Mark 4:30-32

Just some writing I did on this passage for Theology. I recently found it and thought I'd post it here with my other random thoughts.

This passage is only one of several parables in chapter four of Mark’s gospel which talk about the kingdom of God. This parable of the mustard seed is a teaching which is designed to encourage the disciples and to carry them through the somewhat small beginnings of the work they are about to embark upon. In some ways this passage shields the disciples from doubting the future power of the kingdom but with a closer look there are many other allusions within the text which, at first glance, are not so prominent, especially to the western eye.

In writing an exegesis of this passage we must first establish the type of writing and the genre of the text with which we are dealing. This particular writing is a parable which is set within chapter four of the gospel of Mark. A parable is defined by Webster’s dictionary as being a short story which is “designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle or moral lesson”. We therefore must begin to look past the surface of what Jesus was teaching in order to find the true principle or lesson contained within the message. We must however be careful not to “change parables into allegories, seeking all sorts of complicated meanings where usually one great truth is to be found.”

Let us look first at the wider context of this passage. Directly before the text in question comes “The Parable of the Growing Seed” (Mark 4:26-29) which is unique to the gospel of Mark. Within this parable we learn that man is “responsible for sowing the kingdom message” but God is responsible for the results. It is interesting that this text appears only in Mark’s gospel but there is a possible explanation as to why it has been omitted from the other gospels. If we look at Luke 13:19 we are told that the kingdom is, “like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden” and similarly in Matthew we are told the kingdom is, “like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,”. However when we look at Mark 4:32 we are simply told that “it is sown”.

It is possible that the lack of the human agent (anthropos) in Mark’s account is made up for by the parable of the growing seed as it talks of man sowing seeds but God being responsible for the results. The use of ‘anthropos’ in the accounts of both Matthew and Luke is ultimately overshadowed as we are told of how God will finally bring the kingdom to power.

The sections before this include similar parables about the kingdom of God such as “The Parable of the Sower” (Mark 4:1-9) and “Light under a Basket” (Mark 4:21-25). Each of these parables are important as they give us different pieces of information about the kingdom. It is therefore fitting that they should be arranged side by side.

After the text we have two short verses (33 and 34) in which we learn how Jesus adapted his teachings to his listeners. These are two significant verses and I find it appropriate that they have been separated from the parables beforehand as the verses are written in reference to all of the parables used by Jesus and not just the parable immediately before.

After this, as we move towards the end of chapter four, we are told of how the wind and waves obey Jesus and into the beginning of chapter five of Mark’s gospel we learn of the demon-possessed man whom through Jesus received healing. Both passages appear to affirm Jesus’ authority and are appropriately placed in order to support the claims He makes about God’s kingdom in the preceding verses.

The text begins with the typical Markan introduction, “Then He said”. This phrase is used can be seen introducing the other parables contained within Mark 4 as well as frequently throughout the gospel as a whole. This is one of the many literary styles which Mark uses to give his writing an extremely fast pace and a sense of immediacy.

In verse thirty Jesus poses two questions to the listeners; “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?” and “With what parable shall we picture it?”. It is obvious that Jesus is not asking these questions in order to receive a response from his audience but rather to show that the description he will give is not that of a literal sense but rather metaphorical. From these questions posed we can safely assume that the kingdom of God is not a literal mustard seed nor does it have physical roots and branches.

Jesus does however liken the kingdom to a mustard seed and we are told that when the mustard plant is fully grown it “shoots out large branches” and that birds will be able to “nest under its shade”. From knowledge of the plant in the form that we know, it seems that Jesus has got it completely wrong. However, if we do some research, we learn that at the time when Jesus spoke and in that particular location that we “can be certain that it became a tree”.

It is not just the transformation of the small mustard seed to the fully grown tree being likened to the small beginnings of the kingdom that caused Jesus to choose this unusual symbolism. We see the kingdom of God being referred to as a tree on many occasions in the Old Testament such as Psalm 104:12, Ezekiel 17:23, Ezekiel 31:6 and Daniel 4:12.

This particular parable may also have roots in John 15 as Jesus talks of himself as the vine and believers as the branches who are called to bear fruit. But what does it mean for us to be the branches of his kingdom and when exactly will the kingdom of God be fully realised on earth?

There are many stances on when the kingdom will come and there has been no resolution made. Many such as Schweitzer believe that we are only preparing for the end . This stance is further enhanced by many theologians such as Blutmann who suggest that although the kingdom hasn’t yet come, it still “wholly determines the present” in that we should see “every hour as the last”.
Others however, such as Dodd, believe that the kingdom of God has indeed already come. Most have taken this viewpoint from detailed studies of the original text of Mark 1:15 and claim that the text suggests an immediate coming of the kingdom.

It may however be more popular to take a stand on the middle ground in which we see the kingdom of God as a kingdom that did indeed arrive with Jesus but will continue to be built up until it becomes something great. Just as the mustard seed, the early church was started with few disciples but the gospel has continued to

spread. We just need to look at how many people have been reached today with just a few men.
Just like the growth of the mustard seed into a larger entity, we can see by looking at Mark 9:1 that it would take time before the kingdom of God was present with power. As branches we are called to be the hands and feet of the gospel. The kingdom of God is here but, just like the mustard seed needs to be physically planted in the ground before it can grow, we need to help plant the gospel in the hearts of men before God can do the work.