Upside-Down Christmas: Luke 13

Luke 13

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When Jesus starts talking about the kingdom of God, things never go the way you would expect. I’m so glad you’re joining us for our Upside-Down Christmas podcast where we’re looking at the life and ministry of Jesus through the book of Luke. We’re in chapter 13. And in this chapter, Jesus starts telling parables about the kingdom of God.

“What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of 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.” (Luke 13:18-19)

Now, if you’ve never seen a mustard seed and aren’t familiar with farming or anything like that, this will be pretty foreign to you. But still, it’s not that hard to understand. You just have to know that the mustard seed is tiny, and totally unassuming. But of course, once it sprouts and grows to full it becomes this huge thing that can even shelter birds under its leaves.

And of course, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is like that—it has these very small, very humble beginnings—imperceptible, even; but over time, it grows and grows and grows until it takes over the garden!

And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” (Luke 13:20-21)

Same concept here. The leaven—you add it to the dough, but you can’t really see any difference after you add it; it all looks the same. But you cover it and leave it for a couple of hours and come back and the whole thing has tripled in size.

Now the reason why that’s all upside-down is because, when you think about God—about how great and mighty and powerful and amazing—when you think about God and his kingdom, you don’t expect humble beginnings; your don’t expect slow, even imperceptible growth. You expect God to come onto the scene with thunder and lightning and armies and a great big show. But Jesus is saying it isn’t like that.

And indeed, his life and ministry are that way. Remember, Jesus was born in a manger to parents who were of no particular stature; he grew up in a nowhere place and didn’t even engage in ministry until he was about thirty years old. And of course, he only ministered for about three years.

But then look at what’s come of that! His kingdom has spread throughout the world and continues to spread throughout the world—like leaven hid in three measures of dough.

It isn’t like we would expect. But just as it was an upside down Christmas then, so it seems to be an upside down kingdom now.

And listen, that’s important for us because a lot of the time the work that we’re doing for the kingdom can seem like it’s really nothing, like it’s really not all that important, or like it’s having no effect. You keep serving, you keep praying, you keep…whatever…but things don’t seem to be changing. You could be doing it wrong, sure. But maybe you’ve got the wrong expectations, too. Because Jesus told us that how the kingdom comes. And often it’s not like what we would expect.

Don’t let your inability to perceive the progress of the kingdom keep you from pushing forward in faithfulness.

Let’s pray: Lord, help us to be faithful to you even when we can’t see progress. We want to be humble and we want to trust in your ways; sometimes it’s hard for us to keep going because we can’t see any progress. Please have mercy on us and help us to keep going in faith even when things seem like they’re not really going anywhere. We pray that your kingdom would come and your will would be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen.

Family Devotion:

Prepare ahead if you would like by gathering mustard seeds (from the spice section of your grocery store) and/or dry yeast. If you are super eager for this lesson, prepare some pre-risen bread dough.

Read Luke 13:18-21

Pour some seeds  or yeast in your hand to show how small they are.

Isn’t crazy that something so small can grow into a tree? Or something so tiny can cause dough to double and sometimes triple in size?

Jesus teaches us that God's Kingdom starts small but grows huge, like a tiny seed becoming a big tree or invisible yeast making dough rise. Even small acts of faith and kindness build God's big family (the Church) and that His work happens even when we can't see it, requiring patience and trust in His big plan.

What's the smallest thing you can do that makes a big difference? (e.g., sharing, saying "thank you").

How is our church/friend group like a tiny seed that's growing?

When have you seen God work in a way you couldn't see at first (like the yeast)?