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In this solo episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Jesse Schwamb walks through two of Jesus' briefest parables — the mustard seed and the leaven in Luke 13:18–21 — to address one of the most persistent questions facing Christians in every generation: why does the kingdom of God so often look weak, hidden, and small? Drawing on the Reformed tradition, church fathers, and the OT prophetic background of these parables, Jesse unpacks a vision of the kingdom that begins smaller than anyone expects and ends larger than anyone can imagine. Along the way, he makes a compelling case for ordinary means of grace, the certainty of kingdom growth, and the global scope of Christ's reign — all grounded in four compact but explosive verses from Luke's Gospel.
One of the most countercultural claims Jesse makes in this episode is also one of the most distinctly Reformed: the kingdom advances not through spectacle, strategy, or sophisticated programming, but through the plain, ordinary means of grace — the preached Word, the sacraments, and prayer. The Shorter Catechism names these as the instruments Christ has appointed, and Jesse argues that Christians chronically undervalue them. We tend to assume that God needs our cleverness or our energy to do His work. But the mustard seed doesn't plant itself, and the leaven doesn't stir itself into the dough. A man sows; a woman hides the leaven — and then God acts. The lesson is a call to faithful, humble participation in what God has already set in motion, trusting that the Word carries its own life.
The leaven parable, Jesse argues, operates on a different axis than the mustard seed. Where the mustard seed speaks to the external growth and global reach of the kingdom, the leaven speaks to its internal penetration — the hidden, pervasive work of grace within the soul. Jesus deliberately chooses a word meaning "to hide," signaling that the kingdom works largely out of sight. This maps directly onto the doctrine of sanctification as the Westminster Confession describes it: real, genuine, throughout the whole person — yet imperfect in this life, and often slower than we would like. The comfort Jesse draws from this is pastoral and profound: if the change in you is real but slow, take courage. The leaven does not stop halfway. He who began a good work will bring it to completion.
Jesse highlights what he calls an underemphasized dimension of the mustard seed parable — the image of birds nesting in the tree's branches. This is not decorative detail. Drawing on Ezekiel 17 and 31 and Daniel 4, he shows that a great tree sheltering birds was a recognizable OT image for an empire gathering the nations. Jesus is deliberately appropriating imperial, prophetic imagery and applying it to His own kingdom. The kingdom that begins with a crucified Messiah and a handful of fishermen is destined to become the shelter of every tribe, tongue, and nation. Luke confirms this just ten verses later: "People will come from east and west, from north and south, and recline at the table in the kingdom of God." For Jesse, this is a summons to global, missionary vision — a reminder that the tree is destined to shelter all whom God has made.
God is just constantly stacking the deck against Himself to show that He is all-powerful, that He is majestic in His deliverance, and that He is Redeemer and Restorer and Healer.
Do not measure the kingdom by its present appearance. Measure it by the word of the King.
The smallest seed of all really was the body of the Lord Jesus laid in a tomb like a grain of wheat falling into the earth. And from that great and glorious death came a harvest that now fills the entire world.
[00:00:56] Welcome to episode 510 [00:01:00] of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse, and this is the podcast for those with ears to hear Hey, brothers and sisters. I am just one half of The Reformed Brotherhood, and we will be back in full force on the next episode. But until then, we couldn't help but just release a little tiny episode continuing our series of going through all of the parables of Jesus.
[00:01:30] And in this episode, I'm gonna go through just these sweet four verses in Luke chapter 13, some of the most compact and shortest parables that Jesus gave to us. And they are full, chock-full actually, of all kinds of amazing meaning. And so while we await Tony's return in the next episode, I wanted to give us a little bit of something to think about on this episode.
[00:01:54] So we're gonna be hanging out in Luke chapter 13. It's just four verses, so you can stop whatever you're doing right now, [00:02:00] pull the car over, put down the backhoe, and get out the scriptures, go to your Bible phone app, and come with me to Luke chapter 13. Beginning in verse 18, here are these four beautiful verses.
[00:02:11] And I should say, we're getting this amazing setup, this amazing conception of the Kingdom of God beginning smaller than anyone expects, and then it ends larger than anyone can imagine. And that's the claim of the two briefest parables our Lord ever spoke, and it's really the whole subject of what I wanna talk about on this episode.
[00:02:32] Jesse Schwamb: So beginning in verse 18 Jesus said, "Therefore, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree. And the birds of the air made nests in its branches." And again, he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?
[00:02:54] It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it [00:03:00] was all leavened." Four verses. Four verses, two images. We've got one man in a garden, the other, a woman in the kitchen.
[00:03:08] Jesse Schwamb: And yet, I think i- in those few lines, Jesus answers a question that's probably troubled the people of God in every generation.
[00:03:16] I mean, can we have some real talk, Christians? I, I think the question that all of us struggle with at some point is, if Christ is truly the king, then why does his kingdom so often look weak, small, and hidden? To me, that's real talk, because there are times in our lives where I think we're desperate for the breaking through of the kingdom of Christ.
[00:03:37] We want it to come in power and glory. That's why there have been so many movements to try to usher it in by force. And so the question before all of us, I think, really, is if this is the king, if Christ is sovereign and control of all things, and all the things, then why does his kingdom so often look like it's small and hidden away and weak?
[00:03:58] And I think the Reformed [00:04:00] tradition has given sustained attention to that question. There's been so much written on it, and so I thought in the context of these four verses, our aim should be to walk through the passage verse by verse to hear what the faithful have said about this over time, what we can understand and what the Holy Spirit leads us to, to, to ask what this text demands of the church today.
[00:04:21] Jesse Schwamb: So we're gonna proceed through all this, but I think it's important that we talk a little bit about the context. And Tony and I have been talking about so much of what's happening in Luke, and I think it bears repeating a little bit here. So we've got Matthew and Mark. Those bad boys set their parables in a discourse by the sea.
[00:04:36] But Luke sets them on this road to Jerusalem. And we've said that since chapter nine, Jesus has set his face, that's what the text tells us, toward the city where he will die. He's going on this journey that he knows will end in his crucifixion. He knows that he's being moved by the Holy Spirit toward the ultimate fulfillment of God's purpose for him, which is his sacrifice.
[00:04:58] And so Luke reminds us of it [00:05:00] again in verse twenty-two. This is the kingdom of a king on the way to the cross. Its smallness is not accident. It's not accidental to what's being said here. It's like the shape of the cross itself. And so the parables follow directly on the healing of a woman who has bent double for eighteen years, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound.
[00:05:21] And to the world, it was a small thing. One woman, one synagogue, one Sabbath. Yet the strong man was being bound, and his captive set free. And that is why verse 18 begins with this whole therefore. So Jesus is interpreting what has just happened. And again, in his wonderfully creative, brilliant, and piercing way, he does that in the storytelling, in the metaphors, in the comparisons, in the similes.
[00:05:47] And so what you have seen look small, he's basically saying. What you just witnessed seems like it was isolated, unrelated, tiny, insignificant, but it is the kingdom of God breaking in, and it will not [00:06:00] stay small I can only think of my own life here and just marvel at how this is how God reveals himself to me.
[00:06:06] Often the things that start small seem insignificant, where passing, seemingly passing moments are the very things that he uses to take command and control, to open up his will, to demonstrate his mighty power.
[00:06:19] Jesse Schwamb: And so he starts in this way in verse eighteen by saying, "What is the kingdom of God like?" And actually, Jesus opens with a double question.
[00:06:27] It's kind of echoing Isaiah, "To whom then will you liken God?" It's a teacher drawing everybody in. It's good to ask one question. It's better to kind of double down on that. And so he says, "What is the kingdom of God?" I think first, of course, what comes to our minds probably is that, first of all, it's God's sovereign rule.
[00:06:47] It's God actively asserting himself in redemption. It's not first a territory or an institution. Instead, it's the proclaimed kingdom that is both already come [00:07:00] and still to come. And these parables explain how both can be true. The kingdom has truly arrived, but, and this is the beauty of it, it is hidden for those especially whom-- it's hidden for all, but for those whom the Holy Spirit has enlightened and enlivened, it becomes manifest and perceivable.
[00:07:19] And even though it's in this seemingly unimpressive form, it moves towards a glorious completion. Can I just say, when I was reading this, I was really struck again by how we sometimes are erroneous to understand the grace of God, which in that unmerited favor, that, that kind disposition that God has towards us.
[00:07:38] Sometimes if you're like me, you can come to this place where you understand it to be this passivity of God. And I mean that in the most polite and majestic kind of way. That is, in God's full command of all things and still yet his holy character, he allows and makes a way of amnesty for his people, and that then ushers in this unmerited [00:08:00]favor.
[00:08:00] But I'm also struck by the fact that because our rebellion toward God is not passive, it is violent and active and volitional, that in the same way, there is a violence, as it were, in God's grace. Not in the sense that it brings destruction or chaos, but exactly the opposite. It is violent in that it comes in with authority and force and ultimately results in the cross itself, where the King of Glory is crucified to save sinners, so that Jesus comes, of course, not to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive.
[00:08:34] And this requires some degree of force, some degree of power, some incoming And so I think this assertiveness we're seeing in this story of redemption, even in these parables. I like that Matthew Henry observed that Christ spoke these parables to encourage disciples who were tempted to despise the kingdom's mean beginnings.
[00:08:55] And I've certainly been there. I think all of us at some point have thought, "Wouldn't it just make more sense [00:09:00] if this were more demonstrated in greater power?" And the lesson for us is the same. Do not measure the kingdom by its present appearance. Measure it by the word of the King. Trust the promises that God gives when He gives to us His own kingdom.
[00:09:16] Jesse Schwamb: And so in verse 19, He introduces this idea of explaining the whole kingdom with the mustard seed, which again, if you're like me, living in the kind of Western culture in this day and age, you have to go educate yourself about what a mustard seed is, because we all know probably that it's tiny because of course that's what's being drawn up here.
[00:09:33] That's the juxtaposition, irony of using this particular seed. But beyond that, I probably don't know much. And so I think like the verse here to suit this idea of the mustard seed, it gives us three kind of steps or heuristics or frameworks. There's like a small beginning, and then there's this sense of there's certain growth out of this small beginning, and then there's this massive sheltering, unexpected result.
[00:09:58] And so the mustard seed, of [00:10:00] course, is proverbial for smallness. I mean, Jesus uses it that way elsewhere in chapter 17. And yet from what I read, this black mustard seed, which I guess was common in that area, could grow like in a single season, like in one planting. You get this tiny seed, you put it in your garden, you cover it up, you water it, you sit back and you watch it.
[00:10:21] And at the end of that season, it could be like eight or ten feet tall. So you're talking about something that seems so ridiculous, like you would almost lose it on your finger before you could plant it, yet in a short period of time grows to be taller than any person. And so we have the kingdom's beginnings being so feeble that the world is likely to scorn them, and yet God, by His secret power, raises it beyond all expectation.
[00:10:47] And so the church began with this crucified Messiah and a handful of fishermen. How marvelous is that, beloved ones? And God delights to bring His greatest works in weakness so that His glory [00:11:00] is His alone. We've said before, you look at all of the scriptures, and what you'll find is God is just constantly stacking the deck against Himself to show that He is all-powerful, that He is majestic in His deliverance, and that He is Redeemer and Restorer and Healer.
[00:11:15] And He does this not just in a kind of casual throwaway sense, but in this grandiose demonstration that even when everything seems to be lost, when you have to hope against hope, when He's literally stacked against the deck against Himself, that in the greatest weakness, His glory is revealed. And it's clear that's His and His alone.
[00:11:37] And so you have this sower then taking this tiny seed that almost gets lost, and he sows it in his garden. And you notice that the seed doesn't plant itself in this little parable. A man takes it and he sows it. And so the kingdom, of course, in that same way grows by the Word of God, not by force, not by wealth or really great human cleverness or really [00:12:00] complicated or really bespoke and resonant church programming.
[00:12:04] It grows by the power and the Word of God alone. And only Luke actually adds that the seed was sown in his garden. I find that interesting when I cross-reference this against all the other places where you find this teaching. Luke is unique in putting it in its place, in a particular location. It's a place, of course, that a garden owner tends and protects.
[00:12:25] And so here I see so much of the fact that the church is God's garden. It's growing under the eye of its Lord, and the Lord of the garden is the one who cares for it, partakes with it, who understands it the best, and delights to see it grow in due time. And there is certain growth. Jesus does not say that the seed might grow.
[00:12:48] He actually says it grew. So already there's almost like we're being led present tense, and yet there's the past tense with respect to this certain growth. It's very reminiscent of Isaiah nine, "Of the [00:13:00] increase of his government and of peace there will be no end." And so Luke's word here is tree. It's like a deliberate heightening, I think, of this language.
[00:13:09] It's Jesus is reaching past botany, as it were, toward prophecy.
[00:13:15] Jesse Schwamb: And of course, the prophecy is that there will be this massive shelterling, sheltering resort. So the birds of the air made their nests in the branches of this tree. Again, which once started by the seed that was almost imperceptible, now has grown so big that it becomes the home of other living things.
[00:13:36] And here I think is the key. In Ezekiel 17 and in 31, in Daniel 4, you have a great tree sheltering the birds. It's an image of an empire gathering the nations. And Ezekiel 17 promises that the Lord himself will plant a tender twig that becomes a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every kind of bird.
[00:13:58] And so Jesus is [00:14:00] taking this really incredible imperial picture, and he applies it to his kingdom now. And so you can read, though, all the birds, all the nations are finding their refuge in Christ. And Luke just confirms this 10 verses later. He says, "People will come from east and west, from north and south, and recline at the table in the kingdom of God."
[00:14:24] What an incredible, breathtaking image of what it means that God will, in his time, draw all people to himself, that all tribes, all tongues, all nations, all of those in the great diversity whom he has created will come and worship together, and they will worship him alone.
[00:14:44] Jesse Schwamb: And so then we get to verse 20 and 21, where we get a total change here because now we've gone from botany to, I suppose, cooking, or actually I guess baking.
[00:14:54] I wanna be specific. I've been watching with my wife a lot of the British Baking Show, and so I [00:15:00] feel like I know more about leaven than I've ever known in my entire life, and the significance of it, and Jesus draws on it here, and he says again, Jesus gives them a second parable as like a second witness, I suppose.
[00:15:12] You know, the two look at the kingdom from different angles, or maybe it's the same coin with different sides. But you can put it this way at least. There is a substance to this. The mustard seed shows the kingdom's growth and extent across the world. But the leaven, and this is beautiful, I think, like these, these two kind of differently directed parables coming and merging together, almost not clashing together with chaos or force, but submerging into one another to show something even more beautiful than either of them by themselves would be able to communicate.
[00:15:44] And so again, you've got the kingdom's growth, which is coming across the world, and the leaven shows that's working in the soul. I like that, uh, Ryle drew the same line between the world and the heart when he commented on this. And there is, I think, a [00:16:00] lovely balance in that pair. A man at work in his garden, a woman at work in her kitchen.
[00:16:04] In other words, no sphere of ordinary life lies beyond the kingdom's reach. I- isn't this like a beautiful kingdom? It's, it's the kind that you want because how great is it to be part of a glorious kingdom? That one, that is one that's filled with righteousness, that makes you a proud participant, that you want to ascribe to, that you want to surrender yourself to, that has the best and the greatest noble purpose, being broken free from lesser things to participate in the life and the love of God, and to be reigned by that outside and inside.
[00:16:37] This is so great. But how much more beautiful that it continues to work from within us, that God himself, like leaven. There is kind of a, a great interpretive question in this. And in the scripture, of course, we've talked before that leaven actually usually signals corruption. It was banned at Passover.
[00:16:57] Jesus warned against the leaven of the Pharisees, which [00:17:00] is hypocrisy. So of course, we should ask, i- is Jesus here saying that the kingdom will be corrupted? I mean, obviously, no. I mean, the answer that we get here is that while others have commented on the fact that leaven often carries a bad sense- We're taught that we shouldn't bind, as we've been talking about the parables, a figure too close to one meaning.
[00:17:22] What matters is the point of comparison, and Jesus says the kingdom is like leaven, and he pairs it with the mustard seed, whose meaning is plainly good. And so just like the lion pictures both Satan and Christ in scripture, so leaven can picture the spread of sin or the spread of grace. And so we can read this as the gospel then working inwardly.
[00:17:46] So again, how lovely that this kingdom will be in its fullness manifested outwardly, but how even more beautiful that even now it is being manifested inwardly. And there's a holy almost [00:18:00] irony here. Sin is pervasive, but grace is all the more pervasive still. Just as Paul wrote to the r- church in Rome, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."
[00:18:12] And Jesus could have said, you know, mixed, but he chose a word that means to hide. And the kingdom works, I would say, out of sight most of the time, doesn't it, loved ones? Like the wind of the Spirit in John 3, there's a sense in which the hid-- there's a hidden-ness in the kingdom. In its general form, it is beyond our sight, but it's truly present.
[00:18:35] It's just veiled. And so he says that this leaven is, like, being worked out, being gone through, being measured into three cups of flour or three measures of flour. And apparently, that's an enormous quantity, perhaps, like, 40 liters, like, enough bread for 100 people. So this woman whose baking is, like, going hardcore, like, maybe she is on the British Bake Off, I have no idea, but she's making a [00:19:00] ton of bread.
[00:19:01] Uh, incidentally, it's the same amount Sarah baked for the heavenly visitors in Genesis 18. And so a small lump is set against this vast mass. It's meant to be a proportional lesson. This is meant to be fractional. It's meant for you to marvel again at the fact that here is this large quantity of dough, and yet this just small, almost seemingly insignificant amount of leaven gets worked through the whole thing.
[00:19:28] The leaven doesn't stop halfway. If the mustard seed promises this kind of extent, the leaven, I suppose, promises thoroughness, that just like Paul wrote in Philippians, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion." And so in the believer, this is sanctification. It's which the Westminster Confession calls throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life.
[00:19:53] So in this world, it's the promise that the gospel will penetrate every nation, [00:20:00] every sphere of life, and so that every square inch of human existence, over all of that, Christ will cry, "This is mine." I think this is absolutely incredible. It should be of great comfort and encouragement to us that this is the kind of kingdom that Jesus brings.
[00:20:21] And it's a kind of kingdom that we don't have to just say, "Well, won't it be great one day?" But that even now, the leaven is being worked out in our corporate and individual lives, that He's calling the church. I just think of these really mean and meager beginnings of the gospel, and how the gospel has been carried through generation to generation, and will continue to do so until Christ returns.
[00:20:44] Jesse Schwamb: And so I said, I think set within these parables, we get at least, like, these three teachings, which I would say are, like, particularly Reformed. It's a Reformed podcast, so I have to give you something that I think is particularly Reformed. And first is that this growth that we've been talking about, [00:21:00] the kingdom moving in these, from these meager beginnings and planting this tiny insignificant seed, to certain growth, to this sheltering effect, all of that, every part of that, all the verbs, the growth is God's work.
[00:21:14] Neither the seed nor that leaven explains its own power. So I love, of course, going back to what Paul wrote in Corinthians. He says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." The Canons of Dort actually describe regeneration as a supernatural and hidden work of the Spirit. It's not the product of outward preaching or even moral persuasion alone.
[00:21:38] The leaven works from within. Second, I think that this growth that we see here, it comes through ordinary means. Man, that should be like, we should just hashtag that for this show. Man, do Tony and me love ordinary means. And the Shorter Catechism names them the word sacraments and prayer. A sermon, water, bread and [00:22:00] wine, a prayer.
[00:22:00] The world sees these things as unremarkable, and yet these are the instruments by which the King extends his reign. And I think that this is still, for the most part, undervalued among Christians. We do not marvel at the ordinary. We do not consider how in these simple things, God is doing an extraordinary amount of work, and that when we commit ourselves just to what is plain and ordinary, which really as contingent beings is all we can do.
[00:22:28] But when we satisfy ourselves with those ordinary things, entrusting them like children would, to the Father who knows best, to the Father who has all the power, to the Father who makes provision, what we find instead is God's great and glorious kingdom among us, and we realize we've done none of the work.
[00:22:46] Third, I think, is that our hope in all of this, it's totally certain, but it's not on a timetable. Now, of course, there's lots of things said about when Christ will return and how to understand what the scriptures teach us about that. [00:23:00] But the bottom line is that we all agree that the kingdom will reach every nation and be consummated at Christ's return.
[00:23:08] And so we are to pray that the kingdom of grace might be advanced in ourselves and others brought into it, and that we might be kept within it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. And so the kingdom advancing is that mustard seed. Ourselves brought in and kept is the leaven, and the kingdom of glory is the harvest toward which we both point.
[00:23:31] Jesse Schwamb: Now, everybody knows I love the Puritans, and I famously think of the Puritans as having always said that doctrine is not finished until it's applied. So let's talk quick application in my mind before we wrap up this tiny little episode. What I'm learning from this is that I need to not despise the day of small things.
[00:23:52] You know, perhaps, like, your congregation is small, or you're the only believer in your family or your workplace. I mean, these parables I think were spoken for, for you [00:24:00] and for me. Twelve disciples became a multitude that no one could number. And we should not judge the harvest by the size of the seed.
[00:24:09] It's also a reminder that Christ comes to us in our moments of suffering to be with us, that He was like us in every way, yet without sin, picked up our burdens and carried them, and with His wounds we are healed. And so in the insignificance of what it feels like sometimes to be a human, to suffer under these many things, to find days long and hard, what we see is that Jesus is with us.
[00:24:32] He lived among us and even now continues to make intercession for us And so the kingdom that starts in our lives in these small ways, even the small things that we do with great love, all of these are God's kingdom growing up, growing within us, growing outside of us, drawing us further and further in. I think I'm also learning that this parable is teaching that trust means that God has appointed, that God has made all the [00:25:00] promises.
[00:25:00] I think the church is always tempted to seek gro-growth by some kind of spectacle, by some technique, or by its own power. And I think actually we are prone to do that in our own lives as well. Maybe we think if we have just the right practices, if we get just the right devotional book, if we devote ourselves in some particular way to some kind of spiritual discipline, no matter how good it is in its essential purpose or nature, that these things will ingratiate us more toward God, that somehow we will gain greater power or that God Himself will demonstrate His power more clearly in our lives.
[00:25:31] We have to be reminded that these parables call us back to the seed and the leaven. Preach the Word, administer the sacraments, pray. The gospel carries its own life. We do not carry the life of the gospel, no how, matter how eloquent we think we are, no matter how volitional or how much energy we give towards it, the gospel carries its own life.
[00:25:55] I'm also learning that We need to ask whether [00:26:00] this leaven is at work within us. So many have pressed this point. I've spoken a lot about how J.C. Ryle, in his Call to Prayer and other works, really, really pressed this. It's not enough to know that the gospel is spreading in the world. That's a hard thing that I've learned.
[00:26:16] It's just not enough. The question is, has it entered my heart, and is it working outward in my thoughts, in my words, in my deeds? If the change is real but slow, we can take courage. The leaven works until the whole thing is leavened. This is that great promise that God will see to completion that which he has started within us.
[00:26:41] And so even on those days when it's hard, when the temptations feel like they come at us fast and loose, there is something to be said for taking courage that the one who has promised that if, in fact, we are in the faith, we can take courage no matter how slow that the leaven will work [00:27:00] until the whole thing is leavened.
[00:27:02] Jesse Schwamb: Last, I think we gotta lift our eyes to the nations. You know, I'm really drawn back to something that I tend to under-emphasize in this parable, and that is these birds that are nesting in the branches. Like, how good and glorious is it to remember that we have a stronger kinship and bond with our Christian brothers and sisters who live halfway across the world than we do with our own neighbors who are not believers?
[00:27:25] And so Luke ends his gospel with repentance and forgiveness proclaimed to all the nations. And so we should give and pray and go knowing the tree is destined to shelter all the people, all, every people that God has created. What a glorious thing to remember that there are places that are not where we, you and me live, that there are people who are not us, and that God so loved the world that he gave his Son for all the nations.
[00:27:54] And so in so doing this, he draws us back to a reminder that that's what his kingdom is like. It's [00:28:00] like all of us together.
[00:28:00] Jesse Schwamb: It's his glorious care and concern for all the peoples whom he loves desperately And so we begin in this parable on the road to Jerusalem, and I guess there we kind of end. We're still traveling, and I think it's helpful to remember that they're on this journey.
[00:28:15] Christ has set himself on this course toward sacrifice. And the smallest seed of all really was the body of the Lord Jesus laid in a tomb like a grain of wheat falling into the earth. And from that great and glorious death came a harvest that now fills the entire world. The hidden leaven is the risen Christ working by his Spirit until all things are made new.
[00:28:41] Aren't you glad again that God is not making all new things, but is making all things new? And so I think the best way to close with this is the prayer he taught us. "Father, your kingdom come." It is a prayer that cannot fail because the King who taught it has already planted the seed.
[00:28:58] Jesse Schwamb: All right, loved ones, so that is your quick journey through Luke 13:18-21.
[00:29:05] Why don't you tell us what you think about this passage? The best way to do that is to join us in the Telegram app. It's just a chat app. It's just your friendly little corner of the internet, and you can find us by going to your favorite browser and typing in t.me/reformedbrotherhood, t.me/reformedbrotherhood.
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[00:29:50] So until next time, honor everyone and love the brotherhood. [00:30:00]