By Hank Hanegraaff
A tired old canard making the rounds these days is that the gospel of Mark and the God-man Messiah were both mistaken about the size of mustard seeds. The argument is typically framed as follows: Orchid seeds are smaller than mustard seeds. Thus, when Mark recorded Messiah as saying that a mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, Jesus was patently mistaken. It follows, therefore, that if Jesus was mistaken, Jesus is not God. And if Mark recorded Messiah’s mistake, the Bible is not infallible. What’s wrong with this picture?
First, in order to interpret the Bible literally, we must pay special attention to what is known as form or genre. Put another way, to interpret the Bible literally, we must first consider the form of literature we are interpreting. Just as a legal brief differs in form from fantasy literature, so, too, a parable concerning a mustard seed differs in form and function from a technical discussion on horticulture.
Furthermore, when Jesus asked, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like?” (Mark 4:30), we should immediately be alerted to the fact that Jesus is about to use an extended simile—a parable—to teach His disciples a principle about the kingdom. Indeed, Jesus said as much when He continued with, “Or what parable shall we use to describe it?” (v. 30). As with metaphors, the danger is to interpret extended similes in a strictly wooden and literal sense. The kingdom of God is obviously not like a mustard seed in every way. Nor does Jesus intend to make His parable “walk on all fours.” A kingdom does not look like a mustard seed, nor is a mustard seed the smallest seed in the kingdom. Rather, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed in the sense that it begins small and becomes large (cf. Daniel 2:31–45).
Finally, although the One who caused the universe to leap into existence (another figure of speech) by simply speaking would obviously know that an orchid seed is smaller than a mustard seed, an orchid seed would have been profoundly inept for the purpose of the parable. Jesus used the smallest seed familiar to a Palestinian farmer—a small seed that, unlike an orchid seed, grows to have “big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:32)—to illustrate that the kingdom of God began in obscurity but would one day fill the earth.
In sum, to avoid the dangers of the hyperliteralism of fundamentalist scholars on the left, it is crucial to read the Bible as literature, paying close attention to form. As we do, you and I must ever be mindful that the Bible is not merely literature. Instead, the Scriptures are uniquely inspired by the Spirit.
Thus, we must pay careful attention to the consensus of the fathers and fervently pray that the Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures, illumines our minds as we learn to read the Bible for all its worth.
“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when
it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
Mark 4:30–32 NKJV
***Note the preceding text is adapted from The Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition: Revised and Expanded (2024). To receive for your partnering gift please click here. ***