Thematic Selections from the Bible

The mustard seed was a very apt example that contrasts the small size of the seed with the great heights of the tree. Jesus used this analogy to describe the spread of the Lord’s Kingdom. Notice Jesus’ humble origins – born in Bethleham, a town that was despised by many. His parents were neither wealthy, nor held any prestige, and he was even born in a stable, because there was no room for him! His disciples were not priests or palace scholars, but rough, uneducated fishermen. Yet within a mere 40 years after Christ’s death, Christianity had spread throughout the known world, and the magnitude in which message of love spread to the rest of the world was stunning! When fully grown, it would be ‘the greatest of all herbs’, even greater than Judaism, idolatry, cults and heresies!

Why did Jesus use so many agricultural examples in his parables? This was because a large portion of the crowd listening to him were uneducated commoners – farmers, housewives and fishermen. These people could relate to the analogies he was giving them, and through this, he was able to describe clearly to them what he wanted to express!

Mt 13:31-32

31 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32 which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Mk 4:30-32

30 And he said, How shall we liken the kingdom of God? or in what parable shall we set it forth?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth,

32 yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof.

Lk 13:18-19

18 He said therefore, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I liken it?

19 It is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his own garden; and it grew, and became a tree; and the birds of the heaven lodged in the branches thereof.