Parable of the Mustard Seed
I know Jesus as a teacher of wisdom who taught that to be saved from ourselves we must shift our consciousness from the world outside, which he knew as his Jewish faith under the domination of Rome, to a world within, which he called the kingdom of God. He said this kingdom is present now for all to enter and be fulfilled. No one is turned away. It is the source of all we seek. Fulfillment does not come from worldly possessions and relationships. It comes from God’s love, expressed as compassion for all.
Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds.
With this parable, Jesus might be teaching that God’s presence can be overlooked when we seek shelter only in the world. We may miss seeing what matters most when worldly concerns dominate our minds. Yet, when we do open up to God, or prepare our soil as Jesus urges, we find that the smallest awareness of God’s presence, the kingdom within us, will grow exponentially to give shelter for greater fulfillment than the world can offer. Our desires then come from God’s will instead of our own. God’s kingdom may seem small when we first touch its presence, but in the nurturing ground of our inner awareness it grows large and comforting. Our thoughts soar higher, like birds in the sky, to gain greater fulfillment. We find shelter in the love, joy, and peace that God’s kingdom offers, instead of seeking security in transitory power, possessions, and relationships that we spend lifetimes in fear of losing. It is as if Jesus were saying: Prepare to receive the kingdom so God’s presence can grow mightily in you.
The smallest seed contains the whole of the plant. This is Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. We are the smallest of seeds, yet the entirety of the I AM is within each of us. The presence that Jesus called God was the presence of a warm and loving father, Abba. That presence in me is twia, and the kingdom of God is the room within.