It was intended to be a gathering. I mean, the little seed grows up into the great mustard plant into which the birds — or as Joseph put it, the angels — were intended to come and watch.
Galilee · Teaching in Parables
The Growing Seed, the Mustard Seed & the Leaven
Three short parables of how the kingdom grows: the seed that springs and ripens of itself while the sower sleeps, the mustard seed that from the least of all seeds becomes the greatest of herbs where the birds lodge, and the leaven a woman hides in three measures of meal until the whole is leavened — the kingdom comes quietly, and then it fills the earth.
Mark 4:26–34; Matt 13:31–332 of 5 accountsReading: CCE
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The reading is the Covenant Christian Edition — the Joseph Smith Translation reading — carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
JST
Green — Joseph Smith Translation. Where the Covenant Christian Edition departs in substance from the King James text and the change is in the JST (confirmed against the parallel-column edition). Modernized English (“has” for “hath,” “you” for “thou”) is not marked.
CCE
Burgundy — Covenant Christian Edition. Where the CCE’s reading departs from the King James but the change is not in the Joseph Smith Translation — the CCE’s own editorial reading (e.g. “this day I have begotten you” at the baptism).
DS
Plum — Testimony of St. John. The TSJ (a separate scripture text) and Denver Snuffer’s later commentary share the plum mark.
Each movement Joseph discusses carries a JS link down to his letter; the letter carries a roman-numeral link back up to the movement.
I
The Growing SeedMtMk
A man casts seed and goes about his life — sleeping and rising, night and day — while the seed springs and grows by a power not his own; he knows not how. The earth bears fruit of herself, blade and ear and full grain, and only at the harvest does he take up the sickle. The kingdom grows in its own hidden time.
—Not recorded in Matthew
Mk 4:26–29
26And he said, So is the kingdom of God: as if a man should cast seed into the ground, 27and should sleep and rise, night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up. He knows not how, 28for the earth brings forth fruit of herself — first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
II
The Mustard SeedMtMk
The least of all seeds, sown in the field, grows to the greatest of herbs — a tree whose branches the birds of the air come and lodge in. From the smallest beginning the kingdom rises and gives shelter.
Mt 13:31–32
31Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, 32which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Mk 4:30–32
30And he said, Unto what shall I liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sowed in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth. 32But when it is sowed, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
III
The LeavenMtMk
A woman hides leaven in three measures of meal, and it works unseen until the whole is leavened. The kingdom spreads quietly from within, transforming all it touches.
Mt 13:33
33Another parable spoke he unto them: The kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.
—Not recorded in Mark
IV
Spoken Only in ParablesMtMk
With many such parables he spoke the word to the crowds, as they were able to bear it; without a parable he spoke not to them, but to his own disciples, when they were alone, he expounded all things. (Matthew’s parallel — “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet” — is taken up in “Why He Speaks in Parables.”)
—Not recorded in Matthew
Mk 4:33–34
33And with many such parables spoke he the word unto them, as they were able to bear. 34But without a parable spoke he not unto them. And when they were alone, he expounded all things unto his disciples.
JS
Joseph’s 1835 letter, continued
Joseph Smith on the Mustard Seed and the Leaven
From the Wheat and the Tares — having shown the Savior’s own explanation — the 1835 letter passes to two more parables of Matthew 13, and reads both as the Restoration coming forth in the last days: the mustard seed as the Book of Mormon and the kingdom springing up from the least of seeds, and the leaven as the Church risen from “a little leaven … put into three witnesses.”
Letter to the Elders of the Church, 30 Nov.–1 Dec. 1835 · Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate (Dec. 1835) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗And again, another parable put he forth unto them, having an allusion to the kingdom that should be set up just previous to or at the time of the harvest, which reads as follows:
The kingdom of Heaven is like 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.
Now we can discover plainly that this figure is given to represent the Church as it shall come forth in the last days. Behold, the kingdom of Heaven is likened unto it. Now, what is like unto it? Let us take the Book of Mormon, which a man took and hid in his field, securing it by his faith, to spring up in the last days, or in due time; let us behold it coming forth out of the ground, which is indeed accounted the least of all seeds, but behold it branching forth, yea, even towering, with lofty branches and God-like majesty, until it, like the mustard seed, becomes the greatest of all herbs. And it is truth, and it has sprouted and come forth out of the earth, and righteousness begins to look down from heaven, and God is sending down his powers, gifts, and angels, to lodge in the branches thereof.
And another parable spake he unto them: The kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.
It may be understood that the Church of the Latter-day Saints has taken its rise from a little leaven that was put into three witnesses. Behold, how much this is like the parable! It is fast leavening the lump, and will soon leaven the whole. But let us pass on.
DS
Latter-day witness
Denver Snuffer on the Mustard Seed and the Leaven
Denver Snuffer reads the mustard seed as the gathering the kingdom was meant to be — the great plant whose birds, as Joseph put it, are the angels who come to it — and takes up the leaven, with the salt, as the few humble followers of Christ who still keep the world from destruction.
Talks & papers
Blog posts
These are the salt which preserve the world. These are the leaven who keep us still from destruction.
MB
Margaret Barker · the secret of the kingdom
The seed that grows secretly
Barker reads the kingdom parables as the “mysteries of the kingdom” taught privately — the seed that grows secretly, the smallest seed becoming great, the kingdom discovered within.
The Secret Tradition© Margaret Barker, 1993 ↗
In the synoptic accounts, these are the only teachings associated with the ‘secrets’ or the ‘mysteries’ of the kingdom, and were explained privately to the disciples (e.g. Matt. 13.10-17). The seed grew secretly; it began as small as a mustard seed and grew to be great. Or it was found as a treasure or a pearl of great price, and everything had to be given up for it. The kingdom was not an external phenomenon but something discovered within (Luke 17.21)… These were Jesus’ own accounts of his spiritual growth.
Ellipses mark omissions within Barker’s own sentences.