The mustard seed is used five times in the NT, as a metaphor of the kingdom of God and of faith:
Matt 13:31 - He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. [Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.]"
Matt 17:20 - [Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"] He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain,`Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Mk 4:31 - [Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?] 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. [Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.]"
Lk 13:19 - [Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?] It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."
Lk 17:6 - [The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"] He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree,`Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
While the general point of Jesus's parable and metaphoric use of the mustard seed is clear, there is a problem in interpretation of the specific meaning of the mustard seed. The English word 'mustard' translates the Greek sinapi. Mustard as we know it today represents the seeds of several species of plants belonging to the family called Brassicaceae; these are ground up and mixed with vinegar and other ingredients to prepare a spicy condiment for other foods. None of them, however, fits Jesus's description of it being "the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches" (Matt 13:32). All the mustard plants we know of produce neither the 'smallest seed' nor a 'tree.' Jesus's audience (and the authors of the Gospels) would have known that the "mustard," though its seeds are quite small, is not the smallest of seeds; the seeds of the figs (a fruit very familiar to them) are even smaller. It would be quite silly for anyone, therefore, to argue that Jesus was wrong. It simply means that we have a translational problem on our hands. Did Jesus have a different plant in mind whose referent is now lost to us? That is the real issue.
For a useful discussion on this question,
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On the meaning and importance of Jesus's parables of the mustard seed as the kingdom of God, click here ☰
On the meaning and importance of Jesus's parables of our faith as a mustard seed,
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