MUSTARD SEED
If you do not take the mustard seed that He spoke about, if you do not sow it in your field, then you will be left without a seed at all...
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian
Jesus Christ (Savior)
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which, although smaller than all the seeds, when it grows, is larger than all the grains and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches (Matthew 13: 31,32).
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed.
When they came to the people, a man came up to Him and, kneeling before Him, said: Lord! Have mercy on my son, he goes berserk on new moons and suffers greatly, for he often throws himself into fire and often into water. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not heal him. Jesus answered and said: O faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I tolerate you? bring him here to Me. And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed that hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive him out?” Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief, for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you, but this generation will only be driven out. prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:14-21).
If you had faith the size of a mustard seed and said to this fig tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” then it would listen to you (Luke 17:6).
Saint Macarius the Great
He is the Head of the Church of saints and He is the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13:31);
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian
This grain is the grace of the Divine Spirit
So, whoever comes to Me, thus unfeignedly prostrating himself before Me (so that every creature can hear), I will immediately accept him. But if someone wanted to receive My grace by cunning and came hypocritically, having malice inside or relying on his own works, being obsessed with arrogance or envy, he will have absolutely no part with Me. God proclaims this to you and everyone through us every hour. If you wish, I will clearly prove to you with other arguments that here you must still perceive the entire Kingdom of Heaven if you want to enter it after death. Listen to God speaking to you again in parables. What do I compare the Kingdom of Heaven to? Listen: it is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and it sprang up and became a truly great tree (Matthew 13:31). So tell me, listener, what is this grain? What do you think of him? Tell me frankly, otherwise I will speak and proclaim the truth. Of course, He called the Kingdom of Heaven grain for you. This grain is the grace of the Divine Spirit. And the field is the heart of each person, where the one who receives the Spirit plunges it, hiding it in the inner parts so that no one sees it, and guards it with all care, so that it grows and, becoming a tree, rises to Heaven. So, if you say that not here, but after death, all who ardently desire it will receive the Kingdom of Heaven, then you are perverting the words of our Savior and God. For if you do not take the mustard seed that He spoke about, if you do not sow it in your field, you will be left without a seed at all. If you have taken the seed, but choke it with thorns, or give the grain to be plundered by birds, or carelessly leave your field without irrigation and your seed does not sprout, does not grow and does not bear fruit, then tell me, what benefit will you get from this seed? When at another time, if not now, will you receive this seed? After death, you say. But you are deviating from the natural order: in what field, I ask you, will you then hide this grain? With what labor will you cultivate it so that it grows? Truly, brother, you are full of error and completely deceived. For this time is the time of labors, and the future is the time of crowns.
Here you must get a pledge for yourself, said the Lord; here must perceive the seal. If you are prudent, then light the lamp of your soul here before darkness comes and the gates of action are closed. Here I am for you a pearl that you can buy. Here I am wheat to you and like a grain of mustard seed. Here I am leaven for you and leaven your mixture. Here I am water and delightful fire for you. I am here for you with clothes, food, and all kinds of drink, if you wish. This is what the Lord says. So, if from these things you come to know Me as such and in this way, then you will also have Me there, and in an indescribable way I will become everything to you. If you leave here, not knowing the actions of My grace, then even there you will find in Me only a merciless Judge. O my Christ and my God, do not judge me then and do not punish me for having sinned much before You, but accept me as one of the last of Your hired servants, and grant me worthy from now on to serve You, my Savior, and to receive Your Divine Spirit - the guarantee of the Kingdom, and there enjoy the glory of Your palace, contemplating You, my God, forever and ever. Amen
Venerable Ephraim the Syrian
Whoever has faith and does works of faith, faith is like a self-propelled mustard seed.
Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria
(Interpretation on the Gospel of Mark)
And he said: What shall we compare the Kingdom of God to? or by what parable shall we depict it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; and when it is sown, it sprouts and becomes larger than all the grains, and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can take refuge under its shadow. And he preached the word to them in many parables, as far as they could hear. He did not speak to them without a parable, but explained everything to his disciples in private.
The word of faith is not enough: because you just have to believe in Christ, and you will be saved. You see that this word is as small as a mustard seed. But the preaching of the word, sown on the earth, expanded and grew, so that the birds of the air rest on it, that is, all people with lofty and heavenly minds and knowledge. Indeed, how many wise men calmed down at this sermon, abandoning Hellenic wisdom! Thus, the sermon became greater than anything else and sent forth great branches. For the apostles dispersed like branches: one to Rome, another to India, a third to Achaia, and the rest to other countries of the earth. The Lord speaks to the people in many parables, offering parables according to the condition of the listeners. Since the people were simple and uneducated, he therefore reminds them of mustard seeds, grass and seeds, in order to teach them something useful with familiar and ordinary objects, or to force them to come up and ask, and understand something incomprehensible from the question. Thus, He explained everything to the disciples in private, since they directly approached Him and asked questions. He explained everything only about what they asked and what they didn’t know, and not everything in general, even if it was clear. For when they understood what they were asking about, then other things became clear to them, and thus everything was resolved for them.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
About the Mustard Seed
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which, although smaller than all the seeds, when it grows, is larger than all the grains and becomes a large tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches” (Matt. 13:31,32).
In the East, the mustard plant reaches large sizes (more than twelve feet), although its grain is extremely small, so that the Jews of the time of Christ had a saying: “Small as a mustard seed.” This comparison of the Kingdom of God with a mustard seed was fully confirmed by the rapid spread of the Church throughout the countries of the pagan world. The Church, being at first a small, inconspicuous religious society for the rest of the world, represented by a small group of unlearned Galilean fishermen, spread over the course of two centuries throughout the entire face of the then world - from wild Scythia to sultry Africa and from distant Britain to mysterious India. People of all races, languages, and cultures found salvation and spiritual peace in the Church, just as birds find refuge in the branches of a mighty oak tree in stormy weather.
Orthodox wedge
Author: Archpriest Boris BalashovThere are many passages in the Gospel that can be difficult to understand. Today we'll talk about one of them.
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Mt 17:20)
Does this mean that there are no truly religious people?
It is clear that Christians are not faced with the task of changing the geographical conditions of their homeland. However, the first Christians, one might say, moved a mountain: they converted to Christ a huge number of pagans who had lost almost all moral guidelines. Moreover, this was done in the first three centuries under conditions of constant bloody persecution, when Christianity was outlawed in the Roman Empire and virtually doomed to physical destruction.
Jean-Leon Gerome "Last prayers of Christian martyrs"
A similar miracle was repeated in our Fatherland, where the satanic in spirit, bloodthirsty power doomed Christianity to complete destruction. In the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of clergy and millions of believers suffered just for their faith. And already during the “thaw”, the first secretary of the Communist Party and head of state not only announced the construction of communism by 1980, but even before this date promised to show “the last priest” on television. And I have been serving as a priest for thirty-eight years now...
I saw with my own eyes how they fought against the Christian faith, how they treated people for going to worship services, how they kicked them out of educational institutions, and removed them from waiting lists for apartments and kindergartens. From the age of seventeen until the time of Gorbachev, they checked my correspondence, I did not receive a single parcel unopened, they monitored telephone conversations and more...
Orthodox churches were constantly and systematically closed in the USSR. But then came the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', and the people stirred up. Since that time, the number of active believers has more than quadrupled.
So much for moving mountains!
Let's turn to the Gospel. The Lord said to His disciples: Truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17:19-20).
The apostles received from Jesus the power to perform miracles in His Name, but to perform a miracle, it was necessary to have unshakable faith in the divine power of the One who gave them this power and the confidence that with this power a miracle would actually be performed. But the apostles did not always have such faith.
The Lord compares the power of faith required to perform a miracle to a mustard seed, which, as we know, was the smallest. But the point is not at all that a little faith is enough to perform a miracle and that the apostles did not have it. The apostles undoubtedly believed in Christ. They even called Him the Son of God.
Christians who had a strong and unshakable faith in Christ, during the persecution, courageously endured terrible torture and died, not doubting for a moment that there, beyond the grave, they would meet the Savior. Such a firm, unshakable faith could really work miracles. Christ compared such strong faith to a mustard seed. From a small living grain a large tree grows. Being very small, it contains enormous life-giving power. For those who have such faith, nothing is impossible. Therefore, the Apostle James writes about faith this way: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask with faith, without any doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, lifted and tossed by the wind. Let such a person not think of receiving anything from the Lord (James 1:5-7).
Since, as we have already said, some “mountains” turned out to be moved due to the faith of Christians, there is no reason to claim that there are no real believers.
About difficulties in prayer Are all prayers only for men?
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FAITH AS A MUSTARD SEED - A LOOK AT THE FUTURE
“The Lord said: if you had faith the size of a mustard seed and said to this fig tree:
“Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea,” then she would listen to you.” (Luke 17:6).
One elderly believer asked me: “How do you understand these words of Christ?”
“Literally,” I said.
The man flushed: “What are you saying!? We can’t replant trees with words!..”
I answered that since we cannot replant trees with words, it means that we do not have faith even the size of a mustard seed...
The man was outraged. He believed in God all his long life, and believed that he had a strong faith in God. Then he began to explain to me that this was a parable of Jesus, which should not be taken literally. According to him, the “fig tree” that Christ spoke about is a certain set of negative qualities located in our hearts, which we, by developing faith in ourselves, can “transplant” from ourselves and get rid of them. And the sea is not taken literally. This is a symbol of the abyss, depth, the path of no return, where you need to throw your bad qualities and inclinations...
RELIGIOUS MOUNTAIN OF WISDOM
This man's explanations represent a classic example of how religion replaces the true meaning of Scripture with religious philosophy and casuistry, and how it turns the words of Christ upside down, diverting the listener's attention from the main thing and switching it to the secondary.
Meanwhile, it is clearly seen that in the above case Christ was not talking about the fig tree. And Christ did not speak about the sea. The Lord taught here about faith. He said that His disciples had very little faith. And He spoke about the great power and power of faith.
Christ used the example of the mustard seed more than once. There was a case when the disciples could not cast out a demon from a person. “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive him out?” Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief; For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt. 17:14-20).
The religious man mentioned above also explains the “mountain” from Jesus’ answer as a mountain of problems that arise on the spiritual path of a believer, and which he pushes aside with his faith...
For Christian religions, infected with pagan ideas about the afterlife, about the exit of a person from the body, professing the life of a person outside the body, preaching the destruction of the earth, for such religions many texts of the Bible are incomprehensible, mysterious, and generally contradictory. For example, the words of the Lord from the Sermon on the Mount are so inconvenient for religions: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”; or, as the Modern Russian Bible translation says: “Blessed are the meek! God will give them ownership of the land.” And the Lord’s Prayer itself, “Our Father,” despite the fact that it is regularly repeated by religions, is pronounced only formally, without any understanding of its meaning, which directly says that the will of God on earth will be the same as in heaven.
Christ's words about faith as small as a mustard seed are equally difficult words for religions.
THE POWER OF FAITH
A study of Scripture shows that the words of Christ about faith, the size of a mustard seed, are, as it were, a small, barely noticeable tip of the huge iceberg of information that is contained in the Bible about the essence of man, about his nature and about his future.
The meaning of the Bible's teaching about man is that man is a man only in the body. There is a body, which means there is a person. No body - no person. This is the teaching of the Bible.
Just as authoritatively, the Holy Scripture tells that man, material, bodily, can and should have freedom of communication with God. And he must receive help and strength from God. Without this, a person simply cannot exist.
Question: How will this help and power of God manifest itself for man?
It will be visible in deeds, events and forms of a material nature. Ancient prophets, for example, Elijah and Elisha, had enormous help from God. And what? They could perform great miracles! They even raised the dead. Literally, materially.
Christ came to earth with the authority and power of God. And how was this power and strength manifested? In miracles and in material affairs.
The apostles received the authority and power of God at Pentecost. How was this seen? From their deeds, visible, material.
What does all this emphasize? The fact that man is a corporeal, literal, material being. And eternal life will be given to him the same.
In order for a corporeal material person to live forever, he, in addition to the obligatory deepest spiritual qualities and abilities, must have some special gifts and material capabilities. He must be capable of such things that for a modern mortal man are simply a real miracle. And this is exactly how it will be. In God's Kingdom, death will lose its power over man. It will be impossible to kill an immortal person. Just as now a “program” of destruction and aging works in the human body, so in the Kingdom of God a program of restoration and healing will work in the human body.
The Son of God, Jesus, showed by His personal example what eternal man will be like, what capabilities and abilities he will have. He came down from heaven to earth. He took on a material body through a woman. And He did such things and performed such deeds that were an incredible miracle for all people. They could kill Him only because He Himself went to death, sacrificing His life for the sake of people, as the Savior of sinners.
Christ miraculously healed the sick. He healed literally, physically, financially.
Christ miraculously fed the hungry. He literally fed me financially.
Christ raised the dead. He resurrected literally, materially, physically.
Christ walked on water. I walked literally, materially, physically.
Christ commanded the storm and the storm to subside immediately. And they immediately obeyed. Literally, materially.
What, Christ was a materialist? No, Christ was eminently a man of the Spirit. And he was the executor of the will of the Almighty regarding man, the image of God in a material body.
As Christ was on earth, such will be the people who receive eternal life. They will be able to heal, heal, heal, including themselves. And they will literally be able to “replant trees and move mountains” with just one word. Moreover, all this is only the minimum of what an immortal person will be capable of.
The miracle, the incredible miracle of transplanting a tree into the sea and moving a mountain in one word, Jesus compared to a mustard seed. That is, Christ said that for such incredible miracles a person will need only “faith” the size of a mustard seed, that is, the very minimum. But what can a person whose faith grows to the size of a mountain be able to do? If a person can do this with a minimum, then what will he do with the maximum of faith when he comes, as it is written, “to the measure of the full stature of Christ”? What prospects of opportunity will open up for people when, as it is written, “God Himself will dwell with them”?
Man was conceived by the Creator as a material likeness and image of Himself, God. Man was made ruler over nature. Man's words and deeds were to reflect the Greatness and Words of God.
God loves man very much. God's love for man surpasses all understanding. God saves man from death. But while a person is mortal, God makes the most minimal demands on him. Almost microscopic.
Although Christ spoke about faith as small as a mustard seed, Christ did not demand that we now move mountains. And he did not set the condition that such faith is absolutely necessary for salvation. God doesn’t even expect faith the size of a mustard seed from us now. The size of a mustard seed would be too big for us. It is clear from everything that God is waiting for us now to show faith not even the size of a mustard seed, but, as it were, the size of a molecule, or even an atom. And this faith, so small, such a mini-micro size, will be enough for Him to declare us righteous, to give us eternal life. And there, in eternal life, we will achieve complete faith in perfection.
Addressing mortal man, the Merciful Lord says simply this: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your whole house will be saved.” This, in truth, is faith, comparable in size only to an elementary particle, to one atom. God makes such concessions just to save a person.
God has always been like this. Let us remember, for example, ancient Nineveh. Her sins were so great that the Lord sentenced her to destruction. But as soon as Nineveh asked God for mercy, God immediately responded and canceled His sentence. What did Nineveh do? What kind of faith did she have? Clearly smaller than a mustard seed. The Ninevites did not move trees or mountains with words. All they did was repent. And this was enough for the Lord to grant them salvation. Christ spoke of them as saved.
Nowadays God expects the same minimum of faith from people. And it consists of repentance before God. And that’s it! And you will be saved! “So, leaving the times of ignorance, God now commands people everywhere to repent; For He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed, having given proof to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17).
Christ's teaching about faith, the size of a mustard seed, is not a reproach or reproof for us, but a powerful support that strengthens our hope for eternal life, which He promised to those who believe in Him. Now there is no need to literally replant trees and move mountains. The time will come for this. Just as in the beginning God created everything with His Word, so in His Kingdom, a holy, sinless person, having reached the state of the image and likeness of God, will act with the word. God will give man such strength.
The Bible shows many times how seriously God takes the words every person speaks. Christ once said: “I tell you that for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment; For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12). According to the Bible, idle talk is one of the deeds of sinful people. The Word is something extremely important in the eyes of God. But that's another topic...
Now we need to repent - who has not yet repented - and live according to the commandments of God. And everything else will follow... there, in the Kingdom of God, where, by the will of the Creator, such exciting prospects will open up for immortal man that even the most daring science fiction writer cannot imagine today.
“...So that your faith rests not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. We preach wisdom among the perfect, but the wisdom not of this age, and not of the passing authorities of this age, but we preach the wisdom of God, secret, hidden, which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the authorities of this age knew; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God revealed this to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God...” (1 Corinthians 2 chapters).
