URGENT WORDS
URGENT WORDS
LUKE 13:18-30
The stories of the mustard seed and yeast teach that the kingdom grows outwardly and has a growing and penetrating inner power.
Verses 18-19. This appears to be the only instance of parabolic teaching connected with the synagogue … The grain of mustard seed was the smallest kind of seed sown by the farmers of the land, and grew to be the largest of their seed crops. It was a picture of history. All the story of the Gospels took place in an area no bigger than Wales, the State of Vermont or the northern peninsula of New Zealand. Twelve men, one of whom defected, were chosen from obscure towns of Galilee to stage an assault on the world. Those who have found liberty, release, joy and fulfillment in Christ are “a multitude no man can number” (Revelation 7:9).
13:20-21. Those who regard leaven as a symbol of corruption in Scripture (see 12:1; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:9) are in difficulties with this little parable. There is no doubt that it follows on the last, and carries a similar significance. There is no need to suppose that the same word or image must always be interpreted in one way. The picture here is surely the hidden working of a principle of life which permeates an inert mass. So works the gospel in society and in the personality. To be sure, the New Testament does not teach that the world will be completely Christianized by the preaching of the gospel, but parables are not to be pressed beyond their primary meaning.
13:22-30. The burden of these words is urgency. The Lord was moving down the Jordan Valley and its associated territories. He never came that way again. The cross is in clear view. Opportunity came and went, and some who saw the multitudes pass on their indifferent way, and the few who came to a live faith, were constrained to ask whether but few would be saved.
The question was rejected as irrelevant. There is one urgent need—to take advantage of the hour’s opportunity, and to meet the challenge of the moment. The Jewish nation were failing at this point, and others were laying hold of their privilege.
Notes 13:18-20: the catacombs contain 4,000,000 Christian graves from the first three centuries; statistical analysis suggests that there were generations in which one third of the Roman population professed Christianity. 13:21: three measures—about 4½ pecks. 13:24: “strive”—“do your utmost”—see 1 Timothy 6:12; “fight” is same word. 13:25: possibly a wedding feast, held at night, with a porter at the door, checking the guests. 13:28: an unexpected allusion to the place of the Gentiles in God’s scheme of things. 13:29: cf. Isaiah 49:12; 45:6.