Jesus pauses in His discussion of the parable of the tares because the entire multitude was still present and the explanation was not meant for their ears. But before excusing them he gave them two shorter parables, one of which was about the mustard seed.

Matthew 13:31 - 32

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,

32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

We need to remember the “kingdom of heaven” usually refers to Christ's church.

The church or the kingdom was to grow from a very small beginning.

The mustard variety of which Jesus is speaking of is the variety grown in the western part of Asia, which is where Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon exist today. This plant begins from a very small seed and grows as tall as a tree. Sometimes it reaches the height of 10 feet.

A ten foot tall plant will support many varieties of small birds, Jesus does not specify the large varieties of birds.

But the meaning of this parable is the church will begin in a very small state. And it did, the church began in Jerusalem with about 200 members and then grew to be universal and people of all nations took spiritual shelter in it.

Matthew 13:33

The Parable of the Leaven

33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

This parable is very similar in explanation as the parable about the mustard seed.

Leaven is what we think of as yeast, very little of it is needed in a recipe to make bread, a little goes a long way when introduced into the dough for the bread, left to continue its normal operation, it will cause the entire dough to raise.

In this parable the leaven is the Gospel which Christ introduced into the world at Jerusalem.

In this parable the meal represents the whole world and the Gospel was spread to the whole world.

Christ told His Apostles to spread the Gospel after the resurrection and Paul reports the entire world had been exposed to the Gospel by the time he wrote Romans 10:18 and Colossians 1:23.

Matthew 13:34 – 35

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,

35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

Jesus used parables to speak about the kingdom of heaven (church) to the people which encompassed the multitudes. He never spoke plain lessons to them.

This method of teaching them was prophesied by King David in Psalm 78:2, his teaching in this manner fulfilled David's prophecy.

The word “world” comes from the Greek KOSMOS meaning people of the earth.