Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§12.5 The Kingdom of God
3. Matt. 13.24-30
24 The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25
but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went
away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore
grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And
the slaves of the householder came and said to
him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your
field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'
28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this'. The
slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go
and gather them?' 29 But he replied, 'No; for in
gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat
along with them. 30 Let both of them grow
together until the harvest; and at harvest time I
will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and
bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn'.
4. Matt. 13.31-32
31 He put before them
another parable: 'The
kingdom of heaven
is like a mustard
seed that someone took
and sowed in his field;
32 it is the smallest of
all the seeds, but
when it has
grown it is the
greatest of shrubs and
becomes a tree,
so that
the birds of the air
come and make nests in
its branches'.
Mark 4.30-32
30 He also said, 'With
what can we compare
the kingdom of God, or
what parable will we
use for it?
31 It is like a mustard
seed. which, when
sown upon the ground,
is the smallest of all the
seeds on earth; 32 yet
when it is sown it
comes up and becomes
the greatest of all
shrubs, and puts forth
large branches, so that
the birds of the air can
make nests in its
shade'.
GTh 57
The kingdom of the Father is like a man who had
(good)seed.
His enemy came by night (and)
sowed a weed among the good seed.
The man did not allow them to
pull up the weed. He said to them, 'Lest you go
to pull up the weed, and you pull up the wheat
along with it'.
For on the day of the harvest the
weed will appear; they will be pulled up and
burned.
Luke 13.18-19
18 He said therefore,
'What is
the kingdom of God
like? And to what
should I compare it?
19 It is like a mustard
seed that someone took
and sowed in his
garden;
it
grew and became a
tree,
and
the birds of the air
made nests in its
branches'.
GTh 20
The disciple(s) said to
Jesus, 'Tell us what the
kingdom of heaven is
like'. He said to them,
'It is like a grain of
mustard seed.
smaller than all
seeds. But when it falls
on the earth which has
been cultivated,
it puts forth
a great branch (and)
becomes a shelter for
(the) birds of heaven'.
All three have been touched on already. 380 The point here is simply that such parables
liken the kingdom to a process of growth or development, but also of climax.
Dodd justifiably protested against the assumption that what is envisaged is
a period of indeterminate (hidden) growth only now beginning to take place, 381
380. (2) and (3) under judgment (§12.4e), and (4) under the theme of eschatological reversal
(§ 12.4c) as an equally or more appropriate heading. That (2) goes back to Jesus in some
form is agreed by the Jesus Seminar (Funk, Five Gospels 58-59) and Lüdemann, Jesus 31.
381. The older Liberal view, stressing the gradualness of the growth and so also the time
intervening before the harvest (see, e.g., those listed by Ladd, Jesus and the Kingdom 185
n. 42), remains attractive to Gnilka, Jesus 139-44, Becker, Jesus 73, 122-24, and Theissen and
Merz, Historical Jesus 261. Contrast Kümmel: 'it is not the growth of the crop, but the certain
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