1. Mark 4:31 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is shocking in Jesus’ answer to the question of what the kingdom of God can be compared with?

Mark 4:31 (ESV)

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,

The shocking thing is that Jesus chooses something very small: a mustard seed. That seed is about 1 millimeter in size—smaller even than other seeds. We would say, a fluff. This seems to be a strange comparison with God’s (great) kingdom.