Kingdom Contradiction

Anthony Webb was a contradiction. "Spud", as he was nicknamed, is a retired professional basketball player who is known for winning the NBA slam dunk contest in 1986.  Despite being one of the shortest players in NBA history at 5’7” tall, “Spud” defeated his 6’8” teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique Wilkins, by soaring nearly 4 feet in the air on each of his dunk attempts.  He defeated Wilkins with two perfect 50-point scores in the final round.  To many, “Spud’s” small stature contradicted the amazing things he was able to do on the basketball court!

The Kingdom of heaven is a contradiction.  On the surface it appears small, unimpressive, unnoticeable, and to many completely invisible.  Jesus Christ, who came to establish God’s Kingdom is a contradiction Himself.  Isaiah 53:2 says about Jesus that, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.”  He was born in poverty in a manger in Bethlehem.  He lived a simple life as a carpenter.  His closest companions were fisherman, sinners, and tax collectors.  During His ministry He served the unwanted and outcasts. His life ended suffering the punishment of a criminal on the cross.  There was nothing outwardly impressive about Jesus, and yet, He is undoubtedly the single most influential person in the history of the world.

READ:  Matthew 13:31-32

Just like Jesus, the KINGDOM of GOD produces UNEXPECTED results!  The people of Israel were not expecting an insignificant beginning to the Kingdom of God.  The Jews expected a Messiah to come who would establish a powerful earthly kingdom.  Comparing the Kingdom of heaven to a tiny, insignificant seed would have been a disgrace, bringing confusion and disbelief to Jesus’ listeners.

God’s Kingdom seems SMALL and INSIGNIFICANT (Mt. 13:31-32a) – A single mustard seed is usually about 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter and are colored from yellowish white to black.  It takes hundreds of mustard seeds to weigh a single ounce.  Although the mustard seed is not the smallest seed in existence, it was the smallest seed of all agricultural plants in Israel.  Jesus used the, “smallest of all seeds” to show that God’s Kingdom seems miniscule, hardly noticeable, and unimpressive.  In our culture, characteristics like humility and servanthood are considered small and insignificant.  In God’s Kingdom, these small and insignificant acts possess all the potential God needs to produce unexpected results.  We must have faith and trust in God that He will use these characteristics in our lives to make a big difference in His Kingdom and in eternity.

God’s Kingdom grows into something LARGE and SUBSTANTIAL (Mt. 13:32b) – A tiny mustard seed planted in the ground eventually grows to the height of a small tree approximately 8-12 feet.  Large enough that a bird can make a nest in its branches.  It is miraculous that something so small can turn into something, “larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree.”  In this life, along-side all other cultural ideologies, philosophies, and religions, God’s Kingdom won’t appear impressive, but will eventually be revealed in eternity to be larger and surpass them all.  Don’t be deceived by other cultural ways of life that seem to offer more than the Kingdom of God.  What they have to offer is false and empty of true meaning and significance.  By sowing small seeds of the Kingdom with our lives, God will produce the unexpected results of an enormous spiritual harvest.

CONCLUSION
Jesus Christ is like a mustard seed.  His life may have seemed small and insignificant, but after He died and was buried in the ground, He resurrected and grew to reveal Himself as God.  He is “big enough” to carry our burdens.  He is “big enough” to carry our hurts and pain.  And ultimately, He is “big enough” to carry all of our sin.  Just like the birds can make their home in the branches of a mustard plant, we can make our eternal home in the person of Jesus Christ.  Is Jesus Christ small and insignificant or large and substantial in your life?