Luke 13:18-22
The Kingdom of God
Jesus continued His journey to Jerusalem, apparently deliberately
passing through as many cities as He could.
Luke 13:22 And he went through the cities and
villages, teaching, and journeying toward
Jerusalem.
On this day of travel, Jesus’ attention turned to the Kingdom of God.
1. The kingdom of God was a common topic.
2. Luke mentioned this term 32 times, 14 times before this
chapter.
3. He mentioned 3 times through the remainder of this chapter.
4. What is the kingdom of God?
a. It is what Jesus came to offer to the Jewish nation.
(1) It was the offer to accept God’s rule by accepting
Jesus as both Lord and Ruler.
(2) That offer was soundly rejected when the nation made
the decision to crucify Jesus.
b. But Jesus also spoke of a slightly different kingdom of
God, one to the individual.
Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or,
lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you.
c. This is what a Christian is today.
(1) The Christian is a part of the kingdom of God, not so
much because he is in an earthly kingdom but because
the God’s kingdom is in him.
(2) As we surrender control of our lives to God, God’s
kingdom abides in us, and God is able to influence
us and others.
d. That reference in Luke 17, is still before Jesus reached
Jerusalem.
(1) Jesus left with steadfastness going to Jerusalem in
Luke 9 and would not arrive there until Luke 19.
(2) At some point I believe Jesus switched from talking
about Israel’s kingdom of God to talking about the
individual’s kingdom of God.
Let’s listen to what Jesus taught about the Kingdome of God in this
section.
I. \\#18-22\\The Question of the Kingdom of God
A. What is the kingdom of God like?
Luke 13:18 Then said he, Unto what is the
kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I
resemble it?
1. The question was Jesus’.
a. This was not a question of the curious or the
ignorant.
b. If Jesus raised the question, it must have been
because He wanted to answer it.
c. There are things about the kingdom of God that Jesus
wants us to know.
2. Now I have a question: Of which kingdom was Jesus
speaking? The Israeli kingdom of God or the individual’s
kingdom of God?
a. Having already considered the issue, I am going to
say this is the individual’s kingdom of God.
b. That is what Jesus would be speaking of in Luke 17 and
what I believe He is speaking of here.
c. Why? Because when God’s kingdom comes to Israel,
it will not be in small steps but as John
described it.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every
eye shall see him, and they also which pierced
him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail
because of him. Even so, Amen.
3. So let’s assume that the kingdom Jesus was speaking of is
the one of which we are presently apart.
B. So what is the kingdom of God within us like?
II. \\#18-21\\ The Elements of the Kingdom of God
A. Jesus mentioned two God-created elements.
1. These are parables, earthly stories with heavenly
meanings.
2. They are short, but they are still parables.
3. Being earthly elements means that they were created by
God with certain characteristics.
a. If it is on the earth, God created it.
b. So from these elements that God created, we can learn
something about the kingdom of God that is in us.
B. \\#18-19\\ The first element in the parable was a mustard
seed.
1. Most are familiar with mustard seeds although probably not
the variety of which Jesus was likely speaking.
2. A common characteristic of the mustard seed is its small
size.
a. A mustard seed is about .039 to .079 inches in
diameter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_seed
b. Take an inch, divide it into tenths, then take one
of those tenths and divide it into halves and you
will have the approximate size of a mustard seed.
c. Jesus compared the start of God’s kingdom in us to
something about the size of a #10 needle eye.
(1) That is not very big.
(2) So when God first shows up in your life, the
impact may not seem very big.
d. Why compare the kingdom of God within us to a mustard
seed? Perhaps, for many, salvation starts out small.
In my own life, Not ever seeing the transformation
that salvation brings, I had no idea that salvation
would change SO much! Indeed, although my salvation
experience was very powerful, it took years for some
of the changes to become evident. I was like a pot
of water coming to boil. It took awhile to see what
God was doing.
3. The second characteristic of the mustard is the size and
strength to which it grows.
a. Notice that Jesus said the mustard seed grows into a
large tree.
Luke 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took, and cast into his garden; and
it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls
of the air lodged in the branches of it.
b. There are several variety of mustard plants.
(1) Some are like flowers of small bushes, growing
less than two feet tall.
(2) Some believe Jesus was speaking of the black
mustard seed which can grow up to about 8 feet
tall.
https://www.gardenguides.com/96686-grow-black-mustard-plants.html
(3) However, there is another variety of mustard tree
(salvadora per-is-i-ca) which grows into a tree.
(a) This variety can grow up to 20 feet tall.
(b) Easily tall enough and strong enough to
meet the description Jesus gave.
https://www.gardenguides.com/124943-mustard-tree.html
c. The type and height that it grows to is not as
important as the fact that the kingdom of God grows
in us and grows strong.
(1) The longer God is in you, the more of you God
WILL effect.
(2) If any living tree planted in you, given enough
time, would grow out of you if it did not kill
you or your body kill it.
(3) The kingdom of God should be hanging out of you
all over!!
4. One more characteristic of the mustard tree is that it is
alive.
a. Living things respond to how they are treated.
b. The kingdom of God is not a THING within you.
(1) It is God within you.
(2) God’s kingdom is not there to destroy you, to
kill you, to harm you.
(3) It is there to bring you into fellowship and
submission to God.
c. So the more you yield to God and His kingdom, the
the quicker and larger it will grow.
d. Don’t resist.
C. \\#20-21\\ The second element was leaven.
1. Leaven is yeast.
2. Where a mustard seed is small, leaven is ground even
smaller, to a powder.
3. The difference is while the mustard seed emphasized the
strength and growth of the kingdom of God, the leaven
emphasizes the influence of the kingdom of God.
4. Once leaven is added to the dough, it effects the very
nature of the loaf.
5. And more, it changes the loaf completely, leaving no
portion of the loaf untouched.
a. So everything in your life should be changed: speech,
habits, dress, delights, dislikes, goals—everything.
b. And every portion of you should be changed. As there
is no area of the loaf the leaven cannot reach, so
there is no area of the believer the presence of God
can’t reach.
III. The Plan for the Kingdom of God
A. Notice also these elements were spread by human hands.
1. \\#19\\ A seed planted by man.
2. \\#21\\ Leaven hid by woman.
B. As powerful as the kingdom of God is, it takes a human hand to
share it’s influence with others.
1. The kingdom of God is WITHIN us, but God is not a disease
that spreads on its own but a seed to be planted by a
human hand.
2. In both of the parables, Jesus’ comparison pointed to the
need of God’s people to share the kingdom of God.
3. Seed and leaven left in sacks does no one any good.
4. Perhaps you remember the lessons from science concerning
energy in motion and energy at rest.
a. There is enough energy stored in the wood of our
church building to warm and give light to family for
months, but it is motion at rest.
b. To become active, something must release that stored
up energy.
c. So God has placed within every believer the ability
to influence a world for Christ, but He has designed
that human hands release that power.
5. So God wants the mustard tree and leaven to spread out
of our lives into the lives of others, and He wants us to
spread it.
C. I also notice that there are two different ways of spreading
the elements.
1. \\#19\\ A seed PLANTED by the man.
2. \\#21\\ Leaven HID by woman.
3. Planting is a hard, visible, open work.
a. God calls some to spread the city in a very open and
visible manner.
b. Perhaps this is preaching, passing out tracts, or
teaching.
4. But there is also the hidden, unseen work, of kneading the
bread.
a. Don’t think kneading is not hard work. You can build
up your arm and hand strength if you knead.
b. However, it is often unseen work.
(1) You might smell and taste the results but you
seldom see the leaven being added to the dough.
(2) That is a hidden work.
c. Your ministry might be to rearing the children, maybe
working in a small Sunday school class, maybe
spending time in prayer, but it is important work.
5. These parables do not say one is better than the other.
a. They are different but both need to be done.
b. Your calling and opportunities may determine which
of the two means you have to spread the gospel, but
one thing is for certain.
c. God wants all who are part of the kingdom to spread
the kingdom.
Jesus is not finished discussing the kingdom of God. The remainder
of this chapter deals with another question about God’s kingdom but
we are out of time. However, I will give you three truths I see
revealing in the final verses of this chapter.
Concerning the kingdom of God:
If planted, it will grow.
If hidden, it will spread.
If ignored, it will be lost.
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