Story time...

Sorry for those who have been "watching this space"...(i cant believe its that many!) -but i have been mega busy... Anyhow..parables..


What is a parable you may ask?

Well, its just a fancy word for story really, but parables usually have a religious meaning behind them. Jesus used them to explain 'heavenly' ideas to people....(although as we will find, some of these stories sound simple...but are oh so rich in meaning)..and so without further ado...i present


THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED (Matt 13:31, Mark 4:30, Luke 13:18)


The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows it is the largest in the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and rest on its branches.

MMMmmmmm mustard, tastes good on hot-dogs and burgers! But did you know that 'back in the day' mustard seeds were considered to be an annoyance, something that you DID NOT want to plant......

People back in the day, despised mustard seeds so much that it was illegal to have them in your garden. They didn't like M-seeds because it a a weed (not the snoop dogg type weed....but much like snoop doggy weed its illegal to grow). Once it got into your garden, it would spread out, and choke all the plants around it. Also, when it grows up, its not really a tree at all, but rather a ugly looking bush like thing.

So the Heaven is going to be illegal, undesirable and annoying?!?...(like a Britney Spears CD?!?)

What Jesus was saying here, completely ran against what people (esp religious leaders) were thinking at the time.

"The Kingdom of God isn't going to be small and ugly and insignificant like a mustard seed.....it's going to be something big and grand like the 'ceders of Lebanon'." is what they thought....

But by calling the Kingdom of Heaven a mustard seed, he smashed up this idea.

Making huge grand gestures, waiting for something massive to happen, this is not what the kingdom will be like. Instead, it is more subtle...starting off small, but soon effecting all those around it. People may not like it, it may be illegal, it may not look the best, but those who accept it will find 'comfort and shade' in its branches...The kingdom is a part of everyday life, right here, and everyone can be a part of it.

Maybe, Jesus was even comparing himself to the mustard seed.....

First of all, a lot of people (again religious leaders) considered Him to be unclean...(He broke the sabbath law, ate with all kinds of scum (sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors).

Secondly, He was definitely a pain in their behinds....if they liked Him, the would probably not have constantly tried to kill Him.

Thirdly, he was 'small'...being born in a animal shack, growing up an apprentice to be a carpenter, and then becoming homeless....errrm....is this what a king looks like?..

But His word spred far and wide, and people who listened and believed found the peace that they were so desperately searching for...

Mustard seeds, so much more then what you think they are. Think about that next time you squeeze some on your hot dog!