막 4:30-34 겨자씨 비유(마 13:31-32; 눅 13:18-19)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 fAnd he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like ga grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 33 hWith many such parables he spoke ithe word to them, jas they were able to hear it. 34 

He did not speak to them kwithout a parable, but lprivately to his own disciples he mexplained everything.

f For ver. 30–32, see Matt. 13:31, 32; Luke 13:18, 19

g Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), 막 4:30–34.

30-32절) 하나님 나라에 대한 마가의 세번째 비유, 겨자씨

이 비유의 핵심은 바로 하나님 나라가 아주 작고 인식하지 못하는 방식으로 임한다는 것이다. 

겨자씨가 땅위에 심길때 모든 씨보다 작지만 이것이 심긴 이후에 자라면 모든 풀보다 커지며 큰 가지를 이루어서 공중의 새들이 그 그늘에 깃들일 수 있게 된다. 천국도 이와 같다. 그 처음은 인식하지 못할 정도로 미미한 과정으로 시작되지만 그 역동성과 생명력으로 자라갈때 결국 큰 숲을 이루어 많은 이들이 그 영향력속에서 쉼을 누릴 수 있게 되는 것이다. 

본문을 문자 그대로 해석하면 문제가 발생할 수 있다. 겨자씨가 가장 작은 씨는 아니다. 또한 10-12feets 정도의 크기로 가장 큰 나무도 아니다. 본문이 강조하는 것은 사람들이 가장 인식하기 좋은 예를 들어서 그 시작과 끝의 차이가 현저하다는 사실을 강조하기 위함이다. 

- The metaphor emphasizes small beginnings and gradual but remarkable growth (cf. note on Luke 17:20). The nesting of birds in the shadow of the grown bush points to divine blessing (cf. Judg. 9:8–15; Ps. 91:1–2; Ezek. 17:22–24). Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1901.

- Undoubtedly emphasis falls on the contrast between the small beginning and the enormous consummation of the kingdom. The mustard seed was not the smallest seed in Palestine, but it was one of the smaller and was proverbial for smallness. (As usual the Bible does not give a technical or scientific description but a popular one. In doing so the Bible is guilty of no error whatsoever.) Although an herb, the mustard plant could grow to heights of ten to twelve feet and attain a thickness of three or four inches. The difference between the tiny seed and the huge herb that grows from it is an excellent illustration of the difference between the beginning and end of the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Mark and his readers/hearers were much nearer to the beginning than the end. Nor is the greatness of the kingdom readily apparent nineteen centuries later!

Some have questioned, however, whether the growth depicted by the parable is desirable. They have claimed that an abnormally large herb with its branches filled with birds (sometimes symbols of evil) represents an overgrown, apostate, institutional church. Such an interpretation is, however, completely at odds with the meaning of the parables of the soil and the seed and the meaning of the term “kingdom of God.” Furthermore, growth is not the main emphasis; contrast between the beginning and the end is the main point of comparison. It is barely possible that the birds represent the inclusion of the Gentiles. In Dan 4:10–12 and Ezek 31:3–14 a tree symbolizes a foreign empire; and birds, those who enjoy its protection. In Ezek 17:22–24 the tree symbolizes restored Israel, and the birds symbolize those who enjoy its blessing.

 James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 85–86.

당시 많은 이들은 메시야와 하나님 나라의 도래가 격변적으로 임하기를 원했다. 하지만 예수님께서는 천둥과 번개와 같은 상황속에서가 아니라 아주 잠잠한 가운데 겨자씨와 같이 보잘것 없어 보이는 작은 모습으로 하나님 나라가 시작될 것을 말씀하신다. 하지만 중요한 것은 그것이 심겨졌을때, 생명력있게 자라나면 결국 큰 나무를 이루게 되고 많은 이들이 그 속에서 쉼을 얻게 된다는 것이다. 우리가 바라는 형태가 아닌 작은 모습으로 임하는 하나님 나라를 우리는 인지할 안목을 가지고 있는가? 

- The parable of the mustard seed points to another surprise. The popular expectation in the first century envisioned the kingdom arriving as a cataclysmic event. Jesus’ contemporaries would have been more likely to compare it to a thunderstorm than a mustard seed, but there is nothing overwhelming or abrupt about a mustard seed. It is so small as to be insignificant, but it eventually produces a plant so large that the birds of the air take refuge in its shade. This parable contrasts a small and unexpected beginning with a much larger consummation. This comparison leads in turn to the possibility that the kingdom of God might be present, although unnoticed by people looking for something else.*

* 4:32 Based on similar language in the Greek version of Ezekiel 31:6, Markus suggests that the birds in the parable of the mustard seed symbolize the Gentiles (1999:324). There is, however, no fixed symbolism attached to birds in biblical literature, as a comparison with Mark 4:4–15 demonstrates, and this parable does not exhibit any of the allegorical characteristics of the parable of the soils.

 Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 99.

33-34절) 예수님께서 많은 비유로 말씀하셨는데 이는 비유가 대적하는 자들에게는 가려졌고 따르는 이들에게는 천국의 비밀을 알리는 매우 훌륭한 도구이기 때문이다. 비유가 아니면 말씀하시지 않았다라는 말은 과장법이다. 오직 그분이 가르침은 비유로만 하셨다는 것이 아니라 그만큼 비유를 사용하시기를 좋아하셨다는 말이다.