NOTES for Luk 13:18-35

The Kingdom of God, Christ’s presence in our lives, often seems like something great and radiant that cannot go unnoticed. But in the parable of the mustard seed the Lord Jesus gives us a completely different image. The seed of the mustard tree can barely be seen with the naked eye. It is so small that it goes unnoticed by an outsider and often even by its owner. That is, the Kingdom has already been given to us as though in potential, in the form of a tiny seed. It does not resemble a large tree or the tangible presence for which we long so much. And yet, just as genetically the seed and the tree are one and the same organism, so the small portion of the Kingdom that each of us possesses and that must grow is the same Kingdom that appeared in its fullness in the person of Jesus.