START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Mark 4:26-34
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OBSERVE:
Jesus uses parables to illustrate his teaching, particularly about the kingdom of God. A parable connects with the listener on a concrete level, using familiar experiences and images with which they can identify.
The first parable in this passage is fairly direct. The kingdom of God is compared to seed scattered in the field that grows and matures while concealed from sight, and then finally is harvested when it is mature.
Note that Jesus is focusing here on the mysterious nature of the kingdom. Like the grain, the kingdom grows even after the sower has sown it, and while he is unaware of its progress:
God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he doesn’t know how.
Ultimately, though, there is the inevitability of judgment — the harvest:
But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
Likewise the kingdom of God begins simply, and grows, and then comes to final harvest on the Day of the Lord.
In the second parable, Jesus speaks of the mustard seed, which he says:
is less than all the seeds that are on the earth.
Yet it grows to become the largest of the plants in the garden. In other words, however humbly or small the kingdom begins, it will inevitably become magnificent.
Finally, Mark’s Gospel makes clear that Jesus is seeking to accommodate the understanding of the people by telling them parables. As a wise teacher, he knows when to give his students a break:
Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
To his disciples, he interpreted the hidden meanings of his parables.
APPLY:
There are two applications I’d like to touch on — the purpose of the parable as a figure of speech, and the general meaning of these particular parables.
There seems to be dual purpose to the parables Jesus teaches. On the one hand they connect to simple, everyday experiences. But on the other hand, they seem to exceed the initial understanding of many who hear them, including the most erudite among them — the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
Jesus tells his disciples:
To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables, that ‘seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them’ (Mark 4:11-12).
To those who are open to spiritual insights, the parables may become clear; but to those who are stubborn and closed minded, they remain a mystery.
The second application I’d like to make is this — Jesus is telling us something very important about the nature of the kingdom of God, and our experience of it.
We may tend to expect impressive magnificence when we think of the kingdom of God. But Jesus is conveying the truth that the kingdom of God doesn’t necessarily come in great displays, or with impressive beginnings. In fact, the kingdom will come in slow, gradual measures until one day it becomes a universal reality.
This is a counter-narrative to the oft quoted descriptions of the kingdom of God as a sudden, cataclysmic event. Both views are present in Scripture, but perhaps we can reconcile the two by realizing that both are true.
We may have had the experience of planting a seed and then forgetting about it, until one day the flower has appeared in all its glory! The seed was present and growing, but not manifest until it bloomed. When we finally saw the flower, it may have startled us as though it appeared from nowhere.
What Jesus is saying is that the kingdom of God is already present, all around us, just as the seed is concealed and yet growing despite being hidden. Then, one day, the reality of the kingdom of God is revealed as the most dominant reality of them all. In that day what has always been true and real will be revealed, and:
every eye will see (Revelation 1:7).
RESPOND:
There must always be a certain level of humility when it comes to understanding Biblical and spiritual truth. We must always assume that there is more to learn.
In these parables, I am reminded that the kingdom of God is already present — and one day it will be revealed to all people everywhere.
We must live in the time between the now of the kingdom, where God’s love and grace are already present among us; and the not yet, anticipating that time when the kingdom will be fully and finally revealed everywhere and to everyone.
Lord, open my eyes to see the evidence of your kingdom that is all around me. Your kingdom is here, and it is coming. Prepare me now and forever! Amen!
PHOTOS: The photo used for "Mark 4:33" is “Planting seeds of knowledge” by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
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