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The Christmas Cycle
Holy Communion. If we but allow Him to do so, Christ will penetrate our thoughts, our motives,
our actions, and our works, as leaven penetrates the meal. As all the meal soon becomes
leavened, so, too, the human soul will become permeated with the divine presence, and an
epiphany, or manifestation of the Lord, may truly be said to have taken place in our soul. All
those who see us will recognize the work that God has accomplished in our souls. They will be
amazed at the power of the words that proceed from the mouth of the Lord: “The kingdom of
heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, . . . like leaven.”
Meditation
The Lord manifests Himself to the world at Epiphany. He comes into the world at Christmas
as a helpless child; but now He is made known to the world. He grows to full maturity and in
due time will gather all men to Himself, as the mustard tree gathers the birds of the air in its
branches. He compares Himself to the mustard seed, which in itself is very insignificant, but
which possesses the power to produce a flourishing plant. He is the leaven with which the whole
human race is to be permeated until it has been transformed by the power of God. “Adore God
all you His angels; Sion heard and was glad; and the daughters of Juda rejoiced. The Lord hath
reigned, let the earth rejoice, let many islands be glad” (Introit).
“The kingdom of God is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;
which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs and
becometh a tree; so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof ” (Gospel).
The mustard seed mentioned in the Gospel is a symbol of Christ. For thirty years He lives in
obscurity before He manifests His hidden power and strength to the world. When He does
manifest Himself to the world, He is persecuted, rejected by His people, and finally crucified.
Yet from this apparent failure springs the great tree, the Church, which gathers the children of
men into her many branches.
The leaven, too, is a symbol of Christ. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a
woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened” (Gospel). Christ
will spread His influence until it penetrates the hearts and souls of all men and fills them with
His strength and spirit. No one is refused admission to this blessed union; no one is too insignificant
to escape the love and attention of God. Even I may become a branch of the great tree
which springs from the mustard seed. I, too, may be permeated with the leaven of Christ’s love
and power. How wonderful is the condescension and solicitude of God!
The Epistle shows us the practical application of the parable of the Gospel. The Apostle
of the Gentiles points out to the Christians of Thessalonike how the mustard seed, the Word
of the Lord, has grown in them until it has become a mighty tree. “Brethren, we give thanks to
God always for you all, making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing, being
mindful of the work of your faith and labor and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of
our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father; knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your
election. . . . And you became followers of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in much tribulation,
with joy of the Holy Ghost; so that you were made a pattern to all that believe. . . . For
they themselves relate of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven (whom
He raised up from the dead), Jesus, who hath delivered us from the wrath to come” (Epistle).
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