Lesson 10

The Kingdom of God is like pt.3

Parables of Growing Kingdom

     The great statue had a head made of fine gold while its breasts and its arms were molded from silver. Its belly and its thighs were fashioned from bronze. This statue had legs created from iron and feet made partly from iron and clay. This was the enigmatic figure that haunted the dreams of great Nebucadnezzar, the king of Babylon. The king in all likelihood woke up drenched in sweat, gasping for air as the final scene played in his unsettled mind: a stone was hurled through the air crushing this august figure into mere powder. Extraordinarily, stone began to enlarge until it became a immense mountain which occupied the entire earth.

     Voraciously determined to understand this labyrinth, the king thunders with murderous intent against those who fail to reveal this concealed matter. Whereas others failed, Daniel unlocks to Nebucadnezzar a portal of what was then present and future events. This man of God explained that this form is a portrait of successive nations that wielded world dominating power. The head of gold is symbolic of Babylon; the breasts and arms of silver are representative of the Medo-Persian empire who would supplant the Babylonian Empire; the belly and thighs of bronze are symbolic of the Grecian Empire who would conquer the previous kingdom; the legs and feet are typical of the Roman Empire which would subdue the Greeks. Here’s the interesting question: what about this rock? Daniel answers, "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan 2:44).

     In this lesson we are dealing with certain parables that highlight the conception and growth of the kingdom of God. What does this have to do with Nebucadnezzar’s dream? Everything! To grasp the significance of this question, we need only ask another: What significant occurrence do we find during the regime of the Roman Empire? The answer is glaring: Christ was sent to establish God’s regime. However, notice that this dominion of God starts out as a small rock and progressively grows into a mammoth mountain subduing all earthly empires. This expansion is the theme of the parables we will briefly survey.

I. Parable of the Growing Seed

Text: Mark 4:26, “And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows--how, he himself does not know. 28 "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 "But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

     There is a secrecy to how God’s kingdom works. How does it grow? Like the farmer, we don’t know. Just because the farmer doesn’t know how the seed that he sows germinates and grows into crops doesn’t sway him from being a farmer. Of course he has never placed a seed under a microscope and charted each micro-stage of development. Obviously he doesn’t grasp the intricate workings of what is actually happening in this process. He is not bothered or bugged, for he has witnessed himself that it indeed happens. The farmer has beheld and benefited from these tiny seeds growing into abundant crops. Therefore, he acts in faith and waits in expectation, not hesitation. We don’t find him out in the field at 2 a.m. pleading with the seed, “grow for papa.”

      This secrecy bound up with God’s Kingdom is linked to its supernatural element. The text says, “the soil produces crops by itself;” Just as the germination and growth of a seed is natural, so the germination and growth of God’s kingdom in the lives of people is supernatural. Simply put, we don’t make it happen. In history we have many instances where so-called Christians would conquer a territory and coerce the natives to embrace Christ, all under the banner of extending God’s rule. Needless to say, this “gun to the head” evangelism is starkly unlike God’s method of “grace to the heart.”

      This parable also highlights that the growth of God’s rule is successive. Whether it’s the work of grace in an individual’s life, or the overall progress of God’s reign, growth is occurring one step at a time. “First the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.” As Daniel points out, the rock grows into a mountain in time.

     Lastly, we find a secured completion. The control of God doesn’t wilt and die after some growth has occurred. Likewise, the kingdom of God doesn’t wilt and fade once it has begun to do a genuine work in a person’s heart. Surely, once you see the blade, you can expect to see the head of grain and ultimately the mature head of grain. In Paul’s words, “and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom 8:30). This glorification is simply the Master putting his sickle in, for the harvest has come.

II. Parable of the Mustard Seed

Text: Mark 4:30, “And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."

     The kingdom of God, in many respects, starts out small like a mustard seed. “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil...it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil...” Christ did not come in ‘greatness,’ rather in ‘smallness.’ Jesus came not claiming the riches of earth or displaying the riches of heaven, rather lived a life of relative poverty as he gave up treasures belonging to both earth and heaven. Also, observe the early followers of Christ: disciples who were small in number, faith, courage, knowledge, discernment, and a host of other valuable qualities. They resembled David’s ‘army’ of discontented individuals who at first couldn’t conquer their own manifold character flaws. Lest we charge the disciples with frailty as if we had none, observe the followers of Christ today: if the disciples back then had mustard seed-like qualities, how they do tower in supremacy in their small seed-like state over most of the body of Christ today! We are like the smallest seeds scattered in a foreboding garden already occupied; growth looks impossible as the flesh, the world, and the devil appear to saturate the ground upon which we seek to grow. We are the ‘foolish’ and ‘weak’ things frowned upon by the ‘wise’ and ‘strong.’ In this rejoice and find strength, for God has chosen to demonstrate his miraculous transforming power by contrasting it with our impotence.

     God’s power takes that which was small, and transforms it into something which is superior. “yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches.” Some critics have sought to discredit Christ’s omniscience by pointing out correctly that mustard plants don’t grow into large trees. Though they are schooled in the biological sciences, they need more training in the literary sciences. Christ is using a hyperbole, that is, he is exaggerating for the sake of effect. Of course mustard plants don’t grow into massive trees, and that’s the point. This growth is not natural, rather supernatural. What a comfort for us. Does your faith in Christ seem as small as a mustard seed? Does God’s work in your life appear overwhelmed and overshadowed by predators that pervade the soil of your heart? Does God’s work in the church seem submerged by the tepid waters of complacency that rush in from the world? Surely, if the church were a mere natural entity, all hope for growth would be outmatched by such ‘natural’ adversaries. However, that which is small grows into something supernaturally superior.

     Finally, the mustard seed becomes a sanctuary. “THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.” What is one of God’s intentions for the church? To make it a sanctuary for people to find stability, shade, and rest; that this entity, which is naturally weak, would become a supernatural source of strength.

     This was vividly illustrated when the American Red Cross was gathering supplies, medicine, clothing, food and the like for the suffering people of Africa. Inside one of the boxes that showed up at the collecting depot one day was a letter. It said, “We have recently been converted and because of our conversion we want to try to help. We won’t ever need these again. Can you use them for something?” Inside the box were several Ku Klux Klan sheets. The sheets were cut down to strips and eventually used to bandage the wounds of black persons in Africa.

     In closing, what is the growth of God’s kingdom like? It’s like a small rock becoming a mountain; it’s like seed which matures into a head of grain; it’s like a mustard seed which abnormally grows into a tree. The growth of God’s kingdom is secret, supernatural, successive, and has a secured completion. Though it has started out small, it is becoming superior that it might be a sanctuary.

Possible Discussion Questions

1. How does Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Christ’s parables preview the ‘end times?’

2. How does Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Christ’s parables present God’s kingdom presently? In light of this, how is the kingdom of God successive?

3. How is salvation successive?

4. In reference to the Christian walk, what ‘seeds’ can we sow and water for the sake of future growth? In other words, what ‘simple’ and ‘small’ acts of Christian piety does God use in our individual growth.

5. In light of the forth question, why are such simple things so crucial?

6. How can Christian individuals become a sanctuary for others? How can our local church become a sanctuary for our community?

7. In light of our need for supernatural growth, and given our own personal weakness, how has God supernaturally enabled you to tower over things that once towered over you?