<p>4:31- see on Jn. 12:23-25.</p><p><i>It is like a grain- </i>Gk. 'a kernel'. The element of unreality is that a farmer would not consciously sow one tiny seed in a field. But the Lord does this, knowing the potential power within that one tiny seed. He 'takes' this&nbsp;one tiny seed in his palm, we are to imagine out into the field and sows it. And the mustard bush was perceived as a weed, a wild bush, not a crop. But it grows into a tree, it grows far greater and more majestically than could ever be expected. Here again is the Lord's encouragement to His disillusioned preachers- the growth of the Gospel, rather like the unreal increase on the good ground, is out of all proportion to what it initially is. Preaching appears 'foolish' (1 Cor. 1:18,21); that by sharing the Gospel with others, the vast majority of whom ultimately reject it, something so wonderful and eternal can really come. This parable thereby highlights the faith of the Father and Son, the sowers, that the word of the Kingdom really would survive and grow out of all proportion to its beginnings. This was exactly the encouragement which the disciples needed to hear, disillusioned as they were by the pathetic response to John&rsquo;s ministry and the Lord&rsquo;s real spiritual demands upon people.</p><p><i>Of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the earth</i>- <br />Many of the Lord&rsquo;s parables had some oblique reference to Himself. The parable of the sower speaks of the type of ground which gave one hundred fold yield- and surely the Lord was thinking of Himself in this. And yet the whole point of the parable is that all who receive the Lord&rsquo;s word have the possibility of responding in this way. Or take the related parable of the mustard seed =God&rsquo;s word of the Gospel which grows up into a huge tree under which all the birds can find refuge (Mk. 4:31,32). This image is replete with allusion to Old Testament pictures of God&rsquo;s future Kingdom, and the growth of Messiah from a small twig into a great tree (Ez. 17:22). Here we see the power of the basic Gospel message- truly responded to, it can enable us to have a share in the very heights to which the Lord Jesus is exalted.</p><p>Gk.&nbsp;<i>mikros</i>, the tiniest, the least. Mark adds that it was the tiniest of all seeds&nbsp;<i>in the earth</i>&nbsp;(Mk. 4:31). It was the tiniest seed known in the land- and the term often refers to the land promised to Abraham. It was the tiniest imaginable seed. And it would grow into the greatest imaginable tree. The point has been made that orchid and other seeds are actually smaller than mustard seeds (H. N. Moldenke and A.L. Moldenke,&nbsp;<i>Plants of the Bible</i>&nbsp;(Waltham, Mass.: Chronica Botanica Company, 1952) p.61). But the Bible is written from the perspective of its original hearers, it never claims to present global scientific truth, and the mustard seed was the smallest seed known to the Lord&rsquo;s audience.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>