In 13:18-21, probably much to the disciples’ surprise, the Lord again spoke concerning the kingdom of God. However, here He does not speak of the kingdom in a positive sense. Up until now, the Lord’s word concerning the kingdom in Luke has been positive. But here He talks to the disciples concerning the kingdom in a negative way, teaching them about the kingdom as a grain of mustard (vv. 18-19) and as leaven (vv. 20-21).
In verses 18 and 19 the Lord says, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it? It is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree; and the birds of heaven roosted in its branches.” The fact that this mustard seed grew into a tree indicates that it did not grow into something according to its own kind. According to Genesis 1, the things created by God are according to their own kind. An apple tree, for example, should be according to the apple tree kind. But here the mustard seed does not grow after its kind, but instead grows into another kind. This is the breaking of the principle ordained by God in His creation. If we see this, we shall not interpret this parable in a positive sense.
Some teach that the mustard becoming a large tree is a positive development. But according to the history of Christianity, there has not been such a positive development. In fact, this parable is a prophecy that has been fulfilled in the history of Christianity. Actually, today’s Christianity is not something after its kind. The church, which is the embodiment of the kingdom, should be like an herb to produce food. But it became a “tree,” a lodge for birds. This means that, contrary to the law of God’s creation that every plant must be after its kind, its nature and function were changed. This took place when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world in the first part of the fourth century. He brought thousands of false believers into Christianity, making it Christendom, no longer the church. Hence, this parable corresponds to the third of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Pergamos (Rev. 2:12-17). The church, according to its heavenly and spiritual nature, should be like a mustard, sojourning on earth. But since its nature has been changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled in the earth as a tree, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches to lodge many evil persons and things. This has formed the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of God.
In Luke 13:19 we are told that the birds of heaven roosted in the branches of this tree. In 8:5 and 12 the birds of heaven are related to the Devil. Therefore, the birds of heaven here must refer to Satan’s evil spirits with the evil persons and things motivated by them. They lodge in the branches of the great tree, that is, in the enterprises of Christendom.
In Luke 13:20 and 21 the Lord says, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.” Some teach that the leaven here is positive. According to their concept, the leaven signifies the power of the gospel spreading throughout the earth. But in the Bible leaven does not have a positive denotation. On the contrary, especially in the four Gospels, it has a negative significance. The Lord Jesus, in particular, does not use the word leaven in a positive sense, but always in a negative sense. Elsewhere in the New Testament leaven signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12).
The church, as the practicality of the kingdom of God with Christ—the unleavened fine flour—as its content, must be unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:7-8). However, the Catholic Church, which was fully and officially formed in the sixth century and which is signified by the woman here, took many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ to leaven the whole content of Christianity. What is described in Luke 13:20 and 21 corresponds to the fourth of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29).
“Meal,” which is used for making the meal offering (Lev. 2:1), signifies Christ as food both to God and man. “Three measures” is the quantity needed to make a full meal (Gen. 18:6). Hence, to hide the leaven in three measures of meal signifies that the Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ. This is the actual situation in the Roman Catholic Church. It is absolutely against the Scripture, which strongly forbids putting any leaven into the meal offering (Lev. 2:4-5, 11).
The two parables in 13:18-21 indicate that the jubilee has come, but has lost its nature. The kingdom of God is the reality and content of the jubilee. Without the kingdom of God there is no jubilee. We have emphasized the fact that the jubilee is a matter of releasing the captives and of recovering the right to the enjoyment of the Triune God. The same is true of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the return of the captives and the recovery of the divine inheritance. But as these parables indicate, at a certain time the jubilee, the kingdom, lost its nature. On the one hand, it has developed into something that is not after its kind; on the other hand, it has become leavened, that is, its contents have been corrupted. Such a change in nature of the jubilee actually indicates the loss of the jubilee. Where is the jubilee among so many Christians today? As we consider today’s situation, we see that in Christendom the real nature of the jubilee has been lost.
In his Gospel Luke writes in such a way as to cover different points related to the jubilee. Therefore, our understanding of the Gospel of Luke must be governed by the principle of the jubilee. The proclamation of the jubilee in chapter four is a governing principle both for Luke’s writing of this book and our understanding of it. Whatever is mentioned in chapters four through twenty-four is related to the jubilee either directly or indirectly. This means that everything in these chapters is related directly or indirectly to the kingdom of God, with the release of the captives and the recovery of the divine inheritance.
This jubilee, the kingdom of God, was brought in through the death and resurrection of Christ and can be seen in Acts and the Epistles. Not long afterward, probably before the end of the first century, the jubilee began to be lost. Eventually, as indicated by these two parables in Luke 13, the jubilee changed its nature and was lost.