It is not impossible that these Odes incorporate material from Jesus himself, or that they are in his style. The question is: How much of such a Merkavah mystic can be recovered from the gospel pictures of Jesus? First we do not know what were the influences on his boyhood. We do not know what tradition formed his mind and shaped the ideas he was later to preach, although we do know that he impressed temple teachers when he was only a child (Luke 2.46-48 [Luke 3:2]). The fact that members of his family (John the Baptist, James the Righteous and Jude) all had links to the esoterica of the priesthood must make this at least a likely context for his formative years. Second, there could have been a gradual process of recognition, reflected in some of the parables and sayings about the kingdom which were autobiographical. 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 [Matt. 7:2-3]). 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 [Luke 10:2]), which was manifested in the overthrow of evil (Luke 11.20 [Luke 8:12]). These were Jesus’ own accounts of his spiritual growth.
The accounts of the baptism show that this was a crucial moment in Jesus’ life. He saw the Spirit of God come upon him and declare him to be the beloved Son (Matt 3.16-17 and parallels). The Codex Bezae of Luke 3.22 [Luke 3:8] has: ‘Today I have begotten you’, quoting instead Psalm 2.7. Perhaps this was the point at which Jesus became fully conscious of his role. The story is not told in the first person, but neither is the account of the temptation in the desert, which must have come from Jesus himself unless it is a complete fiction.
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.
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Note. Mark alone records the seed growing secretly (4:26–29); Matthew and Mark both give the mustard seed; Matthew alone adds the leaven. Luke’s mustard seed and leaven stand elsewhere, in the Perean ministry (Luke 13:18–21). There is no John parallel. Joseph Smith expounded the mustard seed and the leaven in his 1835 letter to the elders: the same letter that runs through the Sower and the Wheat and the Tares.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, 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.
Each movement Joseph discusses carries a JS link down to his letter; the letter carries a roman-numeral link back up to the movement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
30And he said, Unto what shall we 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.
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.
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.
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.”)
33And with many such parables spoke he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it bear. 34But without a parable spoke he not unto them. And when they were alone, he expounded all things unto his disciples.
Joseph Smith on the Mustard Seed and the Leaven
From the Wheat and the Tares, 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.” Between the two the letter turns aside for two pages to answer its critics; that passage is omitted here.
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 which should be set up, just previous or at the time of harvest, which reads as follows:—
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.
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 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: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a mustard seed. …
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, until 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.
The Fowls Are the Angels
The Gospels never explain this parable. In a Commerce sermon on the priesthood and its keys, Joseph Smith did: the fowls that lodge in the branches are the angels, the holders of the keys in earlier ages, who come down to gather their children, because neither can be made perfect without the other.
Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 4 August 1839, Commerce, Illinois (Willard Richards, “W. Richards Pocket Companion Written in England,” probably recorded by John Taylor; Words of Joseph Smith, “Before 8 August 1839 (1)”) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗These men are in heaven, but their children are on Earth. Their bowels yearn over us. God sends down men for this reason, Mat. 13.41. & the Son of man shall send forth his angels &c— All these authoritative characters will come down & join hand in hand in bringing about this work—
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. the mustard seed is Small but brings forth a large tree. and the fowls lodge in the branches The fowls are the Angels. the Book of Mormon perhaps. thus Angels come down combine together to gather their children, & gather them. We cannot be made perfect without them. nor they without us when these things are done the Son of man will descend. the ancient of Days sit.— We may come to an innumerable compa[n]y of Angels have communion with & rece[i]ve instruction from. them.— Paul told about Moses’s proceedings. Spoke of the Children of Israel being baptized. &, he knew this. & that all the ordinances & blessings were in the church. Paul had these things; & we may have the fowls of heaven Lodge in the branches &c.
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.
Ellipses mark omissions within Barker’s own sentences.