Comments on: The Parables of Jesus: Part 2, The Mustard Seed

By: Tracy M

Tracy M — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:52:58 +0000

It’s impossible to shake off. I’ve only been a member five years, and there is not a chance under the sun I could walk away- even if I wanted to.

By: amanda

amanda — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:23:28 +0000

I just found this website and I am enjoying reading your series Brad.

I your last paragraph where you talk about how mormonism is not easy to shake off. Really hits the mark with me.

By: BrianJ

BrianJ — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:25:22 +0000

as dcl, #5, points out (though his link isn’t formatted quite right), Joseph Smith saw the Book of Mormon as the seed in this parable. (Note: I don’t think that Joseph meant to say that that was the only valid interpretation.) That puts an interesting twist on your view: the BoM is a noxious weed that just won’t go away. I’ve talked to a few Evangelicals who would wholeheartedly agree with that!!

P.S. I wonder what kind of wild birds Jesus had in mind. Only some birds are agricultural pests, you know, and some are quite beneficial.

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:28:46 +0000

Noray,
The justification for viewing Jesus as targeting the “sharecropper” group is that the overwhelming majority of Galilean residents were former small landowners who had been forced off their land and worked as day laborers.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:08:25 +0000

The last paragraph is one of the most profound ideas I’ve read in awhile.

By: Noray

Noray — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:27 +0000

So would you say then that Jesus was deliberately targetting the ’sharecropper’ group since weeds in your fields for the owners would be bound to have unpleasant connotations? Was He intentionally using an example that would annoy the landholders? What do you think the reasoning behind that would be? Honestly, the image of the Kingdom of God as a weed that can’t be stamped out is unpleasant to me even if it may be accurate.

By: sister blah 2

sister blah 2 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:45:08 +0000

This is interesting Brad. I think the invasiveness you describe would not only apply to the individual (taking over one’s life and brain), but it would also have had socio-political implications in Jesus’ time–i.e. the church as a bunch of scrappy anti-establishment types who will take over despite persecution.

By: Gar

Gar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:42:57 +0000

This was a great post.
I am sending this link to my JW friend and having him try to apply this to his religion…
Since were both Cults and all….

By: DCL

DCL — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:28:57 +0000

Thanks for this, Brad. There was an interesting post on Feast Upon the Word about Joseph Smith’s interpretation of this parable quoted in the priesthood/RS manual in lesson 11. Apparently, Joseph saw the birds alighting on the branches of the church as ministering angels coming to restore keys and signs.

By: Peter LLC

Peter LLC — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:21:09 +0000

triply attested

I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if that doesn’t remind me of something I read just today:

“I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.”