Parable of the Mustard Seed Mountain

   ³¹ He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³²it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."  -Matthew 13:31-32

What is this parable meant to teach us about the kingdom of heaven? Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of heaven (more often called "the kingdom of God"). He takes special care to try to fully describe this concept to his hearers. The concept must be very large and developed because Jesus uses many parables and teachings to describe it from many different angles and perspectives. This is just one of many times that he chose to explain it.

In this case, he is trying to contrast the humble origin of the kingdom with the fully mature result. Is Jesus talking about an actual kingdom or the result of the gospel being planted in someone's heart (similar the the Parable of the Sower: Matthew 13:1-23)? Which is it?

To answer this question we can look at other parables and teachings about the kingdom to get a better picture of what Jesus meant. We can also look at the Old Testament and try to understand the sources that Jesus was drawing from and expanding on to make his point. Depending on the teaching it might be easy to identify what passages from the Old Testament that Jesus is referencing, or it might be hard. I think that Jesus is helping his hearers understand by specifically giving an example of a tree in which birds come and nest in. Consider the following passage from Daniel,

¹⁰  Upon my bed this is what I saw;

       there was a tree at the center of the earth,

       and its height was great.

¹¹  The tree grew great and strong,

       its top reached to heaven,

       and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth.

¹²  Its foliage was beautiful,

       its fruit abundant,

       and it provided food for all.

   The animals of the field found shade under it,

       the birds of the air nested in its branches,

       and from it all living beings were fed.

   ¹³ "I continued looking, in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and there was a holy watcher, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴He cried aloud and said:

   'Cut down the tree and chop off its branches,

       strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit.

   Let the animals flee from beneath it

       and the birds from its branches.

¹⁵  But leave its stump and roots in the ground,

       with a band of iron and bronze,

       in the tender grass of the field.

   Let him be bathed with the dew of heaven,

       and let his lot be with the animals of the field

       in the grass of the earth.

¹⁶  Let his mind be changed from that of a human,

       and let the mind of an animal be given to him.

       And let seven times pass over him.

¹⁷  The sentence is rendered by decree of the watchers,

       the decision is given by order of the holy ones,

   in order that all who live may know

       that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals;

   he gives it to whom he will

       and sets over it the lowliest of human beings.'

   ¹⁸ "This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to tell me the interpretation. You are able, however, for you are endowed with a spirit of the holy gods."^{d
   19} Then Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar, was severely distressed for a while. His thoughts terrified him. The king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or the interpretation terrify you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies! ²⁰The tree that you saw, which grew great and strong, so that its top reached to heaven and was visible to the end of the whole earth, ²¹whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and which provided food for all, under which animals of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air had nests-- ²²it is you, O king! You have grown great and strong. Your greatness has increased and reaches to heaven, and your sovereignty to the ends of the earth. ²³And whereas the king saw a holy watcher coming down from heaven and saying, 'Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze, in the grass of the field; and let him be bathed with the dew of heaven, and let his lot be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him'-- ²⁴this is the interpretation, O king, and it is a decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king: ²⁵You shall be driven away from human society, and your dwelling shall be with the wild animals. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, you shall be bathed with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, until you have learned that the Most High has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals, and gives it to whom he will. ²⁶As it was commanded to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be re-established for you from the time that you learn that Heaven is sovereign. ²⁷Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: atone for^e your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged." -Daniel 4:10-27

The verse 10-13 are the main source of my point, but I included the rest of the passage to note the final result of the great tree: it was humbled and cut down. Now contrast this to the humble beginning of the mustard seed. In Daniel chapter 2, which is a parallel passage to Daniel chapter 4 (see Daniel Chiasm), Daniel prophesies of an everlasting kingdom to come.

³⁴As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, the king of kings--to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory, ³⁸into whose hand he has given human beings, wherever they live, the wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as ruler over them all--you are the head of gold. ³⁹After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything,^b it shall crush and shatter all these. ⁴¹As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. ⁴²As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage,^c but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever; ⁴⁵just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy."   -Daniel 2:34-45

This is the kingdom that Jesus is connecting when he gives this parable. He is doing two things connecting the kingdom of heaven to the eternal kingdom in Daniel, but also giving his hearers more insight into what this kingdom will be like. We see that a stone was cut out and destroyed the great statue (also representing Nebuchadnezzar's Empire) and became a great mountain and a never ending kingdom.

It seems that Jesus was referring to himself as the seed (the stone cut without human hands) that grew into an eternal kingdom. Despite potentially interpreting some good theology from view his parable to be about the seed of the gospel planted in someone's heart, I don't think that was the intended point of the parable.

What was Jesus reading? Isaiah 5

Jesus was reading from Isaiah 5:1-7,

¹ Let me sing for my beloved

       my love-song concerning his vineyard:

   My beloved had a vineyard

       on a very fertile hill.

²  He dug it and cleared it of stones,

       and planted it with choice vines;

   he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

       and hewed out a wine vat in it;

   he expected it to yield grapes,

       but it yielded wild grapes.

³  And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem

       and people of Judah,

   judge between me

       and my vineyard.

⁴  What more was there to do for my vineyard

       that I have not done in it?

   When I expected it to yield grapes,

       why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵  And now I will tell you

       what I will do to my vineyard.

   I will remove its hedge,

       and it shall be devoured;

   I will break down its wall,

       and it shall be trampled down.

⁶  I will make it a waste;

       it shall not be pruned or hoed,

       and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;

   I will also command the clouds

       that they rain no rain upon it.

⁷  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts

       is the house of Israel,

   and the people of Judah

       are his pleasant planting;

   he expected justice,

       but saw bloodshed;

   righteousness,

       but heard a cry!   -Isaiah 5:1-7

when he formulated his parable about the vineyard in Matthew 21.

   ³³ "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" ⁴¹They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."  -Matthew 21:33-41

It is very interesting to note that Jesus changes the sin in the vineyard from the prophesy in Isaiah to his parable. The sin in Isaiah is that the vineyard yielded wild grapes, whereas in the parable the tenants of the vineyard were preventing the owner from harvesting his grapes. This implies that the grapes were good grapes. Jesus is very importantly shifting the source of sin to the Jewish leadership. Their sin is that they are opposing God from harvesting what is rightfully his: the hearts of his people.

What was Jesus reading?

I ask my friends from time to time what they are reading lately. It is a great way to hear about good books and learn a bit more about my friends. Therefore, I think it is a good exercise to ask this of Jesus, 

What was Jesus read on his 'free time'?

Surprisingly I think the Gospels record for us many hints and even clear references to what Jesus read, even if we exclude the times he specifically said he was quoting from a certain Old Testament prophet. For example, Jesus was eating at the house of a Pharisee when, 

   ⁷ "... he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." "  Luke 14:7-11

While reading in Proverbs yesterday I was reminded of the fact that Jesus is directly applying the following proverb: 

⁶  "Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence

       or stand in the place of the great;

⁷  for it is better to be told, 'Come up here,'

       than to be put lower in the presence of a noble."  - Proverbs 25:6-7

when he gave his parable. 


Further on in chapter 25 we can see that Jesus uses another proverb to teach wisdom, 

²¹  "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;

       and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;

²²  for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,

       and the LORD will reward you. " Proverbs 25:21-22 

I think that there is too much similarity between this proverb and the following teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, 

 ²⁷ "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt." Luke 6:27-29 

to not at least consider that Jesus was drawing from this proverb. 


In conclusion, Jesus read the book of Proverbs --- probably spent much time reading and meditating in this book. I'd like to revisit this question in the future and look a bit more about what other kinds of reading material Jesus most liked to talk about. Maybe we will see something interesting and thought provoking. 


Why didn't Jesus rely so much on previously written material? Why wasn't he more "original"? 


Would the Original Audience recognize that he was drawing from Proverbs? How would they respond to making that connection?