December 6, 2015
Evening Service

Luke 13:10-21

The parable of the fig tree showed us that God’s desire for us is to produce fruit in our lives.  It showed His patience with us and brought out clearly that we all must choose the path in our life that leads to growth in the Lord.  Growth does not happen without effort, it is something that comes from our commitment to Him and God’s helping hand.  We have to want to grow, He will not make us.  Throughout Paul’s letters he encouraged his Christian brothers to grow in the Lord.

Tonight we will continue in Luke 13 and look at the parable of the mustard seed and leaven.  Growth will be the common factor of all three of the parables we discuss today.  We will first set the scene at the time Jesus spoke these parables.

Luke 13:10-17  And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  (11)  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together and was not able to be completely erect.  (12)  And when Jesus saw her, He called and said to her, “Woman, you are delivered from your infirmity.”  (13)  And He laid His hands on her. And instantly she was made erect, and she glorified God.  (14)  And answering, the synagogue ruler, being angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, said to the crowd, “There are six days in which it is right to work. Therefore in them come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”  (15)  And the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loosen his ox or ass from the stall and lead it away, to give it drink?  (16)  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound, lo these eighteen years, be loosened from this bond on the Sabbath day?”  (17)  And when He had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed. And all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

·         In this scene several things are revealed to us.  First, we see that Jesus is the Great Physician and has the power to heal.  She was healed instantly upon His divine touch.  Secondly, we see Jesus is not limited by the day of the week; He is the Lord of every day.  He had already confronted the Jewish leaders about this in chapter 6 of Luke when He healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. (Read Luke 6: 6-11) 

·         We also see the attitude of these Jewish leaders has remained the same. They proclaimed the woman was wrong for coming for healing on the Sabbath and should have come on any of the other six days.  They however, had not been able to heal this woman on those days for the past 18 years.  Even upon seeing the miracle, they did not glorify God for it, but chose to criticize instead.  Their fruit was revealed for all to see.

·         In the end Jesus’ explanation shamed His adversaries and the multitude rejoiced with the woman upon her miraculous healing.  This opens the door for Jesus to speak our two parables to a very attentive crowd.

 

Luke 13:18-19  And He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?  (19)  It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden. And it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the air lodged in its branches.”

·         A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds planted in that region.  It is about the size of Abraham Lincoln’s nose on a penny.  This small seed however, would grow in one season to a height in excess of 12 feet.  It had a very humble beginning, but blossomed into something great.

·         At this time of year we are all very familiar with the humble beginning of our Christian faith.  It all began in a manger in the town of Bethlehem.   His birth did not come with the notoriety or the publicity of the birth of a royal child in a palace in England. It was also was first announced to lowly, humble shepherds not on prime time CNN.  It was indeed a very humble beginning by design.

·          It has now grown into an event that changed and is continuing to change the world.  The entire calendar of world is based upon Jesus’ birth.  There is no scale large enough to measure the magnitude of the impact Jesus’ humble birth has had upon our society as a whole.

·         We ourselves should also be able to see the same growth in our lives from the time we humbly began our walk with the Lord until now.  In the beginning we really had no idea what was in store for us.

 

Luke 13:20-21  And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?  (21)  It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.”

·         Leaven elsewhere in the scripture is a reference to sin.  Here Jesus is using it to explain the growth of His kingdom (gospel).

·         Clarke’s commentary explains it like this:  As the property of leaven is to change, or assimilate to its own nature, the meal or dough with which it is mixed, so the property of the grace of Christ is to change the whole soul into its own likeness; and God intends that this principle should continue in the soul till all is leavened - till the whole bear the image of the heavenly, as it before bore the image of the earthly.

·         This again is true on the large scale as well as the personal level.  The coming of the kingdom of God through Jesus’ birth has slowly affected the entire world in so many ways.  Our entire nation was based upon the principles Jesus taught while He was on this earth to 12 ordinary men.  A small beginning 2000 years ago continues to grow throughout the world even today.

·         Our lives as well are continuing to be changed as we travel farther down this road of life.  We have gone places and done things that we would have never dreamed possible simply by allowing Jesus into our hearts.

 

Can you see that growth in your life?

 Do you have a greater understanding and commitment to Christ than when you first began your walk with Him?

·         Example of marriage and how love grows.

·         I want to close with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church (1:16-19 NLT)

 

 

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of Him.  I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future He has promised to those He called.  I want you to realize what rich and glorious inheritance He has given to His people.  I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe in Him.

 

Lord, may we continue to grow in the knowledge and understanding of You and hold tightly to the hope of the glorious future You have promised to Your children.