Mark 4:30 - 32 commentary: evil in the church

30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

Here is a comparison set of verses in Matthew;

Matthew 13:31 Another 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: 32 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.

Obviously, the mustard seed sown in the earth here experiences unnatural growth. The fowls of the air, as has been shown previously, is a reference to devils. This “great tree” has devils hiding in its shadow or in its branches. It is either the spiritual Kingdom of God or the physical Kingdom of Heaven. The mustard seed is faith.

Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Notice the prophetic content of both of these verses. The unnatural growth of public Christianity is revealed by the unnatural growth of the mustard plant in the two contrasting passages. In the passage in Matthew evil gathers in the branches which would be a metaphor for the evil that exists in the ranks of the organized churches such as the Roman and the Anglican; where in one faith is commanded to be in the hierarchy and the other has become just a system of philosophy with little spiritual value. This is the kingdom of heaven, a reference to a physical organization composed of a popes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests. The physical church organizations throughout history eventually manifest themselves as oppressors who link with a government to murder millions. There are saved people in these churches but they are led by devils, often.

The passage in Mark refers to the Kingdom of God, the spiritual kingdom which is inside the believers and unites them all in Christ. The evil here is not in the true church but uses the shadow and authority of its branches to do its evil. This would represent church groups led by malicious and false preachers, phony faith healers, misogynists, and abusers of all kinds hiding in the shadow of its branches but not being a part of the tree.

So, in these passages God covers the fascist, ecclesiastical organizations of history as well as the individual churches led by wicked abusers and false prophets. He who has ears let him hear.