30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God ? or with what comparison shall we com- pare it ?
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 :
32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all
herbs, and shooteth out great branch- es • so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
34 But without a parable spake he not unto them : and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
The parable of the mustard seed is one of those para- bles which partake of the character both of history and prophecy. It seems intended to illustrate the history of Christ's visible church on earth, from the time of the first advent down to the judgment day. The seed cast into the earth, in the preceding parable, showed us the work of grace in a heart. The mustard seed shows us the progress of professing Christianity in the world.
We learn, in the first place, that, like the grain of mustard seed, Christ's visible church was to be small and weak in its beginnings.
A grain of mustard seed was a proverbial expression among the Jews for something very small and insignifi-