4:30-32
We then get another seed based parable, this time about the mustard seed. There is a tendency to see the kingdom of God in worldly terms, and to seek its growth by worldly methods. In Jesus’ day some may have expected an uprising, but when on trial Jesus explicitly said that His kingdom was not of this world(John 18:36). By this He did not mean that His kingdom has nothing to do with this world, far from it, it has everything to do with this world. Rather, Jesus meant that worldly methods are not used. Today using worldly methods can be seen in various ways, megachurches in USA may do so, churches in the West frequently seek to emulate the world. But there is also another mistake we can make, and that is to assume that the kingdom will always remain small. Jesus counters both these errors in this parable. On the one hand the kingdom influence in a place can seem to start off so small and insignificant, but though it starts small it does not remain small. We can see that in the West throughout history. It started off as such a small insignificant group of people with little power. Yet the church grew to dominate Western culture. Of course, with that came many other failings.
4:33,34
The parables we have are presumably not the sum total of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus took account of how much His “audience” could understand. We can sometimes be tempted to try and teach someone everything all at once. We need to be aware of how much they can take at a time. Jesus used parables in a unique way, and it was the only way He used with the general populus. When alone with His disciples He explained everything to them. So we need to spend time with Jesus. If we are teachers we also need to differentiate between what we will teach large groups, and what we can teach in small group settings.
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