Mark 4:30-34

The Kingdom of God being parabolically described as a mustard seed by Jesus

in Mark 4 was surprising to his listeners by the shore of the sea, to say

the least. And his reference to nesting birds might seem benign enough to

us, but to them, the splendid cedar of imperial messianic power (from

Ezekiel and Daniel) was supposed to provide birds shelter.

So the image of the mustard plant — found blooming bright yellow all over

Los Angeles in springtime, just as it was across Galilee — becomes

significant in all sorts of ways: there’s no singular main trunk, but a

multitude of stems; it spreads invasively and at an almost unstoppable

pace, partly because of how rapidly and abundantly each stem produces

seeds; it grows together, and stands together, to produce shade. Even the

size of the bloom depends entirely on the winter rains that come

beforehand  (throughout Scripture, God’s Spirit is poured out like water on

dry land.)

Powerful symbolism for Mark’s original community, and a specific word to us

as a community today.

By Hannah Flint