Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 7 Study # 1
July 7, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(170)
NASB
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.
- I. "And He said..." (More accurately "Was Saying...").
- A. Another lousy translation by the NASB presents the verb "was saying" (Imperfect Tense) as if it is "said" (Aorist Tense). Without explanation or reason, the exact form of this verb was translated accurately in 4:2, 9, 11, 21, 24, and 26 as "was saying", but here in 4:30 it is rendered "said". Likewise, the present tense of this verse in 4:13 ("is saying") is falsely translated "said". There is no excuse for this except lousy "translation theory" and terrible scholarship. Though it does not significantly impact the understanding of a reader, in terms of an overall grasp of the meaning of Jesus' parable, it does significantly impact "Truth" as every lie does. The reason we are in the "last days" is that men and women have taken a vaccination against "Truth" to the point that they justify the "little" things (as if the mystery of iniquity does not boldly march further into the coming disaster -- the Day of Wrath -- on the feet of "little things"). It is not the "big" lies that deceive; it is the "little" ones, greatest among which is the attitude that "it does not matter". It is, after all, the faithfulness in "little things" that leads to faithfulness in the "big" things (Luke 16:10 and 19:17). Call it Screed or Rant, if you will, it is yet Truth.
- B. "Saying" is yet another use of "lego" (the eighth use of this word just in the parables section of Mark 4). This is a heavy emphasis upon "speaking Truth".
- II. "How shall we picture the kingdom of God...".
- A. The "How" is a translation of a word that is sometimes an "interrogative conjunction". It was used in that way in 4:13 also (in this "parable" section), as well as 3:23, 9:12, and 12:35 (if, indeed, we can trust the translators).
- B. The verb in the phrase "shall we picture the Kingdom of The God" is a word Mark only uses in this text, but is found in 14 other texts of the New Testament. It signals a "comparison" of two or more items in order to show shared characteristics.
- 1. If two men both have two arms, they are "comparable".
- 2. At issue is Jesus presenting certain characteristics of The Kingdom of The God as "like unto" certain characteristics of the present age (in which He was living).
- 3. Clearly, then, Jesus is saying that The Kingdom of The God has certain "shadows" of its reality in the present lives of men; certain "shared characteristics".
- 4. The most significant question in regard to this quest for a "likeness" between the present reality and The Kingdom of The God is: which characteristic(s) is/are in view? A monkey has two arms, just as the typical man, and in that they are comparable, but a monkey is a monkey and a man is a man and there are a host of dissimilarities between the two as well as some "shared characteristics". Thus, to understand Jesus' parable of "comparison", we need to know which comparison was on His mind.
- C. The next phrase, "...or by what 'parable' should we place it?", further sets forth Jesus' intention to explain a certain truth of that Kingdom by placing it beside something in this present reality that will instruct us.
- 1. Again, the translators take significant 'liberties' in their translation. They translate Jesus' "How shall we make a comparison between The Kingdom of The God (and some present reality)?" with "What is the Kingdom of God like?" and the "...or what thing should we lay beside it for comparison?" with "...to what shall I compare it?" Jesus' inclusion of "we" (first person plural) is not insignificant, but our translators ignore Him and translate the verb as if it is a first person singular.
- 2. Jesus is clearly raising the issue of "something" in our present world that reveals a similar characteristic of The Kingdom of The God, and this "something" is shared by us.
- D. "...as a grain of mustard...".
- 1. This "grain" is what Jesus decided to use as an enlightening example from our world to tell us a significant truth about The Kingdom of The God.
- a. This "grain" is a "seed", but it is not referred to as such (1 Corinthians 15:37).
- b. As a "grain", it is used by Jesus according to well-established usage in the culture of the day to refer to an individual "seed" that is sown, and it is well-known for its diminutive size ("...smallest of those things sown upon the earth...").
- 1) For those who would attempt to point out that Jesus was inaccurate about this, we have this to say: what Jesus said was "truth" and He clearly expected His hearers to be able to understand. People who challenge Jesus' truthfulness and accuracy of speech are in the unenviable position of putting their understanding of creation facts in opposition to His omniscience. A human brain does not even begin to have a basis in capacity to argue with the omniscience of a Creator Whose creation, according to human brains, spans (according to our "scientists") a minimum of 92 billion light years in diameter. Just the barest hint of "humility" ought to make men at least hesitant to challenge the words of God.
- 2) The small number of uses of this word in the New Testament does limit our basis for understanding, but it is obvious that Jesus was not ignorant of His facts, nor stupid enough to say something to the public that was an obvious error to every gardener/farmer in His audience.
- 3) And, it is precisely the issue that the "grain" was "smallest of all of what is sown upon the earth". If Jesus' point rested here, He clearly would not have chosen "mustard" if His facts were unsupportable.
- 4) It is precisely here that we find the sought after "characteristic" involved in the above mentioned "comparisons": the human perception of the "smallness" of the grain in respect to the human comparison of the "smallness" of The Kingdom's development into what God has always intended. The issue of "smallness" is the issue of "significance" so the it is the "smallness" of "significance" that is the point. What men consider "of great significance" is often absolutely erroneous. "The Kingdom of The God" is a matter of enormous significance; so much so that men, in their error, think that it must have a "highly significant" beginning point. By their reasoning, the Christ would have to be born in the palace of the highest king of all the earth, if, indeed, He was to be "born" at all. But God's "Christ" was born in the lowliest of conditions and recognized only by the most insignificant of humanity.
- 2. This grain is "of mustard".
- a. Both Matthew and Luke record that Jesus used "of mustard" to, again, refer to something of such diminutive size that most people would dismiss it automatically as having any significant potency to accomplish anything of note (Matthew 17:20 and Luke 17:6). Neither record any kick-back by Jesus' hearers regarding the accuracy of His choice of words.
- b. This "mustard" is characterized by Jesus as "sown" in contrast to "all herbs" which are also "sown".
- c. It is no accident that Mark records Jesus as referring to "sown upon the earth" since, in both of the previous parables deliberately addressed to the great crowd, this "earth" is what is tied to the issue of "fruitfulness" in The Kingdom of The God.
- E. "...when it should be sown, it ascends and becomes greater than all garden herbs...".
- 1. Clearly, Jesus is referring to "a grain of mustard" of the kind that is deliberately planted by people who wish to have "mustard" as one of their garden plants.
- 2. Also, clearly, Jesus is deliberately comparing "sizes"; those of the "grain" and of the mature "mustard" plant. Being that this is His point, those who challenge His "facts" in order to be comfortable in their refusal to give Him His place in The Kingdom of The God are in grave danger of the outcomes of hubris.
- 3. The "greatness" of the mature plant is described in terms of "great branches" which are able to create a large shadow and support the dwellings of "the birds of heaven". This is remarkably like the "great tree" of Daniel 4:11-12 fame.
