Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 4:30-32

The propagating theme continues with another parable about seeds and growth, as does the theme of what God offers as we are continuing with the exploration of what God’s Kingdom is like. This is a parable of contrasts but, in particular, emphasises the impact that something small may make. The mustard seed is described as the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet it produces a large shrub. In many ways the mustard seed is typical of what happens in the garden, rather than being exceptional. I am frequently amazed at how quickly my weeds can grow – but the same often applies to the plants that I want to see.

The growth of plants is quite amazing, even phenomenal. But how much more can we say that about God’s Kingdom. This parable and its predecessor are, as Eduard Schweizer (The Good News according to Mark) puts it – “expressions of the kind of confidence which catches sight of God’s ultimate fulfilment even in a very unpromising beginning.”

The mustard seed was seen, in Jesus’ day, as symbolic of great growth. It was, and is, quite incredible that this tiny seed that you can hold in the palm of your hand has the potential to become a large shrub, or tree, where birds can build nests. However, the main point is that we can say exactly the same about God’s Kingdom. As Schweizer has it – “the astonishment at the miracle of the mighty plant which grew from a tiny seed is predominant in the parable.”

Both miracles, and God’s Kingdom, are equally everyday occurrences and spectacular events. What we need to do is to look. If we were to note down a list of ‘miracles’ that we have seen over the past week, I wonder what would be on that list; and I further wonder whether it would alter the list if we took a slightly different approach and listed the hints of God’s Kingdom that we have seen over the same period. Such things may be large or small, but I wonder how many might be comparable to the mustard seed. As Schweizer points out – “we are asked by the text if we are willing to understand our time as a time upon which, ever since Jesus sowed the seed, the light of the coming Kingdom has been shining.”