Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 13:32

"which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof." — Matthew 13:32 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Since the Lord had said above that three parts of the seed perish and only one is preserved—and of that one part, much is lost because of the tares sown over it—He removes this reason for fear with the parable of the mustard seed, so that no one might ask, "Who then, and how many, will be the ones who believe?"

Therefore it is said, Another parable He put forth to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed."

St. Jerome: The kingdom of heaven is the preaching of the Gospel and the knowledge of the Scriptures which leads to life, about which it is said to the Jews, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you (Matthew 21:43). It is the kingdom of heaven, understood in this way, that is compared to a grain of mustard seed.

St. Augustine of Hippo: A grain of mustard seed can refer to the warmth of faith or to its property as an antidote to poison.¹

It follows, Which a man took and sowed in his field.

St. Jerome: The man who sows is understood by most to be the Savior, who sows the seed in the minds of believers. Others understand it to be the man himself who sows in his field—that is, in his own heart. Who indeed is the sower but our own mind and understanding, which, receiving the grain of preaching and nurturing it with the dew of faith, makes it spring up in the field of our own breast?

Which is the least of all seeds. The Gospel preaching is the least of all the systems of the schools. At first glance, it does not even appear to be true, announcing a man as God, God put to death, and proclaiming the offense of the cross. Compare this teaching with the dogmas of the philosophers—with their books, the splendor of their eloquence, and the polish of their style—and you will see how the seed of the Gospel is the least of all seeds.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, the seed of the Gospel is the least of seeds because the disciples were weaker than the rest of mankind; yet since there was great power in them, their preaching spread throughout the whole world.

And therefore it follows, But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs—that is, among dogmas.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Dogmas are the decisions of sectsⁱ, that is, the points that they have determined.

St. Jerome: For when the dogmas of philosophers have grown, they show nothing of life or strength; instead, watery and bland, they grow into grasses and other greens that quickly dry up and wither away. But the Gospel preaching, though it seems small in its beginning, when sown in the mind of the hearer or in the world, grows not into a garden herb but a tree, so that the birds of the air (which we must understand to be either the souls of believers or the powers of God set free from slavery) come and dwell in its branches.

The branches of the Gospel tree, which have grown from the grain of mustard seed, I suppose, signify the various dogmas in which each of the birds (as explained above) takes its rest.ⁱ

Let us then take the wings of a dove, so that flying high we may dwell in the branches of this tree, make ourselves nests of doctrines, and, soaring above earthly things, hasten toward what is heavenly.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, the Lord compares Himself to a grain of mustard seed, sharp to the taste and the least of all seeds, whose strength is extracted by bruising.

St. Gregory the Great: Christ Himself is the grain of mustard seed who, planted in the garden of the sepulcher, grew up a great tree. He was a grain of seed when He died and a tree when He rose again; a grain of seed in the humiliation of the flesh, a tree in the power of His majesty.²

St. Hilary of Poitiers: This grain, then, when sown in the field—that is, when seized by the people, delivered to death, and, as it were, buried in the ground by the sowing of His body—grew beyond the size of all herbs and exceeded all the glory of the prophets.

For the preaching of the prophets was given, as it were, like herbs to a sick man; but now the birds of the air lodge in the branches of the tree. By this we understand the Apostles, who, drawing on Christ's power and overshadowing the world with their branches, are a tree to which the Gentiles flee in hope of life. After being tossed for a long time by the winds (that is, by the spirits of the devil), they may find rest in its branches.

St. Gregory the Great: The birds lodge in its branches when holy souls, who raise themselves high above earthly thoughts on the wings of the virtues, find relief from the troubles of this life in their words and comforts.

1. Quaest in Ev., i, 11
2. Mor., xix, 1