Matthew 13:29-33: a reflection

29“But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” 31He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field, 32which indeed is smaller than all 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 lodge in its branches.” 33He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”

In these short parables Jesus reveals the surprising nature of God's kingdom. First, the wheat and the weeds: rather than tearing out the weeds immediately and risking the wheat, the owner lets both grow together until the harvest, when they will be separated. God, it turns out, is patient, allowing good and evil to grow side by side for a time rather than rushing to judgment. The final sorting will come, but not yet.

Then two pictures of the kingdom's hidden power. It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds, which grows into a tree large enough for birds to nest in. And it is like yeast that a woman works into a large batch of dough until it is all leavened. Both images say the same thing: the kingdom begins small, hidden, almost unnoticed, and yet it grows and spreads with quiet, unstoppable power, until its effect is everywhere. Do not despise its small beginnings.

These parables steady and encourage you. First, be patient as God is patient; do not be dismayed that good and evil grow together in the world for now, and do not take it on yourself to do the final uprooting that belongs to God at the harvest. Second, do not despise small, hidden beginnings, in your own faith, in a work of God, in the influence of the gospel. Like a mustard seed or a bit of yeast, what looks tiny and insignificant can grow, by God's power, into something far greater than you can imagine. Trust the quiet, growing power of the kingdom.

Lord, your kingdom grows patiently, letting wheat and weeds stand together until the harvest, and it spreads from the smallest beginnings like a mustard seed or a bit of yeast. Give me your patience, that I would not rush the judgment that belongs to you. And keep me from despising small, hidden beginnings, trusting the quiet, growing power of your kingdom to do far more than I can imagine. Amen.