SALT: Parable of the Mustard Seed
Aaron T. Hamer
NBST515: New Testament Orientation I (D03)
July 2023
1
Introduction
The Parable of the Seed of Growing is one of the most well-known parables in the
Bible and is often used to illustrate the importance of spiritual growth. The parable
appears in the book of Mark and may also be found in the Gospel of Matthew:
“He also said, ‘This is what the Kingdom of God is like. A man scatters
seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts
and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself, the soil produces grain –
first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain
is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’” (Mark 4:26-29,
NIV)
It is a story told by Jesus to illustrate the Kingdom of God. In this parable, Jesus
describes how a seed that is sown grows all by itself, without the knowledge or effort of
the one who sowed it, until it becomes a mature plant that can bear fruit. He uses this
metaphor to explain how God's kingdom can grow and develop in people's hearts and
lives. The historical, cultural, and literary context will be discussed in this paper,
followed by the meaning of each verse, and then closed with the significance of this
parable in the lives of Christians. Using analogies drawn from agriculture, the Parable of
the Seed Growing provides insights into how the Kingdom of God was established and
maintained in the world, emphasizing the gradual and organic nature of spiritual growth,
and the importance of faith, obedience, patience, and perseverance during adversity or
persecution.
Context
Historical
This parable was told to the Jewish audience that was living under Roman
occupation in the first century. The Jewish people were longing for the coming of the
2
Messiah, who they believed would be a political savior who would rescue them from
Roman occupation and oppression. However, Jesus challenged their expectations by
offering a different kind of salvation – one that was spiritual in nature and not focused on
political power.
By contrast, the intended audience for the Gospel of Mark was primarily early
Gentile believers who may not have been familiar with Jewish customs and traditions.
“For the dating and place and scene of origin of its four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, there is no secure evidence, but for the Gospel of Mark, believed to be the
oldest, a common estimate is around the First Jewish-Roman War (69–73 CE), a Jewish
rebellion against Roman rule defeated by Roman armies.”1
Cultural
Culturally, the Parable of the Seed Growing would have been familiar to Jesus'
audience, as agriculture was a major part of the economy and way of life in His part of
the world. By using this familiar metaphor, Jesus made the concept of God's kingdom
more accessible and relatable to his listeners. Many people would have been farmers or
familiar with the process of planting and growing crops. Whether the individual was a
farmer or not, they could tie the lesson that Jesus delivered to what they either witnessed
through their own efforts upon the land or through what their peers conveyed to them
about their own trials and tribulations of growing crops. The cultural context of the
parable is rooted in the agricultural practices of the time and the parable would have
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1 Ulrika Martensson and Tor Ivar Ostmoe. Originating Canons and Communities:
Theories of Language and Rhetoric in the Qur’an, the Bible, and Exegetical
Literature. Journal of Qur’anic Studies. Volume 22, Issue 1. 2020, 31. DOI:
10.366/jqs.2020.0408.
3
resonated with his audience. Jesus uses farming imagery and language to convey the
message that growth and transformation are gradual processes that take time and
patience. Also, because of the simplicity of drawing parallels between the story and
agriculture, it was not difficult to pass on without exaggeration and embellishment.
In this setting, the Parable of the Seed Growing would have been a powerful
message about the way God's kingdom can grow and develop even during hostile
circumstances. The use of an agricultural metaphor allows the common person at that
time to draw upon their own experiences. This enables it to become part of personal
spirituality. In addition to its literary significance, the parable also has spiritual
significance. It is often interpreted as a metaphor for the growth of the Kingdom of God
and the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Just as a seed must be planted
and nurtured to grow, so too must our spiritual lives be nurtured through prayer, study,
and worshipping together.
Literary
The Parable of the Seed also has literary significance. It is part of a larger
collection of parables in the book of Mark that focuses on growth and transformation.
Jesus often used parables to teach important lessons, and this parable is no exception. It
teaches that growth and transformation require both effort and patience and that the result
is worth the wait.
This parable was used by Jesus to illustrate God’s kingdom. It is a tale with a
similar structure to many of Jesus’ lessons. It begins with the basic premise of the
planting of seeds.
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As the narrative expands, Jesus introduces unexpected turns. These turns are
injected in order to compel the audience to listen closely to Him. Jesus wants his
disciples to realize on their own that He is teaching them a lesson in spreading God’s
Word and not a lesson in how to be a grain farmer. He uses simple stories so that all of
those bearing witness to His teaching may understand a greater lesson in living a
Christ-like life.
Meaning
To draw and understand the meaning of a passage, one must understand the literal
definition and purpose of that part of a larger piece of literature. There are six factors that
will enable this focus. “A parable is a short narrative (1) fictional (2) text that is related
in the narrated world to known reality (3) but, by way of implicit or explicit transfer
signals, makes it understood that the meaning of that which is narrated must be
differentiated from the literal words of the text (4). In its appeal dimension (5) it
challenges the reader to carry out a metaphoric transfer of meaning that is steered by
contextual information (6).” 2
Jesus did not teach the parables to his followers with the intent of them accepting
them in a literary sense. “Of all of the various literary forms within the Gospels the
parables especially seem to lend themselves to interpretations divorced from their
narrative contexts.” 3 There has been debate on what the actual focus is of
________________________
2 Howes, Llewellyn. The Parables in Q. The Library of New Testament Studies.
Neotestamentica. ISSN: 0254-8356, 2518-4628. Volume 54, Issue 1. 2020, 153.
3 Heil, John Paul. Reader-Response and the Narrative Context of the Parables
About Growing Seed in Mark 4:1-34. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 54, No.2.
April 1992. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43721058, 271.
5
the parable: the man, the growing, the harvest, or the contrast between the sowing of the
seed and the harvest. 4
An approach to recognizing the focus of a parable could be to consider the
“chiastic structure” of the parable in question. 5 This is used in rhetorical analysis to
describe a type of structure in literature where inverted patterns or mirrored patterns are
used. This structure is not specific to a culture, language, or historic period, rather it is
utilized to create an effect on the audience.
In the case of the Parable of the Growing Seed, the chiastic structure looks as
follows:
(A)A man scatters seed on the ground.
(B) Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up,
(C)the seed sprouts and grows,
(D) though he does not know how.
(D) All by itself, the soil produces grain –
(C) first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
(B) As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it,
(A)because the harvest has come.
Once you determine the mirrored pieces of the parable, you can then derive the non-
literary meaning of each verse. “The sowing is paralleled with the harvest in A and A’,
and the activity of the man is paralleled in B and B’. There cannot be much doubt that
God initiates the sowing and the harvest. In agreement with others, being told so soon
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4 Snodgrass, Klyne. Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of
Jesus. August 2022. Erdmans. Grand Rapids, MI 29501, 180.
5 Scholtz, Jacob J. Mark: 1-34: A simple structure for the mystery of the kingdom.
In die Skriflig. Volume. 52, Number 1. April 24, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v52i.2326
6
after the Parable of the Sower, ‘the most natural interpretation would link the man who
sows the seed first of all with God and then, derivatively, with Jesus and all who preach
God’s word’.” 6 Jesus Christ, as the one that sewed the seed (His word of God), is
obviously then the one with the authority to harvest the final product of the growing.
Inside each verse are characters or representations of characters that must be
defined. The presentation of the character, their characteristics and conduct, and their
implied meanings will then allow the interpretation of the verse. Once this is established
for each verse, then the meaning of the parable becomes apparent.
“(1) “How and through what means is a character presented?” with particular
emphasis on the aesthetic presentation, is concerned;
(2) “What is the character—what characteristics, relationships, and conduct does
the character exhibit as an inhabitant of a fictional world?”;
(3) “What does the character represent and what ‘indirect meanings’ does the
character convey?”;
(4) The interest lies in the reasons why a particular character appears or is
presented in a certain way and what outcomes the character effects.” 7
“This is what the Kingdom of God is like.”
This verse is Jesus’ introduction to the lesson where he is identifying that this
parable is about God’s kingdom that is “here but not yet” as a way of leading into the
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6 Scholtz, Mark: 1-34: A simple structure for the mystery of the kingdom.
7 Howes, Llewellyn. The Parables in Q. The Library of New Testament Studies,
155.
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lesson that follows. 8 Jesus’ use of parables is unique. While the parables he teaches
reveal the mystery of the kingdom, they also conceal it.9 What follows Jesus’ lead-in is
not self-evident in the text. Understanding what the Kingdom is like needs to be
absorbed by the listener through metaphors.
“A man scatters seed on the ground.”
Jesus now establishes the human character of the lesson. The farmer in this
parable is the only human being that is associated with the growth process of the seed.
Once he scatters it upon the ground, he is then removed from the story and the focus falls
upon the development of the seed from its embryonic state until full maturity. 10 Scattered,
in this sense, means the same as sown. “What is sown is ‘the word’, which in this
context must mean the message about God’s rule which Jesus has been preaching.”
(France pp.106) We can logically then assume, if we take the verse literally and not as
part of one of Jesus’ lessons, that the seeds would dry up because they were not planted
and cared for, they will then decay, and that life would be impossible, and a harvest
________________________
8 Arapoglou, Paraskevi. The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth Be Eco-
Sustainably Translated? Some Preliminary Thoughts. The Bible Translator. Vol.
70. Issue 3. The Bible Translator. United Bible Societies. December 12, 1019
9 Viljoen, Francois P. Why Jesus Spoke in Parables. In die Skriflig. Volume 53,
Issue 1. 2019. DOI: 10.4102/ids.v53i1.2523
10 Arapoglou, Paraskevi. The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth Be
Eco-Sustainably Translated? Some Preliminary Thoughts.
11 France, Dick. Seed Thoughts from Saint Mark. Rural Theology. Volume 8,
Issue 2. March 2010. https//;;doi.org/10.1558/ruth.v8i2.103
8
“Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does
not know how.”
would be hopeless. 12 At this point, the man is now a shadow in the background of the
lesson. “But then the magnificent forethought of the Master raises them up out of their
decay, and from the one seed grow more, and so bring forth the crop" (1 Clem. 24:5) 13
The earth and the seed are now the only active participants. “A brief survey of ancient
writings on agriculture and plant growth provides needed context for interpreting the
parables…the biblical authors did not believe God was the agent of plant growth, then the
present argument need be taken no further.” 14 Agriculture used as imagery and a
metaphor is not solely found in this singular point in the Bible. One can utilize the use of
plant imagery in another book of the Bible when interpreting this parable. In the Gospel
of Matthew, for instance, the author typically uses plant and bread imagery in three ways:
(1) to demonstrate God's sovereignty over nature and his gracious provision;
(2) to illustrate the fruit of the kingdom work God is accomplishing; and
(3) in connection with judgment, eschatology, and Christ's second coming. 14
God is also the one and only that has the power to provide life and take it away. This is
not work done by human hands. Our Lord is ever cognizant of the needs of His children.
It is His hand that provides the sun and rain to fall upon “both the evil and the good alike,
________________________
12 Booth, Robbie. God as the Agent of Kingdom Growth: An Argument for Divine
Passives in Matthew. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Volume 52,
Issue 4. April 2018. https://doi.org/10/4102/ids.v52i1.2326
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
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both of which were necessities for crop growth and for human life.” 16 Further, anything
that the Lord has not planted He will remove. A common premise from Matthew 15:13
states, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." “He is the
power, source, and cause of kingdom growth.”17
“All by itself, the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in
the head.”
The parable immediately removes the man from an active participant in the
growing of the seed into a plant. “The seed grows, and humans are eliminated from the
process.” 18 The verse then does not clearly identify the catalyst of the growing process.
“There is no visible cause to the earth producing crops.” 19 It is implied that God, the Holy
Spirit always present but not physically in the field, is the mechanism for the source of
life into the seed. He then continues to nurture the plant as it grows to full ripeness. “The
seed has germinated; the earth has produced its sprouts without any human
________________________
16 Booth, Robbie. God as the Agent of Kingdom Growth: An Argument for Divine
Passives in Matthew.
17 Booth, Robbie. God as the Agent of Kingdom Growth: An Argument for Divine
Passives in Matthew.
18 Snodgrass, Klyne. Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables
of Jesus
19Arapoglou, Paraskevi. The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth Be Eco-
Sustainably Translated? Some Preliminary Thoughts.
In the Book of Exodus, it is established that farmers will not plant crops during a
10
intervention.” 20 Sabbath year. What is also implied in this verse, as the seed grows
without human interaction, is that the seed will germinate, grow, and be harvested and
that the cycle will continue indefinitely. Taking that direction by God into account, it can
then be interpreted that God will care for and provide for his children.
“As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The first part of the verse centers around how the seed behaves and grows into a
mature living organism. The farmer is mentioned again, not as the focus of the verse, but
rather the tool through which the Hand of God gathers the mature grain. The verse ends
with the meaning of the harvest. “A full harvest represents the salvation of people and
the growth of the kingdom of heaven.” 21
________________________
20 Arapoglou, Paraskevi. The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth Be
Eco-Sustainably Translated? Some Preliminary Thoughts.
21 Booth, Robbie. God as the Agent of Kingdom Growth: An Argument for Divine
Passives in Matthew.
11
Bibliography
Arapoglou, Paraskevi. “The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth Be Eco-
Sustainably Translated? Some Preliminary Thoughts”. The Bible Translator. Vol.
70. Issue 3. The Bible Translator. United Bible Societies. December 12, 1019
Blount, Brian K. “Jesus as Teacher: Boundary Breaking in Mark’s Gospel and Today’s
Church. Volume. 70, Issue 2. April 2016.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00209643156229
Booth, Robbie. “God as the Agent of Kingdom Growth: An Argument for Divine
Passives in Matthew.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Volume 52,
Issue 4. April 2018. https://doi.org/10/4102/ids.v52i1.2326
France, Dick. “Seed Thoughts from Saint Mark.” Rural Theology. Volume 8, Issue 2.
March 2010. https//;;doi.org/10.1558/ruth.v8i2.103
Heil, John Paul. “Reader-Response and the Narrative Context of the Parables About
Growing Seed in Mark 4:1-34”. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 54, No.2
(April 1992) (Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. St. Louis, MO 63119)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43721058
Howes, Llewellyn. “The Parables in Q. The Library of New Testament Studies.”
Neotestamentica. ISSN: 0254-8356 , 2518-4628. Volume 54, Issue 1. 2020.
Jocobus, Kok. “A Decolonial Biblical Perspective on Jesus Inspired by Fanon and Biko.”
HTS Theological Studies. Volume 77. Number 1. September 30, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i1.6926
Martensson, Ulrika. and Ostmoe, Tor Ivar. “Originating Canons and Communities:
Theories of Language and Rhetoric in the Qur’an, the Bible, and Exegetical
Literature.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies. Volume 22, Issue 1. 2020 DOI:
10.366/jqs.2020.0408.
Scholtz, Jacob J. “Mark: 1-34: A simple structure for the mystery of the kingdom.”
In die Skriflig. Volume. 52, Number 1. April 24, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v52i.2326
Smith, Julie M. “When was the Gospel of Mark Written?” Brigham Young University,
New Testament Commentary. Accessed May 30, 2023.
https://www.byunewtestamentcommentary.com/when-was-the-gospel-of-mark-
written/
Snodgrass, Klyne. “Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of
Jesus.” August 2022. Erdmans. Grand Rapids, MI 29501).
12
Viljoen, Francois P. “Why Jesus Spoke in Parables.” In die Skriflig. Volume 53, Issue 1.
2019. DOI: 10.4102/ids.v53i1.2523
