Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, July 30, 2023. Proper 12.

Matthew 13, 31-33 & 44-52

Rev. Neli Miranda

The Kingdom of God has come near!  With these words Jesus opened his proclamation in Galilee amid the Roman occupation.  His audience knew very well the meaning of this announcement and most of them welcomed it with great expectation. From that moment, Jesus, like a generous sower, went out every day to sow the good seed, which began to produce abundant fruits despite the great opposition his message aroused.

For centuries, the people of Israel had faithfully waited for the arrival of the Kingdom of God which was to bring justice and peace to the world. Their hope had emerged in the face of the failure and corruption of the human kingdoms. So, continuing with the prophetic tradition and fulfilling the great expectation of the people, Jesus announced the Kingdom of God among an oppressive human kingdom, the Roman Empire. His announcement is surprising because he does not speak of the Kingdom of God as a future reality but a present, active, and growing reality in the world. In his teachings, he does not define what the Kingdom of God is like, rather he speaks about it using exceptional, rich similes.

For three weeks we have been reading Chapter 13 of Mathew’s Gospel, which contains a series of parables that tells us what the Kingdom of God is like: like a seed that produces abundant fruit, like a farmer who sows good seed in his field, like a small mustard seed that grows into the greatest shrub,  like a woman who mixes yeast in flour, like a hidden treasure found, like a merchant who finds a pearl of great value, like a net thrown into the sea which catches fish of every kind.

 Jesus was a master at teaching parables! He used the common imagery of agriculture, fishing, and other elements of his culture; however, his narrative was very provocative, subversive, and involved surprising reversals of the expected outcome. For instance, who would compare the Kingdom of God to an ordinary and invasive mustard plant instead of a majestic cedar tree? Jesus did!

The parable called of the mustard seed is the third of the three parables in Chapter 13 that brings images from the field of agriculture: sower, soil, seeds, and fruits. These images of ordinary life, particularly the image of the seed, help us to imagine the reality of the Kingdom of God germinating, growing, and bearing fruit in the world. Alleluia!

In Jesus’ time, the mustard seed was a traditional symbol of something small; on the other hand, the mustard plant was considered a wild bush, a kind of weed. Farmers kept their gardens clean from mustard because it invaded vegetables and plants and quickly took over the entire garden. Additionally, Jewish law forbade planting mustard in the garden. So then, why did Jesus use this image to refer to the Kingdom of God?

In Jesus’ time, many people in Israel expected a spectacular arrival of God’s Kingdom. Their expectations were inspired by the monarchical-imperial-military model, and they expected a warrior Messiah who would overthrow the power of the human kingdoms while sitting on the throne of Israel. However, Jesus did not support any kind of violent system and described how the Kingdom grows into the world by using the image of a small mustard seed that grows and reaches the most inhospitable places. This seed grows to be a great tree where ALL the birds of the air find a home. Jesus’ images invite us to see things from another perspective; to see the greatness and extraordinariness of what the system teaches as small, ordinary and despised. Through these images Jesus also ridiculed the violent and dominant stereotypes of power of his time.

How do we imagine the Kingdom of God today?

Jesus’ image of the resilient and spreading mustard plant may inspire us to imagine the small flowers we see breaking through walls, sidewalks, and asphalt. These are not the most delicate, majestic flowers, but they are strong enough to break through hard concrete. Likewise, today our good deeds can break through walls of hatred, violence, and indifference.  We do not need violence and guns in our world; we need the small but powerful seeds that produce the fruits of the Kingdom of God, that is justice and peace! It is our “ordinary and small” daily actions that touch and change others’ lives.  Let us be a mustard shrub that grows to be a great tree where all the birds of the air come and nest.

I would like to finish this reflection by sharing another property of mustard: its fiery potency, which is described in the following story:

“In the days before the Roman Empire it [mustard] was a sign of power. Darius, King of the Persians, invaded Europe and was met by Alexander the Great. Darius sent Alexander a bag of sesame seeds as a taunt, indicating by the seeds the vast multitude of soldiers he had. Alexander sent back a bag of mustard seed with the message, ‘you may be many, but we are powerful. We can handle you.’ And they did.” (Claiborne & Haw, 2008, p. 104).

Dear sister and brothers, the Kingdom of God grows within us, we are the Kingdom of God! 

The Kingdom of God has come near! AMEN.

 

Image: https://www.fght.org/the-parable-of-the-mustard-seed/

Claiborne, S., & Haw, C. (2008). Jesus for president: Politics for ordinary radicals. The simple way.