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jomoco
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So does the Magesterium claim full understanding of Jesus’ mustard seed parable as infallible?[31] Another parable he proposed unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. [32] Which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and dwell in the branches thereof. [33] Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. [34] All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he did not speak to them. [35] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.
Commentary - The least of all seeds. That is, it is one of the least seeds; but in hot countries it is observed to grow to a considerable height, and to become a bush or a little tree. Wi. — The gospel of Christ, compared in this verse to the grain of mustard seed, has indeed little show of grandeur and human greatness. S. Paul calls it a scandal to the Jew, and a stumbling block to the Gentile. But Jesus Christ here assures us, that when it has been spread and promulgated by his ambassadors, viz. the apostles, it shall surpass every other mode of instruction both in fame and extent. S. Amb. S. Jer. S. Aug.
From the Catholic Catechism:
186 From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in brief formula normative for all.1 But already very early on, the Church also wanted to gather the essential elements of her faith into organic and articulated summaries, intended especially for candidates for Baptism:
This synthesis of faith was not made to accord with human opinions, but rather what was of the greatest importance was gathered from all the Scriptures, to present the one teaching of the faith in its entirety. And just as the mustard seed contains a great number of branches in a tiny grain, so too this summary of faith encompassed in a few words the whole knowledge of the true religion contained in the Old and the New Testaments.2 2 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. illum. 5,12: PG 33,521-524.Now what was Christ trying to get across here?
Strong’s Concordance, tracing the Greek to English, gives the meaning for both as “least, less, little, or small in size, number, or dignity.” So we can see by the word itself and its context in these two passages that the mustard seed indeed is a very small thing, hence it is touted as the “smallest of all seeds.”
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