Composition

The parables of the mustard seed and leaven were probably paired by the compiler of Q. Mark has only the first; Thomas presents both, but in separate places.

The mustard seed is the last of three parables in Mark 4 linked by the catchword "seed." Like the preceding one it is introduced as an illustration of God's imperial rule.

Matt 13 expands Mark 4 by inserting parables that use other images to illustrate the reign of "Heaven" (= God). The parable of the leaven is the first of these, following a version of the parable of the mustard seed that adds details not found in Mark.

Only the first of Mark's seed parables is in Luke 8. The parable of the mustard seed is found in Luke 13. Surprisingly, Luke omits wording shared by Mark and Matthew but instead focuses on the additional details in Matthew's version. Since Luke's version of the parable of the mustard seed is also linked to the parable of the leaven, it clearly did not come from Mark. Most scholars see this combination of facts as evidence that Luke dropped Mark's version of the parable of the mustard seed in favor of Q's pair of parables, while Matthew combined the two.

Location

Matthew puts this pair of parables in a sequence taken from Mark. So Luke's decision to put them elsewhere was probably influenced by Q. But were they here? There are no verbal links to either of the two previous Q clusters (Luke 12:39-46//Matt 24:43-51 and Luke 12:49-59 par.) and only one to the next (see preface to Luke 13:24-30 par.). They fit better after Q's assurance that God will provide for those who seek his dominion (Luke 12:31//Matt 6:33). Still, there is no clear reason why Luke would have moved them here. So, again, most reconstructions of Q follow Luke's sequence.

Luke 13:18-19	Matt 13:31-32	Mark 4:30-32	Thom 20:1-4
			1 The disciples said
	31 He put		to Jesus:
			"Tell us what
	another parable		Heaven's empire *
	before them		is like."
18 Then he was saying:	with these words:	30 And he was saying:	2 He said to them:
"What is		"To what
the empire of God *		shall we compare
like?	"The empire of Heaven *	the empire of God, *
What does it		or what parable
remind me of?		shall we use for it?
19 It's like	is like	31 Think about	"It's like
a mustard seed	a mustard seed	the mustard seed:	a mustard seed.
that a man took	that a man took
and tossed	and sowed	when it is sown
in his garden.	in his field.	on the ground,
	32 Though	though
	it is the smallest	it is the smallest	3 <It's> the smallest
	of all seeds,	of all the seeds	of all seeds,
		on the earth,
		32 yet ---	4 but
		when it is sown ---	when it falls
			on prepared soil,
It grew	when it grows up,	it comes up,
		and becomes
	it is the largest	the biggest
	of all garden plants	of all garden plants,
and became a tree,	and becomes a tree,
		and produces	it produces
		branches,	a large branch
and	so that	so that	and becomes
			a shelter for
the birds of the sky	the birds of the sky	the birds of the sky	birds of the sky."
roosted	come and roost	can nest
in its branches."	in its branches."	in its shade."

* See cameo essay on the empire of God

Kernel

The parable of the mustard seed was recorded in three independent sources: Mark, Q, and Thomas. Luke probably used Q's version, while Matthew blended details from Q and Mark. Thomas' version is close to Mark's but is more compact. All share the same five element structure:

• the empire of God (aka Heaven) is like
• a mustard seed
• fallen (or thrown) on ground
• that grows big
• and shelters birds.

But each gospel writer edits the parable by adding, revising or omitting details. So, it is not certain whether other details (size, branches, a man, etc.) were original or not.

Growing images

This parable uses an odd image to illustrate God's dominion. Hebrew tradition usually portrayed God as ruler over all (see cameo essay on the "Empire of God"). A mustard seed (sinapis nigra), however, is miniscule. It is not, in fact, the smallest seed in the world. But in Judaic circles it was a proverbial image for almost nothing (like "thimble-full" or "feather-weight" in English). The original audience would have known this, whether the parable stressed the seed's size (Mark and Thomas) or not.

The mustard plant grows tall, to four feet or more. It spreads rapidly. But it is not a "shrub" (Mark), much less a tree (Q). It has to begin again each year. It can provide temporary shelter for small birds (Thomas). But its supple "branches" do not support birds roosting (Q), much less nesting (Mark).

The distorted claims of the canonical versions of this parable are caused by confusing the mustard plant with biblical images of trees. Ezekiel (17:22-23) used the towering cedar of Lebanon to predict the development of a great empire

"under which all species of birds will dwell,
winged creatures of every kind will nest
in the shade of its branches."

Mark echoed this passage. Q, instead quoted from a vision in Dan 4:10-12 about an empire of even greater proportions. It is described as a tree reaching to heaven with

"the birds of the sky nested in its branches."

Thus, the wording of this parable in Mark and Q probably represent independent revisions of the original version, under the influence of biblical language. Apparently the authors of both sources thought a great tree was a more fitting image for God's empire than the lowly mustard to which it was originally compared.

Attribution

The mustard seed	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 13:18-19 Matt 13:31-32 Mark 4:30-32 Thom 20:2-4		36 38 43 39	39 31 36 50	21 24 21 11	4 7 0 0	69 67 74 76	pink pink pink red

Almost all the Fellows agreed that only Jesus could have created this provocative parable. The initial comparison is a graphic paradox that parodies traditional images of God's greatness. The mention of a mustard seed was startling enough to get a first-century audience familiar with such things to think of God's dominion in a more down-to-earth setting. Thomas' version was deemed to be closest to the original because it does not distort the mustard metaphor. The canonical versions were rated lower because they twist the image to fit conventional concepts of divine grandeur.

Matt 13:33	Luke 13:20-21	Thom 96:1-2
2 He told them another parable:	20 He continued:	1 Jesus [said]:
"The empire of Heaven *	"What does the empire of God *	"The Father's empire *
	remind me of?
is like leaven	21 It is like leaven	is like
that a woman	that a woman	a woman
took	took	2 who took
		a little leaven,
and concealed	and concealed	[hid] it
in fifty pounds of flour	in fifty pounds of flour	in dough
until it was all leavened."	until it was all leavened."
		and made it
		into large loaves of bread."

* See cameo essay on the empire of God

Wording

The compilers of Thomas and Q knew this parable. Matthew's and Luke's versions are virtually the same except for one word. Matthew has "the empire of Heaven," while Luke has "of God." Thomas complicates the picture by using "of the Father" instead of either of the synoptic qualifications. The original term is not certain.

Elsewhere Q usually refers to God's empire (see Luke 11:20//Matt 12:28). But Jews normally used circumlocutions like "Heaven" to avoid profaning God's name. Matthew was concerned to observe Judean tradition (see notes on Luke 16:17//Matt 5:18). In his paraphrase of Mark 4 --- the context where he inserts this parable --- he regularly changes Mark's "God" to "Heaven." So he may have done the same to Q.

Yet, even Thomas --- who did not share Matthew's views --- does not have Jesus say "God's empire." Instead, in Thomas' version of the parable of the mustard seed, he uses "Heaven" (see Thom 20:1 above). Here, however, he uses "Father," Jesus' typical name for God (see note on the Lord's prayer). This may be a deliberate revision, since in Thom 3 Jesus is said to mock those who associate God's dominion with heaven:

"If your leaders tell you, 'Look, the <Father's> empire is in heaven,'
then the birds of the sky will precede you."

In any case, this difference does not alter either the structure or logic of the parable.

Image

"Leaven" is what Americans call "sourdough.": a small piece of old dough used to make bread rise. Rising takes time. And in the Hebrew Bible, it was lack of time that led Israel to adopt unleavened bread (matzos) during the exodus from Egypt. The annual Passover celebrations made matzos a positive symbol in Judean tradition. Every scrap of leaven had to be swept from the house before the celebration could begin.

The fermentation of leaven can also cause food to spoil. So, leaven became a prophetic metaphor for corruption (Hos 7:4), which was echoed by Judaic Christians like Paul (1 Cor 5:6-8). In fact, this parable is the only piece of early Christian or Jewish tradition to use leaven as a positive image.

For Q the leaven itself is the metaphor for God's dominion. For Thomas, however, it is the act of bread-making. Both versions mention a woman, though only Thomas casts God in a feminine role. The comparison of "the Father" to a woman would be shocking to Jews and many early Christians. But gnostic writers liked the idea. Thomas pairs the parable of the leaven with another parable about a woman (Thom 97).  So the former may have been conformed to the latter.

The amount of flour mentioned in Q is extravagant. It would take days to rise, and the bread produced would feed almost an army.

Attribution

The leaven	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 13:20-21 Matt 13:33 Thom 96:1-2		61 62 25	29 24 50	11 14 21	0 0 4	83 83 65	red red pink

The Seminar generally agreed that this is a perfect example of a genuine Jesus saying: short, graphic, paradoxical, and startling. No one before seems to have said anything like it. Nor is a later Christian apt to have invented it. Thus, it got the third highest weighted average of all Jesus sayings. Most Fellows took the humorous exaggeration and shock value of Q's version as a sign that it was authentic. There were no black votes. Yet, Thomas' variant is distinctive enough to have been rated a bright pink.