“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.’” Matthew 13:31-32.

Thus far two parables have been examined; the sower (Good Earth, pub. 3-10-22 through 3-19-22) and the wheat and the tares (Tares, 6-30-23 and 7-4-23).

We now move on to the next two; the mustard seed, Matthew 13:31-32 and the leaven, verse 33, which are closely related in many ways.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…” this seed is said to be the “least of all the seeds”, but this is metaphorically speaking. It is not necessarily the smallest seed ever.

Rather, for its size the resulting plant is huge. My study Bible states that from the smallest of seeds comes a shrub, in one season, the size of a small tree.

But Jesus goes further still here and makes this to be a very large tree, which does not often occur, though some very large mustard plants have been seen in this area of the Middle East.

So, what we have here is an extremely rare occurrence; one Man, God the Son, out of all history, in a very small place, planted a seed which grew to fill the whole earth.

And this seed did grow with extreme rapidity, even as a mustard seed.

“I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His Empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” – Napoleon.

Some feel that because this tree is so disproportionately large it has become grotesque due to error within the church.

This unnatural tree is particularly applied to the Roman Catholic Church. While there is a grain of truth to all of this, it still misses the point of the Lord’s parable.

The word seed as used in the New Testament and particularly by Jesus is always in a good sense unless He designates it as the seed sown by Satan, or the verse clearly indicates what is meant by seed.

If this is the case then the seed “which a man took and sowed in his field…” is sown either by Christ Himself, or by the disciples, and is a good seed which would produce a good tree.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.” Matthew 12:33.

So assuming the tree is sound, what is the point of the lesson? From a very small beginning we have a huge luxuriant tree, which shows the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The problems are caused by the birds, not the tree. The birds see a safe nesting place along with a pungent fruit that they like to eat; but birds in Scripture are not a good thing generally. Often they are equated with evil.

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.” Matthew 13:3b-4.

“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. And when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Mark 4:15.

“And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!’” Revelation 18:2.

These unclean birds started to nest in the tree almost from the beginning.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Matthew 7:15-16.

“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples [Christians] after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Acts 20:28-31.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

The unclean birds began to flock to this beautiful tree en masse when in 312 A.D. Emperor Constantine declared Christianity a state religion. This made Christianity a profitable and “in thing” to be part of, bringing pagans into the church with many of their unclean and unbiblical rites.

In time, pagans and opportunists were able to gain power within the church and to pervert the gospel of Christ even further.

In time the birds took up permanent residence, nesting and gorging on the pungent seeds from the good tree.

Yet this food had no effect on their dead souls and after eating they defecated on the green tree turning it into an ugly white-washed obscenity, making it unappetizing for any who would benefit from the good fruit of the tree.

My wife and I arrived at church one Sunday morning, and as we walked in, she overheard a real estate agent trying to talk business with a man. The man was polite, but it was obvious that he was there to worship not strike up a business deal.

Why not let our minds wander a little; what if the real estate salesman realized that folks might be more likely to buy from him, rather than someone else if he were a trusted member of the church?

Our salesman puts his sheep clothes on and becomes a pious churchgoer. Then a greeter, soon enough someone recognizes his knowledge and hard work, so they offer him the job of church treasurer.

The door is open, he steps in and continues to excel at his job becoming a pillar within the church; and everyone goes to him for real estate.

Soon he is on the church board and bringing in his friends, now he and his friends can vote for the retiring pastor’s replacement.

Who to choose, well, of three possibilities, two are just as boring as the old pastor. But the third guy is a shrewd businessman and can golf up a storm.

So now we have a pastor who has some great new ideas for the church, and rightfully preaches on current events, since hell is scary and just a parable anyway.

This was how it was done, many churchmen were appointed by the king without any training (what would you need to know).

But it was a post that had to be filled, the money was good, and the work was easy, with many perks.

Jesus talk and God speak come easy to a conman, and Christians tend to hear certain trigger words and assume that someone is the real deal without any closer inspection.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23.

The key to this verse is, “but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” This is what those who were rejected failed to do. What is the will of Jesus’ Father in heaven?

“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him [Jesus Christ] whom He sent.’” John 6:28-29.

Simply put:

“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9.

“Another parable He spoke to them: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.’” Matthew 13:33.

We have four elements in this parable, the kingdom of heaven, leaven, a woman, and three measures of meal.

The kingdom of heaven, or the mystery kingdom of God as it is called in Mark chapter four, are in all seven parables a reference to the church age which we are in at this moment.

Some take the leaven to represent the gospel of Christ and how it permeated the world. This however is not how He uses it in other passages, so it is unlikely that He would change the meaning now.

Furthermore, the Old Testament use of the word leaven is almost exclusively representative of evil also.

The woman as used here is representative of false doctrine. She is often used in this context; she is Jezebel in Revelation 2:20 and the great harlot in Revelation 17:1.

But for every Jezebel and every Athaliah; there is a Rahab, Ruth, a Mary Magdalene, and a bride of Christ. We are speaking of types in Scripture, not prejudices.

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and beguile My servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols.” Revelation 2:20.

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters…’” Revelation 17:1.

The Jezebel of the Old Testament was the wife of King Ahab and she led the people of the northern kingdom into grave idolatry and Baal worship. It is also said that she was a very powerful witch.

The Jezebel of Revelation seems to have some of the same vices, calling herself a prophetess, leading people into idolatry, and sexual immorality.

The great harlot seen sitting on many waters (peoples) is the super-church that reigns over the world population for the first three and a half years of the tribulation until she is destroyed by the Antichrist’s followers.

This murderous harlot may shed more blood in three and a half years than the Inquisition did over centuries.

“And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.” Revelation 17:6.

The three measures of meal have been said to merely represent a common recipe:

“So Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, ‘Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.’” Genesis 18:6.

Another very intriguing view was put forth by a woman named Ada R. Habershon who saw the three measures of meal as being a picture of the meal-offering given in the law of Moses. The average meal-offering contained three measures of flour.

“And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. And if your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.” Leviticus 2:4-8.

The meal-offering was a reminder to Israel that God provided their food, particularly the manna in the wilderness, and they belonged to Him. It also reminded them of God’s words in Deuteronomy 8:3, which were also quoted by Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness.

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4.

More importantly, this offering is a picture of the purity of the life of Christ, which is another reason leaven, a type of evil, was forbidden in the meal-offering.

“No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire.” Leviticus 2:11.

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” John 6:32-35.

“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.” John 6:48-50.

Jesus is telling His listeners that if they eat of the bread of life, figuratively, that is to say that if they would accept Him at His word and as their Savior, they would have eternal life.

Just as the Israelites were nourished by eating the manna daily, so the Christian is nourished by eating the bread of life, the word of God, on a regular basis.

When Christians neglect the reading and study of the Bible, they begin to starve; often becoming prey to ungodly predators who circle them waiting for them to become weary or faint from lack of nutrition.

It becomes apparent here that the leaven hidden in the meal leavens the whole lump, which is to say that when error enters the church it permeates the whole body.

This is not a good thing; it hinders the gospel of Christ just as the unclean birds did to the mustard plant.

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’” Matthew 16:6.

This is the leaven that leavens the whole lump, self righteousness, error and heresy. The Pharisees and the Sadducees took the law of Moses and expanded it far beyond what God meant it to be, until people were so burdened down trying to work their way to heaven that they often fell exhausted and never tried to get up again.

This is what Satan does, he distracts men from the simple faith in Jesus Christ that brings salvation and then burdens them down with works thinking that they are going to work their way into heaven, not knowing that it is impossible.

“…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” Galatians 2:16.

Christians have continually been warned both by Jesus Christ head of the church, and the apostles, to know the word of God, watch for error and to challenge men who bring in anything contrary to Scripture.

Yet the tree is infested by birds and leaven has leavened the whole lump.

Mustard and a Little Leaven taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 12-17-14, updated on 7-8-23.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.