I know that you have heard the phrase "faith the size of a mustard seed", but what does that really mean? And how does it apply to you and your life?
The Bible says in Matthew 13:31 He gave them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the wild birds come and nest in its branches." NET
I wonder if Jesus was by some fields. At the beginning of Matthew 13, in verse one, it says that Jesus was sitting by the sea with great multitudes around him, so he asked to get in a boat so he could address the crowd better. He then told some parables, starting with the sower that sowed some seed.
Then verses 31-32 as quoted above and Mark 4:30-34 "He also asked, "To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it? It is like a mustard seed that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground -when it is sown, it grows up, becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds can nest in its shade." NET
Jesus was using that which was around him, and the things that people could understand to explain a concept. "The Kingdom of God is like...." and each parable tells of a different facet of the Kingdom.
The concept of the mustard seed is that it starts out very small, yet it grows to be large enough for the birds of air to sit in it. (Now, they might have had a different mustard plant than the ones I know about. The yellow flower shown here is the flower I've always known as mustard plant isn't very big. I used to pick the flowers and feed them to my parakeets when I was young. They loved them!)
The process of a seed to go from simply a dry seed to a large plant is quite a transformation! It takes time, water, and sun/heat, and it doesn't happen overnight. The seed itself needs to break open to allow for new life to put out roots and grow. Then to reach it's full potential, it keeps growing into full maturity when it is useful and helping to others. And then at full maturity, it puts forth more seed and multiplies its kind.
In light of the life span of a mustard seed, then, our faith must be one that dies to our own expectations to become something different. Then it must grow to be useful and helpful to others, and then it must also multiply and bring forth more seed. More seed to grow and multiply to bring forth more, etc., etc.
Now that we have explained how the mustard seed grows, we will look at another time when Jesus spoke about the mustard seed. This occurred right after the transfiguration on the mountain. A man had brought his son to the disciples for help because the boy was tormented by a demon who would throw him into the fire and hurt him. The disciples had not gotten the demon to leave and so the man asked Jesus for help.
The demon left right away when Jesus told it to leave, and they were all left wondering why they couldn't have done the same thing.
Matthew 17:20 "He told them, "It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you." NET
A mustard seed grows and is powerful at maturity (compared to the seed). Jesus was telling his disciples that they had not grown to full maturity. Their faith was still an unsprouted seed. That's all it takes to get started. And you have to start somewhere. Everyone can start at that size if you know the potential of the full growth, then you know that you will get there if you keep on growing.
John 14:12 "I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father." NET
So, where is your faith? Is it still a seed? Are you growing? Have you reached a place of maturity? Are you seeding more faith into others? Do you know the power of the full potential of your mustard seed that Jesus displayed? You have the same potential Jesus spoke of here in John 14.
This is the full maturity of the mustard seed. Doing what Jesus did - and even greater! So let your faith grow. Stay tuned in to Him, and let Him guide you and grow your faith so that your mustard seed will move mountains.
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