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The Mustard Seed

Jesus compared God's kingdom to a tiny mustard seed that grows surprisingly large.

Matthew 13:31–32; Mark 4:30–34; Luke 13:18–19About 2 minutes

Let’s begin

Jesus told a parable about God’s kingdom. In Matthew it is called the kingdom of heaven. He asked what it was like and pictured a mustard seed, taken by a man and sown in the ground.

What happened next

Jesus said this seed is very small. Yet once it is planted, it grows. It becomes greater than the herbs or garden plants around it instead of staying tiny.

What happened next

In the parable, the plant grows so large that it is described like a tree. Birds of the sky come to it. Matthew and Luke say they lodge or live in its branches. Mark says they can lodge under its shadow.

The end

So Jesus used one small seed to teach that God’s kingdom should not be judged by a small beginning. Mark adds that Jesus spoke many parables to the crowds as they were able to hear, and later explained things privately to his own disciples.

A children’s retelling of Matthew 13:31–32; Mark 4:30–34; Luke 13:18–19. You can read the Bible passage together too.

This parable appears in Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-34, and Luke 13:18-19. The accounts use slightly different wording, such as field, earth, and garden, and Mark adds that Jesus taught many parables and explained them privately to his disciples. This retelling keeps the shared picture without claiming a single chronology.

Read the Bible passages

Source: World English Bible Classic, a public domain translation. This page is a retelling, rather than a word-for-word Bible text.

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