Daily Devotion

Both Luke and Matthew record this parable but with different emphasis, so we will look at both.

 

This is an illustration which Jesus used more than once but for different purposes. In the Middle East, mustard is not a garden herb but a field plant. It does literally grow to be a tree. A height of seven feet is common. A traveler tells how once he came across a mustard plant that was twelve feet high which overtopped a horse and its rider. It is common to see a cloud of birds around such trees because they love the little black mustard seeds.

 

The point of the parable in Matthew and Luke is quite different. Matthew stresses the smallness of the seed which Luke never even mentions; Matthew's point is that the greatest things can start from the smallest beginnings, and so does the kingdom of heaven. Luke's version leads up to the birds making nests in the branches. In the Middle East, the regular symbol of a great empire was a mighty tree, and the subject nations who found shelter and protection in it were typified by birds in the branches (Ezekiel 31:6; 17:23). As we have seen, Luke is the universalist who dreamed of a world for Jesus. His point is that the kingdom of God will grow into a vast empire where all kinds of men and nations will come together and will find the shelter and protection of God. There is much to learn in Luke's conception.

 

(1^st) there is room in the kingdom for a wide variety of certain 'beliefs'.No man or church has a monopoly of all truth. To think ourselves right and everyone else wrong can lead to nothing but trouble and bitterness and strife. As long as all men's beliefs are stemmed in Jesus, they are all facets of God's truth.

 

(2^nd) there is room in the kingdom for a wide variety of experiences.We do infinite harm when we insist that all people must come to Jesus in the same 'manner.' One person may have a sudden, shattering experience and be able to point to the day, the hour, even the minute when God invaded his life. Another person's heart may open to Jesus naturally and without crisis. Both experiences come from God, and both belong to God.

 

(3^rd) there is room in the kingdom for a wide variety of ways to worship.One person finds touch with God in an elaborate ritual liturgy; another finds God in bare simplicities. It is the glory of the Church that within its fellowship somewhere a person will find the worship that brings him to God. Let him find it, but let him not think his way is the only way and criticizes another's.

 

(4^th) there is room in the kingdom for all kinds of people. The world has its labels and its barriers.In the kingdom, there is no distinction between rich and poor, small and great, famous and unknown. The church is the only place in the world where distinctions have no legitimate place.  

 

(5^th) there is room in the kingdom for all nations. In the world today are many national barriers, but none of them has any standing with God. In Revelation 21, we have the description of the Holy City, and its size tells us that there is room in the city of God for everyone.

 

Life Application: I am so thankful that Esther, Sarah and I have lived in many different countries of the world and have met believers in all of them. If you have not had that opportunity just use your imagination as you read about the size of the city of God.

Praise/Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for the privileges you have given me. I see Your City filled with people from all over the world. What a wonderful place that will be because all of us will be accepted by You. Knowing You here on earth only prepares us for Your City. What a place that will be. Hallelujah! Amen!