![]() ![]() I tell you the truth, if your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. I promise you, if you have faith inside of you no bigger than the size of a small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move away from here And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it w And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place and it shall Jesus answered, “Because your faith is too small. And it’s only a small picture of the ultimate manifestation of the kingdom of God, when Jesus returns to earth to rule and reign from Zion.Matthew 17:20-21 He told them, “It was because of your lack of faith. In spite of persecution and repeated attempts to stamp it out, the church has flourished. ![]() It is found worldwide and is a source of sustenance and shelter for all who seek its blessing. The church has experienced an explosive rate of growth through the centuries. The history of the church has shown Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed to be true. Jesus’ emphasis is on the change of size-from small to large-and the surprising nature of the growth. He is not speaking botanically but proverbially. The answer is that Jesus is using rhetorical hyperbole-an exaggeration to make a point. Some have wondered why, in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus calls the mustard seed the “smallest” of seeds and the mature mustard plant the “largest” of plants in the garden, when there were smaller seeds and larger plants. This messianic prophecy foretells the growth of Christ’s kingdom from very small beginnings to a sizable, sheltering place. Birds of every kind will nest in it they will find shelter in the shade of its branches” (Ezekiel 17:23). This small sprig “will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. ![]() In this prophecy, the Lord God promises to plant a shoot “on a high and lofty mountain” (Ezekiel 17:22). A passage in Ezekiel, for example, parallels the Parable of the Mustard Seed in many ways. The influence of the kingdom in this world would be such that everyone associated with it would find a benefit-pictured as the birds perched on the branches of the mature mustard plant.Įlsewhere in Scripture, the kingdom of God is also pictured as a tree. What seemed inconsequential at first grew into a movement of worldwide influence, and no one could stop it (see Acts 5:38–39). The life and death of Christ did not catch the world’s attention any more than a mustard seed would lying on the ground by the road. How significant could the short ministry of Christ be? He had but a handful of followers, He was a man of no rank and without means, and He lived in what everyone considered a backwater region of the world. The point of the Parable of the Mustard Seed is that something big and blessed-the kingdom of God-had humble beginnings. The mustard seed is quite small, but it grows into a large shrub-up to ten feet in height-and Jesus says this is a picture of kingdom growth. In this parable, Jesus predicts the amazing growth of the kingdom of heaven. The Parable of the Mustard Seed is contained in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 13:31–32 Mark 4:30–32 Luke 13:18–19). This storytelling approach also promotes practicing principles rather than inflexible adherence to laws. Jesus’ parables are brilliant in their simplicity. We can still understand the concept of a growing seed. ![]() Two thousand years later, the imagery is still vivid. Literal, detailed narratives are more susceptible to becoming archaic or obsolescent. One of the possible practical reasons that Jesus used parables such as this is that, by depicting concepts in word pictures, the message is not readily lost to changes in word usage, technology, cultural context, or the passage of time. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” (Matthew 13:31–32). The Parable of the Mustard Seed is a short one: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. While the elements themselves do have importance, an overemphasis on the details or literal focus on an element usually leads to interpretive errors and missing the main point of the parable. As with all parables, the purpose of the Parable of the Mustard Seed is to teach a concept or “big idea” using various narrative elements or details that are common, easily recognized, and usually representational of something else. ![]()
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