Mark 4:26-34 (NRSV)
Read Mark 4:26-34 on biblegateway.com
Verse 26He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, Verse 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. Verse 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. Verse 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
Verse 30He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? Verse 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; Verse 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
Verse 33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; Verse 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Devotion
The wild mustard seed is not the favorite of farmers. The tenacious seeds can turn roadsides and fields into a sea of yellow. It is a big challenge to control it.
The mustard plant known in Palestine began as the smallest of seeds, but it could grow 10 feet tall. Birds of the air can make their nests in its shade.
The church began as an insignificant sect of the Jews. It took about a generation, but once it became known it was the nemesis of the authorities both in Jerusalem and Rome.
Despite attempts to repress the church as an apostate messianic movement in Jerusalem and an illegal religion in the empire, the church would not go away. Its mission went forward, even when persecuted members defected or changed the teaching of the cross and resurrection. The holy seed, our Lord Jesus Christ, empowers the proclamation of God’s kingdom to continue growing.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, grant that our faith may grow like the mustard seed. Amen