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The Parable of the Growing Seed

Mark 4:26-34

Good News Translation (GNT)

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26  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.
28  The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear
   fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the
   head, and finally the head full of grain.
29  When the grain is ripe, the man starts cutting
   it with his sickle, because harvest time has
   come.

   The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30  "What shall we say the Kingdom of God is
   like?" asked Jesus.
  "What parable shall we use to explain it?
31  It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed,
   the smallest seed in the world, and plants it
   in the ground.
32  After a while it grows up and becomes the
   biggest of all plants. It puts out such large
   branches that the birds come and make their
   nests in its shade."
33  Jesus preached his message to the people,
   using many other parables like these; he told
   them as much as they could understand.
34  He would not speak to them without using
   parables, but when he was alone with his
   disciples, he would explain everything to them.

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

The Parable of the
Growing Seed

     Mark Chapter 4:26-34

In this parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a harvest.
A man, that is, Jesus, scatters seed. Then the seed sprouts and grows by itself - by God's power. No man can say, "I produced the harvest."
Man's part is to sow, to water, and to reap.
God gives the growth.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
The kingdom of God in the beginning was like a tiny mustard seed. When Jesus started preaching, only a few heard and believed. Most people rejected Him.

They mocked Him and killed Him. His disciples fled. But look what happened. By the power of the Holy Spirit, from that tiny seed a mighty church has grown up, and it has spread to every country in the world.

Such is the kingdom of God. In this way, Jesus taught the people in parables, as much as they could understand. People can't understand spiritual things all at once. They need first to hear a simple illustration or parable.

Then, as they open their hearts, they slowly begin to understand more. Jesus, however, explained everything to His twelve disciples and other followers.

They had opened their hearts and were ready to learn more. Jesus' most important work was to train these disciples to become teachers, to become fishers of men.

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