REFLECTIONS TODAY

Gospel • Mark 4:26-34
 

We might wonder why, in the parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus calls the mustard seed (Greek sinapi) the “smallest” of seeds and the mature mustard plant the “largest” of plants in the garden, when there were smaller seeds and larger plants. The answer is that Jesus is using rhetorical hyperbole—an exaggeration to make a point. He is not speaking botanically but proverbially. Jesus’ emphasis is on the change of size—from small to large—and the surprising nature of the growth. 

The purpose of Jesus’ parables is to teach a concept or “big idea” using various narrative elements or details that are common, easily recognized, and usually representational of something else. While the elements themselves do have importance, literal focus on an element usually leads to missing the main point of the parable. 

In this parable, Jesus predicts the amazing growth of the Kingdom of heaven. The mustard seed is quite small, but it grows into a large shrub—up to 10 feet in height—and Jesus says this is a picture of the Kingdom’s growth. The point of the parable of the Mustard Seed is that something big and blessed—the Kingdom of God—had humble beginnings. The parable depicts how God’s reign works in the ministry of Jesus and in the lives of people: humbly, almost invisibly, but effectively—indeed, a paradox. The choice of the mustard seed to describe this phenomenon is quite fitting. Though “the smallest of all the earth’s seeds,” according to the popular opinion of the rabbis (which Jesus himself echoes), it grows into a big shrub that provides shade and rest to many birds in Palestine.

The message of the parable of the Mustard Seed—and of the Seed Growing Secretly—would not be lost especially to the early Christians. Jesus’ words assured them that God’s Kingdom was in their midst, and yet compared to the ocean of peoples who did not acknowledge Christ, they were a small group, isolated and almost lost. 

Remembering the parables, they would be comforted by the thought that God moved with them, and the power of the Word was effectively transforming people through them, as a small leaven ferments and makes the whole dough rise. The growth and spread of the Kingdom depend ultimately on God, and though his reign may appear to be accompanied by incomprehension and irony, it will attain its final splendor

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.