The Mustard Plant, the Leaven, and Universal Salvation

While leaven or yeast in the Bible sometimes refers to evil (Matthew 16:6), it does not do so in Matthew 13:33 or Luke 13:20-21. In the leaven parable, Christ was likening the leaven itself to the kingdom of God and, as such, the leaven must have portrayed something good. Evidently the lump of dough spoke of the entire cosmos, which is finally going to be permeated by Christ and brought into loving subjection to God who will be “all in all”—I Corinthians 15:28. This very direct interpretation certainly favors ultimate universal salvation.

In the mustard plant parable (Matthew 13:31-32 and Luke 13:18-20) the kingdom of God is said to be like the mustard seed, which grows into a large tree where birds find refuge among its boughs. There is no hint of a corruptive or adverse interpretation. It is true that worldly corruption did enter the Church, and it is also true that birds are used in some passages to elicit evil connotations. But our Lord was not using birds as a figure of evil here in Matthew 13:31-32. Instead He was demonstrating that this particular mustard plant, which typifies the kingdom of God, starts very small but nonetheless, develops into a great tree in which birds can lodge.

The Bible birds evidently portray God’s care for all of His creation, as with the sparrows of the field, all of which are under His constant surveillance. In Ezekiel 17:23-24 God planted a shoot from the cedar on a high mountain. It became a splendid tree where birds of every kind came to nest and find shelter in the shade of its branches. Our Lord may have been referring to this very Ezekiel passage while delivering the parable of the mustard tree.

The Ezekiel text and the mustard tree parable both picture Christ’s return and His ultimate reconciliation of all. In both the leaven and mustard plant parables there is dynamic growth in God’s kingdom, leading eventually to a blessing for all. Such teaching fits clearly with I Corinthians 15:20-28 and with l5 other free standing New Testament passages. It also conforms to dozens of passages in the Old Testament showing that God’s mercy endures and that His indignation comes to an end.

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TURA (The Ultimate Reconciliation of All)

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