Here is another illustration Jesus used:

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.

It is the smallest of all seeds, 

but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, 

and birds come 

and make nests in its branches."

Matthew 13:31-32 NLT

Can you picture Matthew writing down some of Jesus' stories? 

Which ones to keep?

Which ones made more sense to him?

I wonder how many times Jesus shared this one.

What does Jesus want us to see when he describes the Kingdom of Heaven in this way? 

What strikes you about the story?

The mustard seed?

The field?

The unknown planter?

The tree?

The garden?

The birds?

The nests?

Or is it the arc of the story that we're supposed to see?

Is it about what's not there that we seem to think Heaven is full of, clouds, angels, harps, or whatever?

Or is it wondering about the last image, a tree, fully formed and flourishing, providing safety and nourishment for the small, the co-flourishing of the tree and the birds that's says something to us about the Kingdom of Heaven?

Where we want certainty, Jesus gives us pictures and stories to hear, imagine, and wonder into.

#wonder

#imagination 

#wordsofJesus

#redletterBible