The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

Luke 13:18-21

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.

• The mustard seed.
• The leaven.

“Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?” Luke 13:18 Jesus Christ is the person who knows what the kingdom of God is like, and He compares it with a mustard seed and yeast.

The mustard seed. “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” Luke 13:19 When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He was the small mustard seed that was planted, grew, and became a resting place for the birds. At the time, He was the only one preaching that the kingdom of God had arrived with His coming. There is no smaller seed than that. After His crucifixion and death on the Cross, He was planted in the ground. But Jesus didn’t stay dead, like a dead seed, He was resurrected and blossomed into a tree. His testimony grew with branches all around the world. Those who come to God through Him for the remission of sin rest on those branches, we have an eternal home in the kingdom of God.

Today, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the mustard seed. When it is planted into the garden of our heart, we die to ourselves, and we live for God through Jesus. We begin to grow like a tree in the Gospel and in the Spirit of Christ. We become a resting place for anyone who wants to experience eternal life in the kingdom of God through Jesus. Our heart and mind must be good soil to receive the Gospel seed, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 In today’s world, there is a presence that wants to keep our mind and heart hardened to God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Gospel seed. It has power over physiology to influence thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors…it coordinates us to the mark of the beast. Whatever we feel or think, we must continue to lift up the name of Jesus by believing and saying that He is Lord.

The leaven. We all know what yeast does when a person bakes bread, and yeast is another word for leaven. Jesus says the kingdom of God is like leaven, “And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” Luke 13:20-21 Jesus Christ came preaching the kingdom of God, but the words He spoke just sat in the hearts and minds of the people until after His death and resurrection. His words were the yeast in the bread, so to speak. Then all of a sudden, after the atonement for sin was made and the path was paved to eternal life, the yeast began to suddenly grow. Even the yeast in the heart of the Apostles didn’t fully begin to rise until after His resurrection, then all of a sudden, they began to understand the fulfillment of scriptures. The Gospel of Christ began to flourish around the world. Likewise, every one of us will read the Bible and feel like we never got anything out of it, but it is sitting in our heart, mind, and spirit like yeast. One day, maybe the next day or maybe months or years later, the Holy Spirit is going to trigger something to make the Scriptures rise in us. All of a sudden, the scripture that had no particular relevance to us will begin to have significant meaning.

Jesus also has a warning about another type of leaven, the leaven of the Pharisees, “In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1 The thing that has power over feelings, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors fills us with leaven that gives rise to opposition to the teachings of Christ. The multitudes around the world have been exposed to its leaven. For example, sexual immorality is rampant in the world, including same sex relationships. People have thoughts about it, then begin to feel certain urges, and have emotional sympathy towards it. That is the leaven put within us in the name of the mark of the beast. Eventually, that leaven rises to give birth to every type of sexual immorality. That yeast happens the same way relating to violence, substance abuse. gambling, etc. For that reason, we have to keep the Gospel of Christ within our heart and mind, to believe God, to acknowledge the need for Jesus Christ, and to embrace the Holy Spirit.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11