the seed be
sown, even though the sower be straightway called to other fields or
other duties; in the gladsome harvest he shall find his recompense.

THE MUSTARD SEED.

"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of
heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and
sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but
when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a
tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the
branches thereof."[630]

This little story, addressed to the assembled multitude, must have set
many thinking, because of the simplicity of the incident related and the
thoroughly un-Jewish application made of it. To the mind taught by
teachers of the time the kingdom was to be great and glorious from its
beginning; it was to be ushered in by blare of trumpets and tramp of
armies, with King Messiah at the head; yet this new Teacher spoke of it
as having so small a beginning as to be comparable to a mustard seed. To
make the illustration more effective He specified that the seed spoken
of was "the least of all seeds." This superlative expression was made in
a relative sense; for there were and are smaller seeds than the mustard,
even among garden plants, among which rue and poppy have been named; but
each of these plants is very small in maturity, while the
well-cultivated mustard plant is one of the greatest among common herbs,
and presents a strong contrast of growth from tiny seed to spreading
shrub.

Moreover, the comparison "as small as a mustard seed" was in every-day
use among Jews of the time. The comparison employed by Jesus on another
occasion evidences the common usage, as when He said: "If ye have faith
as a grain of mustard seed ... nothing shall be impossible unto
you."[631] It should be known that the mustard plant attains in
Palestine a larger growth than in more northerly climes.[632] The lesson
of the parable is easy to read. The seed is a living entity. When
rightly planted it absorbs and assimilates the nutritive matters of soil
and atmosphere, grows, and in time is capable of affording lodgment and
food to the birds. So the seed of truth is vital, living, and capable of
such development as to furnish spiritual food and shelter to all who
come seeking. In both conceptions, the plant at maturity produces seed
in abundance, and so from a single grain a whole field may be covered.

THE LEAVEN.