Planted

Matthew 13:24-43 Read the New Testament in a Year: Acts 19:1-22 Jesus goes on to say: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in a field. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches’ (vv.31–32). The image of birds in branches appears quite a few times in the Old Testament, where it symbolizes people from all nations becoming part of God’s family (see Ezekiel 17:22–24; 31:3–14; Daniel 4:9–23). Jesus was reminding his listeners that the kingdom of heaven was not just for one nation but for the whole world. There are many different types of planting. For example, one small group plants another and ‘it grows’ (Matthew 13:32). Then there is ‘church planting’. What is planted is often quite small – like a mustard seed. But when ‘planted… it grows’ (vv.31–32). I look around at some of the ‘church plants’ from our local church and see the huge impact they are having on the area – ‘The birds of the air come and perch in its branches’ (v.32) – with people coming into God’s kingdom who are as unexpected as Gentile believers were to the Jewish nation. All over the world today we see the impact of ‘church planting’. As the church growth expert, Peter Wagner, has said, ‘Church planting is the most effective form of evangelism known under heaven.’ Jesus goes on to talk about the kingdom of heaven being like yeast that works its way all through the dough (v.33). Your influence can be enormous – in your home, family, school, university, factory or office. This is how the transformation of society takes place.]]>