What Do You Mean? Well, Let's Say That .......

Jesus Used Parables To Teach About God's Kingdom

Mustard Seed

"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 of garden plants

and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the

air come and perch in its branches."

Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV)

My mustard seed necklace was one of the few pieces of jewelry I owned as a child. It was given to me on Christmas when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I thought it was really neat but I didn't really understand its significance. I remember one Sunday morning during Sunday School the teacher started talking about the mustard seed and my ears certainly perked up. The teacher told us something like - your faith may be small like the mustard seed now but if you continue to trust and obey Jesus, you will have a very big faith. Wow! I thought my necklace was really special after that.

Why did Jesus teach using Parables? When I was younger, I never understood why He used these examples but as years have passed I have a better understanding of His actions. So many times, I have been trying to explain something to someone and he/she would look puzzled and I could tell that he/she didn't understand what I was saying. Then I would say - well let's say that you were... so forth and so on (giving an example that may help relate what I was trying to say in different words with the same meaning).

I will try to explain what the parable means to me. Jesus is the man who was planting the seeds in the parable. He was explaining the Kingdom of God in basic terms that could be understood by the masses. The seeds should continue to be planted throughout time by everyone of faith - all over the world. Each person who has found Salvation through Christ helps the tree to grow. The parable continues to say that birds will have a place to come and perch on the tree. This to me means that the faithful can find rest in Him and have a place in God's Kingdom. Just like my "family tree" gets larger and larger, so does my "family tree" in Christ.