Understanding the Mustard Seed parable.

[Luk 17:5-6 KJV] 5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

I have always been intrigued by the concept of the mustard seed as used by Jesus in some of His parables. I've often heard ministers preach and teach from the pulpit that the reason why Jesus used the mustard seed was because it is the smallest of all seeds that eventually grows into a mighty tree (Mar 4:30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 [It is] like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.), but is that all that Jesus was trying to share with us? Simply that faith starts out small and grows over time?

If we look back to the time and culture that Jesus lived in we will see that the mustard seed had far greater significance than we are lead to believe.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras promoted the use of mustard as a treatment for scorpion stings, tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, the plague, and what we would call today a bad cold(but was deadly to the Romans back then).

Despite this ability to heal, many people in Jesus' time (especially the Jews) hated mustard. It was an invasive plant that could take over a whole garden, but Jesus said the Kingdom of God is as a mustard seed? Perhaps Jesus was trying to say the Kingdom of God was going to [Mark 16:15]invade enemy lines [Matt 16:18]storm the gates of hell and [Dan 2:35]consume the whole earth!

In the Roman Empire, mustard was a sign of power. But for mustard's power to be released, it had to be crushed. Isn't that so true of the Christian Life? To unleash our full potential we have to be crushed by the Power and Glory of God, because too often we are not living the life that we should we are carrying sin, shame, unforgiveness, pride, selfishness, among many other things. After we are crushed by the Holiness of God we can then be used as a cure-all for this sick, confused, and broken world as those having power given to us by God.

In summery the parable of the mustard seed eludes to these things

#1 That our faith does indeed start out small, but over time grows into a mighty tree with strong roots.

#2 It is an invasive plant that is meant to consume the whole earth and bring the gospel of the Kingdom to all those lost in despair and darkness.

#3 The mustard seed is the cure-all for this generation. The mustard seed is used to represent both Faith and the kingdom of God, these two things are what this world needs to be healed

#4 The mustard seed is a symbol of power, but it can only have its full potential realized after it has been crushed by the Righteousness of God removing all impurities.

I hope that we can all grow to become the men and women that God has called us to be. Grow in God and be the hope that someone needs today-God Bless.