“With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows 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.”
—Mark 4:30-32 (NRSV)
Jesus didn’t define the Kingdom of God in doctrines or creeds. He pointed to a tiny seed.
A mustard seed—the smallest thing his audience could imagine. So small it might go unnoticed. And yet, within it lives the potential to become a shelter, a home, a thriving ecosystem.
A mustard seed, the future tree it will blossom to be, and the birds in the air that make nests in its shade.
This is Natural Theology in action. A divine truth—not preached, but planted. Observed. Felt. Understood.
What can we learn about God from the way a seed grows?
Thomas Aquinas would say: quite a lot.
Because the way a seed grows isn’t random.
It’s a reflection of something deeper. A pattern. A law. A glimpse into the very nature of God.
He believed that nature reveals the patterns of the Divine—not through visions or scripture alone, but through observation, reason, and reflection on what is already here.
Jesus and Aquinas both used the logic of life—the process of growth, transformation, unfolding—to illustrate unseen realities.
Because they both understood… Nature doesn’t just grow things. Nature reveals things. It reveals the patterns of God.
Jesus and Thomas Aquinas both studying a mustard seed.
No, Jesus and Aquinas never sat down together over a mustard seed. But the truth is… they were studying the same thing. Nature. Life. Creation itself. Because long before theology was written in books... It was written into the patterns of life itself.
So we ask:
Is the nature of God embedded in the nature of growth itself?
Could the smallest stirrings in you be preparing to branch outward into something vast?
If these questions speak to you…
🕊️ Join us in The Theology of Christ masterclass to explore how Jesus, Aquinas, and Natural Theology guide us to understand God—not as an abstract idea, but as a living reality, already rooted in the world around you.
