2) Gospel Reading - Luke 13,18-21
[18] He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? [19] It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." [20] And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? [21] It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." [22] He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Along the road that leads Him to Jerusalem, Jesus is surrounded by “thousands” of persons (11, 29) who crowd around him. The reason for such attraction from the crowds is the Word of Jesus. In chapter 12 one can notice how the people who listen to his Word alternate: the disciples (12, 1-12), the crowd (vv.13-21), the disciples (vv.22-53), the crowds (vv.54-59). IThe scandal of death is the dominating theme of Luke 13, 1-35. In the first part it is spoken about as the death of all (vv.1-9), in the second part, the death of Jesus (vv.31-35) and then to the death avoided by sinners because their conversion is expected. But there is another theme together with the dominant one: the salvation given to men. The cure of the woman who was bent, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had held for eighteen years, is liberated by Jesus. And in the center of this chapter 13 we find two parables that constitute the overall theme: The Kingdom of God as compared to the “mustard seed” and to the “leaven or yeast”.
• The Kingdom of God is similar to a mustard seed. Such a seed is very common in Palestine and particularly close to the Lake of Galilee. It is especially known because it is particularly small. In Luke 17, 6, Jesus uses such an image to express the hope that He has for the disciples that they have a at least a small seed of faith: “If you had faith like a mustard seed...”. This parable, which is very simple, confronts two diverse moments in the story of the seed: the moment when it is sown in the earth (the modest beginnings) and when it becomes a tree (the final miracle). Therefore, the purpose of this account is to narrate the extraordinary growth of a seed that is thrown in one’s own garden, and to this follows an amazing growth as it becomes a tree. Like this seed, the Kingdom of God also has its story. The Kingdom of God is the seed thrown into the garden, the place that in the New Testament is the place of the agony and the burial of Jesus (Jn 18, 1.26; 19, 41). Then it follows the moment of growth and concludes with becoming a tree open to all.