Matthew 13:31

Another parable set he before them saying. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field: which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.

III. The Parable of the Mustard Seed

This and the parable of the leaven which immediately followed it constitute a pair with these similarities: (1) both stress the small beginning of the kingdom; (2) its gradual increase, and (3) the extensiveness later attained.

Comparison of a great kingdom to a tree was not new. Daniel 4:10-12 and Ezekiel 31:3-9 reveal similar analogies. The mustard seed may be viewed as the word of God, or Christ himself, who is the Word (John 1:1). Clement of Alexandria chose the latter application[3] which is also followed by Trench:

Not Christ's doctrine, merely, nor yet even the church which he planted on earth, is the grain of mustard seed in its central meaning. He is himself at once the mustard seed and him who sowed it.[4]

However, the church itself is the "body of Christ"; and, therefore, it is no violence to refer this parable primarily to the church or kingdom of God. Christ said the "kingdom of heaven" is like, etc. The wonder of how the kingdom began in an obscure province by the birth of a child to humble and obscure parents in a stable, and how the kingdom grew to encompass people of every kindred and nation is aptly illustrated by this parable. No difficulty is seen in the fact that some seeds might actually be smaller than a mustard seed. This trifling quibble disappears in the ancient proverb, "small as a grain of mustard seed." Besides, in the relative sense in which Christ spoke, it was a literal fact. And if that is not enough, it could easily be explained as an example of hyperbole, exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.

None of the commentaries, as far as determined, make anything of the birds lodging in the branches, other than an illustration of the kingdom's ultimate magnitude; however, in the parable of the sower, Christ used the birds to represent the devil, and upon that it would seem wise to seek a meaning here. Coupled with John's prophecy of the apostate church, that it should become "a hold of every unclean and hateful bird" (Revelation 18:2), this parable makes it very likely that the ultimate corruption of the kingdom of heaven is intended; that is, as manifested in the so-called Christendom of modern and medieval times. A glance in any direction during the current century will afford many glimpses of foul birds that have built their nests in the kingdom! Yet, just as the birds could not, in fact, corrupt the mustard tree, neither can evil men succeed in thwarting God's purpose, however closely they may be allied with the visible church and its activities.

Chrysostom noted that this and the parable of the leaven were parables outlining the success of God's kingdom and were thus designed to alleviate the distress of the disciples and to encourage them, such distress arising from the fact that in the parable of the sower, three-fourths of the soils were unproductive, and that in the parable of the tares, an enemy succeeded in corrupting the whole field with tares! It is as though Christ had said by means of these two short parables, "Nevertheless, my kingdom shall not fail but shall attain marvelous success!"

Note the following analogies in this parable:

The small seed shows the small beginning of the kingdom.

The large plant shows its ultimate glory and success.

The birds of the heaven in its branches suggest an identification of evil and extraneous operations closely connected with the kingdom, yet not a part of it.

The field is the world.

The one who sowed the seed is Christ, or God.

The seed is the word of God.

The mustard tree stands for the visible church in all ages.

[3] Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor in the Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956), Vol. II, p. 234.

[4] Richard C. Trench, Notes on the Parables (Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1953), p. 112.