Barking Up the Wrong Tree

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

OK, you've probably read that or heard someone preach on it about a thousand times now. "Don't despise small beginnings..., God can use someone with the smallest bit of faith." These are all true, however, I recently read something that put the passage in a light I've not thought about before.

Try to imagine yourself as a Jewish person, most likely a farmer, in Jesus' time. You knew about mustard trees. Really to call them a tree isn't quite right, they were more like a shrub or bush. They were everywhere, and you didn't plant them because they were really like weeds - everywhere you didn't want them to be. So when Jesus says the "kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field", you would scratch your head. Why would someone plant a mustard tree in his field? If that wasn't enough, Jesus goes on to say, "when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." Again, another head-scratcher. Birds did not perch in these trees, at least not good birds. The birds that lived in these tress were pretty much undesirable birds like buzzards or crows. So what was Jesus talking about?

Well, let's take a step back...The Jewish people thought the Messiah would come to establish an earthly kingdom that would rival the glory days of David and Solomon. They thought this kingdom would be something grand and magnificent, the display of God's glory. Here, though, Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard tree - small, unassuming, and basically something that could be overlooked. No wonder Jesus confused them. So what is Jesus saying?

I think Jesus is again pointing out that His kindgom is not based on earthly power, but it is something that starts off small and spreads - like a weed! Think about it...who did Jesus choose to be His disciples? Fisherman, tax collectors and other lowlifes...not really a who's who of Jewish society. Anyway, these people, like the mustard tree, started to infiltrate the society. After a while, they were everywhere! People started hearing about a movement called "The Way" and a man named Jesus who had risen from the dead. They heard how these people showed genuine love for one another, and they wanted to find out more. Eventually the movement grew and infected all levels of society - much like weeds will grow anywhere.

Today, how are we are living out the Kingdom of Heaven. We think that building awesome church buildings is giving God glory - but maybe it's the little things that are more important. How de we treat that person at work we can't stand? What about the people that no one wants to associate with. Do we send them a message that we don't want them around - just like people didn't want the wrong birds around their gardens. Maybe we've been thinking the tree needs to be grand and beautiful when it really just needs to be a shrub that can grow anywhere.