Sunday
Sunday
The Parable of the Growing Seed
A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows … all by itself.
Mark 4:26–28
If we go by the chronology of Mark’s Gospel, the parable of the growing seed was one of the very first. At that time the kingdom was tiny, consisting of only the few people who had heard Jesus preach the gospel and had responded to his summons. So this little parable was intended to reassure his followers and to bring them encouragement when the spread of the kingdom seemed slow.
In some important respects the kingdom grows as plants grow. A farmer scatters seed, and in due course, when the grain is ripe, he wields his sickle and reaps his crop. But between seedtime and harvest he does virtually nothing. Whether he sleeps or gets up makes no difference, for in either case the seed sprouts and grows.
As in nature, so in the kingdom of God. The kingdom has grown over the years to vast proportions, but its principle of growth remains the same.
Firstly, the kingdom grows irresistibly; nobody can stop its development. For a hidden power is at work causing “first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head” (v. 28).
Secondly, the kingdom grows imperceptibly; we cannot watch it happening. It keeps on growing irrespective of our observation.
Thirdly, the kingdom grows spontaneously; we cannot contribute to its hidden process of growth. The soil produces grain “all by itself” (v. 28). The Greek word is automat
. Not, of course, that it is literally automatic, for it is by the secret operation of the Holy Spirit that the kingdom grows. The work is his, not ours.
For further reading: Mark 4:26–29