COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON NUMBER 45
“ Mark 4:30 And He said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31It 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: 32But 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.”
(Mark 4:30-32; Matthew 13:31-32; Luke 13:18-19)
IT IS LIKE A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED
INTRODUCTION
When Jesus spoke, there was a certain priority reflected in what He said. You will never read of Jesus getting caught up in the affairs of the day – political, national, or domestic issues. Whatever may be said of such involvements, the Son of God did not give Himself to them. He never extended Himself to comment on the despotism of Pilate and Herod, pawns of the Roman Empire. He never championed a cause that called for the liberation of the Jews from Roman tyranny. Nor, indeed, did He become affiliated with the leading teachers of the day. His public life was of an absolutely unique nature. People did not class Him with anyone else, unless it be the holy prophets of God (Matt 16:14). He lived out what He taught – a state of being in the world, but “not of the world” (John 15:19; 17:14,16). He was not a recluse, and yet was separate from the world. This was apparent in His speech, His ways, His choices, and the company that He kept. In this text He unfolds the domain of which He Himself is the primary citizen: “the kingdom of God.” The very fact that He speaks in this manner confirms these are things we are to know.
WHEREUNTO SHALL WE LIKE THE KINGDOM?
“ 4:30 And He said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?”
We are learning something here about the thrust of Jesus’ teaching. He did not give lengthy dissertations about the structure of a nation, a region, a city, or a home. You will search in vain for any extended dialog from Jesus on such subjects. As men view things, He did not speak of the ideal form of government, the ideal home, or the ideal career or occupation. Such things may very well exist, but they do not represent the thrust of Jesus’ teaching, and are not of any eternal consequence, as important as they may be. All such things must be considered within the framework of something larger than themselves. That “something” is the kingdom of God – a kingdom through which God is working out His eternal purpose, calling and justifying men, and conforming them to the image of His Son.
PREACHING THE KINGDOM. The Scriptures inform us that since the ministry of John the Baptist, “the kingdom of God is preached” (Lk 16:16). Jesus Himself “went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom” (Matt 4:23; 9:35; Mk 1:14; Lk 8:1). Philip did the same (Acts 8:12), and Paul as well (Acts 20:25; 28:31). How does a person preach, or proclaim, “the kingdom of God?” In this text we are exposed to that precise activity. Jesus is preaching the kingdom. In particular, He will declare some of its traits.
THE PRIORITY OF THE KINGDOM. The Kingdom of God is not a novel subject. It is not merely an area of academic study. Jesus did not deal with intellectual trinkets that had no real value, and were of little or no consequence. This is a kingdom that is superior – absolutely superior. Daniel said of it, “it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan 2:44). This, then, is the ultimate kingdom. It has the ultimate Ruler, and serves the ultimate purpose. This is precisely why Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt 6:33). Those who remain fundamentally ignorant of this kingdom are at the greatest disadvantage, for Christ and His salvation have to do with this kingdom. Those who are acquainted with it and make it their primary objective, as Jesus said, have the greatest advantage. They, and they alone, are being prepared to inherit this kingdom.
It should be of great concern to every believer that so little is being said these days about “the kingdom of God.” Scripture informs us that righteousness, peace, and joy, are related to this kingdom (Rom 14:17). It is a kingdom of unparalleled power (1 Cor 4:20). This is the inheritance of the saints (1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Cor 15:50; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5). Here is where we have been “translated” (Col 1:13). It is the kingdom for which we are working (Col 4:11), and for which we are being “counted worthy” (2 Thess 1:5). Those in Christ Jesus are referred to as “heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him” (James 2:5).
WHAT IS A KINGDOM? What is a kingdom? From an abstract point of view, or from the standpoint of its purpose, it is a royal rule – a government that is carrying out the purpose of the one who rules it. From a concrete point of view, or its revelation and perceived working, it is the territory, realm, or domain, in which this will is being carried out. The “kingdom of God” speaks of a Sovereign God, working out His “eternal purpose” within a certain place. The execution of this purpose involves the thorough subjugation of all who oppose this kingdom, and the exaltation of all who are willingly involved in its working. Its aim is to provide an extended commentary of God Himself – to reveal facets of His Being and character that could not be known apart from this working Kingdom.
WHEREUNTO SHALL WE LIKEN THE KINGDOM? Other versions read, “How shall we picture,” NASB and “with what can we compare.” Luke says, “whereunto shall I resemble it?” Matthew reads, “The kingdom of heaven is like” (Matt 13:31a). These very words confirm the priority of God’s kingdom. It is the superior that is compared with the inferior, and not vice versa. Further, the comparison is not a thorough one, for the inferior cannot completely depict the superior. Jesus is, then, going to make known one of the characteristics of God’s kingdom. He is going to show us one of the manners in which this kingdom works. This does not speak of potential or possibilities, but of the inscrutable workings of the Lord. These are workings that are specifically in the earth, and that is why an earthly, rather than a heavenly, parallel is given. The earth was created in order to show forth this particular attribute, as well as others. This is an example of the “whole earth” being “full of His glory” (Isa 6:3), and His “eternal power and Godhead” being seen in the “things that are made” (Rom 1:20). In accordance with the Divine nature, something created will reveal traits of what is not created – in this case, “the kingdom of God.”
IT IS LIKE A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED
“ 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.”
GOD WORKING IN THE EARTH. It is important to remember that we are speaking of God’s workings in the earth. That is where He has “set up a kingdom,” according to the word of Daniel (Dan 2:44). That is, He is working out an infinite purpose in the earth – a cursed world, dominated by a fierce foe, and occupied by fallen creatures. It does not appear to be a likely place for the God of heaven to work, but He is doing so.
LIKE A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED. The plant of reference is quite different from the mustard plant in our part of the world. The great growth described is largely owing to the climate of that region, which is conducive to greater growth. The “mustard seed” is said to have been “remarkably small,” particularly in comparison to the plant that grew from them. BARNES
The point of this comparison is NOT the beginning of God’s work, but the power and consummation of it. It is the predetermined potential of the Lord’s initial workings among men – that they are never in vain, and always have an intended purpose. This is a high view of the Kingdom, one that sets forth the truth that what He has promised, He is “able also to perform” (Rom 4:21). From this perspective it is written, “For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth” (Rom 9:28). Even as the purpose of a seed is not found in itself, but in the fruit that comes from it, so the working of the Lord is not an end of itself, but the means to an appointed end.
LESS THAN ALL SEEDS THAT BE IN THE EARTH. The mustard seed is small and unimpressive to the eyes of men. So it is with “the kingdom of God” – His purposeful workings among men. The great works of God have an unimpressive beginning in the eyes of men. It may be Adam begetting Seth in his own likeness 130 years after the fall (Gen 5:3). It may be the calling of Noah and the saving of His family – eight souls altogether – from among millions, perhaps billions of people (1 Pet 3:20). Perhaps it is the calling of a single man, seventy-five years old, in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 12:1-4). God once initiated a great work with a seventeen year-old boy named Joseph, whom He sent into Egypt to remain in relative obscurity for thirteen years (Psa 105:17-20). We might also consider an infant only a few months old, carefully put into a basket and placed among the reeds of the Nile River (Ex 2:3). Who can forget the Word becoming flesh, entering into the world as a helpless infant, and immediately thrust into jeopardy (Lk 2:7; Matt 2:16). And, what of the small band of men Jesus called to His side, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach (Mk 3:14). All of these workings were like a tiny mustard seed. They did not draw the attention of men, for they appeared inconsequential.
This is the manner of the kingdom. It is the way God works to fulfill His eternal purpose in the earth. With the exclusion of the creation itself, when God works among men, the larger its beginning, the more temporal it seems to be. If a mighty deliverance occurs in Egypt, with the children of Israel coming out with a high hand in a single night, be sure that it will be overshadowed by an even greater deliverance that did not appear significant at the first (Col 1:13). If men drink water from a rock, from which it gushes like a river, that beginning will be overshadowed by water of another order that will spring up from within individuals (John 4:14). The first day manna fell upon the camp of several million Israelites it was impressive to the eye. But what was that to compare to the day the eternal manna fell upon a small band of 120 people on the day of Pentecost?
Beginnings that have eternal consequences are small – at least that is how they appear to men. People who are looking for big things may not be in a quest of the right thing. Today professed Christians like to begin a church with a lot of people, thinking that big beginnings are a guarantee of protracted success. But, how does that fit into the way in which God works? What kind of glory does God receive from human enterprises that have large beginnings?
This is the way God works “in the earth,” and we do well to take due note of it. He begins salvation with a death, which is like a totally unimpressive mustard seed. He confirms the effectiveness of that death with a resurrection that no one witnesses, and commences the New Covenant era by an unseen exalted Christ pouring forth His Spirit on a relative handful of people in a house, not a theater or marketplace. That is how God works! His primary glory is not found in beginnings, but in what follows them! That is why we are not to “despise small things,” or small beginnings (Zech 4:10). That is the way in which God starts, but that is not the way things will conclude. Therefore, beginnings are not the main thing.
BUT WHEN IT IS SOWN, IT GROWS UP
“ 31 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.”
A mustard seed maintains its smallness until it is “sown.” At that point a process of growth is initiated. The Kingdom of God is like that – in fact, the process of growth that is found in nature is intended to show this aspect of Divine glory.
BUT WHEN IT IS SOWN. What God begins grows, advances, and comes to maturity. Once God sets His hand to do something, it is as good as done. Thus the Lord says, “I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it” (Isa 46:11). When God puts his hand on the earth to do a work, that work will grow! The day Noah was called, it was guaranteed that humanity would be preserved through a remnant. If Joseph is planted in Egypt, provisions will be realized in famine. If Moses is born, Israel’s deliverance is on the way. When the Spirit was poured forth on the day of Pentecost, a seed fell into the earth that would yield “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” who would eventually stand “before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (Rev 7:9).
It is no wonder that Paul wrote, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). He knew that once the seed of the kingdom is planted, it will grow. There is nothing that could, or can, stop the kingdom of God from eventually crushing all other kingdoms and filling the whole earth. Nothing or no one could stop the Messiah from being born, growing up in the midst of a wicked city, laying down His life, taking it up again, and reigning in heaven! Nothing can stop Him from coming again, gathering His people together, and giving them the kingdom of His Father. Once the work got under way, its conclusion was guaranteed. It is cast in stone, cannot be reversed, and will soon be heard throughout all domains, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15).
GREATER THAN ALL HERBS. As a mustard seed grows into a tree that is “greater than all herbs,” so the “Kingdom of God” will outstrip all other kingdoms. It will obtain more glory, be more dominating, and have no conclusion. When every other kingdom has fallen, and all foes have been publically subdued, it will remain in tact, with not so much as a single bruise upon it. Thus it is written, “Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor 15:24).
A PLACE OF LODGING. Presently, the “kingdom of God” is a place of refuge and safety. Upon being delivered from this world, it is where we are initially placed (Col 1:13). It is where the fruits of righteousness, peace, and joy are found (Rom 14:17). We have been saved to participate in something that will have no end. Every other form of power and influence is only incidental, and there is an appointed time when that will be very apparent.
SOME CONCLUSIONS. Jesus has affirmed the Kingdom of God may begin small, but it does not stay that way. It grows and advances until it faces no more competitors. That is its nature. Now, there are some implications here that ought to be noted. A person who professes to be of Christ, yet is not growing, is a living contradiction of this truth. Where there is no advancement in being conformed to the image of Christ, there is serious question about there being any living association with God at all.
A religious institution that has nothing more than a beginning is not connected with Jesus. That is not the way He works. It is not the manner of the Kingdom. Where there is no advancement from glory to glory, something has happened that took the individual out of the Kingdom process. Perhaps the Word was sown on a wayside heart, or a heart with surface interests that was really hard beneath that surface. Perhaps there were competing interests, like the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and other things, that choked out the Word. But you may be sure of this, it did not grow.
Right here we see a slight distinction between the individual and the Kingdom itself. Nothing can stop the Kingdom from growing and coming to its intended end. It is different with the individual, Participation on the personal level depends wholly upon the grace of God being experienced through faith, while the Kingdom itself is the product of Divine will alone. The awareness of the latter is what fuels the faith of God’s elect, assuring them that their labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58). And why is it not in vain? It is because of the very nature of the Kingdom to advance to its intended glorious end.