And He said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed…”
Mark 4:30-31a
A pinch of saffron packs a punch in making yellow rice. A dash of cayenne can give a subtle heat to your dish and enhance the flavor. A single bay leaf can totally change a pot of rice into something truly delightful.
Small things. Big results.
This short parable in Mark 4:30-32 is about something small but has been given much attention. The danger is that we can fall into over-familiarity and lose our wonder of the text. To help us retrieve some wonder, let’s focus on the underestimated aspect of the mustard seed.
What Good Can Come From A Mustard Seed?
The mustard seed certainly represents the ministry of God’s Word.1 To the outward eye the ministry of Jesus seemed insignificant. Sproul is right to summarize this parable by saying, “The parable of the mustard seed illustrates that the kingdom’s present manifestation in the person of Jesus, which appears negligible, will issue in widespread, global fruition in the future.”2 Jesus appears ordinary, not that big of a deal. Yet, it is this man from Nazareth who will change the world.
It is the same reputation that His disciples had. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men…” (Acts 4:13). Paul’s gospel ministry received similar criticism. 1 Corinthians 1-2 along with 2 Corinthians 4 tells of Paul’s ministry being seen as “foolish” (1 Cor. 1:27), “low and despised” (1:28), “weak” (2:3), and fragile (2 Cor. 4:7).
Overlooked. Downplayed. Insignificant. Doubtful to make any difference. This is mustard seed ministry.
The Biblical-Theological Nature of the Mustard Seed
The single grain of a mustard seed grows to become one of the largest trees. So large does it become that many birds come to make their home in it. In mentioning the birds, Jesus is not referring to the demonic influences of earlier in Mark 4:1-20. He is saying how this mustard seed ministry is what will fulfill Ezekiel 17:23-24.
“On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”
Daniel 4:10-12 also gives this picture of the Kingdom of God:
“The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.”
Small things. Big results.
Mustard Seed Preaching: My Temptation To Be Ashamed
We underestimate the gospel of grace, don’t we? I have felt this in my preaching. I know the temptation of looking at a biblically faithful sermon outline and—to my shame—having thought: “But, will this really do the job of saving and sanctifying people?”
Will faithful gospel preaching really change people? There is so much chaos in our culture, so much false teaching threatening Christian circles, so much depravity in our world today. Will regular week-in and week-out gospel preaching really be what transforms people?
The temptation to change things up can sound like this: “You don’t have to abandon the gospel altogether but you probably need to really emphasize what people need to be doing. We know they’re forgiven but they really need to have moments of doubting their salvation so that they kick their obedience into gear. You can say Jesus is gracious and loving but we need to use language and tone to strike fear and shock in people so that they stop being so worldly. Also, there is the potential for this trend or this issue becoming the next big thing so you need to dismantle it in front of everyone in this next sermon.” Anything to distract from the gospel of grace.
Really? Mustard Seed Ministry?
If we’re honest, we can have moments where we echo what Nathanael said in John 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Can anything good be produced by mere faithfulness to the text? Don’t we need to dress it up? Help it out? Can anything good come out of trusting the graciousness of God’s grace in Christ to justify and sanctify people? Don’t we need to hound people until that start acting mature? Can anything good come out of trusting the Law to be the Law and the Gospel to be the Gospel?
What shameful thoughts, but honest thoughts.
It is the mustard seed—first being the Person & Work of Christ Himself—that truly sprouts into a bird-abiding tree. The ministry of the gospel of grace builds the Kingdom. This is not only true corporately but also privately.
Tempted To Move Beyond The Gospel?
We’re regularly tempted to move beyond the gospel to something “more mature” or “more effective” when fighting against sin. We want the new personality tests, porn-fighting strategies, anger-dissolving tactics, diversity-growing theories, fruit-bearing accelerators, productivity-boosting planner, and the other recent popular tips and tricks. We might trust the gospel to give us the ticket into the kingdom but we don’t trust the gospel to grow us in kingdom living. Mustard seed ministry is too small for our big problems.
My cynical heart regularly defaults into going on a sin-hunt with myself and the world. The result is that the overwhelming focus is absorption with current problems and to sound the alarm for potential problems. It is true that in this already-not yet era of redemptive history that we must be ready to combat false teaching (2 Cor. 11:13-15; 2 Tim. 4; 1 Jn. 4:1). I know there are issues that need to be discussed and issues we need to prepare for. We would be fools to not stay alert and we would be unfaithful to not address false teaching.
At the same time we must major on the majors.3 In particular, we must major on the good news of the grace of God in Christ Jesus applied to the heart of sinners by the Holy Spirit. This mustard seed is what grows us.
Only Mustard Seeds Produce Mustard Trees
Nothing else possesses the glory, the power, and the transformation that is in Jesus Christ. No one else is majestic, mighty, and magnificent like Jesus. No one else is so overflowing with beauty, holiness, love, mercy, righteousness, and purity that when we fix our faith upon Him in the gospel that we are transformed more and more into His image (2 Cor. 3:18).
When the gospel is neglected, downplayed, watered down, or put on the back burner, the great mustard tree doesn’t appear. Twigs appear. Only a mustard seed can produce a mustard tree. Only gospel-saturated ministry can produce holy men and women.
I wrote this for myself because as someone who preaches twice every Sunday I need to trust more and more that Jesus knows what He’s doing. He doesn’t need my help. When He wants us to address an issue then He will show us. But, even when we need to, the overwhelming focus needs to be His good news—His Person & Work.
John Currie does an excellent job in his book The Pastor as Leader in describing the essence of the Kingdom of God.
R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 1741.
Unfortunately, some can adopt this same motto to cower from addressing issues. In the name of being “pastoral” or “missional” or “winsome” they make no stance at all and leave their people susceptible to wolves. But, while something can be abused we ought not to do away with the actual truth. There are teachings, theories, and trends that threaten the majors. We must makes those stands. Yet, we don’t need to be pulling the fire alarm every Sunday.