THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED [B] Mt. 13:31-32
While it is important to teach that the Parable Of The Mustard Seed focuses on how God's kingdom grows from such a small beginning (the thrust of last week's article), it is also vital that we understand what it does not teach.
As we observed last week, Jesus' little story about the little seed is more about the contrast between the seed and the plant that results than it is about the immensity of the plant itself. As one commentator has said, "The parable seems to...emphasize the smallness of the kingdom's beginning than it does the greatness of its end." The question is...was Jesus using this parable to establish some final victorious destiny of His kingdom, or was He simply interested in establishing what the kingdom can become despite what the world thinks of it?
If the Lord wanted to highlight His kingdom's future glory, His choice of the mustard seed seems to be an unlikely metaphor. Then again, perhaps He purposefully chose it to emphasize the spiritual influence His kingdom would have in a sinful world despite its small beginning, and yet give His disciples no visions of worldly glory. Many have used this parable, particularly the branches and birds coming to nest in them, to depict some "great world-wide church" with branches accommodating all the different denominations. That would hardly be what Jesus would have taught.
The gospel is replete with examples of how Christ's doctrine works in us, making us something we could never achieve on our own (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:10; Eph. 2:1-6). This parable is yet another in that same line of teaching. The kingdom will only grow when people are individually added to it through their own obedience (Acts 2:47). The world may dismiss it as insignificant, but we know how important it really is.
As one writer has observed, "The kingdom of God will always be a tree large enough to shelter every true & penitent heart that seeks refuge in its Lord, and a tree sufficiently devoid of any worldly glory to attract those who might come to it to devour those who nest in its branches."
