Mustard Seed

Biblical Text

The mustard seed does not appear in the Old Testament; it is found only in the Gospels of the New Testament, where it is used in two main ways.

• Parable of the kingdom of God: In Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-19, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. When sown, it is smaller than all seeds, but when grown, it becomes greater than the herbs, and the birds of the air lodge in its branches. This parable is known as the Parable of the Mustard Seed. Matthew and Luke place the Parable of the Leaven immediately after it.
• The measure of faith: In Matthew 17:20, Jesus says that anyone with faith as a grain of mustard seed could move a mountain. In Luke 17:6, he speaks instead of a sycamine tree being plucked up by the root and planted in the sea.

Background

The Greek word sinapi refers to the mustard plant. Many scholars take it to be the black mustard that grows in the region of Galilee. Although black mustard is an annual, it is reported to reach a height of two to three meters (about 6.5 to 10 feet). Scholars differ, however, on precisely which plant is meant. The mustard seed is small, roughly one to two millimeters in diameter. It is also reported to have served in Jewish literature as an idiomatic expression for a very small quantity.

Significance Within Scripture as a Whole

The image of birds lodging in the branches of a tree resembles the great-tree imagery of Daniel 4 and Ezekiel 17:23 and 31:6. For this reason, many interpreters read the parable to mean that the kingdom of God, though small in its beginnings, grows large enough to embrace many nations, including the Gentiles.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• "The least of all seeds": Because some seeds are smaller than the mustard seed (orchid seeds, for example), this phrase has been debated. Those who uphold biblical inerrancy generally do not regard the statement as a botanical claim. They explain it either as referring to the seeds that Palestinian farmers of the time sowed or as an idiomatic expression. Other scholars see it as a rhetorical device drawing on an expression familiar to ordinary people.
• The meaning of the birds: Most interpreters take the birds to represent the nations entering the kingdom of God. By contrast, some dispensationalist interpreters note that in the Parable of the Sower the birds appear as evil agents that snatch away the seed. They read the overgrown tree as the outward expansion of the church and the evil that has taken up residence within it.
• The measure of faith: Many denominations interpret Matthew 17:20 to mean that the object of faith, God, matters more than the amount of faith. Some strands of the charismatic movement frequently cite the verse in support of their emphasis on the power of prayer and declaration.

In the Korean Church

The mustard seed is frequently invoked in sermons at church plants and on church founding anniversaries to convey the idea that "a small beginning yields great fruit." It is also commonly used in the names of churches, mission organizations, and Christian groups. The Kukmin Ilbo has long carried a short devotional column titled "Mustard Seed."