The Thursday after the Festival of the Transfiguration of our Lord
Posted on February 13, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 13:31-35 (NKJV)
13:31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
“I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
Devotion
There are a host of parables which teach about the various aspects of the Kingdom of God, that is, the Church. None of them teach it all, but each one teaches different aspects of the properties of the holy Christian Church.
The parable of the mustard seed tells about the relative smallness of Christianity. In the book of Acts, her enemies seek to discredit the Church by calling her a small “sect” of Judaism. (We know that Christianity is, in fact, the true continuance and fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophets.) Despite the Church’s small beginnings, she eventually grows so that the sun never sets on the Kingdom of God.
The parable of the bread-making woman and the working of the leaven teaches about the pervasiveness of Christian teachings. The teaching that Jesus is the Christ is not found in only a few passages of Isaiah, but it is the teaching of all the Law and the Prophets. The way of salvation through repentance and faith in Christ is not limited to conversion, but is the way of life for the Christian. Those who are baptized into Christ daily die to their sins and daily rise to live new lives with Christ.
Collect: O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thine Only-begotten Son, hast confirmed the mysteries of the Faith by the testimony of the Fathers, and Who, in the Voice that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful manner foreshow the adoption of sons: Mercifully vouchsafe to make us coheirs with the King of His glory, and bring us to the enjoyment of the same; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
