The King of Heaven is Like... | Episode 1

What if the most powerful work God is doing in your life… looks small?

In this first episode of our new series, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”, we unpack two of Jesus’ simplest—but most overlooked—parables: the mustard seed and the yeast.

Jesus doesn’t describe the kingdom with something big, loud, or impressive.
 He points to something tiny.
 Something hidden.
 Something easy to miss.

And that’s the point.

The kingdom of heaven isn’t just a future destination—it’s God’s rule and reign at work right now. And more often than not, it shows up in ways we don’t expect.

If you’ve ever felt like your faith is small, your progress is slow, or nothing is really changing… this episode is for you.

Because the kingdom of heaven is like… something small that changes everything.

We'd love to hear from you -- email us at ListenToShoesOff@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Shoes Off, a weekly podcast where we pause, take off what weighs us down, and take a step onto holy ground.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

And welcome back to Shoes Off. Today we're starting a new four-week series centered around the phrase that Jesus repeats over and over. And we find this in the New Testament that the kingdom of heaven is like. And then he gives a parable. But I'm excited to get into this new series and really define what Jesus was trying to tell us about the kingdom of heaven.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Yeah, and this is something really what we're going to do over the next month here and looking at this series is really dive into really the book of Matthew. So if you're following along with us, which we always hope that you are, uh, we're going through various chapters in Matthew, and he uses it uh throughout many chapters of Matthew, and we'll make sure to tell you where it is. But maybe this is a phrase that you've heard before, or maybe it's even something that you kind of thought to yourself, well, maybe that's not really for us today. Jesus was talking to a bunch of Jews at the time that he was teaching, he was trying to reveal something that's that really wasn't for us. Um, that was for them. Maybe that's that's not really practical to what we do today. But the reality is that Jesus wasn't really trying to make things complicated or really just have messages for just the Jews at that time.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

He was doing the opposite, he was trying to do something for all of us. And then we'll find in the scripture that Jesus talked in parables, and there was a lot of questions to Jesus around why do you speak in parables? And this was a teaching lesson that he talked about, like hey, the kingdom of heaven is like, and he used parables, he used things that was common to them back in the day that they could really refer to. It'd be like us talking about something that we're really familiar about with today. So when Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like, he's taking something that we can't see and he's comparing it to something that we can see. So he's taking something ordinary, something familiar. So we just don't understand it, but we recognize it.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

So through the next four weeks, we're gonna walk through some of these parables and not just to understand them, but really to ask a better question for ourselves of where is this showing up in my life right now? How do these parables still apply to me? Now, there are many different parables that Jesus did. I think looking at it, there's around 12 different things he kind of alludes to the kingdom of heaven. It's like, and maybe we'll hit all 12. I know we're gonna hit two of them today, but maybe we just focus on one, or maybe we look at some other ones. But again, we always encourage that you're always reading and kind of adding your own research to every one of our podcasts.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

So let's answer the question of the elephant in the room first before we even get into this. What is the kingdom of heaven? Have you ever thought it like yeah, I think it's people ask that or listeners today, just pause and think. When you just heard us say kingdom of heaven, what was Jesus really saying? And I think that's a really important question that we have to answer because if we miss it, we miss the entire point of what Jesus was trying to tell us. And a lot of people think that the kingdom of heaven is just where you go when you die.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

And we know that there is a heaven, yep, and there is a hell. But when Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, I I think he's talking about something much bigger.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

And what we really see across all of scripture and many other theologians and other resources and stuff like that, what we really get is more of this definition that the kingdom of heaven is the rule and the reign of God, and it's wherever God's authority is present and it is active.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Yeah, I mean, the kingdom of heaven is in us, those that are saved and those that are alive in Christ and the Holy Spirit that lives in us. And it's not here's what's important it's not just the future of heaven that we're talking about. The kingdom of heaven is happening today. Now, it's not fully completed, but it's in motion, and I think that's what Jesus was really referring to is that the kingdom of heaven that he was establishing.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Yeah, it means something really important that the kingdom of heaven is not something that we have to wait for or that we have to wait to experience. It's something that we actually currently live in. Now, like you just kind of said, one day we will be in heaven and all of us will be and we'll be under this amazing rule of it. And it's not what Jesus teaches. We can very much be in the kingdom of heaven, but we know the people around us may not be in the kingdom of heaven or following the rules of the kingdom of heaven.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

And I love how Jesus just made it simple to understand. And so I think that's why Jesus taught in parables, because again, the kingdom isn't something that always looks obvious to us. We probably think about when we go in these cathedrals and it's like, oh, that's the kingdom of heaven. Yeah, but it's not. I mean, it was something simple, and this is what Jesus was trying to get across in these parables, and sometimes you have to learn how to see it, and so that really takes us into two verses in Matthew 13 where Jesus talks about the first one. He talks about the mustard seed. And I know as Christians, we probably heard about this a lot. This was a seed in the ancient days, but Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Exactly. And just because it's short, I mean, we might as well just read it. Yeah, word for word in here, but it says this is Matthew 13, starting in verse 31, and it says, Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, I mean, that's just so this is an ancient seed that they used back in the day, and it does develop the condiment that we know is mustard.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

And but it was used for other things. Actually, there was an oil that came from it. I think they used it for medicinal purposes and things like that. But as you mentioned, I mean, this is a really small seed. If you're driving, don't look this up. But at some point, Google what a mustard seed looks like. It's just a really tiny seed, really small, but it grows into a plant that's over six foot tall. And that's what the scripture was just saying. Something so small can generate just this massive plant that, according to all the other plants it grows around, it just grows way taller than all the other ones.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

To kind of give you a visualization, a mustard seed, at least one that we can think of now. Imagine the size of the eye of Abraham Lincoln on a penny. That that is about the size of a mustard seed. There you go. I mean, that's pretty maybe many of our listeners now can't even find a penny anymore that you can even use that as an imagery. Yeah. But that's really how small it is. Very insignificant in in size.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

And I think to that point, this is how God challenges working in our lives, is because sometimes we look for the big moments. And I think that's what maybe they were even looking for in that time. They were looking just for this big event to happen. And Jesus was saying, Hey, the kingdom of heaven's like a mustard seed. It's small, and it's not this big moment, it's not these big breakthroughs or these big results. It's something small that God was working in our lives.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yeah, like you said, he's pointing to something that is extremely tiny and something that most people would overlook. I mean, you probably wouldn't be able to you're looking down at the grass, it's like playing Where's Waldo, right? And trying to find this little mustard seed. Yeah. It's just something that most people would overlook on their daily lives.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

And I think the emphasis here that Jesus was really trying to maybe point out to us is that the unexpected growth of something so small can just become so far greater than what we can't have us imagined. And when we get into practical how we apply this to our lives, we'll talk about, we'll reference that these small things in life. So again, the mustard seed that was the first thing that was brought out here.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

If we continue looking at this parable a little bit into verse 32, it says, But when it has grown, it's the greatest among the herbs. And we we kind of talked about that, right? It's a very large plant at this point. Something so small turns into something large. But then Jesus continues and it says, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Yeah. Something so small has now turned into something so large that other things are drawn to it, that other creatures and other creation is drawn to it. And it's even like I think about it because it's birds are coming there and it says that they're lodging in the branches. But why do birds lodge? What's the purpose of a bird lodging in a tree? Nesting because they are probably having a family. There's a reason that nests is there. And that seed that is now grown into a tree is now providing life to other things around it too. It's not just life for the tree, but it's providing a life to everything outside of the tree as well. And Jesus is going in this, and this is probably all of our listeners that have been to church maybe three times in their life have probably heard a sermon on the mustard seed before. But you put that little seed in somebody, right? And it grows into something and it spreads. Right. And it goes around. And what is the other thing that that birds do as birds or insects or anything do is a lot of them pollinate. They take seeds from the tree, and now they're spreading it to other places too. Right. And that's just that's all part of that. That one little seed is now bringing so much life to everything around it. And that I think is what God and Jesus is really trying to pull out of this is that the kingdom of God may look like we may feel so insignificant, we may feel so small, but we can make such a major impact in the kingdom of heaven. And those it's those little things that feel insignificant that will actually be the most significant parts of the kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

And then in the next verse, Jesus uses a parable about the yeast working in the dough.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yeah, and here's exactly what it is. This is just following right afterward in Matthew 13, starting in verse 33. It says, Another parable spake he unto them. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Yeah, and so you know, the leaven is yeast, and so you put yeast in dough, and I think around that that three measures that the Bible talks about is around 50 pounds of flour. That's crazy. So you can imagine a little bit of yeast and she works it into 50 pounds of flour. That's a lot of dough.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

And I'm not talking about money. But just imagine, I mean, this is different. The mustard seed is all about growth that you eventually see, right? Yeah. The yeast is about change that you don't see at first. I mean, the yeast she works it in the dough, in the 50 pounds of dough. It's just a small amount of yeast can impact that 50 pounds of flour.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Yeah, and it's something that works internally, and it's something that works gradually, but it changes everything. And it's something that does take time in order to work. I don't have you ever tried to make like sourdough or anything before.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

No, I used to get those, like somebody used to give me that friendship bread, and I give it to you. You never heard of it? No. Oh, well, maybe it might show up at trouble. So it's like a starter kit. Somebody gives you like friendship bread or they there's another name for it, but they give it to you like in a little baggie, and then you just let it go for and then you you take a piece off and you give it to somebody else. It's so it's like it continues on, but then it's all about the yeast and fermenting it in the dough or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Yeah, I've never heard of it. But anyway, but yeah, it but in this, it is something that is it is moving internally and gradually, and but it is changing things at at a pace. But it may be something that we can't see, but we know that it's being worked and it's being actually gone into. I think about a very similar, at least parable for us. I guess we could talk about. Do you ever see those those guys that make taffy on TikTok or whatever? Putting like little drops of colour. Yeah, it's like little drops of coloring and then it like runs through the machine. That's kind of what's happening here, you know. Maybe yeah, maybe if Jesus was here today, he would have done the it's it's like a man making taffy or something like that. But it's similar in that kind of concept.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Yeah, and I think what Jesus was teaching us here is the influence of the kingdom of heaven, right? I mean, the like the yeast is hidden in the dough. The kingdom of God often works silently and invisibly, but we see its effects of it. I mean, it's small compared to the flower, but it's essential in making the bread. And I think that's how small acts of faith or kindness or just even us sowing the seed of the gospel can create huge changes in our families and our friends and even where we work. I mean, the kingdom of heaven transforms from the inside out, and I think this is uh this is an exact picture of that.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

And you kind of mentioning this kind of brings the idea like, what if it didn't have yeast? What if the flower doesn't have yeast? It won't rise.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

It's unleavened bread. The way, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Exactly. It's unleavened. And this this is a complete random, but maybe this is I'm making another modern parable to this. But my grandparents make which they make peanut butter fudge. It's like a big thing. And like a bunch of different candy and like buckeyes, which for anyone not in the state of Ohio are little, just like it's basically peanut butter fudge dipped in chocolate. It's pretty much what but there was one time my grandma made them and she got them out of like the refrigerator, and we're dipping, and I'm like, these look terrible, like they just looked so bad. And I tried one because I'm like, some of it's weird. Yeah, there was no peanut butter in it. And she looked at me, she goes, We didn't put peanut butter in it. And I went, No, oh my word, we like we couldn't believe it. But yeah, when you do that, the product isn't there, right? It has to have all the things in it, and it is something that's it was obvious. We but we went that whole time without thinking there was peanut butter. Yeah, but in this yeast is something you could easily forget. It's something so small and it could be forgotten, but it is so important, and this is in what you were kind of saying there, it it's reshaping our heart, and this is kind of where it becomes real for us, is because we often measure progress by what is visible to us. Yeah, but what's true is that God is often doing his deepest work where no one can see it.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah, I think it's a I think it's a really good point because we we often ask a question, even in our lives, why hasn't anything changed yet? And we've talked about that question over many of our series, God's working in our lives, why aren't we seeing this, or why aren't we seeing that? But even in this, maybe God is saying to us, you don't see what I'm doing underneath. And so you have to let the dough and the yeast really take effect before it can become a really good product. We're like 50 pounds of flour. I mean, but God's just doing something that maybe we can't see on the outside yet, but he's definitely working in that. And so let's bring this to practical life. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, it's like yeast. So, again, how is that really apply to our life? And why are we even talking about that, taking time in the series to really talk about that? If the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed and yeast, then maybe we need to rethink how we measure what matters.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

Yeah, because like we said at the beginning, these are things that are actually going to show up in everyday situations. Right. That small decision for you to do the right thing, or that that moment of patience instead of reacting to somebody, or maybe it's just a quiet discipline that no one else can see.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, I mean, all those examples are things that are small, they're not big events. I mean, they they may not feel powerful, but according to Jesus, that's exactly how the kingdom works. It's so he can take something small and it can have such a great influence on everyday life, and that's what the kingdom of heaven is.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Yeah, and maybe to just to add to the point you just said there, and this is maybe even the most important thing about all this is just because you don't see the results yet doesn't mean that nothing is happening.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

I think growth takes time, right? It takes time to transform into what you want to be. I mean, if I want to be a bodybuilder, I'm not gonna go to the gym and transform into that overnight. I wish that would be it's got I mean, it's gotta work on the inside out. But again, that doesn't mean it's not real. It just means it takes time. And I think that's the really the practical application for us in both of these scenarios. When Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed or is like yeast, it's the small work that he's doing in all of our lives that is working today in our lives, in the church, in the world. And maybe it takes time. Maybe the thing that you just did this past week of witnesses to somebody, or that small act of faith that you took, you're like, man, I haven't even seen the results of that. But just know that God is working in that, and you may not see the effect yet, but he's working on the inside of what he's gonna make great from that.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Yeah, absolutely. And just you were talking about the mustard seed, and then we talk about growing into the tree, right? But that usually takes 80 to 95 days once something is planted, and that's like three months, and that's not me telling you that everything that you pray for, just give it three months. Right. Yeah, that that's right. That's not it. But it it does show us that things do take time. Yeah, it does go, and even in the parable of the yeast, even when you make the dough, you can't eat just the dough. Right. The dough has to start baking.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

There's things like that that do have to be put in the heat, it's gonna be tried. Yeah, absolutely. We don't have enough time in the podcast for that.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Maybe next week we'll come back in on it. But let's talk about some challenges that we can kind of look into for the week. So here's kind of the big challenge for the week is identify maybe one small thing in your life that you've been overlooking. Maybe it's a habit that you're in, or maybe it's a decision that you've made, or a step of obedience toward God, or maybe it's a situation that feels super in insignificant, but maybe that is the seed.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Yeah, and maybe instead of dismissing it, lean into it because what looks small to us may be exactly where God is working.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

And another thing to kind of add to that is maybe find a place this week where you can plant a mustard seed. Maybe it's an invite to church. Yeah, maybe it is uh an invite to a Bible study, or it could be as easy as sharing a Bible verse on Facebook or on X or whatever you social media you use. Maybe that's just that's you planting that little, it may seem so insignificant. It could be the size of a mustard seed, but that could turn into something that's so great.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Yeah, and the final question we want you to think about this week, and this will be in every episode of this series, is as you go about your week, just think about is that what the kingdom of heaven is like when you see certain things? Like, what is God trying to show you about the kingdom of heaven and how we are the kingdom of heaven? So as we close in prayer, just again think about the kingdom of heaven and identify those areas in your life where God is trying to show you that the kingdom of heaven isn't something that's in the future, it's now. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the way that you work, not always loud, not always obvious, but always intentional in our lives. God, help us to trust you in the small things, help us to see what you're doing, even when it doesn't look like much yet. Give us the patience and the process and faith to believe that you're growing something greater that we can see. And Lord, change us from the inside out. Do the deep work that's in our hearts that only you can do. We trust you in the process. We trust you with the growth, and we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Thanks for joining us on Shoes Off. Until next time, keep walking in faith. And remember, growth begins on holy ground.