Mathew 13:31-35 The Kingdom is like a Mustard Seed
The entire kernel of our faith is contained in the parable of the mustard seed. The questions about being, truth, self, and goodness are contained in the mustard seed.
“For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2Cor12:10). The Lord chooses the weak and makes them strong. Why the mustard seed? Is it not the smallest of all the seeds? And yet, this is what the Lord demands from us, to be small. I believe Chesterton once wrote, “It takes a great man to realize how small he is.” This is God’s philosophy and it should be ours. Who are we? We are nothing without Jesus our Lord and Savior, who became small for our sake so that we could be giants through his grace! The history of salvation is marked with smallness. Everything starts off small with God, and will end the same way, with a “big bang.” Starting from the very beginning, with Adam and Eve, to the Father of the Jews, Abraham (who couldn’t even count the stars to save his life), to the Shepherd boy turned King, David, the true God who is one God, chose the weak and made them strong. Our faith, our life, and our salvation began small (from weakness) and grew stronger each day. Is this not an image and likeness of the child Jesus who grew each day?
“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed…” (Lk 17:5-6). Jesus demands faith for our salvation. “Lord, increase our faith!” How can we know what is real? By knowing the Ultimate Reality. This is only possible through the virtue (and grace) of faith. To reach beyond our limitations, to hear the voice of God, to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord” requires a radical approach to life: FAITH! It doesn’t take much, the size of a mustard seed will do, but it is essential to human life. Only man can believe – no other creature can because only we can be bad or good. Nothing else in the universe has that choice. Faith allows us to choose well. Choose Life! Choose to believe! The good news is we are off to a great start: Jesus said, "It is I who choose you."
“The Kingdom is like a Mustard Seed.” This is what life is all about: eternal life. Below are the testing grounds, the greenhouse, or the nursery. Before we can be bought and brought to our real Home, the Lord wants to “test drive” us to see if we are who we claim to be. Better yet, the Christian is a beautiful flower whose petals the Lord plucks every day (“He loves me…he loves me not”), until there is nothing left except the root, the image and likeness of his Son – bare, naked, ripped apart. He is the root that keeps us all alive!
Today, I will humble myself in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Unless I become small, childlike, I cannot enter the Kingdom. Remember, it takes a great man to realize how small he is.
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