<p>4:32 <i>Yet when it is sown, grows up- </i>The phrase in Greek appears rather strange until we recall Mark's theme of immediacy of response. He envisages the sown seed growing up immediately, in a moment.</p><p><i>And becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches so that the birds of the sky can lodge under the shadow of it</i>- Not &lsquo;grows into&rsquo; a tree. The tiniest seed was only supposed to grow into a bush, but this unusual seed &lsquo;became&rsquo; a tree,&nbsp;<i>ginomai</i>&nbsp;carrying the sense of being &lsquo;caused to become&rsquo;. This was another element of the unreal- a shrub became a tree. It is (Mt. 13:32) &quot;the greatest&quot;; but the mustard bush is not the greatest herb and it is far from the tallest tree. The emphasis is on the word &ldquo;it&rdquo;- when&nbsp;<i>this&nbsp;</i>particular tiny seed grows&hellip; The point is that this particular tiny seed had extraordinary growth. This on one hand speaks of the amazing growth experienced by the believer from the apparently tiny beginnings of the Gospel. And yet the specific language of&nbsp;<i>the greatest</i>&nbsp;suggests the entire parable may refer to the Lord Jesus, the ultimate seed, tiny and despised, yet who grew to become the Kingdom of God under whose branches the Gentile world would find blessing. For 'the Kingdom' was a legitimate title for Jesus, the King of the Kingdom who embodied it in His very person (Lk. 17:21). If here the Lord (as elsewhere) is speaking parables to and about Himself, it would in this context be in encouraging others as to the huge extent of growth possible. For Jesus is the parade example of how something which began so small- an egg within the womb of a barefoot unmarried teenager- could become so great.</p><p>The mustard seed becomes a tree so big that all the birds of the air can live in it (Mk. 4:32). But mustard trees aren't <i>this</i> big. Surely the point is that the small seed of the Gospel produces a quite out of proportion result- by reading literature, spotting a press advertisement, getting baptized... we will by grace become part of the Kingdom of God, and provide shelter to the nations of this world. This is the extraordinary power of the Gospel. This is how far it will take us, and the extent to which we can, through the Gospel, become saviours of men. See on Mt. 13:33; Rev. 17:18.</p><p>Mark records that the Lord emphasized that the branches were &quot;great&quot;,&nbsp;<i>megas</i>&nbsp;(Mk. 4:32). The&nbsp;<i>mikro</i>&nbsp;seed became&nbsp;<i>mega</i>; but the greatness of the tree was because of the greatness of the individual branches. A mustard bush doesn't have 'great' branches, but in this unreal story, it does have them. According to the Lord's parable of Jn. 15:5, the branches represented the disciples: &quot;I am the vine, you are the branches&quot;. The total greatness of the Lord Jesus depends to some extent upon the degree to which we grow into great branches. The disciples were depressed at the lack of response to their message, and the failure of John's ministry in first century Palestine. The Lord is encouraging them personally that from their&nbsp;<i>mikro</i>, tiny beginnings, they would become great branches, and be able to provide shelter for the birds of the Gentiles; although the &quot;birds&quot; in the earlier parable of the sower were representative of the Jewish religious leaders. When the disciples later baptized priests and Pharisees, the Lord's ambitious vision began to come true.<br />There are a number of insights throughout the parables into how the Lord perceived His future Kingdom. Significantly, His emphasis in the parables of the Kingdom is upon our spiritual status then, rather than on the physical wonders which His reign will bring on the earth. He&nbsp;foresaw how although our faith is so puny now, as a mustard seed, we will be those who will be as a solid tree, a real place of refuge, to the nations of the Millennium (Mt. 13:31,32 = Ez. 17:23,24).&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Each of the records of the great preaching commission in the Gospels ties in with earlier passages within the same Gospel record. Mark&rsquo;s &ldquo;preach the gospel to every creature&rdquo; is to be understood in the context of the Lord&rsquo;s prophecy that the seed of His Gospel would be sown by preaching, and would result in creatures&nbsp;of all kinds coming under its&rsquo; shadow (Mk. 16:15 cp. 4:32). The extent of witness we make is our choice; and according to how well we do it, so the extent of the shadow of the Kingdom gives shelter to many kinds.</p>