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He said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
Mark 4:30-33 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
He said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it?
It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth,
yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
And he sayde: where vnto shall we lyke the kyngdome of God? or with what compareson shall we compare it?
It is lyke a grayne of mustard seed which when it is sowe in the erth is the leest of all seedes that be in the erth:
but after that it is sowen it groweth vp and is greatest of all yerbes: and bereth greate brauches so that the fowles of the ayre maye dwell vnder the shadowe of it.
And with many soche similitudes he preached the worde vnto the after as they myght heare it.
He saide moreouer, Whereunto shall wee liken the kingdome of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
It is like a graine of mustarde seede, which when it is sowen in the earth, is the least of all seedes that be in the earth:
But after that it is sowen, it groweth vp, and is greatest of all herbes, and beareth great branches, so that the foules of heauen may builde vnder the shadow of it.
And with many such parables he preached the word vnto them, as they were able to heare it.
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv30, 33 God far otherwise than men use, beginneth with the…
God far otherwise than men use, beginneth with the least, and endeth with the greatest.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv30–33 30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the…
30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
Ver. 30. Whereunto shall we liken, &c.] The wisdom of God, the great Counsellor, seems to be at fault for a fit expression low enough for our slow apprehension.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv30, 33 We met with this parable in Mat 13:31,32, where…
We met with this parable in Mat 13:31,32, where the reader will find we have given the sense of it. It is a prophetical parable, foretelling the great success that the gospel, which at this time was restrained to a little corner of the world, and there met with small acceptance, should have after Christ’s resurrection from the dead; which prophecy we find was fulfilled in the apostles’ time, and hath been further fulfilling in all ages of the world since that time.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v30 The design of our Saviour in this parable is…
The design of our Saviour in this parable is to show how the gospel-church, from small and little, from unlikely and contemptible beginnings, should spread and increase, fructify and grow up, like as mustard-seed, one of the smallest of grains, grows up to a considerable tallness; even so Christ foretells that the gospel should spread and increase, nations and countries becoming Christians.
Hence learn, That how small beginnings so ever the gospel had in its first plantation, yet by the fructifying blessing of God it has had, and shall have a wonderful increase.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv30–33 And the same day, when the even was come,....…
And the same day, when the even was come,.... After he had finished his parables among the multitude, and had explained them to his disciples:
he saith unto them; his disciples,
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let us pass over unto the other side: that is, of the sea of Galilee, or lake of Gennesaret, to the country of the Gadarenes, and Gergesenes; with a view for retirement and rest, after the fatigue of the day; and for the trial of the faith of his disciples, by a storm which he knew would arise, whilst they were on the sea; and for the sake of a miracle he was to work on the other side, after related.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv30, 33 Matt. xiii, 31; Luke xiii, 18.
Matt. xiii, 31; Luke xiii, 18.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 33 Verse 30. Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of…
Verse 30. Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?] How amiable is this carefulness of Jesus! How instructive to the preachers of his word! He is not solicitous to seek fine turns of eloquence to charm the minds of his auditors, nor to draw such descriptions and comparisons as may surprise them: but studies only to make himself understood; to instruct to advantage; to give true ideas of faith and holiness; and to find out such expressions as may render necessary truths easy and intelligible to the meanest capacities. The very wisdom of God seems to be at a loss to find out expressions low enough for the slow apprehensions of men. How dull and stupid is the creature! How wise and good the Creator! And how foolish the preacher who uses fine and hard words in his preaching, which, though admired by the shallow, convey no instruction to the multitude.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v30 Mar 4:30-34. Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of…
Mar 4:30-34. Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, &c. — See notes on Mat 13:31-32. He spake the word unto them as they were able to hear it — Adapting it to the capacity of his hearers, and speaking as plainly as he could without offending them. A rule never to be forgotten by those who instruct others. But without a parable, &c. — See note on Mat 13:34-35.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 33 Whereunto shall we liken ... - This shows the…
Whereunto shall we liken ... - This shows the great solicitude which Jesus had to adapt his instructions to the capacity of his disciples. He sought out the most plain and striking illustrations - an example which should be followed by all the ministers of the gospel. At the same time that the instructions of the pulpit should be dignified as our Saviour’s always were they should be adapted to the capacity of the audience and easily understood. To do this the following things are necessary in a minister:
1.“Humility.” A freedom from a desire to shine, and to astonish the world by the splendor of his talents, and by his learning and eloquence.
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“Good sense.” A satisfaction in being understood. Acquaintance with the habits of thought and manner of speaking among the people. To do this, frequent contact with them is necessary. “A good sound education.” It is the people of ignorance, with some smattering of learning, and with a desire to confound and astonish people by the use of unintelligible words. and by the introduction of matter that is wholly unconnected with the subject, that most often shoot over the heads of the people. Preachers of humility, good sense, and education are content with being understood, and free from the affectation of saying things to amaze and confound their auditors.
The kingdom of God - See the notes at Mat 3:2.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v33 This seems to contradict what was said [in] ver.…
This seems to contradict what was said [in] ver. 12, that seeing they may not see, &c.; but we must observe, that parables have more explanations than one, some more easy, whilst others are more difficult to be understood. In parables, the multitude understood the more literal interpretation, whilst Christ explains the more abstruse and hidden sense to his apostles. Hence there is no contradiction in these texts. (Nicholas of Lyra)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv30–32 30–34. The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30–34. The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30. Whereunto shall we liken] This method of asking a question before beginning a discourse was not unknown to the Rabbis. See the parallel in Luk_13:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 33 (30) With what comparison shall we compare it?—Literally, By…
(30) With what comparison shall we compare it?—Literally, By what parable shall we set it forth? The question which introduces the parable is in St. Mark and St. Luke, but not in St. Matthew. It gives us the impression of a question asked, in order to put the minds of the hearers on the stretch, so that they might welcome the answer.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv30, 33 Vers. 30-32. Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of…
Vers. 30-32. Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it! In the first clause of this verse the best authorities give pwv for tini , How shall we liken the kingdom of God? and in the second clause, instead of the Greek of which the Authorized Version is the rendering, the best-approved reading is (tini auth), in what parable shall we set it forth? Our Lord thus stimulates the intellect of his hearers, by making them his associates, as it were, in the search for appropriate similitudes (see Dr. Morison, in loc. ). The kingdom of God, that is, his Church on earth, is like a grain of mustard seed. By this image our Lord shows the great power, fertility, and extension of the Church; inasmuch as it started from a very small and apparently insignificant beginning, and spread itself over the whole world. It is not literally and absolutely true that the grain of mustard seed is less than all seeds. There are other seeds which are less than it. But the expression may readily be allowed when we compare the smallness of the seed with the greatness of the results produced by it. It is one of the least of all seeds. And so the preaching of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church was one of the smallest of beginnings. Perhaps the well-known pungency of the seed of the mustard plant may suggest the quickening, stimulating power of the Gospel when it takes root in the heart. The mustard plant shoots out large branches, which are used as fuel in some countries, quite large enough for shadow for the birds. A traveler in South America says that it grows to so large a tree upon the slopes of the mountains of Chili that he could ride under its branches.
Vers. 30-32. The mustard seed.
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The kingdom of God has its intension and its extension, its rule over the individual soul, and its sway over human society, its invisible work within and its manifest and mighty achievement without; it transforms character and it renews the world. Perhaps it is fair to regard the preceding parable of "the seed growing secretly" as a parable of the history of the Word in the heart; and this of the mustard seed as a parable of the fortunes and destiny of the Word in the world. Our attention is here directed to
I THE SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT BEGINNINGS OF CHRIST"S KINGDOM, The suggestions of nature here are many and striking. Not only does the tree begin with a seed, the eagle comes from an egg, the river is first a little rill, the fire is ignited by a spark, and every day, however gorgeous, begins with a faint and glimmering dawn.
1. The Lord Jesus himself, in his simplicity and humiliation, seemed most unlikely to be the Founder of the greatest of all kingdoms. "Despised and rejected of men," cast out, calumniated, and crucified, Jesus was as the grain of mustard seed.
2. The apostles of the Saviour were termed "ignorant and unlearned men," and were apparently little adapted to revolutionize the world. But in them God chose "the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.
3. The early Ch urch may well have seemed to an observer to have had a poor prospect of growing into a world-embracing community. In many a thoughtful mind, only doubt and perplexity could arise as to "whereunto this thing should grow." Few, feeble, contemned, these little societies were, however, the earnest of a universal Church. It was then "the day of small things.
4. The very characteristics of Christianity gave little promise of the diffusion of this religion throughout the world. Its defiance of worldly principles and powers, its spirituality, its dependence upon unseen might, its warfare with prevailing error and sin, all seemed prejudicial to its prospects of progress and victory.
II THE SECRET OF THE PROGRESS OF CHRIST"S KINGDOM. The figurative language of the parable suggests what this is. It is the supernatural life which inspires it. Life comes from life; and the Divine vitality and growth of the Christian Church is owing to the indwelling of a heavenly principle and force. A Divine Saviour, a Divine Spirit, a Divine Word, these account for the fact that Christianity lives and grows, expands and conquers, day by day and year by year. These alone explain its resistance alike of force and of corruption, its endurance amidst all changes of civilization, its permanence when all things else fleet, vanish, disappear.
III THE DESTINED MAJESTIC GROWTH OF CHRIST"S KINGDOM. The Oriental mustard tree, with its large, strong branches, where the birds settle and eat the pungent seeds, beneath the shadow of which men rest, serves as an emblem of the vastness and capacious hospitality and ample provision of Christianity in its ultimate perfection. The records of our religion tell of noble character, of sublime heroism, of saintly devotion, of marvellous patience, of mature wisdom, of boundless benevolence. And all have sprung from that seed which fell into the ground and died eighteen centuries ago in Judaea. The progress of Christianity during the first centuries of persecution, its conquest of the barbarian conquerors, its purification under the Reformers, its modern missions to the East and to the South, all prove its inherent vitality, and predict its ultimate universality of dominion. The predictions alike of the Old and New Testaments are glowing and inspiriting, yet, in our own days, even calm calculation will not deem their fulfillment improbable, whilst faith beholds them already realized. The "kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.
APPLICATION.
1. The discouraged may learn here a lesson of patience. The growth of knowledge, virtue, and piety, may be slow, but it is sure. "The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit.
2. All labourers in Christ"s cause may be of good cheer; for what has been beheld of progress is enough to inspire with confidence and animate to toil: "Your labour will not be in vain in the Lord.
Vers. 30, 31. "Whereunto shall we liken it?
An invitation to mutual effort of spiritual thought and imagination. An instance of sympathetic condescension.
I THERE ARE MANY SIMILITUDES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
II SOME ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS. Either absolutely or relatively to present circumstances.
III WE ARE NOT TO BE ONLY PASSIVE RECIPIENTS OF CHRIST"S TEACHING.
IV SAINTS ENJOY FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST IN THE DISCOVERY OF TRUTH AND IN SPIRITUAL REALIZATION. M.
Vers. 30-32. The grain of mustard seed; or, the growth of the kingdom of God relatively to its beginnings.
I. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHER INFLUENCES AFFECTING THE WORLD"S LIFE, ARE VERY SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT. A parable and a prophecy. Two plants, either of which might have been referred to by Christ Sinapis Orientalis, a garden herb, bushy in habit, with black or white seeds, from four to six in a pod; or the Salvadora Persica, commonly known as the tree mustard; the latter the most likely. The comparison expressed in the phrase, "the least of all seeds," is a free one, and not to be understood absolutely. How minute and obscure have been the first origins of Christianity! The Incarnation; the upper room at Jerusalem. The first throb of repentance; the dawning power to resist temptation; the first acts of faith and charity; the first words of invitation and appeal. As a seed, it has been for the most part hidden; as a plant, it has seemed in its first upspringing like the herbs. This is true of
(1) the understanding of the kingdom of God;
(2) of interest in spiritual things;
(3) of spiritual influence.
1. It contrasts in this respect with powers founded on force, material advantages, prestige, or accidental circumstances. Political empire; military aggrandizement; advance of mechanical arts and material improvements.
2. In this respect it resembles but far exceeds the mortal and intellectual movements that have marked the progress of the world: philosophies, civilization, the sentiment of humanity, growth of science, etc.
II ITS ULTIMATE DIMENSIONS WILL BE DISPROPORTIONATELY VAST.
1. It grows according to its own law, yet imperceptibly. As the bud into the rose, the village into the city.
2. It becomes comprehensive. Other forces and vital principles are revealed as in relation to it and ultimately included.
3. Its increase is in the direction of beneficence and universal blessing. The truth of the epithet, "Mother Church." All the best interests of humanity are included and protected. It saves and ennobles whatever it affiliates.
4. This is due to its own inherent genius; not an accident. Circumstances have not favored Christianity, but it has grown in spite of opposition, and converted obstacles into auxiliaries, enemies into friends. It is an absolutely central, and therefore the only truly universal, principle. M.
Vers. 30-32. Great issues from small beginnings.
The lesson which our Lord intended to teach by the parable of the mustard seed is stated in the announcement of our subject. If he had wished to set forth the splendor of his kingdom, he would have chosen as an illustration the stately cedar or the fruitful vine. The mustard in its greatest growth is by no means majestic; but it is large in proportion to its seed, and although it was not literally "the smallest of seeds," it was the smallest of those used in ordinary husbandry, and was proverbially used to denote what was little and despicable. All references to the supposed qualities of the seed, e.g. to its corrective power in disease, to its efficacy against venom, to its fiery vigor, to its giving out of virtue after being bruised, and so forth, appear to us beside the main purpose of the parable, which was to set forth the great issues which, in the kingdom of our Lord, would spring from small beginnings. This principle we propose now to illustrate.
I IT IS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE EARTHLY HISTORY OF OUR LORD. In his history we see, as in a microcosm, the history of his Church. With limitless powers of choice, he selected for himself the most humble and obscure modes of ministry. His ways are not as our ways. Man makes a pretentious beginning, and often comes to a disastrous ending. The building of the Tower of Babel is a typical instance of this. Our Lord, who came to effect the stupendous work of redeeming the world, began by spending thirty years in comparative seclusion as a dependent infant, as an obedient child, as the son of a village carpenter. During his two or three years of public ministry his converts were few, and for the most part poor and ignorant. At last he died in agony and shame, amidst the hooting of a rabble and the hatred of the reputable; and his body was laid to rest in a borrowed grave. As we consider his life on earth, we see that it may be represented by a seed less in appearance than many others. But there was a fulfillment of his own words about himself, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
II IT IS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE SPECIAL DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. They were not truths which would commend themselves to sensuous imaginations or to worldly hearts. They did not appear in such form and phrase as at once to win popular applause. Notice some of our Lord"s special doctrines as laid down in the sermon on the mount and elsewhere: e.g. happiness is to be found in the sacrifice of self; sin is to be hated, not because its results are painful, but because it is sin; outward obedience and large gifts and sacrifices are valueless in themselves, etc. After his crucifixion, this fact was still more prominent. Paul said, "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Indicate some of the reasons for the non-reception of Christian truth.
III IT IS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Christianity at the time of our Lord"s crucifixion appeared to be buried in the hearts of a few disciples and forgotten by the world. But on the spring day of Pentecost it appeared in a vigor and beauty which amazed all onlookers. It was like the bursting forth of forgotten seeds where you have been busily employed planting something else. Christianity rapidly spread. Give evidences of this from early Christians and from Suetonius, Pliny"s letter to Trajan, etc. This, humanly speaking, was the work of poor and illiterate men. Manifestly the result was due, not to the sower, but to the seed. Describe the condition and influence of the Christian Church now: the most powerful and civilized nations largely ruled by its authority; the indirect work it is doing through just laws, wholesome literature, philanthropic agencies, etc. Draw a contrast between the social and religious condition of the peoples now and at the time of Christ"s coming. The seed has become a tree, "so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
IV IT IS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE EXPERIENCE OF EACH CHRISTIAN. "The kingdom of God" is not to be a something outside ourselves. We are not among its subjects because we can say, "This nation in which we dwell is Christian." "The kingdom of heaven is within you," said our Lord to his disciples. It is within us when we welcome Christ, its King, with all that he represents, to our own hearts to love and obey for evermore. That being so, a new life is ours, the test of whose vitality is to be found in growth until every thought and affection and purpose (like the birds spoken of in this parable) dwell under its influence. If there has been no growth, let us examine ourselves. When a flower or plant is fading, drooping, and likely to die, we try to discover the cause. Perhaps it wants water, perhaps it is shut off from sunshine, perhaps it has been too long coddled under artificial heat and is therefore weakly, or perhaps a worm is gnawing at the root. If our spiritual life has no growth, let us ask why this is. We want showers of blessing, the sunshine of God"s favor, independence of artificial stimulants, and above all, freedom from the sin which doth so easily beset us, and then we shall grow like plants of God"s right hand planting. A.R.
Vers. 30-32. The parable of the mustard seed.
This parable stands related to the former. That pointed to the history of the growth of the seed; this points to the inherent vitality of the seed. That laid the emphasis on the field; this lays it on the seed. The simile is so exact that we are in danger of transferring a needful canon in the interpretation of parables, and to treat it as a realism. The parable illustrates the history of the kingdom of heaven in its outward manifestation, especially the smallness of its beginning contrasted with the greatness of its results.
I THE KINGDOM OF GOD FINDS ITS APPROPRIATE SYMBOL IN A SEED WITH ITS INHERENT, VITAL, SELF-EXPANDING FORCE. This is true, whether we interpret the kingdom of God to refer to its essential principle the dominion of the Divine Spirit over the human spirit; or to its outward manifestation in the visible Church of God the gospel developing itself in the heart and life of mankind; or even to its instrument the Divine Word. Gathering these together as all comprised in the idea of the kingdom of God, we must see it to be truly represented by a seeder living, inherently vital power. This parable leads us to think more particularly of the outward manifestation of the kingdom of God; and wherever we see it planted we sooner or later see signs of growth and extension. One of the first sentiments stirred in the breast of the newly converted is a desire for the conversion of others; and the first activities evoked from the new life are found in efforts to lead others to like blessing. Each believer becomes the germ of a Church; each is a self-propagating seed. From one may spring a thousand, nay, as many as the stars of heaven for multitude. So was it with the Church in the beginning the little quickened seed in Jerusalem. So has it been in every age. To-day we joyfully witness the signs of this vitality on every hand.
II A SECOND FEATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS THE EXTREME SMALLNESS OF ITS ORIGIN. Still thought of as an outward manifestation, how small was its beginning! How little a seed! Judging Christ"s work by the greatness of its aims, how small were his means! What books did he write? What organization did he frame? What cities did he build? What armies did he raise? What did he? Estimated by outward signs a mere nothing. A few women and fewer men gathered; no multitude, no Church, no forms of worship, no writings. No; no; nothing. What then? Just a living seed dropped into the warm heart. Not more than a human heart could treasure not more than Matthew could remember. The record of a brief life, with its few words; its few noble deeds of sincerity, love, and self-denial; and its sad death and marvellous resurrection. All the kingdom of God in that one life, all the heavenly treasure in that one earthen vessel; all in a "mustard seed,... less than all the seeds that are upon earth." But it grew to be "a tree.
III This the third feature of the parable: THE ULTIMATE EXTENSION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. And the point of interest seems to be it grows beyond its probable limits, "greater than all the herbs;" yea, it "putteth out great branches, becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven" not only "lodge under the shadow" of it, but "in the branches thereof." Its growth is beyond, far beyond, what might have been reasonably expected. So we see to-day; so will it be more and more seen. These parables Jesus spake unto the multitude "as they were able to hear;" and privately then, as he now does to them who care to know, "he expounded all things. G.
Vers. 30-34. Parallel passage: Mat_13:31, Mat_13:32. The mustard seed.
I DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE LEAVEN. The latter parable refers rather to the growth of grace in the heart, the former to the extension of the Church in the world; the latter to the assimilating power of Divine grace in the human heart, the former to progressive development and final establishment of the Church on earth.
II THE SMALLNESS OF THE MUSTARD SEED. The smallness of the mustard seed, if the expression be not proverbial, furnishes at least a striking and frequent subject of comparison. Thus, our Lord uses the illustration in reference to faith, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed;" and the present comparison, both here and in the parallel passage of St. Matthew, presents the same figure.
III THE PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. While this parable may possibly refer to the progress of religion in the heart, its best exemplification is found in the constantly and rapidly progressive extension of the Church of Christ since apostolic times. When all its member"s met in that upper room in Jerusalem, they numbered only a hundred and twenty. Other believers, no doubt, were to be found in the holy city at that early day of the Church"s history; but, be that as it may, the number above given included the entire membership of those who publicly met together and professed themselves disciples of the Nazarene. Ten days after the interval between the Ascension and Pentecost there took place a signal outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and in connection with St. Peter"s sermon there were added to the Church about three thousand souls. Some short time after this, as we read in Acts iv., "the number of the men" who publicly avowed their faith in Christ "was about five thousand." The next notice of the numerical progress of the gospel is contained in Acts 5., where we are informed that "believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." In the beginning of the very next chapter we have an incidental notice to the effect that "the number of the disciples was multiplied." A further and still fuller notice is found in the seventh verse of the same chapter (Acts 6), where it is stated that "the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith." And all this occurred within a period of less than two years, and in the very place where the Founder of our holy religion had been put to death as a malefactor. Thus the mustard seed, comparatively, if not absolutely, the smallest of seeds, becomes a plant, and the plant becomes a tree, and the tree spreads out its branches, and the branches shelter with their shadow, and lodge the fowls of the air beneath their umbrageous foliage. So with the Church of Christ: it has spread from country to country; it has extended from continent to island, and from island to continent; it has enlarged its borders and multiplied its members. It has powerfully influenced all civilized nations, and all barbarous nations to which it has extended have become civilized. And now kingdoms many and mighty repose in safety and rest in security under this widespread gospel tree, like the birds of the air taking refuge under and nestling among the branches of the magnificent mustard tree of this parable. J.J.G.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv30, 32, 33 Mar_4:30; Mar_4:32
Mar_4:30; Mar_4:32
It is like a grain of mustard seed.
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The parable of the mustard seed
In the parable before us, the unity of the kingdom becomes conspicuous, the individuality of its members subordinate. The figure is changed accordingly. The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree. The kingdom is a tree; its subjects are as birds sheltering under its shadow. As it grows and spreads out its branches, it is shown that it has been planted by God for the spiritual good of men. The kingdom here appears as an organic whole, a source of blessing for all who come under its shade. Taking the illustration in its earliest stages, we must have regard not only to the grain of mustard seed, but also to the presence and action of the man who took it and sowed it in his field. That the agent in sowing this grain of seed is the Son of Man, admits of no doubt. The Saviour is not here represented by the tree; for then would His disciples be the branches, as in the fifteenth chapter of Johns Gospel. He is the Man who sowed His seed in His field. Our Lord having thus a distinct place in the parable, we are precluded from thinking of the tree as a symbol for Christ Himself, and afterwards for His people collectively as His representatives on the earth. Further, we are prevented from seeing here any allusion to the lowliness of the Saviours birth, or the feebleness of His infancy, understood by some to be implied in the image of the little seed. The incongruity of the description, the least of all seeds, as attributed to the Divine Redeemer, is so glaring as to warn us against such methods of interpretation. The kingdom is here represented as something to which men come, and in coming to which they receive shelter and comfort. At first sight this might seem to point to the Church, as the outward manifestation of the kingdom-a view which might have been accepted, had the branches of the tree represented the members of the Church. But when the members are not the branches, but are sheltered among the branches, something distinct from the Church seems intended. Both in this parable, and in that of the leaven, the reference is clearly to the truth of the kingdom, as in the parable of the sower the seed is the Word of the kingdom. This parable is concerned with the outward exhibition of the truth; the leaven, with the inward and hidden application of it. The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of truth; this truth is displayed to the world in outward manifestation, and also applied to the souls of men as an unseen influence. We have accordingly two parables: the one representing the visible, the other the hidden, operation of the truth revealed in Jesus. The truth of the gospel-the truth as to the pardoning mercy and renewing grace provided in Jesus, was as a very little seed, planted in the earth by the Messiah, and that so quietly that the act hardly attracted the attention of the world. The significance of the act was not understood even by those who observed it. To the future was entrusted the discovery of the importance for the world of this little seed. It was destined to spring up and attain a great stature, spreading itself forth on every side, attracting attention all around. (Dr. Calderwood.)
An encouraging parable
No doubt other figures might have been chosen in abundance, more suggestive of the great after-development of the kingdom of Christ-such forest trees, e.g., as the oak of Bashan or cedar of Lebanon; but the acorn and cone were both far less adapted to represent the littleness of its initial state. The mustard was probably the smallest seed from which so large a shrub or tree was known to grow. It is not without a purpose that the contrast between the first beginning of His kingdom and its expected future should have been put before the apostles in such a striking form. The parables which had preceded it must have had a most depressing effect upon their minds. They showed that of the seed sown in mens hearts, three parts would be lost to one saved; and that the field carefully planted with the best of seeds too often mocked all the husbandmans hopes of a goodly crop by a simultaneous growth of noxious weeds. Well then might this parable be spoken to encourage them in their despondency. No doubt the main object of the parable was simply to predict the future increase of the kingdom; but there is surely a side lesson to be learned from the natural properties of the mustard seed-from its internal heat and pungency, and from the fact that it must be bruised ere it yield its best virtues. Its inherent stimulating force finds its parallel in the quickening vitality and vigour derived from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and the necessity of crushing it is no inapt figure of the principle which has been embodied in the familiar proverb, The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)
The mustard plant
As I was riding across the plain of Akka, on the way to Carmel, I perceived, at some distance from the path, what seemed to be a little forest or nursery of trees. I turned aside to examine them. On coming nearer, they proved to be an extensive field of the plant (mustard) I was so anxious to see. It was then in blossom, full grown, in some cases six, seven, and nine feet high, with a stem or trunk an inch or more in thickness, throwing out branches on every side. I was now satisfied in part. I felt that such a plant might well be called a tree, and, in comparison with the seed producing it, a great tree. But still the branches, or stems of the branches, were not very large, nor, apparently, very strong. Can the birds, I said to myself, rest upon them? Are they not too slight and flexible? Will they not bend or break beneath the superadded weight? At that very instant, as I stood and revolved the thought, lo! one of the fowls of heaven stopped in its flight through the air, alighted down on one of the branches, which hardly moved beneath the shock, and then began, perched there before my eyes, to warble forth a strain of the richest music. All my doubts were now charmed away. I was delighted at the incident. It seemed to me at the moment as if I enjoyed enough to repay me for all the trouble of the whole journey. (H. B. Hackett, D. D.)
Small beginnings
Some few monks came into Brittany in ages past, when that country was heathen. They built a rude shed in which to dwell, and a chapel of moor stones, and then prepared to till the soil. But, alas! they had not any wheat. Then one spied a robin redbreast sitting on a cross they had set up, and from his beak dangled an ear of wheat. They drove the bird away, and secured the grain, sowed it, and next year had more; sowed again, and so by degrees were able to sow large fields, and gather abundant harvests. If you go now into Brittany, and wonder at the waving fields of golden grain, the peasants will tell you all came from robin redbreasts ear of corn. And they have turned the redbreasts ear of corn into a proverb. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)
The Church as an organization
A prophecy which has been fulfilled to the letter. In the course of little more than one century after it was uttered, there was not a city of any size in the Roman Empire which had not its bishop, with his priests and deacons preaching the Word of God, baptizing (and so admitting men into the new kingdom), celebrating the Eucharist, and exercising discipline over the faithful. It was not the spread of a philosophy, or of a system of opinions, or even of a gospel only. It was the spread of an organization for purposes of rule and discipline, of exclusion of the unworthy, and of pastoral care over the worthy. And it went on progressing and prospering till it became a great power in the world, though not of it. For centuries emperors, kings, and people had to take it into account in every department of government and civil policy. Its present weakness is a reaction against its former abuse of its power when it had become secular, and failed to fulfil some of the chief purposes of its institution. (M. F. Sadler.)
The Church giving rest and shelter
In all ages the Church has afforded to men what the Lord foretold, rest and shelter. No human philosophy has afforded any rest or refuge for the wandering spirit. Only the Church has done this, and the Church has been able to do this because the foundation of all her doctrine has been the Incarnation of her Lord. She teaches the soul to look for the foundation of her hope, not into herself, her frames and feelings, but to the historical facts of the Incarnation, Death, and consequent Resurrection and Ascension of the eternal Son, together with the Church system and sacramental means which are the logical outcome of that Incarnation; and because of this, and this only, she is an abiding refuge. (M. F. Sadler.)
The seedling of Iona
Far out in the western main, is a little island round which for nearly half the year the Atlantic clangs his angry billows, keeping the handful of inhabitants close prisoners. Most of it is bleak and barren; but there is one little bay rimmed round with silvery sand, and reflecting in its waters a slope of verdure. Towards this bay one autumn evening, 1,300 years ago, a rude vessel steered its course. It was a flimsy bark, no better than a huge basket of osiers covered over with the skins of beasts; but the tide was tranquil, and as the boatmen plied their oars, they raised the voice of psalms. Skimming across the bay they beached their coracle and stepped on shore-about thirteen in number. On the green slope they built a few hasty huts and a tiny Christian temple. The freight of that little ship was the gospel, and the errand of the saintly strangers was to tell benighted heathen about Jesus and His love. From the favoured soil of Ireland they had brought a grain of mustard seed, and now they sowed it in Iona. In the conservatory of their little church it throve, till it was fit to be planted out on the neighbouring mainland. To the Picts with their tattooed faces, to the Druids peeping and muttering in their dismal groves, the missionaries preached the gospel. That gospel triumphed. The groves were felled, and where once they stood rose the house of prayer. Planted out on the bleak moorland, the little seed became a mighty tree, so that the hills of Caledonia were covered with the shade; nor must Scotland ever forget the seedling of Iona, and the labours of Columba with his meek Culdees. (James Hamilton, D. D.)
The growth of the little seed
This suggests the treatment we ourselves should give the truths of God. An acorn on the mantelpiece, a dry bulb in a dark cupboard, a mustard seed in your pocket or in a pill box, wont grow. So texts or truths in the memory are acorns on the shelf, seeds in the pillbox. It is good to have them, but dont leave them there. Ponder over it till it grows wonderful-till its meaning comes out, and you feel some amazement at its unsurmised significance. Ponder it till, like the phosphorescent forms of vegetation, the light of its expanding falls on other passages, and revelation is itself revealed. (James Hamilton, D. D.)
The small germ expanded
This is a great encouragement for those who are trying to find favour for any useful plan or good idea. As long as it remains in your own mind it is the seed in the mustard pod; but cast it into the field, the garden, it will grow. Thus John Pounds little scapegrace, bribed by a hot potato to come for his daily lesson, has multiplied into our Ragged Schools, with their thousands of teachers and myriads of scholars. Thus David Nasmiths notion of a house-to-house visitation of the London poor has grown into those Town and City Missions which are the salt, the saving element, in our overcrowded centres. (James Hamilton, D. D.)
Spiritual growth
Impressions growing into resolutions constitute conversion, or the beginning of the Divine life in man. These impressions may appear insignificant, but when they produce thought, and thought produces action, the result is so great that it creates attention.
I. Vitality. The small seed of the mustard is brimful of life. This we discover not by microscopical analysis, but by observing the changes that are wrought, and the growth which follows. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Divine thoughts are full of life because the Spirit of God is in them.
II. Assimilation. The seed was sown, and when life reappeared, the properties of the soil, the rain, the light, and the air, were assimilated to build up the herb.
III. Expansion. The statue does not grow. The mountain does not expand. Growth is a quality of life only. The process is hidden, but expansion is manifest. The roots spread in the earth, the branches in the air. The growth of devotion is God-ward, that of usefulness man-ward. The power of the gospel creates intellectual, moral, and social expansion. Christ in the heart enlarges its capacity for purity, love, and goodness. Be ye also enlarged.
IV. Maturity. There are ends to piety; it is not a cycle eternally revolving in the same way, but a definite action with definite results. The life of the believer steps forward, by slow degrees, until it reaches the measure of the stature of Christ. There are initial conditions of faith, but these make way for the stronger stages of entire consecration to God. (Anon.)
The growth of the kingdom
I. The kingdom of heaven was small at its establishment.
1. Its numbers were limited.
2. Its subjects were destitute of resources of a visible kind.
3. Its smallness only disguised its real resources. The Churchs strength is not to be judged of by sense.
II. In the end it shall be very great. It soon grew among the Jews-was enlarged to embrace the Gentiles-was soon spread into all the world-is destined to a great enlargement-its magnitude will appear at the last day. (Expository Discourses.)
The design of the parable is obvious; the underlying thought is simple and single. A little germ and a large result, a small commencement and a conspicuous growth, an obscure and tiny granule followed by a vigorous vegetation, the least of all seeds, and the greatest of all herbs, such is the avowed contrast of the parable. Is it not so when we glance at the history of real religion?
I. In the world.
II. In communities.
III. In the individual soul. (James Hamilton, D. D.)
The gospel originally small and ultimately great
The gist of the representation lies in the largeness of the produce as compared with the smallness of the original. Of course, had our Lord merely wished to show that the gospel, in its maturity and efflorescence, would overtop other systems and overshadow the creation, he might have led His hearers into the forests of the earth, and selected some monarch of the woods. Even in Eastern countries the mustard plant, though it reaches a size and strength unknown in our own land, would not be used as a symbol by a speaker whose object was to shadow stateliness and dominion. But, when you compare the size of the seed with the size of the shrub-and wish to illustrate the production of great things from small-it would seem probable that in the whole range of the vegetable kingdom there is not to be found a more apposite image. The degree in which the shrub expands in size as compared with the seed, is, perhaps, greater in the case of the mustard plant than in any other instance. And in this, we again say, must be thought to lie the gist of the parable-the chief object of Christ being to show that there never had been so mighty a consummation following on so inconsiderable a beginning; that never had there been so vast a disproportion between a thing at its outset, and that same thing at its conclusion, as was to be exhibited in the case of that kingdom of heaven, the setting up of which was His business on earth. (H. Melvill.)
Little seeds soul saving
But to pass from these general observations on the imagery drawn from the vegetable world to that particular figure which Christ employs in our text. Observe, we pray you, the minuteness of the seed, which is ordinarily first deposited by Gods Spirit in mans heart. If you examine the records of Christian biography, you will find, so far as it is possible to search out such facts, that conversion is commonly to be traced to inconsiderable beginnings. We believe, for example, that proceeding on the principle that He will honour what He has instituted, God ordinarily uses the preaching of the gospel as His engine for gathering in His people. But then it is perhaps single sentence in a sermon, a text which is quoted, a remark to which, probably, if you had asked the preacher himself, he attached less consequence than to any other part of his sermon-this is the seed, the inconsiderable grain, which makes its way into the heart of the unconverted hearer. We just wish that a book could be compiled, registering the sayings, the words, which, falling from the lips of preachers in different ages, have penetrated that thick coating of indifference and prejudice which lies naturally on every mans heart, and reached the soil in which vegetation is possible. We are quite persuaded that you would not find many whole sermons in such a book, not many long pieces of elaborate reasoning, not many protracted demonstrations of human danger and human need; we have a thorough belief that the volume would be a volume of little fragments, that it would be made up of simple sentiments and brief statements; and that, in the majority of instances, a few syllables would constitute that element of Christianity which gained a lodgment in the soul. (H. Melvill.)
The maxims of human philosophy not so productive as Divine truth
We shall not enlarge further on the parable as sketching Christs religion in its dominion over the individual. We can only remark, in passing, that none of the maxims of human philosophy have shown themselves capable of yielding such produce as we thus trace to the seed of a solitary text. There is much truth and beauty in many of those sayings with which writers on ethics have adorned their pages; but the most weighty proverbs that ever issued from the porch of the academy, and the most sententious maxims which lecturers on morals ever delivered to their people, have always failed to work anything approaching to that renovation of nature which can distinctly be traced to some gospel truth quoted with authority from God. Take the result of a hiding in the heart a sentence which asserts the excellence of virtue, and one which sets forth Gods love in the gift of His Son. Now sentences may be likened unto seeds, not only because both are small, but because, if rightly planted and watered, and developed, they are capable of producing fruit in the life and conversation. But who, unless ignorant of facts, or determined to be deceived, would assert the holiness of the best heathenism to be comparable to the holiness of Christianity, or who that has ever tried theory, by the touchstone of experience, would declare, that a man who was a cultivator of virtue, because excellent in its nature, will ever reach as high a standard of morality as one who, having hope in Christ, seeks to purify himself even as Christ is pure? We give it as a truth, which the history of the world presses forward to substantiate, that no maxims, except Scriptural maxims, have been long efficacious in withholding man from vice, or have ever nerved him to the striving after a high-toned and elevated morality. And if, then, we must admit that the sayings of a sound moral philosophy may be figured by seeds, because they contain elements which, under due culture, may be expanded into something like righteousness of deportment, we still contend that when the amount even of possible produce is contrasted with the original grain, the tree which, under the most favourable circumstances, can spring from the seed, and that seed itself-there are no sayings, but those of Christianity, just as there are no particles, but those of Divine grace, which deserve to be compared with the grain of mustard seed; for in no case but that, we must believe, would there be such disproportion between what was cast into the soil of the heart, and that spreading over of the whole district of the life, as to warrant the employment of the imagery whose design it has been our effort to delineate. (H. Melvill.)
The visible growth of the gospel
Christs kingdom also grows outwardly and visibly as the hidden mustard seed grows into a great tree. Christ not only taught new truth, but He also founded a new society, which is to he like a living, growing tree. That society is sometimes called the Visible Church, and it is very visible in our day, quite as visible as the biggest garden tree is among garden plants. (J. Wells.)
Christs religion a refuge for all
As the tree is for every bird from any quarter of heaven that wishes its shelter, so Christs religion is for all sorts of people. The religion of the Chinese is only for the Chinese; the religion of Mahomed is only for those who live in warm countries; a Hindoo loses his religion by crossing the seas; but the religion of Jesus of Nazareth is for people of every class, clime, and nation. It is like the tree that offers lodging to all the birds of the air. (J. Wells.)
Fiery energy
Darius sent to Alexander the Great a bag of sesame seed, symbolizing the number of his army. In return, Alexander sent a sack of mustard seed, showing not only the numbers but the fiery energy of his soldiers. (DHerbelot.)
Building and growing
To see the stateliest pile of building filling the space which before was empty, makes an appeal to the imagination: that kind of increase we seem to understand; stone is added to stone by the will and toil of man. But when we look at the deeply-rooted and wide-branching tree, and think of the tiny seed from which all this sprang without human will or toil, but by an internal vitality of its own, we are confronted by the most mysterious and fascinating of all things, the life that lies unseen in nature. (Marcus Dods.)
The mustard seed and leaven
The parable of the grain of mustard seed must be taken in close connection with that of the leaven, and both are meant to illustrate the small beginnings, the silent growth, and the final victory of the grace of God in the human soul. But they belong to different points of view. The one is extensive, the other intensive. The parable of the grain of mustard seed shows us the origin and the development of the kingdom of God, in communities and in the world: the parable of the leaven shadows forth its unimpeded influence in the soul of each separate man. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
All great movements have had trivial commencements
Look at history, and see how true the doctrine is, not only of the kingdom of heaven, but of every other power that has really held sway among men. In almost all cases the great, the permanent work has been done, not by those who seemed to do very much, but by those who seemed to do very little. Our Lords founding of the Church was but the most striking instance of a universal rule. He seemed to all outside spectators to do almost nothing. The Roman rulers hardly knew of His name. What was He doing? He was sowing the seed; the seed whose fruit was not yet, whose perfect fruit was not to be gathered, as it has since turned out, for many centuries; the seed which seemed small and perishable, but was certain to grow into a great tree. All the greatest work has been done both before and after, not often by producing immediate results, but by sowing seeds. So have sciences all grown, not from brilliant declarations to the world, but from patient labour, and quiet thought, and language addressed to the few who think. So has all growth in politics always begun in the secret thoughts of men who have found the truth, and have committed it to books or to chosen learners. The true powers of human life are contained in those seeds, out of which alone comes any real and permanent good. (Bp. Temple.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v30 CHAPTER 4:30-34 (Mar_4:30-34)
CHAPTER 4:30-34 (Mar_4:30-34)
THE MUSTARD SEED
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"And He said, How shall we liken the kingdom of God? or in what parable shall we set it forth? 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, 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. And with many such parables spake He the word unto them, as they were able to hear it: and without a parable spake He not unto them: but privately to His own disciples He expounded all things." Mar_4:30-34 (R.V.)
ST. Mark has recorded one other parable of this great cycle. Jesus now invites the disciples to let their own minds play upon the subject. Each is to ask himself a question: How shall we liken the kingdom of God? or in what parable shall we set it forth?
A gentle pause, time for them to form some splendid and ambitious image in their minds, and then we can suppose with what surprise they heard His own answer, "It is like a grain of mustard seed." And truly some Christians of a late day might be astonished also, if they could call up a fair image of their own conceptions of the kingdom of God, and compare it with this figure, employed by Jesus.
But here one must observe a peculiarity in our Savior's use of images. His illustrations of His first coming, and of His work of grace, which are many, are all of the homeliest kind. He is a shepherd who seeks one sheep. He is not an eagle that fluttereth over her young and beareth them on her pinions, but a hen who gathereth her chickens under her wings. Never once does He rise into that high and poetic strain with which His followers have loved to sing of the Star of Bethlehem, and which Isaiah lavished beforehand upon the birth of the Prince of Peace. There is no language more intensely concentrated and glowing than He has employed to describe the judgment of the hypocrites who rejected Him, of Jerusalem, and of the world at last. But when He speaks of His first coming and its effects, it is not of that sunrise to which all kings and nations shall hasten, but of a little grain of mustard seed, which is to become "greater than all the herbs," and put forth great branches, "so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow of them." When one thinks of such an image for such an event, of the founding of the kingdom of God, and its advance to universal supremacy, represented by the small seed of a shrub which grows to the height of a tree, and even harbors birds, he is conscious almost of incongruity. But when one reconsiders it, he is filled with awe and reverence. For this exactly expresses the way of thinking natural to One who has stooped immeasurably down to the task which all others feel to be so lofty. There is a poem of Shelley, which expresses the relative greatness of three spirits by the less and less value which they set on the splendors of the material heavens. To the first they are a palace-roof of golden lights, to the second but the mind's first chamber, to the last only drops which Nature's mighty heart drives through thinnest veins. Now that which was to Isaiah the exalting of every valley and the bringing low of every mountain, and to Daniel the overthrow of a mighty image whose aspect was terrible, by a stone cut out without hands, was to Jesus but the sowing of a grain of mustard seed. Could any other have spoken thus of the founding of the kingdom of God? An enthusiast over-values his work, he can think of nothing else; and he expects immediate revolutions. Jesus was keenly aware that His work in itself was very small, no more than the sowing of a seed, and even of the least, popularly speaking, among all seeds. Clearly He did not overrate the apparent effect of His work on earth. And indeed, what germ of religious teaching could be less promising than the doctrine of the cross, held by a few peasants in a despised province of a nation already subjugated and soon to be overwhelmed?
The image expresses more than the feeble beginning and victorious issue of His work, more than even the gradual and logical process by which this final triumph should be attained. All this we found in the preceding parable. But here the emphasis is laid on the development of Christ's influence in unexpected spheres. Unlike other herbs, the mustard in Eastern climates does grow into a tree, shoot out great branches from the main stem, and give shelter to the birds of the air. So has the Christian faith developed ever new collateral agencies, charitable, educations, and social: so have architecture, music, literature, flourished under its shade, and there is not one truly human interest which would not be deprived of its best shelter if the rod of Jesse were hewn down. Nay, we may urge that the Church itself has become the most potent force in directions not its own: it broke the chains of the Negro; it asserts the rights of woman and of the poor; its noble literature is finding a response in the breast of a hundred degraded races; the herb has become a tree.
And so in the life of individuals, if the seed be allowed its due scope and place to grow, it give shelter and blessing to whatsoever things are honest and lovely, not only if there be any virtue, bur also if there be any praise.
Well is it with the nation, and well with the soul, when the faith of Jesus is not rigidly restricted to a prescribed sphere, when the leaves which are for the healing of the nations cast their shadow broad and cool over all the spaces in which all its birds of song are nestling.
A remarkable assertion is added. Although the parabolic mode of teaching was adopted in judgment, yet its severe effect was confined within the narrowest limits. His many parable were spoken "as they were able to hear," but only to His own disciples privately was all their meaning expounded.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v31 31. Like a grain of mustard seed. See note…
31. Like a grain of mustard seed. See note on Matt. 13:31–35. Compare Luke 13:18, 19.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v30 MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_4:30-34
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_4:30-34
(PARALLELS: Mat_13:31-32; Luk_13:18-19.)
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The rise and progress of Christianity.—
I. Christianity is insignificant in its beginning.—
1. Its Founder assumed a humble form.
2. Its first advocates were obscure.
3. Its sphere of action was confined.
4. Its first converts were few.
5. Its mode of operation was unassuming.
6. Its reception was unpopular.
II. Christianity is gradual in its progress—
1. The difficulties with which it has to contend are tremendous.
2. The means which it adopts are moral.
3. The change which it attempts is radical.
4. The field in which it works is extensive.
5. The time at its disposal is long.
6. The results which it contemplates are eternal.
III. Christianity will be great in its consummation.—
1. It will be the mightiest display of God’s energy.
2. It will be the holiest manifestation of God’s character.
3. It will be the truest exhibition of God’s faithfulness.
4. It will be the wisest revelation of God’s intelligence.
5. It will be the most benevolent expression of God’s love.
6. It will be the sublimest source of God’s glory.
(1) It will be the acknowledged instrument of His complete overthrow of sin.
(2) It will be time’s sole surviving wonder for the admiration of the spiritual universe.
(3) It will be the redeemed’s theme of sweetest song of gratitude to God.
(4) It will be the climax of Christ. Then God will be all in all.
Lessons.—
1. Despise not the day of small things.
2. Exercise patience.
3. Be active.
4. Draw upon the glorious future.—B. D. Johns.
I. The comparative insignificance of Christianity at the first.—
1. Contrast the gorgeous ritual of the Temple with the unostentatious worship inculcated by Christ.
2. Contrast the elaborate systems of philosophers with the simple teaching of our Lord.
3. Contrast the social position of the priests with that of the apostles.
4. Contrast the multitudes who followed priests and philosophers with the few who were the disciples of Jesus.
II. The careful implantation of Christianity.—
1. Not a handful, but a solitary seed (Act_4:12).
2. Not accidentally but designedly sown. Christ personally performed the work.
3. In a chosen and appropriate spot.
III. The rapid growth of Christianity.—
1. In three or four centuries it had spread so far and wide that Christians were found in Rome, Asia Minor, Greece, Syria, Russia, Germany, Gaul, Persia, Armenia, Egypt, Arabia, Abyssinia, and indeed in almost every known land.
2. It became so great a tree, that persecution could not uproot or even injure it; so great, that the eyes of three continents looked on in amazement; so great, that the trees of idolatry and superstition had no room for growth.
3. Every obstacle malice could throw in its way had been employed. All classes laid their axe to its root. Philosophers brought their satire, priests their anathemas, kings their laws. All in vain. The tree not only resisted every blow, but shattered to atoms every axe which assailed it. Its devotees were nailed to crosses, and, dying, cried, “It must grow.” Thousands at the stake exulted as they said, “We burn, but it cannot wither.”
IV. The natural phenomenon resulting.—Mar_4:32 ult. Observe, the very same class of men who sought to destroy Christianity at its introduction afterward gladly espoused it for their own personal ends. The tree was planted by God to give shelter to the weary and sad; it was not designed for such birds of prey; and sooner or later all the mercenary ones shall be driven away by the power of Him who planted it.—R. A. Griffin.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mar_4:30-32. Christianity a living organism.—Hitherto the Christian kingdom has been represented by a crowd of distinct though similar cornplants—contiguous yet individual. Now the deeper truth is hinted at that all Christian men and women make up in some sense a single living organism, with its root deep hid in the earth, of whose fatness we all partake. It enters into the very idea of a tree that its various parts are the outcome of the same life-force, which originally was shut up in a tiny unpromising seed, which yet before it has spent itself creates that umbrageous fruitful whole, from gnarled root to topmost, outmost twig. The glories of midsummer leafage, on which the breezes play low airs, while the sunbeams dance a dance of green and gold; riches of autumn berry dropping to the gatherer’s hand; subtle harmony of curve as the boughs lean to balance one another; mystic new birth as often as the spring sends a reviving tide of sap through every branch; unwearied effort to put forth fresh lines of growth from each budding point; while the records of a hundred seasons of storm and contest and victorious life are graven on its furrowed sides and stubborn limbs,—how wonderful, how endless in delight and mystery, is the world of life to be found within a single tree; and yet its age-long growth and all its splendours come from the forces hid in one smooth brown rind over which a boy’s fingers could be clasped in sport! This beautiful figure for an organised community of men bound by a common life, sprung from small beginnings, and lasting through many generations—the figure of a tree—was not a new one in the hands of Jesus. He found it in the literature of His people. As far back as the age of the Captivity it had become usual with the great prophets to compare the kingdom of Judah to a vine, and the mighty empire which threatened it to a cedar tree. But the figure had disappeared from Hebrew literature till our Lord revived it in the words before us. With characteristic homeliness, He selects from the vegetable creation a plant whose lowly appearance contrasts strangely with the vine of Isaiah, the cedar of Ezekiel, or the olive of St. Paul. It was not for its homeliness, however, that He chose it, although conspicuously His emblems are all taken from the most familiar objects of common life. It was because, for another reason, it suited His purpose best. We measure roughly with the eye the power of growth which resides in a plant, by the disproportion we discover betwixt the smallness of the seed and the largeness of the perfect plant. When a comparatively minute seed develops into a comparatively big tree, you are much struck by the force of life there was in it. Now of this the mustard formed an excellent familiar instance. It was, in fact, the least of the seeds usually sown by people in Palestine, and therefore passed in the proverbial speech of the country-folk for the least thing in the world. Yet, strange to add, the full-grown mustard plant was “the largest of garden herbs”: nay, “greater than all herbs,” since sometimes it shot out branches so as to pass fairly beyond the rank of a “herb” and become quite a “tree,” under whose shadow the field birds could perch. Precisely so is it found growing wild to this day by the Lake of Galilee—a tall shrub, or dwarf tree, some ten feet in height. On this point of comparison rests the stress of the parable. Christianity is not only a creation of the Saviour’s own life; it is the work and monument of the most extraordinary spiritual force we know. The kingdoms of the world were round Him where He sat—relics of ancient empires, which, in their day, Ezekiel had likened to the grand mountain cedar, with a “shadowing shroud” and a lofty stature. Yet now these all lay “fallen” and “broken” and “left,” as Ezekiel had foretold; while over them towered one world-empire huger than any of its forerunners, whose very fragments constitute our modern empires. Rome filled the wide earth with its shade as He spoke. Tiny beside the mighty bulk of overshadowing Rome, as a very mustard seed, was this carpenter’s Son and the handful of followers He left behind Him. Yet who does not know how unexpectedly the little spiritual kingdom of Jesus grew up out of His own grave to develop the mightiest force which history has to tell of; how speedily it thrust out its branches into every land, and sent its roots along every water-course; how it reckons at this hour a larger census of citizens than the most populous of secular sovereignties? By its own inward force of Divine life did it grow so large. And still it grows, and sees the old poison plants of heathendom, beneath whose deadly boughs the people sat, droop and die around its feet, and welcomes to its grateful shade the wandering souls of men who crave for rest and for refreshing. It yields its fruit every month, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.—J. O. Dykes, D.D.
A parable of promise.—This is a parable of promise, speaking to the heart and to the community. It says, “Hope for much, but expect it only little by little.” When Livingstone had measured his work and his powers, he said this as his last word: “It is but little we can do, but we lodge a protest in the heart against a vile system, and time may ripen it.” And whenever we do our best, and trust and pray our best, though that best be but little, still we also may hope that God will favour it, and that time will ripen it. For the little of our day is often the seed of much in a day to come; and no one who works in his place can tell what his work will grow to, or how much God may make of it.—T. F. Crosse, D.C.L.
Mar_4:33-34. The duties of the Christian teacher.—
1. He must adapt himself to his hearers. Are they young? are they educated? are they courageous? are they surrounded by any peculiar circumstances?
2. He must consider his hearers rather than himself. This was Jesus Christ’s method. The question should be, not what pleases the preacher’s taste, but what is most required by the spiritual condition of the people.
3. He must increase his communication of truth and light according to the progress of his scholars. Reticence is power. In teaching children the teacher should not dazzle them by the splendour of his attainments; he adapts the light to the strength of their mental vision. The preacher should always know more of Divine truth than the hearer. Christ’s method of imparting knowledge is, so far as we can infer, unchanged. He has yet more light to shed upon His Word.—J. Parker, D.D.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
Mar_4:31-32. Great things from small.—Many great histories of blessing may be traced back to a very small seed. A woman whose name is forgotten dropped a tract or little book in the way of a man named Richard Baxter. He picked it up and read it, and it led him to Christ. He became a man of saintly life, and wrote a book entitled A Call to the Unconverted, which brought many persons to the Saviour, and among others Philip Doddridge. Philip Doddridge in his turn wrote The Rise and Progress of Religion, which led many into the kingdom of God, among them the great Wilberforce. Wilberforce wrote A Practical View of Christianity, which was the means of saving a multitude, including Legh Richmond. In his turn Richmond wrote The Dairyman’s Daughter, which has been instrumental in the conversion of thousands. The dropping of that one little tract seemed a very small thing to do; but see what a wonderful, many-branched tree has sprung from it!
Faith in the power of truth.—When Charles Darwin wrote his Origin of Species, did he believe it would be received by the scientific world? Most certainly he did. But the scientific world, with rare exceptions, received it with a storm of derision and opposition. To others it was the height of unreason. But to him it was not unreasonable. Where was the difference? He knew it best, saw its truth, and therefore had faith in its acceptance, and in some thirty years the scientific world has, in the main, come round to his belief. They who know Christianity best have most faith in its power to upheave the world. It still requires a great deal of faith to believe that the world will actually become a Christian world. This is partly because the world has always been a stiff soil for any kind of noble husbandry. It is slow to yield its produce, and there are some terribly tough roots to be stubbed up. It is partly because of imperfection in the means employed. But God works by imperfect means, or how would He use men at all? He wins His victories with maimed soldiers. The workmen have all manner of crotchets of their own, and all manner of ridiculous notions of the shape of the building, and a nice piece of architecture it would be if all their structures were to stand; but the Divine Architect has His plan matured in heavenly wisdom, and He will look to it with sleepless eye that the New Jerusalem keeps its symmetry. What one man with a crotchet has built awry or with perishable material, He sends another man with an opposite crotchet to pull down, and, as there is a little bit of right work in every worker, He takes that out of him too, and the fair structure rises in impregnable righteousness.—G. T. Candlin.
Seed served by the tempests.—Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, when obliged to quit the city in consequence of increasing persecutions, went with one of his disciples to a region in the vicinity. In the cool of the evening the bishop was walking under the shade of the magnificent trees which stood in front of his rural abode; here he found his disciple sitting under an oak tree, leaning his head upon his hand, and weeping. Then the old man said, “My son, why weepest thou?” The disciple replied, “Shall I not mourn and weep when I think of the kingdom of truth upon earth? Tempests are gathering round it, and will destroy it. Many of its adherents have become apostates, and have denied and abused the truth, proving that unworthy men may confess it with their lips, though their hearts are far from it. This fills my heart with sorrow and my eyes with tears.” Then Polycarp smiled and answered, “My son, the kingdom of Divine truth is like unto a tree which a man reared in his garden. He set the seed secretly and quietly in the ground and left it; the seed put forth leaves, and the young tree grew up among weeds and thorns. Soon the tree reared itself above them, and the weeds died, because the shadow of the branches overcame them. The tree grew, and the wind blew on it and shook it, but its roots clung firmer and firmer to the ground, taking hold of the rocks downward, and its branches reached unto heaven. Thus the tempest served to increase the firmness and strength of the tree. When it grew higher, and its shadow spread farther, then the thorns and weeds grew again round the tree, but it heeded them not in its loftiness. There it stood, in calm, peaceful grandeur—a tree of God!”
Triumph of the gospel.—Far out in the western main is a little island round which for nearly half the year the Atlantic clangs his angry billows, keeping the handful of inhabitants close prisoners. Most of it is bleak and barren; but there is one little bay rimmed round with silvery sand, and reflecting in its waters a slope of verdure. Towards this bay one autumn evening, thirteen hundred years ago, a rude vessel steered its course. It was a flimsy bark, no better than a huge basket of osiers covered over with the skins of beasts; but the tide was tranquil, and as the boatmen plied their oars they raised the voice of psalms. Skimming across the bay, they beached their coracle and stepped on shore—about thirteen in number. On the green slope they built a few hasty huts and a tiny Christian temple. The freight of that little ship was the gospel, and the errand of the saintly strangers was to tell benighted heathen about Jesus and His love. From the favoured soil of Ireland they had brought a grain of mustard seed, and now they sowed it in Iona. In the conservatory of their little church it throve, till it was fit to be planted out on the neighbouring mainland. To the Picts with their tattooed faces, to the Druids peeping and muttering in their dismal groves, the missionaries preached the gospel. That gospel triumphed. The groves were felled, and where once they stood rose the house of prayer. Planted out on the bleak moorland, the little seed became a mighty tree, so that the hills of Caledonia were covered with the shade; nor must Scotland ever forget the seedling of Iona, and the labours of Columba with his meek Culdees.
The Church’s expansion.—There is a fairy tale which speaks of a magic tent, no bigger than a walnut shell, whose powers were very wonderful. Placed in the king’s audience chamber, it expanded into a gorgeous canopy over his throne. Placed in the courtyard, it became a spacious tent, which provided accommodation for the royal household. Placed without the gates, it widened its borders until the plain was covered by a glistening encampment, beneath whose shelter a great army might find ample room. And so it was capable of infinite expansion according to the requirements of its owner. Well, that magic tent may serve as an emblem of the Church of Christ. At first it was only a little one, but with every year it has expanded, and widened its borders, and become more ample and majestic. Multitudes whom no man can number, from every nation under heaven, have sought its shelter. And it shall continue to grow until all the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of God and of His Christ.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v30 Mat 13:31-32, & Mar 4:30-32. “And He said, To…
THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED
Mat 13:31-32, & Mar 4:30-32. “And He said, To what must we liken the kingdom of God? or in what parable may we expound it? It is like a grain of mustard, which, when it may be sown upon the earth, is the smallest of seeds which are upon the earth, and when it may be sown and becomes greater than all the herbs, and produces great branches, so that the fowls of the air are able to lodge under its shadow.” Mark says, “And when it may grow up, it is the greatest of herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the fowls of the air come and lodge in its branches.” Our Savior was speaking on the bank of the Galilean Sea, near Capernaum, where the mustard plant grows spontaneously, very numerous, and quite large, high as a man’s head, with spreading branches, so as to shade the birds, as Mark says, or even bear some of them on its branches. As it is designated an herb, it is highly probable that was the mustard to which our Savior made the allusion. The dragomen who escorted us in that country gave it as their opinion that the herb was really the mustard here used to symbolize the kingdom. It is also a matter of fact that there is a tree in Palestine called “mustard,” from the pungency of the seed, imparting a burning sensation when taken into the mouth, and thus resembling the mustard plant. This tree grows up about thirty feet high, spreading out its branches very copiously, and thus fulfilling the description with reference to the lodgment of the aerial tribes. You will find specimens of this tree at the Fountain Engedi, at the southern terminus of the Dead Sea. (Eze 47:12.) In the Parable of the Sower, which is a part of this same sermon, you see the fowls gathering up the seed sown by the wayside emblematized devils. We see no reason why we should change the application in this parable. While the kingdom of grace, originating in a community from the smallest beginning, will gradually spread throughout the whole country. Fifteen hundred years ago, St. Patrick was carried by kidnapers into Ireland, and sold into slavery, quite in his boyhood. This godly youth preached the gospel, which spread over the entire island. You know how corrupt, superstitious, and priest-ridden Romanism has blighted that country a thousand years. Can you not see how the filthy, destructive fowls of the air-i.e., the demons from the bottomless pit--came and took possession of the gospel-tree, lodging in its branches and devouring the fruit? The gospel is rapidly spreading throughout the whole earth. Yet if you will follow in its track, you will see the air darkened by the black wing of the ravens, devouring the fruit, and polluting the tree by their contaminating touch. The great Churches of the Old World, which numerically throw Protestant America into eclipse, have long ceased to show up a trace of spirituality, having apparently degenerated to the level of mere politico-ecclesiastical institutions.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v30 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LIV. E. Parables…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LIV. E. Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven].
LIV. THE FIRST GREAT GROUP OF PARABLES. (Beside the Sea of Galilee.) Subdivision E. PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND LEAVEN. aMATT. XIII. 31-35; bMARK IV. 30-34.
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a31 Another parable set he before them, saying, b30 And he said, How shall we liken the kingdom of God? or in what parable shall we set it forth? [These questions are intended to emphasize the superior excellence of the kingdom.] 31 It aThe kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: ba grain of mustard seed, which, [337] when it is sown upon the earth, though aindeed bit be ais bless than all the seeds that are upon the earth [that is, the smallest of all the seeds that are sown in a garden], abut b32 yet when it is sown, groweth up, and awhen it is grown, it is bbecometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; aand becometh a tree [in Palestine it attains the height of ten feet], so that the birds of the heaven come and bcan lodge under the shadow thereof. ain the branches thereof. [This parable sets forth the smallness of the beginning of the kingdom, and the magnitude of its growth.] 33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened. [In Oriental housekeeping, yeast is not preserved in a separate form. A piece of leavened dough saved over from the last baking is added to the new dough to ferment it. Three measures contained the quantity usually taken for one baking. Leaven represents the quickness, quietness, thoroughness, and sureness with which gospel truth diffuses itself through human society. A woman is named because baking was part of her household duty.] 34 All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; b33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it [that is, as they had leisure or opportunity to listen]; 34 and without a parable spake he not { anothing unto them [that is, he used nothing but parables on that occasion, for both before and after this he taught without parables]: 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet [at Psa_78:2 which is usually attributed to Asaph, who is called a seer ( 2Ch_29:30). His teaching typified that of Christ], saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world. [Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in a notable manner, being the only teacher in history distinguished in any marked degree by the use of parables.] bbut privately to his own disciples he expounded all things. [338]
[FFG 337-338]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv30, 33 Parable of the grain of mustard-seed:
Parable of the grain of mustard-seed:
v. 30. And He said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what comparison shall we compare it?
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v. 31. It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth;
v. 32. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
It is not a matter of indifference, but of anxious concern to the Lord, as it should be to all true teachers of the Word, in what way He can make clear to His disciples the great truths which they must understand and be thoroughly familiar with, for themselves as well as for their hearers. He wants some comparison, some parable that will bring out still more strongly the lesson of the last parable, but in its application to the entire Church. He chooses a mustard-seed for His purpose. The characteristic feature of this seed is its small size, rendering it almost insignificant in comparison with others as it is sown into the ground. The results, however, are little short of marvelous. In the proper soil, and with the right conditions, it will grow up to be the largest of the garden vegetables, becoming almost treelike in its proportions, extending its boughs in every direction, so that the birds will welcome its shade and be glad to use the protection of its branches for a roosting-place. Thus the preaching of the Gospel is considered insignificant before men. It is despised in the sight of those that prefer the philosophy and wisdom of this world. But when it comes to results, to spiritual life and strength, then human wisdom cannot even come into consideration. For the Word of God alone can take hold of a man’s heart and renew it entirely, change his entire life and manner of thinking. And the same effect may be observed in the history of the Church. A mere handful of disciples assembled in the upper room in Jerusalem has grown to a body whose size is such as to be known to God only, although even the number of those that profess Christianity is very large. That fact is a source of constant comfort to all believers, whether they be pastors or not: their labor cannot be in vain, since they have the living Word to deal with.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv30, 33 To what can we compare the kingdom of God,…
To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it?
Jesus asked this question to cause his hearers to think about what the kingdom of God is. AT: "With this parable I can explain what the kingdom of God is like." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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when it is sown
This can be stated in active form. AT: "when someone sows it" or "when someone plants it"
it forms large branches
The mustard tree is described as causing its branches to grow large. AT: "with large branches" (See: Personification)
translationWords
kingdom of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv30, 33 4:30-32 Jesus contrasts a very small beginning with a…
4:30-32 Jesus contrasts a very small beginning with a large result. The mustard seed is proverbially small (see Matt 17:20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.