Introduction

Luke

13:18-21 ESV 

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I

compare it?  (19)  It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took

and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the

air made nests in its branches.”  (20)  And again he said, “To what

shall I compare the kingdom of God?  (21)  It is like leaven that a

woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Remember from last week the context here.Jesus is teaching on the Sabbath in a church, a

synagogue.As He is teaching a crippled woman walks in and

Jesus heals her.The ruler of the Synagogue rebukes Jesus for

healing on the Sabbath and Jesus puts Him in His place saying that doing good

on the Sabbath is not work, but is pleasing to God.So let’s look at verse 17 which transitions us

into todays message.

Luke

13:17 ESV  As

he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people

rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

So the people in the church were rejoicing… the

leaders of the synagogue where shammed… then Jesus starts saying “The Kingdom

of God is like a mustard seed”.Why such a harsh transition… from healing to

mustard seed?Because Jesus is taking this opportunity to show

the people that He is more than just a healer.I am sure that as the people were amazed that

there were some in the crowd who must have been thinking “Could this be the

messiah? Could this be the one we are waiting for to save us and bring the

Kingdom of God to earth?”“But He is just one man… and he only has a

handful of personal disciples… plus He is not very handsome”“I mean, shouldn’t the Kingdom of God be coming

with fire, and angles with swords, and flying horses, and glory overwhelming

bursting forth as it devours the evil of this world?”I mean surely the Kingdom of God can’t be coming

from this humble man, Jesus, could it?I think Jesus is taking this opportunity to

answer these questions…He is saying “Look, the Kingdom of God is here,

but it starts as small as a mustard seed. I am that mustard seed. These

disciples are that mustard seed. But don’t worry, because Just like the Mustard

Seed, the Kingdom is going to grow bigger than you could ever imagine.You know there was a time when Zerubbabel, a man

who lived 500 years before Jesus decided by God’s grace to try and rebuild the

Temple of God.The people of Israel had been scattered and the

temple had been destroyed.But Zerubbabel dared to do something great, to

rebuild the temple… and it had to start somewhere… so in the book of Zechariah

we see Zerubbabel holding a plumb line… an ancient type of level.WHO WAS THIS TINY MAN WITH A TINY TOOL TRYING TO

BUILD SOMETHING GREAT?Here is what God said through the prophet

Zechariah:

Zechariah

4:10 NLT Do not despise these small beginnings, for the

Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s

hand.”

Yes the task was great, but God know great

things start small, and God rejoices to see the work begin!Oh the many applications this message has this

morning… lets bring up that title slide…

Show

Title Slide

Even though we are preaching out of Luke, I

chose this verse from Zechariah to emphasize todays message… great things start

small… do not despise small beginnings.

Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray

The Kingdom of God Starts Small

Luke

13:18-19 ESV 

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I

compare it?  (19)  It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took

and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the

air made nests in its branches.”

The human condition is such that we expect

things, we want things, we desire things NOW!We expect that if something great is coming that

it ought to come all at once, in its perfect form, ready to go full speed.But so rarely does the Kingdom of God work that

way…So rarely does God say “Here is EVERYTHING I

have