It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth.It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth,It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth,
4 sermons cite this verse
… Or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. Mark chapter 4, verses 30 through 32. The mustard seed, traditionally thought of as the smallest seed, grows into a large garden plant. Don't discount what the word of Jesus is doing in your life and in the church. Says Dr. Veltz, the reign and rule of God in Jesus is not in and of itself magnificent, at least not by normal worldly standards. Its results, however, are magnificent. Great branches result. And all peoples everywhere, the birds in the parable, benefit greatly. One cannot help but see the worldwide spread of the Christian faith as a fulfillment of this depiction. Tell me a story. Let's wrap up today's message by going back to fathers. Taking time to be with your children, to tell them your stories and to hear their stories, is an important way to show you love them. …
… illustration in verse 30. Then he said, to what shall we like in the kingdom of God? or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed, same motif, agricultural agrarian stuff. It's like a mustard seed, which when it is sown in the ground is smaller than all the seeds on earth. But when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out large branches so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade. and with many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it but without a parable he did not speak to them and when they were alone he explained all things to his disciples in this last little analogy there's two basic parts first part is the encouragement second part is the warning the encouragement and this is why i think he used this illustration is to bolster the faith of these disciples of his. He is going to tell them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The enterprise that they are a part of has very, very small beginnings. And the kingdom of God is going to grow exponentially in size and influence. …
… First one, the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Wait, what? The kingdom of heaven is like a seed? Yeah, the kingdom of heaven is like, is this supposed to be inspiring? He's like, I'm not done. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field. Woo, like what? And though, Jesus said, it is, though it is the smallest of all seeds, in this culture, it was the smallest seed. You could barely see it. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, it's tiny. It's irrelevant. It's harmless. It's barely noticeable. He says, even though it's the smallest of all seeds yet, when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants. In fact, ultimately, it becomes a tree. What does that have to do with you and me? It depends. It depends. If faith is just about heaven, this has nothing to do with you or me. But if faith is about participating in the ever-expanding, unstoppable kingdom of God, it has everything to do with you and everything to do with me. …
… How can I illustrate the end, the finale? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade. What is this saying? We sow and sleep humbly because we know that the results don't depend on us. We sow and we do so obediently because we know that there is an eternal reward for our faithfulness. We sow diligently, and here he says we sow confidently because we know that God has already determined a great outcome. You might not see it. You may not see it in your lifetime or in mine, but ultimately there's a great outcome. And he says, I can illustrate it this way, a mustard seed. That's the smallest seed that was actually planted. It could grow to a 15-foot-tall bush, 6 feet wide, dense, thick, out of one tiny little seed, and strong enough basically to hold birds in it. …