Mustard Seeds

There is a parable in the New Testament in which Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to the mustard seed. ("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." - Luke13:19) It seems like a really odd comparison, why not just a seed that grew into a tree, and if you must choose a certain tree, why a mustard tree? Well, honestly, until this week I hadn't thought about it much.

This week I participated in Big Week Out, which is basically 5 days in which young people from Churches all around Adelaide gather at bases to worship God and serve our local communities. We also learn about God and Jesus during the week and the Kingdom of God was the main topic of our learning this year. One our leaders spoke on this particular parable and as I found it rather helpful and interesting I thought I'd share a bit of what I learnt here.

As it turns out there is a very good reason for choosing the mustard seed, as our leader explained, and it can be seen if you do a bit more research into the actual plant that grows from it. It doesn't grow very tall and looks rather like a bush, but it does have 2 very important qualities. The mustard tree, once planted, spreads very quickly, pretty much taking over, it is also almost impossible to irradicate.

So when Jesus was saying the Kingdom of God was like a mustard seed, he was really saying that that God's kingdom would spread quickly and be impossible to get rid of. You can certainly see this when you consider that only 2000 years ago there was no such thing as Christianity and today it is one of the most followed faiths in the world, despite much opposition early on.

I guess something else Jesus could have been saying is that often the really small things, grow into something big and important. The Kingdom of God started off really small, as an idea in God's mind I suppose, but it has grown, and is continuing to grow. How much then can the small things that we do matter? A smile. A favour. How much impact can those simple, small things make? I dare you to find out.