The Scrubby Kingdom of Jesus

or Why We Don't Understand the Mustard Seed Parable

The Mustard Seed is one of those images I think we’ve gotten entirely wrong. This parable isn’t about a kingdom that surprises us with its scale. It’s about a kingdom that surprises us with its character. At least that’s what Luke thinks.

“What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.” (Lk 13:18–19)

One of the first things I notice about Luke’s version of the mustard seed parable is that Jesus doesn’t mention the size of the seed at all. Now that’s not necessarily. problem. The diminutive size of mustard seeds was well known. Jesus (and others by the way1) had referenced their surprising growth before. Here, though, that's not the starting point for the story, which got me thinking.

Because there are at least three problems with this story…

continue reading on Substack.