Parables Of The Kingdom – The Third - The Mustard Seed - Part 2 Of 4 Series

PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM – THE THIRD - THE MUSTARD SEED - PART 2 of 4

We continue from Part 1 and learn what the Parable of the Mustard Seed really means. The accepted meaning of the parable is not consistent with the scriptures as we began to see in the first Part.

{{Matthew 13:31-32 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”}}

[6]. RETURNING TO THE PARABLE – WHAT IS THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED MEANING?

The meaning for this parable goes right back for 500 years and that has become the acceptable meaning, but is it correct? What the reformers and the commentators of the time say is this – The mustard seed represents the gospel that grew so large that the whole world came under the gospel. The birds of the air are the converts who came to find shelter in the Church. Therefore, for many of them this mustard tree is the Church sheltering converts.

The Reformers interpret the parable of the mustard seed as a lesson about the kingdom of God, emphasising that it starts from small beginnings but grows significantly over time. Commentators tend to copy each other, one after the other, so what started originally, tends to be copied and regurgitated and copied again.

Pulpit Commentary following the Reformers’ teaching says [[The central thought of the parable is the growth of the kingdom of heaven considered externally. Although it has small beginnings, it is to have a marvellous expansion, so that even those who naturally are outside it are glad to avail themselves of its protection.]]

All that idea could not be further from the truth. In fact the opposite is true. We saw last time the birds of the air were consistently bad and NOT good. Just because some reformers 500 years ago said that, it does not mean it can’t be questioned, for the reformers held onto some teachings of the Roman Catholic Church from which they came. It is almost as if what they said back then has become “gospel truth”. We can’t be of that closed mindset. In nearly every commentary you read, they just follow that line. It becomes dismissive of men of God through the ages who have been led by the Holy Spirit in more and more understanding.

[7]. WHAT DOES THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED MEAN?

Before we answer that, consider the first two parables. In the Sower the Lord was the Sower and preached the good seed. In the Tares, false teaching came in and started to oppose the good seed. False teaching spread to case havoc in the Church for the first two centuries plus.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed that grew up into an unnatural monstrosity is the continuation of the first two parables. I have said already these parables follow each other. The resultant tree is unnatural and a distortion, and an abuse of the faith. Something happened to cause that to materialise.

This distortion of the Church that happened, blossomed in A.D. 312. It goes back to the time of Roman Emperor Constantine who claimed he had a vision and got into the church. He compelled all his soldiers to be baptised into the church when they were not saved. Honestly, I don’t think Constantine himself was saved. He just adopted the Christian dress (maybe through superstition). I will speak more on that later.

When these pagans entered the church they brought with them evil doctrines from their paganism, that, as the years advanced, started to take hold and develop into distinctive Roman Catholic doctrine. These evil doctrines and practices are the foul birds of the air taking up residence in that monstrosity of a tree and nesting there. In other words these doctrines matured and remained in the tree of the church and “built their nests there”. This is going to become much clearer when we look at the period in Church History that the mustard seed represents.

[8]. WE NOW ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THE CHURCH AT PERGAMUM

PART [A]. AN INTRODUCTION

As in the two previous parables we saw how each one matched one of the churches of Asia written to by John. Not only that but each parable matched a specific period of Church History. This is not fanciful. If it was, then one church and parable and church history period might match, but all seven do that and in the same sequence.

*** The Parable of the Mustard Seed matches the Pergamum church ***. To begin with let us look at the opening comment to each church.