Sunday 18 September 2016

Like a Mustard Seed - Mark 4:30-34


30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.



The sayings of Jesus given in the Gospels include a number of parables and similes about, "the kingdom of God".  The entire fourth chapter of Mark centres on this theme.  While interpreting the meaning of the first parable, The Sower, Jesus tells his disciples that, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you".  The passage previous compares the kingdom to a man scattering seed.  And, we can assume that the saying in between about the lamp on a stand is also a metaphor for the kingdom.

In an earlier post I discussed what the phrase, "the kingdom of God", would have implied to a Jewish audience of that period.  For some of them, the phrase would be identified in eschatological terms relating to the expected "new age". Jewish eschatological doctrines found in writings of the time saw the world as in the "end times" on the cusp of God's "new age" where God would raise a messiah of the line of David to reestablish Israel as a nation and take the throne to lead Israel and the world into God's new age of justice and peace.  These doctrines about the end of the current world were particularly attractive during the Jewish revolts against the Roman occupiers.

The other understanding of the kingdom of God came from references in the Tanakh to God's present dominion and reign rather than a future physical realm.  This is the perspective that is given in many of the sayings of Jesus in the Gospels.  God's sovereignty is manifest when people do or express God's will and nature in the present moment.  Jesus is given as telling the Pharisees that the tax collectors and prostitutes that followed John the Baptist's instructions in social equality "are entering" the kingdom before them (Matthew 21:31).


It is this understanding of the manifestation of the nature of God among humanity that Jesus illuminates further through these parables and similes.  In the Parable of the Sower, the nature of God is spread like seed and we are told that it only grows and produces more if it is not choked by distractions in life, adversity, or persecution.  In the saying about the lamp on the stand, we are told that this nature is something we need to let shine and not hide away. And, in the simile of the Growing Seed, it is shown to be something that does not always bear immediate results and is not something that we can control or force to grow, but requires trust that some part will in its own time bear fruit.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus, in word and deed, characterizes this nature, or active and creative word of God, as primarily loving, compassionate and inclusive.  A perspective and actions which holds this as what is legitimate and true acknowleges God's authority and "kingship". It reveals and demonstrates allegience to God's kingdom on earth.

In the passage about the mustard seed being examined in this post, the nature of God expressed in humanity is compared to something extremely small which grows to something large. We are told that when grown it provides shelter and protection to those who like birds, might be considered vulnerable and perhaps unimportant.


The theme of the nature of God growing large from small beginnings is seen in some of the other sayings of Jesus.  In the Gospel of Matthew this same parable is followed by one about yeast.
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” ( Matthew 13:33)
Yeast, even a small quanity, can multiply and spread through a large quanity of dough.  So too can the spirit and nature of God spread through a large number of people through compassionate and selfless word and action.


Jesus' instruction on this nature and its cultivation in people can be further understood through some of his other sayings on the topic.
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)
In this saying, the nature of God is shown as something requiring a fresh perspective uncluttered by the ways of thinking and values we may have learned from our culture.  There is also an aspect of humility and vulnerability.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23)
This saying reinforces the statement in the Parable of the Sower that, "the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful". Wealth, and the values that can make the aquisition a priority and a virtue, can be a distraction and competing interest that hinders the development of this nature.
99 The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside."
He said to them, "Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter my Father's kingdom." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 99)
The Gospel of Thomas holds a saying with a story and message almost identical to one found in the previous chapter of Mark. The difference is the last line about his Father's kingdom.  Jesus lays it out that it is those who do what God wants who will enter the kingdom.
A key to doing what God wants is layed out in the sixth saying of the Gospel of Thomas.

6 His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?"
Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 6)





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