Growth or Contamination? The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven and the Hidden Transcript

Abstract:This article provides an interpretation of the parable doublet of the mustard seed and the leaven based on the concept of the "public" and the "hidden" transcript. It argues that on a surface level this is a parable about the growth of the Jesus movement, while at another, more subtle level this parable is a critique of the religious system based on purity and exclusion, and as such is humorous satire. It is argued that the Lukan version of this doublet is closest to the original version which is likely to go back to the historical Jesus. Both the mustard seed and the leaven grow in places where they are not meant to be: a discarded seed grows in a vegetable garden and leaven is "hidden" in three measures of flour—an amount associated with temple offerings. This would have been entertaining and memorable to peasant listeners and infuriating to the powerful, as mustard and yeast are items in everyday use, so subversive intent could not be proved conclusively.