Cedar or mustard plant?

The biblical story of the mustard seed is a story of abundance and hospitality and finding a home–hallmarks of the Reign of God.

In this image Jesus tries to convey essential qualities of the Reign of God in a way that invites us to enter into the meaning of the story and in a real way to make it our own story.

For the Jewish people of Jesus’ time, the prevailing myth was that the Kingdom of God was like the cedars of Lebanon, which grew to 200 or 300 feet tall, the greatest of trees, superior to other trees and home to many creatures. Think of our giant redwoods or huge oak trees that support and provide a home for a variety of life forms.

Jesus gives us a different picture of the Reign of God. It’s like a mustard seed, which becomes a shrub a few feet tall, rather than a large tree, more modest than majestic–one step ahead of being just an ordinary weed–a symbol of God’s Kingdom that was very different from the prevailing image of Jesus’ time–the majestic cedar. What are the lessons for us here?

“Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32)