Monday, May 26, 2014

Monday, May 26, 2014

Reflection on Matthew 13:31-33

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

As this scene opens, Jesus tells stories from a boat to the people on shore, while explaining them to the disciples later.  For this purpose, Matthew collects many parables in one place, tying them all to the Isaiah prophesy that the people are blind and deaf and must be taught only in parables. 

Matt: 13: 15 “For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them” [Isaiah 6:9,10]

Jesus contrasts these people with his disciples. “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them,” he says. [Matt:13:11]  He describes the disciples as ‘insiders’ to the knowledge that prophets and righteous people have longed to see and hear.  No wonder they ask him for clarification later, in a more private setting.  Since they are party to ‘secrets’ the disciples surely want to get it right. They want to ‘understand with their hearts’.  Especially, they want to ‘turn’ and be healed.  And, so do we.

Parables are stories deliberately without any descriptive detail, loaded with double meanings – one at the narrative level, and one at the spiritual level.  We receive them like a bookmark or a timed-release capsule.  They remain as a memorable narrative – perhaps from childhood on.  When the spiritual level of meaning catches us, the deep lesson is released.  That is why they are the most powerful (and dangerous) device a teacher can use. [P.M.]

In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus points out that the seed is the smallest of all seeds, yet it produces a plant capable of growing so large birds can nest in its branches.  He compares this to the Kingdom of Heaven.  This begs the question: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?  I do not believe it is an actual ‘place’.  I’d like to think that the Kingdom of Heaven is a state of being (or a state of mind) where love-energy rules.  To act and think like Jesus is to be in this Kingdom.  So, when he compares it to a mustard seed, he may be saying that the smallest person, the smallest act of kindness, the smallest deed can produce the largest result.  Surely this was the idea J.R.R. Tolkien had in mind when he wrote “Lord of the Rings” – the smallest creatures in that story saved the entire world.

The Parable of the Yeast:  Jesus follows the idea of the mustard seed with an image of yeast.  Mix a tiny few crumbs of yeast plus water with flour and the result rises to become a large ball of dough.  Jesus mentions 60lb of flour (27kilos) – certainly enough to bake bread and feed hundreds.  Water and flour by themselves become nothing but glue.  But yeast turns it into bread.  Just like the mustard seed – a tiny, seemingly insignificant thing can be the catalyst for large, transformative results. Apparently, no act, however small, when done in the spirit of the Kingdom, will go to waste.  It will make a difference and produce both useful and wonderful results. 

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast, like other parables in this series have life lessons embedded in images from the lives of simple working folks in Jesus’ world – farmers, fishermen, women cooking and cleaning.  Anyone listening to Jesus then, as now, can picture a mustard seed – then see the full tree with birds making a home in the branches.  Likewise, the image of bread dough, rising because of yeast, is a tiny wonder that produces an amazing life-giving result.  Jesus’ words allow us to come closer to understanding the “Kingdom” to which we hope we belong. 

So we are left wondering if God can take a tiny creature such as ourselves and produce a wonderful, important result.  We long to be chosen for such tasks.  We pray we will be ready.

Peter Mansell,   Easter 2014