Sanctify Us

Matthew 13 contains several parables about the kingdom of heaven. Two of these parables—the mustard seed and the leaven—make the same basic point about the growth of the kingdom but with slightly different shades of meaning. Both challenge our preconceptions about the way the kingdom should work. 1) The mustard seed. “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matt. 13:31-32). Mustard was the smallest seed commonly planted in the gardens of Judea. It was so small that you could barely see it, yet it grew to an impressive size of ten to twelve feet tall. In its mature state, the mustard tree was able to be climbed and provided a home for birds’ nests. You would never expect that such a tiny seed could amount to so much! The insignificance of the churc...

Like many of the psalms, Psalm 2 has two layers of meaning. Both have to do with the concept of the Lord’s Anointed One, but one is the shadow and the other the substance. The immediate meaning that the ancient Israelites would have thought of as they sang it is God’s promise to David to build him a house and for his lineage to rule in Israel forever. The second, greater meaning is how Jesus is the true Anointed One who reigns over the world. 1) Conspiracy against God.  “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us’” (Ps. 2:1-3).   The kings of every nation gather together angrily to plot against God. This is not about any particular event in history or the present day, but instead portrays the spirit within the nations. They do not submit themselves to God’s power but look to ...