The Depiction of Kingdom of God in Parables

The Kingdom of God is often visualized by many, but no one has any clue as to what it really can be depicted as unless you have been there and can come back to share. In the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, and the leaven parables, they all describe the Kingdom of God in similar ways but offer differing viewpoints. “together these parables present a view of the kingdom as present, but unexpectedly evil is still present too, and the kingdom is not visibly overwhelming” (Snodgrass, 2008, p. 196). And although the kingdom is rarely understood, there is much than can be resonated from its history and resonated with concepts today. Every parable that discusses the Kingdom of God is straightforward, in other words, what you read is what it is meant and understood to be. Some interpretation can be resolved, but mostly it can be understood by anyone reading.

Snodgrass (2008) points out that “The framing and attention given to the parables of the Sower and of the Wheat and the Weeds suggest that in Matthew’s mind these two are the most revealing about the nature of the kingdom” (p. 197). Also, the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds details “someone sowing, good, production of fruit, the evil one/devil, and an appeal to hear” (Snodgrass, 2008, p. 197). Capon (2002) offers us the idea that “the parable of the Weeds gives no hint of perils. From start to finish, the working of the seed is not seriously threatened at all except when the man’s enemy comes and sows weeds. But since the weeds in no way seem to interfere with the growing of the wheat…it is not danger to the crops growth but inconvenience to the farmer and his servants” (p. 87).

In the Mustard Seed parable, “the kingdom is like kòkkō sinápeōsi, a mustard seed. The kingdom is the very thing sown, not something that results from the sowing of a seed other than itself. It is on the score of the actual working of the kingdom, of its successful working. The seed grows up into something bigger than all vegetables; it puts forth big branches; and it becomes a tree, a dendron, under whose shade the birds of the heaven make their nests” (Capon, 2002, p. 98). This parable defines how individuals “see” the kingdom in all its glory. It encompasses everything that brings about life. And Snodgrass (2008) points out that “the mustard seed is analogous to Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom and the insignificant beginnings of his ministry (p. 223) just as yeast enters into the dough by being dissolved…it starts as unleavened dough to become something greater and leavened. “What the kingdom is actually represented by is the yeast-in0the-dough, the dough-cum-leaven-just as, when you come to think of it, the kingdom in the seed parables is most fully represented by the seed-in-the-ground, not simply by the seed alone” (Capon, 2002, p. 101).

The idea of the Kingdom of God is a very relevant concept for today. “By expanding when heated, the leaven reflects and refracts Scripture’s other references to warm carbon dioxide: that is, to breath, both human and divine” (Capon, 2002, p. 103). This statement reassures us that what God has sent to us, Jesus, to deliver messages of faith, hope, and prosperity even through adversity, success will still occur in darkness. We can use the explanation that “the Leaven intensive transformation emphasizes an intentional process with an explicit goal to portray the surprising large effect of something small or unobservable” (Snodgrass, 2008, p. 233). Individuals see the Kingdom of God as expansive but cannot physically observe it and what it can and will do for them for growth.