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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 13:18 - 13:21
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Parables and Teachings.
The parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven:
v. 18. Then said He, Unto what is the kingdom of God like, and whereunto shall I resemble it?
v. 19. It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
v. 20. And again He said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
v. 21. It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
In the effort to bring the great truths of the kingdom of God home to His hearers, to teach them in what way the Word takes hold of the hearts and exerts its wonderful power upon them, in what manner the Gospel is spread throughout the world and people are being added to the Church of Christ at all times, the Lord uses the simplest and homeliest examples. He points to incidents, to happenings of everyday life with which the people were familiar, allusions which they ought to be able to understand. See Mat_13:31-33; Mar_4:30-32. The seed of the mustard-tree is very small, and yet, if it sprouts in good soil and grows without hindrance, it grows to be a good-sized tree, whose branches are large enough to serve as a roosting-place for quite a number of birds. The Church of Jesus was at first so small as to appear insignificant, but in the course of time the power of the Gospel, which was proclaimed in the Church, proved its omnipotent quality by overcoming opposition of every nature, so that now people from every nation have been added to the number of believers. A pinch of leaven may seem small in comparison with three measures of flour, and yet its power is such as to leaven the entire mass. Even thus the power of the Word is exerted in the hearts of the individual believers as well as in the Church at large, influencing. people even beyond the organization of the so-called visible Church. The power of God unto salvation is a power also unto sanctification. And the high ideals of Christianity have inspired the conduct of entire nations.