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Mark 4 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The Purpose of the Parables
By utilizing parables as His primary vehicle for delivering “the secrets of the kingdom,” Jesus was assured more time to invest in those who were seeking. There’s no doubt as we read the Scriptures that the religious elite could not handle the truth that Jesus possessed.
So rather than continuing to confront them directly with truth that they were not willing to hear, He uncovered the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven with metaphors and symbolism. With this method, those who were seeking would uncover amazing spiritual realities and those who were hostile toward Jesus would only think of Him as more absurd. This pivotal change in Jesus’ teaching style marked a line in the sand with those who would either follow or reject Him.
Since the stories themselves metaphorically veiled the Kingdom of God, the hearers who wanted “lazy truth” would not take the time to explore. Considering this, Jesus was not looking for “sponges” to soak up all He was teaching. A better example would be a sieve which filters through the material to find the treasured gem within the teaching. It is important that we seek and explore the parables rather than just read them for knowledge. There is so much practicality!
The Growing Seed
The parable of the seed growing only occurs in Mark. We have a beginning and an end. The kingdom of God is like a man who cast a seed upon the soil. This is the beginning which contains the Messianic work of Jesus to enable the scattering of seeds upon the different soils. The end is always the harvest, which represents the end of time and the judgment of the world. The intriguing question is, what happens in the middle?
Jesus went on to say, “The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed in his field. [27] He sleeps at night, is up and about during the day, and all the while the seeds are sprouting and growing. Yet he does not know how it happens.
Mark 4:26-27 GNB
The seed grows. Somehow, while the sower is asleep, it sprouts and grows. But then there is a key “hidden gem” verse. The sower does not know how it happens! This part of the parable emphasizes two important facts about the Message that is sown in the hearts of people.
- We don’t control the sprouting and the growing, but rather, the scattering.
- It doesn’t have an understandable formula.
Most of us already know that in order for someone to come to Christ and grow, God has to trigger that event. But, we must also consider that there is no way for us to manipulate that process. Sometimes the seeds we expect to germinate never do. Other times, the seed that we least expect – or even forget about – ends up producing a massive crop.
The soil produces crops by itself. It is not by human intervention, but by a spontaneous and mysterious process. This doesn’t mean the sower is uninvolved or uninterested in the work. It just means that there are things happening when we least expect it! The harvest is coming and those seeds which have germinated are growing. What is our responsibility then within this parable?
It is not to control the germination. It is not to manipulate the growth. It is not to reduce the process to a simplified, predictable formula. It is the simple task of scattering seed.
Think about all the churches across the world that are continually trying to find the next church growth formula. Think about all the churches that reduce Jesus to a marketing campaign. This parable in Mark is clear. We must throw seed! When we speak about Jesus and live for Jesus, we are using our lives to pepper seeds all over this world. This sets the stage for the mysterious work of God, where the Holy Spirit produces growth and fruit in ways that are not known or understood by the human mind.