#57 Parable of the Mustard Seed

#57 Parable of the Mustard Seed

Please First Read: Matthew 13:31-32; Luke 13:18-19; Mark 4:30-32

Apostle James E. Talmage:

The Jewish nation had long been praying for and expecting the Messiah to come with great power, like King David, and restore Israel to its former glory days. He would subdue and vanquish all their enemies. Jesus now comes teaching a different message. The Kingdom would have a very small beginning and he compares it to a mustard seed. Jesus calls it “the least of all seeds.” (There are actually smaller seeds but many of those have a maturity that is also small.) 

“The well cultivated mustard plant is one of the greatest among common herbs and presents a strong contrast of growth from tiny seed to spreading shrub.” Also, the climate here is ideal for the plant to reach maximum growth. The phrase “as small as a mustard seed” was in common usage among their society at this time. When Jesus says “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed … nothing shall be impossible unto you,” they understood what he meant.

The seed is a vital living entity (as should be ones faith.) One tiny seed can produce a full- grown plant capable of providing shade, protection, lodging, and food for birds and other small creatures. From one mustard seed the mature plant produces such an abundance of seed that an entire field may be covered. “So the seed of truth is vital, living, and capable of such development as to furnish spiritual food and shelter to all who come seeking.” For many of us there is an ancestor who first embraced the gospel.  

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:

This parable has specific reference to this time … the restoration of the gospel … the return of the Kingdom of God on earth for the final time in these latter days. Much of Christianity today teaches that this is the growth of the Christian church back to the time of Jesus and his Apostles on the earth. Not so. 

“The original pure Christianity practiced by the primitive saints never did more than sprout its head above ground; within a relatively short time the original plant was trodden down and destroyed. It is only in the dispensation of the fulness of times that the true Christian tree is to grow until it becomes “a great tree:” it is only in this final age that the true gospel message is to roll forth until the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.” (D & C 65 & Isaiah 40:3) The interpretation of this parable specifically refers to the restoration of the gospel. The Kingdom of God is again here on the earth in these latter days for the final time and preparations are under way for the return of our Savior.

The Prophet Joseph Smith:

“Now we can discover plainly that this figure is given to represent the Church as it shall come forth in the last days. Behold, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto it. Now, what is like unto it?

“Let us take the Book of Mormon, which a man took and hid in his field, securing it by his faith, to spring up in the last days, or in due time; let us behold it coming forth out of the ground, which is indeed accounted the least of all seeds; but behold it branching forth, yea, even towering, with lofty branches, and Godlike majesty, until it, like a mustard seed, becomes the greatest of  all herbs. And it is truth, and it has sprouted and come forth out of the earth, and righteousness begins to look down from heaven, and God is sending down his powers, gifts, and angels, to lodge in the branches thereof.

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a mustard seed. Behold, then is not this the kingdom of heaven that is raising its head in the last days in the majesty of God, even the Church of Latter-day Saints.”

D. Kelly Ogden:

            “Although the mustard seed is not really the smallest of all seeds proverbially or hyperbolically it denotes the strength and power inherent in even the smallest particle.”

The Savior did not give a direct interpretation of this parable but his message was/is that in its infancy the restored Church will be weak and small but it will grow to be strong and mighty and fill the whole earth. We are seeing this now taking place before our eyes.

        

Pentecost and Trench:

“Christ was making use of a popular Jewish idiom. The smallest item measurable was a mustard seed and the weight of such a seed was the smallest amount that could be weighed by using a balance. The Oriental mustard plant in one season can reach the height of a tree. This author has on hand a picture taken in Dallas of a mustard seed that in one year grew into a tree thirty-two feet in height. It was of sufficient size so the birds could nest within its branches.    This part of the parable emphasizes a great discernible growth from an insignificant beginning.” (J. Dwight Pentecost)

“In the image of birds flocking to the boughs of the tree, and there finding shelter and food, (Ezek. xvii. 23) we are to recognize a prophecy of the refuge and defense there should be for all men in the church; how the multitudes should find here protection, as well as satisfaction for all the wants of their souls.” (R.C. Trench)

  

“And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” (D&C 115:6)

Glenn R. McGettigan

February 2019

References     

“Jesus the Christ.” Talmage

“Doctrinal New Testament Commentary.” McConkie

“Scriptural Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” Smith

“Where Jesus Walked.” Ogden

“The Parables of Jesus.” Pentecost

“Notes on the Parables of Our Lord.” Trench