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Mark 4:30-33 - The parable of the mustard seed

Jesus tells His next parable - of the mustard seed to describe the kingdom of God again.

He says it is the smallest of all seeds when it was sown, yet it grows to be the largest garden plant.

What can this short parable mean?

The mustard seed sown was Jesus Christ. He alone came to this world, rejected by almost all of mankind - even his blood family. Son to a carpenter, He was nobody, insignificant.

But we've seen how His church has grown. Today Christianity is a major religion in the world.

Point of note: why garden plants? I think Jesus uses a garden plant as an example because the seed was sown by a gardener - by God - and at the end of the age the gardener will harvest His garden. Just a thought.

Verse 33 finishes with the short conclusion of the past few parables - that Jesus spoke more unrecorded parables, but did not explain it to the people, but only to His own disciples.

If I'm not mistaken, when Mark writes disciples, he means those who have truly chosen to follow Jesus - not limited to the twelve apostles. Although not all of Jesus's parables are fully explained explicitly in the Scripture, I think if we do look for the answers through consistency in His actions and other Biblical truths, we can understand these parables as well.

Do we have this desire to know what Jesus has taught?
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