Saying 20 - A Parable Of A Mustard Seed

Nag Hammadi Coptic Text

BLATZ (20) The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like. He said to them: It is like a grain of mustard-seed, the smallest of all seeds; but when it falls on tilled ground, it puts forth a great branch and becomes shelter for the birds of heaven.

LAYTON (20) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the kingdom of heavens resembles." He said to them, "What it resembles is a grain of mustard seed. It is smaller than all other seeds, but if it falls upon plowed terrain it puts forth an enormous foliage and is a shade for birds of heaven."

DORESSE 23 [20]. The disciples say to Jesus: "Tell us what the Kingdom of heaven is like!" He says to them: "It is like a grain of mustard: it is smaller than all the <other> seeds, but when it falls on ploughed land it produces a big stalk and becomes a shelter for the birds of heaven."

 

Funk's Parallels

Ezek 17:22-24
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the highest branch of the lofty cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of its young shoots a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and eminent mountain: upon the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar; and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I Jehovah have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish: I Jehovah have spoken, and will do [it].

Dan 4:20-22
The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heavens, and the sight of it to all the earth; whose leaves were beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens had their habitation: it is thou, O king, who art grown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

Matt 13:31-42
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard [seed] which a man took and sowed in his field; which is less indeed than all seeds, but when it is grown is greater than herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches. He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened. All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from [the] worlds foundation. Then, having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying, Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field. But he answering said, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man, and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, but the darnel are the sons of the evil [one]; and the enemy who has sowed it is the devil; and the harvest is [the] completion of [the] age, and the harvestmen are angels. As then the darnel is gathered and is burned in the fire, thus it shall be in the completion of the age. The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences, and those that practise lawlessness; and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Mark 4:30-32
And he said, How should we liken the kingdom of God, or with what comparison should we compare it? As to a grain of mustard [seed], which, when it is sown upon the earth, is less than all seeds which are upon the earth, and when it has been sown, mounts up and becomes greater than all herbs, and produces great branches, so that the birds of heaven can roost under its shadow.

DialSav 88-89
[Mary said, "Of what] sort is that [mustard seed]? Is it something from heaven or is it something from earth?" The Lord said, "When the Father established the cosmos for himself, he left much over from the Mother of the All. Therefore, he speaks and he acts."

 

Scholarly Quotes

Joachim Jeremias writes:

"The conclusion of the parable of the Mustard Seed in the Gospel of Thomas (20) runs as follows: '. . . it produces a large branch and becomes shelter (sceph) for the birds of heaven'. This is possible a free allusion to Dan. 4.9, 18; Ezek. 17.23; 31.6; 3.9, 18 Th., while in Matthew (13.32) and Luke (13.19) it is a free quotation from Dan. 3.18 Th. The unrealistic description of the mustard-seed as a tree, which only occurs in Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark or the Gospel of Thomas, is also derived from Dan. 3.17."

(The Parables of Jesus, p. 31)

Joachim Jeremias writes:

"In the Gospel of Thomas (20), too, a similar introduction to the parable of the Mustard Seed: 'The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like', is secondary by comparison with Mark 4.30, where Jesus himself puts the question, since such questions from the disciples are characteristic of the Gospel of Thomas."

(The Parables of Jesus, p. 98)

Helmut Koester writes:

"The emphasis upon the contrast of the small seed and the large plant is missing in the Q form of this parable (Luke 13:18-19), which differs from the Markan version also in other respects: it speaks of the 'garden' into which the seed is thrown, and it says that it becomes a 'tree' (dendron) and that 'the birds are nesting in its branches.' Mark and Thomas use the appropriate term 'vegetable' (laxanon), and they correctly describe birds as nesting under the branches. One could also argue that the contrast 'small seed / large plant' is a structural element of the original parable that is lost in Q/Luke's version. In any case, Thomas's parallels with Mark do not require the assumption of a literary dependence; what both have in common are original features of the parable."

(Ancient Christian Gospels, p. 109)

Funk and Hoover write:

"The Fellows judged the version in Thomas to be the closest to the original. It was therefore given a red designation. The three synoptic versions have been accommodated to a greater or lesser degree to the apocalyptic tree theme and so were designated pink. This parable is a good example of how the original Jesus tradition, perhaps shocking in its modesty or poorly understood, is revised to accomodate living and powerful mythical images drawn from the Hebrew scriptures."

(The Five Gospels, p. 485)

J. D. Crossan quotes Pliny's Natural History 19.170-171 as saying:

"Mustard . . . with its pungent taste and fiery effect is extremely beneficial for the health. It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once."

J. D. Crossan comments:

"There is, on other words, a distinction between the wild mustard and its domesticated counterpart, but even when one deliberately cultivates the latter for its medicinal or culinary properties, there is an ever-present danger that it will destroy the garden. And, apart from those domesticated types, such as brassica nigra or sinapis alba, there is, as Douglas Oakman emphasizes, the wild mustard, charlock, or sinapis arvensis, whose 'plants have from time immemorial been found as weeds in grain fields' (1986:124). The mustard plant, therefore, is, as domesticated in the garden, dangerous and, as wild in the grain fields, deadly. The point is not just that it starts small and ends big but that its bigness is not exactly a horticultural or agricultural desideratum."

(The Historical Jesus, p. 278)

J. D. Crossan concludes:

"The point, in other words, is not just that the mustard plant starts as a proverbially small seed and grows into a shrub of three or four feet, or even higher, it is that it tends to take over where it is not wanted, that it tends to get out of control, and that it tends to attract birds within cultivated areas where they are not particularly desired. And that, said Jesus, was what the Kingdom was like: not like the mighty cedar of Lebanon and not quite like a common weed, like a pungent shrub with dangerous takeover properties. Something you would want in only small and carefully controlled doses - if you could control it."

(The Historical Jesus, pp. 279-279)

 

Visitor Comments

"Kingdom of Heaven" related to a mustard seed refers to the revolutionary quality of the message being taught by Jesus. If it falls on prepared ground and is understood, it grows without bound.
- active-mystic

Guess that means that, contrary to typical Christian doctrine, Heaven is not an actual place you go to like a carnival or museum. It's a frame of mind, a sphere of consciousness, a sense of something, like compassion, which can be spread or ignored. Based on free will.
- Five_crowss

Plowing this field will prepare the soil. You already have the mustard seed, but you will never find it.
- Simon Magus

The seed is the kernel of one's innate self. Prepare the ground by becoming aware of one's repressed emotions and the innate self will flourish and shelter the lost fragments of onesself.
- Rodney

Let the record show, trivially I admit, that the mustard seed is not in fact the smallest of the seeds, but that the seed of the orchid is, botanically speaking, smaller.
- steviesteele

Isn't it interesting that the mustard seed cannot be contaminated, all mustard seeds are made perfect and cannot be cross breeded. So what does this insight bring to this parable? It may be the smallest of many other seeds, yet it is the purest. We are the seed in essence, and have the potential to create shade for the birds of heaven, our own brothers and sisters. May we all discover our inneer potential. Amen.
- Owl

The Kingdom of Heaven (which is in you, you are the Temple of God) is based on faith (mustard seed) worked in good ground (your knowledge of truth).
- Random

The Kingdom of "Heaven" is as a small seed of concept that associates itself with all the truths and proofs of the tilled and fertile mind. From the minim of its existence, it spreads throughout the world, and spreads its seeds to others, where, if their minds are open and fertile, the Kingdom of Heaven grows in them as well.
- StarChaser

The smallest of seed (the insignificant ones) falls on tilled ground (to till land you have to disrupt it, turn it over, upheaval, pain) but when they grow will become a mighty tree indeed. Being a true Christian involves some suffering or tilling in order to become who the Lord would want you to be.
- losttraveler