Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
One thing the Kingdom is not compared to here is another earthly kingdom which one might otherwise think would provide the closest analog for something which is also called Kingdom. But if there was some shared sense in which the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world used that word there was also a profound gulf of difference, a difference frequently highlighted by Jesus in his parables.
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
The Kingdom of God involves the reversal of our expectations. Greatness comes from small beginnings and humble origins. It does not require impressive and lofty origins, exalted ancestry, impressive education, or high degrees of skill or artistry. Earthly kingdoms are built on the strength of their component parts and tend to fail when there is a weak link. Weakness in the Kingdom of God is not a liability but an asset. For "he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate" (see Luke 1:52). This wouldn't work for any other sort of kingdom. It is predicated on the action of God himself, when his people are sufficiently humble to let him work.
I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest (see Ezekiel 17:22-23).
The result is somehow more than the sum of its parts. We, the inadequate seeds, are planted and grown by God into a majestic tree with room enough to welcome the entire world to find a home in our branches.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God (Psalm 84:3).
It is not only our raw materials that seem too insufficient for the task for which they are appointed. It is also what we contribute by way of our effort and cooperation with God that seems to be far too little for a job that is far too big.
To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened.
Many of us know all too well how insignificant our own efforts feel. Prayer seems hardly to move the needle. Our contributions to help the poor and other worthy causes seem swallowed up in an ocean of need. Yet we know by faith that everything done for the sake of the Kingdom has an effect that is much greater than would be expected by what can be seen and measured. We can take confidence that our works of mercy really are leavening an entire batch of dough even if this remains mostly invisible to us.
But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you (see Psalm 81:16).
These parables are meant to give us confidence to begin, and then confidence to keep going. They are meant to help us overcome the temptation to not begin because of a negative self-image or a negative assessment of our abilities. They are meant to help us continue even in the face of results which, on the surface, appear discouraging. Jesus wants us to be able to be people of faith, able to believe that there is more going on beneath the surface than empirical experiments can prove, much less what our emotions tell us, and to be deeply involved and invested in the things invisible even more than those that are visible.
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (see First Corinthians 1:28-29).
Even more than the best of husbands love his wife Christ himself loves the Church. It is he himself who desires us to be holy and without blemish, he himself who nourishes and cherishes us, because we are members of his Body. His body is currently visible only to the eyes of faith. But his love is a reality that is meant to be experienced and shared.
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