IN JESUS' PARABLE, this faith "like to a grain of mustard seed" may be small, but Jesus assures us that it is entirely practical—enabling us to stand fast in the face of adversity.
WORD PICTURES. These were the parables that Jesus taught, which made his radical teachings understandable to the average listener—and even palatable to the skeptic and the scoffer. His healing works confirmed his radical teaching. Without them, the words wouldn't have carried much weight. He was a man who believed in the bottom line—the bottom line being absolute proof of all that he said.
I have always loved the parable in Matthew where Jesus compared a mustard seed to the kingdom of heaven. "The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof" (Matt.13:31, 32). And then he delivered the promise: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt. 17:20).
