What I love about certain of Jesus; parables is that they are completely focused on the Kingdom of Heaven. My favorite chunk of these parables can be found in Matthew 13 where Jesus again and again says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..." and then explains! I love all the different terms and stories that Jesus uses to explain this thing known as the Kingdom. He talks about how it's like a mustard seed, that grows like crazy.
Mustard seeds. One mustard seed weighs 1/800th of an ounce. Mustard seeds are TINY. But they grow! In the first century, only mustard farmers were allowed to grow mustard seed. If a person planted them in their yard, it would spread, and soon take over an entire neighborhood or even more! Thus roman law outlawed the used of mustard seed except by professionals. Interesting eh? The Kingdom of Heaven is like an unstoppable invasive species!!
But Jesus isn't done. The Kingdom is also like a PEARL! The Kingdom is also like TREASURE! It's like YEAST! Jesus is so excited about the kingdom that he continues over and over again, explaining what the Kingdom is like. And you know what? If he came around today, he would use everyday objects for us too!
Jesus was a master teacher, and loved using stories that people would remember and tell their children for a long time, about what the Kingdom of heaven looks like. We have a master storyteller weaving our story right now. I find that comforting!
I agree--I delight in all the ways that Jesus explains the kingdom to us. I wonder how Jesus would describe the kingdom in our context--like a blackberry bush, I wonder? Jesus was a master storyteller--and I love a good story. Jesus is is our master storyteller weaving our story.
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