Parable of the Mustard Seed size." The Parable of the Leaven (which in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke immediately follows) shares this theme of large growth from small beginnings. As with the Parable of the Sower, which in "Matthew" and "Mark" occurs earlier in the same chapter, the man sowing the seed represents Jesus, and the plant is the Kingdom of God. The nesting birds may refer to Old Testament texts which emphasize the universal reach of God's empire, such as Daniel 4:12. However, a real mustard plant is unlikely to attract nesting birds, so that "Jesus seems deliberately to emphasize the notion of
Parable of the Good Samaritan wounded man. In his view, the help received from a hated Samaritan is like the kingdom of God received as grace from an unexpected source. John Calvin was not impressed by Origen's allegorical reading: Francis Schaeffer suggested: "Christians are not to love their believing brothers to the exclusion of their non-believing fellowmen. That is ugly. We are to have the example of the good Samaritan consciously in mind at all times." Other modern theologians have taken similar positions. For example, G. B. Caird wrote: The meaning of the parable for Calvin was, instead, that "compassion, which an enemy showed to