“But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”
Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, and puts out large branches, so that the birds can perch in its shade — the contrast between the smallest beginning and the largest result is the parable's central claim. The mustard plant (Brassica nigra) can grow to over three meters in a single season — an extraordinary expansion from a tiny seed. The birds nesting in its branches echoes the great tree imagery of Ezekiel 31 and Daniel 4, both of which use the image of a great tree sheltering birds to describe a kingdom that welcomes and provides for all peoples. The kingdom that begins as the smallest possible thing becomes the sheltering place for all nations.
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