To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed

 

 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  for there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  

 

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  

 

Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."  And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable he did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. 

 

- Mark 4:21–34 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up and it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.   And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that  'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'" And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;  and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

 

  Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Jesus says something similar in the Sermon on the Mount, in the context of reflecting Christ's light in the world as disciples, bearing His word and living it openly.  See Matthew 5:14-16.  Here the context is also "the word," but the word as seed from the Sower to be borne into the world through our discipleship.  See also Luke 8:16; 11:33.

 

  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."   Again the emphasis is on productivity, fruitfulness (see the end of the parable in yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible says it is a call to attentive listening and discriminating response.  We must not only hear, but hear properly.  More will be given to those who respond to Christ with open hearts; they will grow in understanding.  My study Bible quotes St. Mark the Ascetic:  "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you."  By coincidence, today, March 5th, is the feast day of St. Mark the Ascetic; read more about him here.  Again, Christ's words here are also found elsewhere in the Gospels; see Matthew 7:2; Luke 6:38.  Each time they are used in a different context; my study Bible comments that Jesus no doubt repeated this message many times. 

 

 And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."    This parable is only found here, in St. Mark's Gospel.  My study Bible explains that the kingdom is a reference to the whole span of God's dispensation or plan of salvation.  The man is Christ, and the seed is the gospel (see Mark 4:13-20, found in yesterday's reading, above).  The man's sleep indicates Christ's death, from which He will rise.  That the man does not know how the seed grows shows that Christ does not manipulate our response to the gospel, but rather each person has the freedom to receive it and to let it grow in one's own heart.  The harvest indicates the Second Coming, when all will be judged on their reception of the gospel.  

 

 Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."  My study Bible cites Theophylact, who likens this parable to the disciples, who began as just a few men, but "soon encompassed the whole earth."  It can also stand for faith which enters a person's soul and causes an inward growth of virtue.  Such a soul will become godlike, and can receive even angels (the birds of the air may nest under its shade).  

 

 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable he did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.  My study Bible comments that to unbelievers, the parables remain bewildering.  To those who have simple faith, these stories use common images to reveal truth in ways they can grasp, as they were able.

 

I must admit that the parable of the mustard seed is quite one of my favorites.  For in life, we will find the truth of this parable, that when we simply start something (such as a project for Church, or in some other way follow God's calling), we have no idea where it will lead.  We simply cannot calculate or anticipate God's work with us as Christ's mustard seed blooms and grows as it will.  Of course, that particular parable gives us a mustard seed as being like the kingdom of God.   This we simply cannot anticipate, for the kingdom of God is wherever the Holy Spirit goes, and this is a great mystery to us.  As Jesus taught to Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  The birth through the Holy Spirit is not something we can know in its beginning nor its end.  We simply feel its effects.  A mustard seed is something that reminds us of genetics, in the sense that each seed contains within it its own "programming" for how it will grow, what it will be, how it will bloom, what fruit it will produce. These are things none of us can tell simply by looking at the seed (unless of course, know already know to what plant or fruit it belongs).  But, of course, we're not the programmers or the ones who design genetics.  Even something that is genetically engineered must begin with the material of this world as created by God.  The only thing we can say for certain is that seeds are preprogrammed for growth, and this parable is about the powerful growth of the kingdom of God.  Note also there are what we might call "secondary growths" which come to be because of the primary growth of the mustard seed.  The birds of the air nest under its shade, within its surprisingly large branches.  As my study Bible notes, a person in whom faith is at work, like the way a planted mustard seed may grow, may have all kinds of surprising things which can be produced through that faith.  With God's help, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, there is no telling what might be produced through faith.  We're reminded that Jesus used the mustard seed as an analogy for the power of faith when He told the disciples, "For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20).  If we take Christ's uses of this example of a mustard seed, we can put them together and perhaps surmise that where faith is, there also is the kingdom of God.  At the Last Supper, Jesus gives a name to the Holy Spirit.  In Greek it is Παράκλητος/Parakletos, sometimes used in English as Paraclete.  This word is often translated as Comforter, or Helper.  But in the Greek it literally means "one who comes [by one's side] when called."  It is equivalent to a Counselor or Advocate.  But in the literal meaning of the name Jesus uses, we find one who comes to help when summoned, and an assurance that our prayers are heard by God.  In this sense, the presence of the Spirit is granted by our faith in prayer, and thus the presence of the Kingdom thereby.  If all of this seems rather complicated, simplify it all in the image of the mustard seed; for we need this tiny seed for the explosive and unforeseen growth of the Kingdom and all that may mean in us and in our lives.  A prayer, and a tiny bit of faith like a mustard seed, is enough for the call to our Helper, Comforter, Counselor, and where One of the Trinity is, so is the whole.  Let us start any project, any effort, any day, with even that tiny bit of faith, and we will see what the growth of the kingdom of God can do.