LUTHERAN PARISH NURSE INTERNATIONAL

BIBLE STUDY

A TINY SEED IS ALL THAT’S NEEDED: THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED, MATTHEW 13:31-32

Dr. Daniel Paavola

Concordia University Wisconsin

Mequon, Wisconsin

April, 2011

OPENING: Last Saturday I was measuring the six small spruce trees in our backyard. We planted them four summers ago and I wanted to see how much they had grown last year. Our neighbor asked me what I was doing. After I explained, I was hoping that he would say something like, “They sure have grown a lot!” He didn’t, but at least he didn’t say, “Those are the saddest little trees I’ve ever seen.” (They look all right but no one has ever gotten excited about them.)

What size gets you talking and bragging—the biggest or the smallest? Do you often boast of how small your garden produce is? Would you be glad if someone said, “Those are the tiniest tomatoes I’ve ever seen?” How would you react to someone saying, “Do you really eat those (potatoes, beans, carrots, whatever)? I can hardly see them!”

I would guess that most of the time, we’re hoping to have the largest and most impressive. We would prefer people being amazed at the size of the corn that towers over our heads and the cobs of corn that truly take two hands to hold. Bigger is better!

So why then does Jesus focus on the smallest of seeds here when describing his kingdom?

What would the nature of the smallest seed say about the power and potential of the kingdom?

STUDY: READ MATTHEW 13:31-32

1. Jesus says that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. While the black mustard seed likely in mind for Jesus’ time was tiny, some seeds today are even smaller. However Jesus is speaking of the seeds commonly planted in the first century. Jesus focuses on the relative smallness of this seed compared to others and then points out the contrasting large size of the tree that comes from it.
2. If you broadcast these seeds by tossing them out with a sweeping motion of your hand, would you know where every tiny seed fell?
3. Yet what is impossible for us is possible for God. Combining this parable with the parable of the Sower and the Seed, Matt. 13:1-8, we can see the seed as God’s kingdom at work with the Word.
4. Can God account for every seed of his Word when it is broadcast? Does he know each word of kindness and forgiveness that we say? Think of the astonishing accounting that this requires. Yet, I think we can be certain that the Father who counts every hair on our head knows the work of his Word, no matter how small it appears.
5. The mustard seed is noted not only for its small size but also for its powerful flavor. Augustine said, “A mustard seed looks small. Nothing is less noteworthy to the sight, but nothing is stronger to the taste. What does that signify but the very great fervor and inner strength of faith in the church?”¹
6. Besides Augustine’s ideas on faith within the kingdom, why would Jesus want to compare his kingdom with the mustard seed which has surprising taste for its size? What might that say about the power and influence of the church, even when it is hidden from some?
7. When has your parish nurse ministry in particular been regarded by some as a small, almost invisible auxiliary in the church, even while it is having a powerful impact on the congregation?
8. Does God prefer this contrast of small to mighty perhaps because?

• It conceals his power from those without the eyes to see it
• It demonstrates his ability to compress his Word and work into the smallest places
• It might remind us of the incarnation of Jesus himself who, though an ordinary carpenter, “in him, all the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Though he was missed by many, he was entirely and completely God within human flesh.

The mustard seed grows to become one of the largest trees. Reports differ but something in the range of eight to twelve feet is possible. In the Mark version of this parable, Mark 4:30-32, the large branches shade the nesting birds. What a contrast: the seed too small to notice now blocks the scorching sun and lifts up the nesting birds.

So, what might this parable say about heaven and eternity? If we are now only the tiny seed or the just emerging plant, what will heaven be like? Who will find shade and shelter there? What scorching heat and judgment will be blocked and what peaceful security will be found?

APPLY:

1. The Kingdom of God ends up being large and strong, not for its own sake, but for the sake of others. What does this say to a small start in ministry, or ministry begun in a small, forgotten place?
2. What does this say to our impatience over slow growth, or as an answer to those who wonder why we are even bothering to measure such small growth?
3. What does this parable say to the purpose of any growth at all? Are we hoping to grow in ministry?
4. To protect ourselves versus providing protection and shade for others
5. To show the doubters how large we’re going to grow
6. To shelter even more people than we are caring for now

So here’s to our growth from tiny seeds. Our little trees, planted when they were knee high, are all over my head now. I haven’t seen any birds’ nests in them yet, but my tape measure says they grew again last year. Our ministries likely began as barely noticed novelties. But just wait. This parable promises much more to come. Blessings on your season of growth!