The history of the church has shown JesusвЂ™ Parable of the Mustard Seed to be true. JesusвЂ™ emphasis is on the change of size-from small to large-and the surprising nature of the growth. He is not speaking botanically but proverbially. The answer is that Jesus is using rhetorical hyperbole-an exaggeration to make a point. Some have wondered why, in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus calls the mustard seed the вЂњsmallestвЂќ of seeds and the mature mustard plant the вЂњlargestвЂќ of plants in the garden, when there were smaller seeds and larger plants. This messianic prophecy foretells the growth of ChristвЂ™s kingdom from very small beginnings to a sizable, sheltering place. Birds of every kind will nest in it they will find shelter in the shade of its branchesвЂќ (Ezekiel 17:23). This small sprig вЂњwill produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. In this prophecy, the Lord God promises to plant a shoot вЂњon a high and lofty mountainвЂќ (Ezekiel 17:22). A passage in Ezekiel, for example, parallels the Parable of the Mustard Seed in many ways. The influence of the kingdom in this world would be such that everyone associated with it would find a benefit-pictured as the birds perched on the branches of the mature mustard plant.Д®lsewhere in Scripture, the kingdom of God is also pictured as a tree. What seemed inconsequential at first grew into a movement of worldwide influence, and no one could stop it (see Acts 5:38вЂ“39).

The life and death of Christ did not catch the worldвЂ™s attention any more than a mustard seed would lying on the ground by the road. How significant could the short ministry of Christ be? He had but a handful of followers, He was a man of no rank and without means, and He lived in what everyone considered a backwater region of the world. The point of the Parable of the Mustard Seed is that something big and blessed-the kingdom of God-had humble beginnings. The mustard seed is quite small, but it grows into a large shrub-up to ten feet in height-and Jesus says this is a picture of kingdom growth. In this parable, Jesus predicts the amazing growth of the kingdom of heaven. The Parable of the Mustard Seed is contained in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 13:31вЂ“32 Mark 4:30вЂ“32 Luke 13:18вЂ“19). This storytelling approach also promotes practicing principles rather than inflexible adherence to laws. JesusвЂ™ parables are brilliant in their simplicity. We can still understand the concept of a growing seed. Two thousand years later, the imagery is still vivid. Literal, detailed narratives are more susceptible to becoming archaic or obsolescent. One of the possible practical reasons that Jesus used parables such as this is that, by depicting concepts in word pictures, the message is not readily lost to changes in word usage, technology, cultural context, or the passage of time. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branchesвЂќ (Matthew 13:31вЂ“32). The Parable of the Mustard Seed is a short one: вЂњThe kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. While the elements themselves do have importance, an overemphasis on the details or literal focus on an element usually leads to interpretive errors and missing the main point of the parable. As with all parables, the purpose of the Parable of the Mustard Seed is to teach a concept or вЂњbig ideaвЂќ using various narrative elements or details that are common, easily recognized, and usually representational of something else.

True autumn mustard