Malia Keene

Setting

Jesus once again is talking to an audience, possible only to his disciples. This parable is mentioned three times throughout God's word. However, not the three accounts of the parable are not the same compared to the other. No precise setting is given. The crowd could be in a home at dinner, near a seashore or alongside the road. Obviously, the Evangelists did not consider the setting an important matter for understanding this parable.

Exegetical Anaylsis

One of the more interesting points of this parable is that it is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke. One reason that they are so closely resemble each other may have been the literary relationship, both Matthew and Luke having probably used Mark's Gospel and all three having utilizing Matthew's earlier notes. But there are also differences in all gospels. This may have been because each evangelist exercised his Spirit-guided judgment, in accordance with his own background (Hendricksen Mark 170). Matthew and Mark bear the closest in resemblance. Both pay more attention to the small size of the mustard seed than does Luke (Matt. 13:32; Mark 4:31). Luke displays more interest in the actual bush / tree that grows from the mustard seed (Hendricksen Luke 703).

Jesus begins in Mark and Luke by asking, "What shall we compare the Kingdom of God to?" (Mark 4:30; Luke 13:18). Jesus seems to compare it to a mustard seed. Although mustard seeds are among the smallest of seed, mustard plants can grow to heights between 10 and 15 feet. The mustard bush serves as a useful for shelter for birds during all seasons.

But Jeremias claims that the Kingdom of God is not compared to a mustard seed, but to the mustard bush / tree that gives shelter to birds (102). Thus, Jesus' point is not that the Kingdom of God is small so much as that it is a resting place.

But Jesus explicitly says that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed … that grows into a bush / tree. Thus, the Kingdom of God is about growing and about creating a resting place.

We (humans) seem to be represented in Jesus' story by the birds that take advantage of a resting place called the Kingdom of God.

Application

All three Synoptic versions of the parable state that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. What that means could be different to anyone who wants to interpret it. Does this mean that the Kingdom of God is small? that the Kingdom of God is a haven? that the Kingdom of God is useful? that the Kingdom of God can grow? To all of these questions, I would say, Yes.

The kingdom is small in that it is hard to get into. It is a haven in that it is a resting place; useful in that it has many resources; and it can grow, if we are willing to nurture it. So yes the Kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a large and useful plant!