Name: Anonymous
Question: In response to your article, “Is The Bible The Actual Or Inspired Word Of God?” In Luke 13:18-21, Jesus provides two parables. One about a grain of mustard seed and a flock of birds, and a second about a woman and leaven.
I take this to mean, the kingdom of God is larger than it appears to be, due to the infiltration of birds and the leaven. Could this indicate, and is it possible that there was at least some sabotage of the Scriptures, especially the New Testament?
Answer: Thanks for the question.
Let’s read the verses together, and we will discuss them as we go.
Luke 13:18-19
18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
Nothing negative is intended here.
We are being told, the Kingdom of God is similar to a grain of mustard seed.
Naturally, when a plant grows big enough, not only does it support itself, but it provides a home for other life. Birds make nests in large bushes and trees. So this is symbolic of Christianity maturing so much, that it blesses others.
Now let’s read about the woman and leaven.
Luke 13:20-21
20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Notice, the question in both parables concerns the Kingdom of God. Jesus answered those questions in verses 19 and 21.
So then, nothing negative is intended or implied here. While leaven is certainly used to identify bad things in Scripture. Here, we find it used to point out that Christianity (the kingdom of God essentially) would bloom.
Also notice, “till the whole was leavened.”
It multiplied and grew by the work of the woman in this case.
How did it grow?
By a woman.
So you have mankind nurturing something along. A seed and meal, symbolic of God’s Word. It takes men and women to plant the seed of our faith. God waters it, but it takes someone to go do the work here on earth.
With a little effort and God’s blessings, Christianity grows into a bush from a seed, or a loaf of bread from a little leaven.
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The Harvest
A little side note, this verse is cross-referenced…
Mark 4:29
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
Harvest, how we await the harvest of Jesus Christ. When the Word puts forward fruit, then comes the harvest. This ties right into the parable of the fig tree. How one of the primary signs of the Last Days was that Christianity would spread to all nations.
So again, these parables are about God’s Kingdom growing and coming to fruition. They are about Christianity maturing and spreading throughout the world.
Now, let’s discuss your other concern.
Was Scripture Altered?
Is it possible Scripture was purposely altered in a negative way?
Anything is possible when it comes to man-making errors. However, I don’t believe anything like that made its way into the Scriptures that would pervert our faith.
I say that due to the multitude of manuscripts in existence. The scholars who have gone through them have vetted everything out. When there are inconsistencies, it raises a red flag. They look for manuscripts that are old, and have the most witnesses to them. When there is a manuscript that does not agree with the many, it’s called into question.
Now, there are missing verses in some manuscripts, and portions of text have been added to our King James Bible. In fact, I pointed out one example where the KJV reads, “these three are one,” (1 John 5:7).
I have personal notes on several other verses like this, and I am sure there are many more I don’t know about yet.
Does that change our faith though?
No, it doesn’t.
It’s worth noting, the ASV and RV Bible reference some of the older manuscripts. Some of which were not available when the KJV Bible was published. At times, I like their accuracy over the KJV. There’s a whole scholarly argument with all of this that I am sure you are aware of.
Let me close by highly recommending the book, “How We Got The Bible,” (free via internet archive). I also did a video on this subject in case you haven’t seen it, (see: How We Got The Bible And Its History). I think more Christians should know about this subject.
I mean, we have based our faith on the Bible, but most Christians have no idea how we actually got it. It’s important we do, so when we are asked by a non-believer, we have an answer, (1 Peter 3:15). Moreover, we place our life on it, and our hope of eternal salvation on its pages.
We should probably know a thing or two about it.