Luke 13 Parables

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I have a hard time understanding some of the parables. Most of them once rereading them a few times, I grow in understanding, but others I just cannot figure out. In today’s Bible reading, I came across two parables in Luke 13 that I could not figure out.

Luke 13:18-19 & 20-21

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Then he said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.’”

The Parable of the Yeast
Again he said, “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.”

Could someone please explain to me what these two parables mean or provide me with somewhere I can find out?

Thank you in advance and God Bless!
 
I think that this parable, as with all parable of Christ, can be taken several different ways. One simple way is looking at how small the early church was and now how many people have come to know Christ.

Another way can be within our selves. If we can just have a little faith we can nourish that faith and it will grow in us.

To me, parables are so fascinating because to meet people where that are at. As we grow in faith the meanings of the parables continue to change and grow with us.

I will watch with interest to see how other people have come to understand what these parables mean to them.
 
These are called the “Kingdom Parables.” In these parables Jesus describes what His Kingdom will be like

The mustard seed is extremely small. Jesus’ Kingdom also started extremely small with 12 Apostles and 120 disciples. The mustard plant grows into a large shrub or tree. Trees represented nations in the Bible and so Jesus tells his followers that his kingdom - the Church - will become a nation. Birds represent Gentiles who will find a home in his kingdom. This has already happened.

The same with leaven. Just a little bit makes the whole batch of dough rise. You can keep dividing it, make more, divide it, make more, and on and on. This is a metaphor, a parable about how the Church will operate and what it will look like. This is exactly how the Church plants mission Churches to this very day. We just keep dividing.

The Gospel of Matthew contain many Kingdom Parables. Remember that people would not speak God’s name so they used evasive synonyms - they would say kingdom of heaven instead of kingdom of God, etc.

***The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field

the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls

the kingdom of heaven is like a net

Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ***

Matthew uses the word kingdom at least fifty times in his Gospel.

-Tim-
 
The parables are about typology or figuralism. They are stories or examples explaining faith and morals in a narrative parallel way. We do this also in our own culture by such phrases as “this is LIKE that…”.

It is up to the listener’s understanding in the light of revelation to interpret the real meaning of this figurism. And sometimes it isn’t clear or it is out of the reach of the listener, or it may even be that it has more than one meaning.

In the case of the new testament, the figure/type can be multiple. One way is that the figure has a literal meaning, that is, the author’s true real and first meaning.

But there may also be other meanings such as spiritual, to be applied to a person’s life after reflection. In fact it may have several spiritual meanings that may be applicable to one’s relationship with God and fellow man. This is how the Holy Spirit guides a person in the knowledge of God’s will, but is always in agreement with what the church teaches.

In the case of the leavened bread, the leaven is Christ, when added to the bread, Christians making up one body from many grains, then the bread, Christians filled with grace, rise and become something good that everyone else will want. One meaning being, that without him we are useless, that he is what we are about and can only transform ourselves with his yeast, and so on.

So each time we read a passage, we may see something we never saw before. Because of our growth in age, wisdom, and knowledge, and more importantly, … the Holy Spirit working in us.

This is the prime reason we can always read scripture and receive more light for growing in our life with Christ. Spiritual meditation on these ideas that Jesus presents to us is a higher form of prayer is a productive way to read scripture.

The priests who use this type of prayer can be so effective in their preaching because they give to others what they first have obtained themselves.
 
fred_conty said:
The parables are about typology or figuralism. They are stories or examples explaining faith and morals in a narrative parallel way. We do this also in our own culture by such phrases as “this is LIKE that…”.

It is up to the listener’s understanding in the light of revelation to interpret the real meaning of this figurism. And sometimes it isn’t clear or it is out of the reach of the listener, or it may even be that it has more than one meaning.

In the case of the new testament, the figure/type can be multiple. One way is that the figure has a literal meaning, that is, the author’s true real and first meaning.

But there may also be other meanings such as spiritual, to be applied to a person’s life after reflection. In fact it may have several spiritual meanings that may be applicable to one’s relationship with God and fellow man. This is how the Holy Spirit guides a person in the knowledge of God’s will, but is always in agreement with what the church teaches.

In the case of the leavened bread, the leaven is Christ, when added to the bread, Christians making up one body from many grains, then the bread, Christians filled with grace, rise and become something good that everyone else will want. One meaning being, that without him we are useless, that he is what we are about and can only transform ourselves with his yeast, and so on.

So each time we read a passage, we may see something we never saw before. Because of our growth in age, wisdom, and knowledge, and more importantly, … the Holy Spirit working in us.

This is the prime reason we can always read scripture and receive more light for growing in our life with Christ. Spiritual meditation on these ideas that Jesus presents to us is a higher form of prayer is a productive way to read scripture.

The priests who use this type of prayer can be so effective in their preaching because they give to others what they first have obtained themselves.
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Thank you for bringing us back to the parables!! 👍

This is the way scholars approach parables and, as such, is a very good and wonderful thing.

I am not a scholar. I am a teacher of children. I approach the parables as a child would - with simple love and enjoyment.
 
The Catholic Biblical Association’s 1942 book, A Commentary on the New Testament, written as a supplement to the 1941 Confraternity Edition of the New Testament, has a nice general article on the Parables of the Gospels, as well as commentary on specific passages of Scripture. For the parables of the mustard seed the leaven in Luke 13, the book refers the reader to its commentary on those same parables in Matthew 13:31-35.
 
Kjnw4831 said:
I have a hard time understanding some of the parables. Most of them once rereading them a few times, I grow in understanding, but others I just cannot figure out. In today’s Bible reading, I came across two parables in Luke 13 that I could not figure out.

Luke 13:18-19 & 20-21

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Then he said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.’”

The Parable of the Yeast
Again he said, “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.”

Could someone please explain to me what these two parables mean or provide me with somewhere I can find out?

Thank you in advance and God Bless!
Click to expand...
Justification-becoming perfected, or who God created us to be-is a process, wrought over time, not without struggle, by grace. Gods life blosoming in and transforming us.
 
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