Like a mustard seed
Jesus narrated parables from the ordinary experience of his people in Mediterranean lands. To these people, the growth of mustard and the baking of bread mixing it with dough were commonplace, which is not the case in all parts of the world. As a matter of fact, one could substitute mustard with some other plant, and still grasp the meaning of what Jesus demonstrated. The kingdom of heaven is like a passion fruit, for instance.
When you eat a passion fruit, one seed is quite insignificant. You may even see it remaining in the pod and not take the trouble to extract it once you have eaten most of the seeds. Normally, you don’t even eat one passion fruit but many to be satisfied. But if you sacrificed even one single passion fruit and extracted the seeds, not for eating but for planting, one day you would have plenty of other passion fruits to eat. True, there is some work to be done before you can eat from the new plant. First, you deny yourself the pleasure of eating that passion fruit. You will need to find the soil, to water it, to transplant it, to weed it, to help it climb onto a tree. You might need to apply some pesticide, or repair broken branches. You must wait for a long time before you eat from the new plant. All the same, the harvest just does not compare with the little seed sacrificed for planting.
In the first place, the sheer number of passion fruits that come from one seed just does not compare. We never even bother to count them. And this is not just for one season, but it can go on and on for many years. Secondly, it is never just the individual who benefits, but many others, and not only human beings but other creatures too. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus refers to birds of the air taking shelter in the shrub. Thirdly, the passion fruit plant has the potential to multiply and produce an incredible number of other plants, when propagated.
Whatever small deed we perform will have consequences that far surpass the small sacrifice incurred. These good consequences will not be just for the individual but for many other people beyond the imagination of the doer. And every good deed can produce in others a multitude of good deeds far beyond our imagination.
