Through the eyes of Jesus
Parable of the Mustard seed
Matthew 13:31 – 32
Feb 27 2011

Today we come to the third parable that Jesus told and the first one that He does not give any explanation for. In fact, Jesus does not go on to clarify any of the remaining parables either. As we discussed in the first parable, parables are designed to do two things, confound or confuse and reveal.

We need to remember, that in order to fully understand anything as fully as we can in and from scripture we cannot just take the passage directly in front us and come up with a conclusion, we need to also take everything around it to come to this understanding. So in order to understand this parable we need to first understand that all of the parables that Jesus is telling in this chapter are dealing with the church age from the time of Jesus coming to this earth and until He comes back again.

In the telling of these parables it was not the intention of Jesus to show us necessarily the growth of the church, but to reveal to us the dangers that will lay in the growth of the church.

In the first parable we saw what in essence was the gospel message being spread though out all the world and learned that not all people that hear the gospel message will receive it and of those that do receive it, not all will reap the benefit of it.

In the second parable we see a more focused nature, in essence a focus more directed to the prepared field or the church and that the enemy (Satan) of the field owner (God / Christ) comes and plants deceivers within the field, hypocrites.

By not going on to give an explanation to the rest of the parables, Jesus is saying that He has given us the groundwork of understanding the parables and thus challenges His disciples to dig into what is actually being taught in the parables that follow. It is by this method that Jesus can determine and in a way prove to us who is a real student, but as with anything left into our hands, things have gotten skewed.

In this parable, the parable of the mustard seed, two interpretations have lead the way for most of time; One this represents the quick growth of the church as the gospel is spread around the world
and two is an abnormal growth of the church. Now as with anything, both answers cannot be correct.

This parable is set here, right after the parable on hypocrisy I think for a very specific reason. As with any false teaching that matures (Tares) it can affect the true growth of the crop that was planted. In some cases the false crop will actually for a while give rise to a false sense of growth, in essence looking and being a better crop than what is actually growing. This is the underlying theme to this parable, something becoming more than what it was designed to be.

In order to understand this parable as in any of the parables, we need to figure out what is the focal point of the parable. In this parable the focal points are Seed, Tree & Birds of the air.

Before we take a look at the three focal points in this parable, I want to first clarify the un-identified man and the field in not just this parable but all of these parables.

Look down in Verse 37 -38.
These verses here are the clarifying verses for the parable of the wheat and tares
37 Jesus answered, “The man who planted the good seed in the field is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world,

We need to keep this passage in perspective as we read through all of the parables in this chapter. If we don’t we can easily head off in an incorrect direction.

Let’s take a look at the first item in this parable, The seed

The first thing that we need to understand today is, what does a mustard seed plant look like? When Jesus was speaking two-thousand years ago, He did not have to go into details as the people knew, exactly what a mustard plant looked like.

Mustard comes from the family of herbs. It only grows to a height of about three feet. It will outgrow in stature most other plants based on seed size, but the one thing that it does not become is a tree. As an herb plant, the mustard plant is strong enough to support a small bird to land on its small branches, but it is not strong enough to support nest building. So when Jesus started talking about this plant becoming this large in essence a tree, it was taking on or changing from its designed purpose.

Why did Jesus focus on the smallness of the mustard seed?
As in the first parable, the seed at the time was the gospel or the good news of God. Jesus focuses on the smallness here to signify that what is being spread is small, meaning that it is not hard to understand. The gospel is not about this high and mighty loftiness, but in reality it is based on the very opposite, the simplicity.
The gospel message is not obtained through years of higher education, nor hard back breaking work in the field. In fact the very opposite is true.

There is a story about a very brilliant Bible professor that was having a Q & A at the end of one of his classes. He had opened this time up to discuss some of the deep theological ideas that had been discussed over the previous weeks.

One of the students asked the professor if he could relate to them the deepest theological thought he had ever considered. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation the professor looked at the class and said these words; “The greatest thought. The greatest knowledge I know is, Jesus loves me, for the Bible tells me so.”

This is the whole essence of the Bible. It’s not complicated, but it is powerful.

Growth is not strength based
Matthew 17:20
20 He told them, “Because you have so little faith. I can guarantee this truth: If your faith is the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Strength is not always based on size but on tenacity. The strength of the mustard seed is not fully known until it has been bruised or crushed. It is only in this process does the true value of the mustard seed get released.

As a Christian our growth is not based on our strength but on the tenacity that we have to stay focused on the one that does have the strength. And it is only through our testing, bruising and being crushed does our faith flourish.

The second focal point here is the tree.

The growth that Jesus is referring to here is not the growth of the true church, but of the false church. Here we have a hybridization or the making of something, in this case the church become more than what it was designed to be.  This false growth that would occur in the church did not take Jesus by surprise and by this parable He is telling us that the growth of the false church should not take us by surprise.

In verse 32 we have something un-natural taking place, the herb becoming a tree. 

Genesis 1:11 - 13
11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce plants—some to make grain for seeds and others to make fruits with seeds in them. Every seed will produce more of its own kind of plant.” And it happened. 12 The earth produced plants with grain for seeds and trees that made fruits with seeds in them. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good. 13 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the third day.

The mustard seed was created as an herb, a small bush it was never created to become a tree.  By Jesus describing this shrub as growing into this great tree some expositors see Jesus as describing the greatness or expansion that the church becomes.

If that were the case, then like the mustard the church to become something more than it was designed to be. It is not that the church was never to have prominence, for it is designed to do that but it was designed to do it in a simpler manner.

Daniel 4:20 – 22
In this passage, Daniel, is talking to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon the foundation of all false religions

20 You saw an oak tree grow and become strong enough and tall enough to reach the sky. It could be seen everywhere on earth. 21 It had beautiful leaves and plenty of fruit, enough to feed everyone. Wild animals lived under it, and birds made their homes in its branches. 22 You are that tree, Your Majesty. You grew and became strong and mighty until you reached the sky. Your power reaches the most distant part of the world.

Trees unlike herbs have deep roots and this is also important for us to understand. As an herb which has shallow roots, the idea is of temperance or lack of permanence. As Christians we are to be looking at this field, this world as a temporary dwelling place as we are to only be passing through. If as Jesus said in Matthew 13:38 the good seeds are His and if we are His and if He is not of this world should we be setting deep roots?

Focal Point three, The Birds

If we look at this parable as a picture of religious growth verses just the growth of the Christian Church we see it what comes under the shadow of religion.

One thing that we need to be aware of, Satan is not opposed to religion, in fact worship is the one thing that even he looks forward to as it was one of the temptations that he placed before Jesus during the forty days of temptations.

I believe that by following the idea of comparing scripture to scripture we can turn to Revelation to better understand just who the birds are that Jesus is referring to.

Just as some Bible expositors have connected the growth of the tree to the growth of the church, they have also attached the birds that flock to the tree as the people of the world as they come under its protection. But I think that Jesus sees the birds in this tree differently.

Revelation 18:1 – 2
  1 After these things I saw another angel come from heaven. He had tremendous power, and his glory lit up the earth.   2 He cried out in a powerful voice, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every evil spirit, every unclean bird, and every unclean and hated beast.

If the tree that Jesus is referring to here is the overarching tree of false religion than those that nest in it can be none other than Satan and  his demons.

In some of the final words of Jesus He warns us that there is going to be coming a time when these individuals will do some miraculous things and if we are not watching will get deceived.
Matthew 24:24
24 False christs and false prophets will appear. They will work spectacular, miraculous signs and do wonderful things to deceive, if possible, even those whom God has chosen.

2 Peter 3:17
17 Dear friends, you already know these things. So be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of people who have no principles. Then you won’t fall from your firm position.

2 John :7
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Has this tree materialized?
Listen to what Dr. Campbell Morgan says about the abnormal growth of the church as a result of the edict of Constantine to make the entire world Christian in 313 A.D..

“That was the darkest day that dawned in all history of the church. His espousal (Marriage) of Christianity was an astute and clever political move when he grafted upon Christianity much of paganism, and elevated it to a position of world power: and in that hour the whole Church has passed under the blight from which it has not completely escaped. . . It is an abnormal growth.”

In less than 300 years Satan had obtained a secure foothold in the professing church of Christ and he has not let go to this day.

The point that needs to be made here just as in the last parable of the wheat and the tares, A person may be in the field, but not necessarily in the harvest. There are a lot of people that are in the church today that are will not be making it to the harvest barns of God.

In order for that to happen, a person needs to give up their understanding of what salvation is and understand the simple message of the gospel.

Everyone, according to scripture has failed to meet God’s level of perfection. In fact He states that we are all sinners and because of it there is nothing that we can do to earn or work our way back to this perfection.

But since He wants as many to come to Him as possible He has made a way for that to happen, He sent His Son to make the way possible. All God is asking us to do is to admit that we are a sinner and even under the best circumstance we do not deserve to be allowed into His dwelling place. But because of your love for me you have given me this opportunity to be made right and that is by coming under the shed blood of the death of Your Son and participating in His death and resurrection.