The Parable Of The Mustard Seed

by James Hicks

Editor’s Note: We are blessed to have the number of young men in the church here who are capable preachers.  We want to give opportunity to these young men to develop their writing skills on Biblical subjects.  James Hicks is one of our young men that does a great job preaching and we are very pleased to present to you this fine article contributed by James for the series on "The Parables."  We commend it to you for your consideration.  James has grown up in this congregation and has proven his faith and conviction in the pulpit.  Certainly, we see evidence of his maturity through his pen. (mg)

(All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV)

The parable of the mustard seed is one of the shortest, yet most fascinating of the parables our Lord uttered. He used this parable, as well as others, to teach of the nature of His kingdom. This kingdom was to come shortly according to the teaching of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) and the Lord Himself (Matthew 4:17). It should be of no surprise that He was teaching His followers of its nature and the nearness of its coming. From examination of this teaching, we gain great insight into the kingdom of our God.

To begin, Jesus commences this lesson concerning the kingdom by likening it to a mustard seed. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds” (Matthew 13:31-32). Mustard seed, as I’m told, is a very small seed around 1 millimeter in size. It is least indeed. Jesus has likened the kingdom, in its infancy, to this mustard seed. The kingdom did have a small beginning. In the second chapter of the book of Acts we read of the kingdom’s establishment. Luke records by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “…and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). What were they added to? These souls were added to the church (Acts 2:47), the kingdom (Colossians 1:13), through submission to God’s will. If we were to compare the number of Christians at this point in the church’s history to the number of people residing in the land of Palestine who held to the Mosaic law and commandments it becomes evident how small this kingdom was. However, the Lord declares that it would not stay this small for long.

After speaking of the kingdom’s beginning, the Lord in this parable teaches His disciples of its growth. Matthew records, “…but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree…” (Matthew 13:32). The scripture bears out the fact that the kingdom of God did grow, quite rapidly as a matter of fact. We see evidence of this in scripture a few days following the day of Pentecost. In Acts chapter four the morning after Peter and John’s imprisonment, Luke records, “However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand” (Acts 4:4). Some have disputed whether or not this is five thousand in addition to those in Acts chapter two. Others have asserted that the sum total of men in the kingdom was reflected in Luke’s words, i.e. about five thousand in total. It is not within the scope of this writing to address that question, but to show from the scripture that the kingdom did rapidly grow. In a time period of a few short days, counting from Pentecost to the time of Peter and John’s imprisonment, the kingdom grew by thousands! Something that was so small exponentially expanded. Many years later the apostle Paul writing to the church at Colosse said, “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:23). Paul declared that the gospel was preached to every creature. That means all men have access to the message. Its growth was world wide. This is further evidenced by the fact that Paul and Peter wrote letters to churches, churches all over the world. Peter wrote to “the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (I Peter 1:1). Paul spoke of those in Caesar’s household who learned the gospel in Rome (Philippians 4:22). The lesson we learn here is that the kingdom we are a part of expands to the borders of the earth. It has become that large because of its growth, growth through the hard work of godly people planting the seed and the increase received from God (cf. I Corinthians 3:7).

A third lesson we glean from the Lord’s words involves the nature of the kingdom and its existence with the other kingdoms of the world. According to this parable the plant produced by the mustard seed would coexist with the herbs. The prophet Daniel spoke of one kingdom that would “break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and stand forever” (Daniel 2:44). This was not an earthly kingdom. The Lord dispelled this idea when he boldly proclaimed to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36). Jesus was speaking of a spiritual kingdom, with spiritual members who entered through a new, spiritual birth (cf. John 3:5). The kingdom of God did coexist with the kingdoms of men in Christ’s day, but it was greater than those earthly governments. The kingdom also coexists with the kingdoms of men today and is superior in every way to any world political power we could name! It is so because this kingdom breaks the borders of nationality and race to include all who will heed the message (cf. Acts 10:34-35). It is so because no earthly power will ever destroy it! It is so because this kingdom has spiritual members who war against the devices of the devil, a spiritual battle, not a physical war fought with the devices of men (II Corinthians 10:5).

Finally, we learn one more important factor from the Lord’s parable. Jesus stated in Matthew’s account, “…the birds of the air come and rest in its branches” (verse 32). Birds find places of comfort and safety to rest and rear their young. By this statement the Lord declared that many would come to this kingdom, seeking safety and comfort. In the period of the patriarchs Abraham was told by God, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The prophet Isaiah supports this promise to Abraham when he foretold, “And all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2). This promise was realized when the gospel was taught to men. Luke reveals to us that “devout men, from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) were present when Peter delivered the first recorded gospel sermon. Later in time the gospel was then revealed to the Gentiles as Peter taught the household of Cornelius. They rendered obedience to the gospel message. From that point forward much preaching was done in the presence of the Jew and Gentile. These men from all nations came to the kingdom in expectation of receiving the safety and peace afforded by the Lord, for this was one of the main appeals He makes to man (cf. Matthew 11:28-30).

Indeed we do learn a great deal from this short parable. The kingdom began small, but now spans all geographic, national and ethnic borders and serves as a place of peace and comfort to the sin-sick of the world. The Lord extends an invitation to all to be a member of this heavenly kingdom. Wouldn’t you want to be a member of this grand kingdom?