The Growing, Spreading, Permeating Kingdom
** Note: I'm posting this for reflection and as a suggestion for further study, not advancing it as a solid exposition of the meaning of this passage. Before being ready to do that, I'd want to take a closer look at the Greek than my time or current skills allow, to see if my suppositions below have any support there. This is the output of my devotional reflection on the passage -- it rings true to my experience, but that is not adequate for an interpretive claim.**
These two simple Kingdom-sayings seem straightforward at first glance. They suggest that the kingdom of God (the church?) is to grow extensively like a large garden plant from a small seed. It is to spread pervasively, like yeast permeating an entire lump of dough working its magic throughout. Or so I had always read it...
But is it possibly that -- instead of, or in addition to, intending to describe what the kingdom looks like -- Jesus was describing what it is like to live in the kingdom?
If so, the meaning of this passage is a bit different. It would then be suggesting that influence of the kingdom in my life would always be growing, that there would always be additional areas in which I need to grow, that the Holy Spirit would always be urging me on and that ultimately, no aspect of my life would be immune to the influence of the kingdom.
This rings true to my experience -- how about yours?
These two simple Kingdom-sayings seem straightforward at first glance. They suggest that the kingdom of God (the church?) is to grow extensively like a large garden plant from a small seed. It is to spread pervasively, like yeast permeating an entire lump of dough working its magic throughout. Or so I had always read it...
But is it possibly that -- instead of, or in addition to, intending to describe what the kingdom looks like -- Jesus was describing what it is like to live in the kingdom?
If so, the meaning of this passage is a bit different. It would then be suggesting that influence of the kingdom in my life would always be growing, that there would always be additional areas in which I need to grow, that the Holy Spirit would always be urging me on and that ultimately, no aspect of my life would be immune to the influence of the kingdom.
This rings true to my experience -- how about yours?
