Luke 13:18 - Meaning and Application

Here, I. the progress of the gospel is foretold in two parables, which we also saw before (Matthew 13:31-33). The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of God, because it advances God’s glory. Yet this kingdom was still a mystery, and people were mostly confused about it and full of wrong ideas.

When we want to explain something to people who do not know it, we often use comparisons. We say, “You do not know this person, but I will tell you who he is like.” In the same way, Christ explains what the kingdom of God is like (Luke 13:18). He shows that it will be very different from what people expect, and it will work and succeed in a very different way.

First, people expected it to appear great and reach full maturity all at once, but they were wrong. It is like a mustard seed, a very small thing that takes up little space, makes little impression, and seems to promise little. Yet when it is planted in good soil, it grows into a large tree (Luke 13:19). Many may have been put off by the gospel because its beginning was so small. They were ready to say about Christ, “Can this man save us?” And about his gospel, “Will this ever amount to anything?”

Christ removes that concern by telling them that, though its beginning is small, its end will be great. Many will come in, and they will come quickly, like a cloud flying in, to find shelter and rest in its branches. They will find more safety and satisfaction there than in the branches of Nebuchadnezzar’s tree (Daniel 4:21).

Second, people expected the kingdom to advance by outward power, by conquering nations and defeating armies. Instead, it works like leaven, quietly and steadily, without force or violence (Luke 13:21). A little leaven works through the whole lump of dough. In the same way, Christ’s teaching spreads its influence through the world of people.

This is part of its victory, that the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is made known everywhere in a way no one could have expected (2 Corinthians 2:14). But we must give it time. We should wait for the result of the gospel’s preaching in the world, and then we will see it do great things and change the very nature of human souls. Little by little, the whole mass will be leavened, even those who are ready, like flour for leaven, to receive its influence.

II. Christ’s journey toward Jerusalem is then recorded. He went through the cities and villages, teaching as he traveled (Luke 13:22). Here we see Christ as a traveling preacher. He was on the way to Jerusalem for the feast of dedication, which came in winter and made travel uncomfortable, yet he still pressed on with his Father’s work.

Along the way, he gave sermons in whatever cities and villages he could reach, not only in towns but also in country villages. Wherever Providence places us, we should try to do all the good we can.