If our hopes were only for this world they will too often end in disillusionment and this is something which undoubtedly happened in the lives of the disciples of Jesus. They expected immediate concrete results from the kingdom which he claimed to be bringing; instead of this they were confronted with failure. To help their faith to survive this disappointment Jesus had to direct their gaze beyond the present as a visible reality to the future which had already begun in an invisible way. He reminds their faith that even in nature small beginnings produce unforeseen fruits; how much more will this be the case with the growth of God's reign?