Mark 4:30-32 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?… No doubt other figures might have been chosen in abundance, more suggestive of the great after-development of the kingdom of Christ — such forest trees, e.g., as the oak of Bashan or cedar of Lebanon; but the acorn and cone were both far less adapted to represent the littleness of its initial state. The mustard was probably the smallest seed from which so large a shrub or tree was known to grow. It is not without a purpose that the contrast between the first beginning of His kingdom and its expected future should have been put before the apostles in such a striking form. The parables which had preceded it must have had a most depressing effect upon their minds. They showed that of the seed sown in men's hearts, three parts would be lost to one saved; and that the field carefully planted with the best of seeds too often mocked all the husbandman's hopes of a goodly crop by a simultaneous growth of noxious weeds. Well then might this parable be spoken to encourage them in their despondency. No doubt the main object of the parable was simply to predict the future increase of the kingdom; but there is surely a side lesson to be learned from the natural properties of the mustard seed — from its internal heat and pungency, and from the fact that it must be bruised ere it yield its best virtues. Its inherent stimulating force finds its parallel in the quickening vitality and vigour derived from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and the necessity of crushing it is no inapt figure of the principle which has been embodied in the familiar proverb, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." (H. M. Luckock, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?WEB: He said, "How will we liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? |
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