you and I
becoming followers of Jesus,
discipled into new ways of living
deeply and slowly.
Be patient with life’s unfolding petals.
If you hurry the bud it withers.
If you hurry life it limps.
Each unfolding is a teaching
a movement of grace
filled with silent pauses
breathtaking beauty
tears and heartaches.
Life unfolds
a petal at a time
deeply and slowly.
May it come to pass!
(Macrina Widerkehr)
Allow for a few moments of silence for people to take in the challenge of these words.
This may be an appropriate time to end the session, but if there are significant prayer needs then, of course, include them.