My 5 Favorite Quotes from Jesus: #3 Matthew 13:31-33

"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches...  The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

This quote is found on the lips of Jesus in Matthew 13:31-33 (as well as in Luke 13 and a similar statement in Mark 4) and is an amazing picture of the kingdom and it’s inevitable fruition.  I actually did a 21 page paper on these statements with an emphasis on the eschatological views of Jesus, but I will not bore you all with that kind of commentary.

Simply put, one of the reasons I love these parables is the encouragement and confidence they give me as I seek to participate in Jesus’ kingdom building.  There are many who view the world as going to “hell in a handbasket” and I have the exact opposite view.  Sure, there are many serious problems with our world (third world debt, sex slavery, etc) but I believe the Church was given a mission and will be seen through to the success of that mission.  

The gospel continues to bear remarkable fruit all over the world in places such as China and Africa.  The Chinese underground church is a remarkable example of the exponential growth of the kingdom at work.  What do these verses mean for our society and culture?  What do these verses mean for our churches?  What do these verses mean for our individual lives?