Mark 4:30-34 A Mustard Seed
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 18, 2018, Mark 4:30-34
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
He was also saying, “How can we show what the kingdom of God is like, or what parable can we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, when it is planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade.” With many other parables like these, Jesus kept speaking his message to them according to their ability to understand. He did not tell them anything without using a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.
(Revelation of God) Jesus’ purpose for this parable is to teach us about the kingdom of God. My first thought when I hear kingdom of God is heaven, but that does not seem to fit the parable, so I had to think again. When the Bible talks of the church, it does not refer to a place; instead, it refers to God’s people. I think maybe God doesn’t think in terms of place in the same way people do. Instead, He seems to think in terms of creatures. Thus, the kingdom of God is not the place but the people who belong to God.
(Understanding the Text) The mustard seed is tiny but grows into something new, different, and large. It grows into something that benefits others. When God’s message is first accepted into our hearts making us part of His kingdom, it seems small and insignificant. It does not appear life changing, but if we allow it to grow naturally, it will transform into something new and immense in our lives. It will benefit both us and those around us.
This says that Jesus only taught the people with parables. Earlier Jesus said that it was so that they could hear the truth yet not understand. Maybe, at that point they did not need to understand. They only needed to be with Jesus, but later when He was gone, they would need to remember the lessons. A story is the best way to remember a lesson. An example that I can think of is the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf. At the time Jesus’ followers heard the parable, they did not understand, but the story would stay with them, and if they cared enough, it would become clearer and clearer in time.
(Application) Jesus explained all the parables to His disciples. They had been made ready by constant contact with Jesus. It was important that they understood the message of the parables before Jesus left so that they could bring in the harvest of people after He was gone. I notice, however, that Peter only tells us the explanation for one of the parables. It’s almost as if he is saying, “Here is the principle of understanding. Now, figure it out for yourselves.” In this parable, he gives the key that the mustard seed is being compared to the kingdom of heaven; then, he simply tells the story. Thus, I think that parables are meant to be pondered so that we can come up with our own understanding which allows the seed to grow more than if someone just tells us an axiom or moral of a story.
Aesop’s Fables seem to have been popular in the Greek culture surrounding the Jews. The telling of a story to teach a moral lesson may have been a type of teaching that the people were familiar with, accepted, and applied. Thus, Jesus may have been using a teaching method that His students could work well with. I also think that Jesus used parables because He was trying to communicate something totally outside of their experience by comparing it to something familiar. The kingdom of Heaven may seem familiar to us, but it is a culture and way of life that is totally opposite of the kingdom of earth. Our sinful grasping ways are totally opposite of the selfless ways of heaven. He may have been thinking of the gulf between us and how it is bridged by such small things, but if allowed to grow, the small transforms into a new part of the kingdom of heaven.
(Revelation of God) Jesus was taking back the earth piece by piece from Satan, or rather human by human. Victory is determined not by who has the most numbers, but by the very fact that God can transform us from the walking dead of Satan’s kingdom into the living givers of God’s kingdom. That growth is the victory that takes back the earth.
(Understanding the Text) F. F. Bruce’s commentary says that the rapid growth of the mustard bush represented the rapid growth of the church in the apostolic era. The commentary also says that the birds who found rest represented the gentiles who would join the church (page 1162).
(Prayer) Help me to understand the ways of the kingdom of heaven and to live them in my own life.