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Matthew 13:32-34
New Catholic Bible
Matthew 13:32-34
New Catholic Bible
32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of plants and becomes a tree large enough for the birds to come and make nests in its branches.”[a]
33 The Parable of the Yeast.[b] And he offered them yet another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until it was completely leavened.”
34 The Use of Parables.[c] Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables. Indeed he never spoke to them except in parables.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 13:32 Tree . . . its branches: an allusion to Dan 4:21, indicating that the kingdom of heaven will become worldwide and people from all nations will find refuge therein (see also Ezek 17:23; 31:6; Dan 2:35, 44f; 7:27; Rev 11:15).
- Matthew 13:33 The parable of the yeast is an invitation to faith in the efficacy of the ministry of Jesus. Despite its modest and unspectacular character, it constitutes a stage in the eschatological coming of the kingdom of God. The greatness of the kingdom is shown by the enormous amount of flour, enough to feed well over a hundred people.
- Matthew 13:34 Matthew stresses that Jesus speaks in parables to reveal God and his kingdom; in this way he shows that the Messiah fulfills the Scriptures. The “prophet” is, in this case, the psalmist (see Ps 78:2).
