Jesus imparts a doctrine which rocks and overturns acquired habits and preconceptions. Those who safeguard these preconceptions (the Pharisees) rebel against this teacher of a new lesson. It is intolerable for them. It was intolerable then and for us now. The teaching of Jesus will always be intolerable.

We resist the one who can regenerate us. What is the explanation for this resistance to what is new? Consider an animal forced to endure a metamorphosis in order to reach its adult form. Would the caterpillar prefer to remain in it’s juvenile condition rather than become a butterfly? It is highly possible that this is also true for man. Man is essentially an incomplete animal, called by God the Creator to a supernatural destiny, to participation in the life of God. He can only participate in this new life through a re-birth, a transformation. St. Gregory Nanzianzen calls us – The deifiable animal. We resist this re-birth, this metamorphosis, with all our strength. Further, we persecute those who call upon us to undergo this transformation. He prefers to remain the man of old, the old man, rather than become the new man. More precisely, he harbors two contradictory desires: one fills him with hope to embrace the new life, and the other makes him turn back and regress.

The mustard seed and the yeast are very small. The Word of God is very small. Will we say yes to its growth in our lives?