![]() The small mustard seed represents Jesus’ earthly ministry, while the full-grown tree represents the final eschatological form of the kingdom. My own interpretation agrees with the general consensus that the main point is found in the contrast between the initial and final size of the mustard plant. 8 Interpreters are divided about whether or not the final reference to birds resting in the branches alludes to certain Old Testament passages, and what such an allusion might signify. 7 Some, thinking of him primarily as a political revolutionary, consider Jesus’ message to be related to the replacing of Roman rule with his own. The Kingdom of God is here: the birds are flocking to find shelter in the shade of the tree.” 5 Most interpreters consider Jesus’ ministry to be the “seed-form” of the kingdom only, with the contrasting greatness to come later, whether through the growth of the church on the earth, 6 or through the coming of the eschatological kingdom. That multitudes of the outcast and neglected in Israel, perhaps even of Gentiles, are hearing the call, is a sign that the process of obscure development is at an end. He said, “In this parable Jesus is asserting that the time has come when the blessings of the Reign of God are available for all men. Dodd considered the full-grown tree stage to be fulfilled in the lifetime of Jesus. This similitude, then, is clearly about the contrast between the small beginnings and the final greatness of God’s reign.” 4īeyond this general consensus, however, several different positions are proposed regarding the specific meaning of the parable. As Madeleine Boucher says, “Most likely the meaning of the similitude lies in the contrast between the smallness of the mustard seed and the greatness of the full-grown shrub, so large that the birds can find shelter in it. The change from small seed to full-grown plant is considered to carry the primary meaning of the parable. It becomes a “tree” whose branches offer repose for birds. 3 This small seed is then contrasted with the size of the plant it becomes. Still, the mustard seed was used proverbially for its small size, so its smallness is assumed in Luke even though not highlighted with a specific reference to smallness. 2 The versions of this parable in Matthew and Mark more explicitly emphasize this than Luke does. It seems obvious to most interpreters that the main point relates to the relative size of the mustard plant. Here is Luke’s version: “He said therefore, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches’” (Luke 13:18-19). ![]() One of the parables Jesus told was about the kingdom of God being like the planting and growth of a mustard seed. ![]() The Parable of the Mustard Tree in Luke 13:18-19 ![]()
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