March 21, 2024
Read Numbers 10, Psalm 80, Mark 4
Soon it will be time for people to start planning and planting their gardens for the year. If you have ever done that before you know that there is a lot of time and effort that goes into sowing and reaping. Do you have a favorite fruit or vegetable from the garden? I love the smell and taste of fresh tomatoes from the garden. In Mark chapter 4 we have a few lessons that use the imagery of a seed for Jesus to get his point across.
The first parable is the parable of the seeds. Four distinct seeds that are sown have four very different results. Jesus explains this parable to his disciples so we are not left wondering what the meaning might be. Jesus plainly explains, “The farmer sows the word” v. 14. The word of God is sown into the lives of many people but the results may vary based on the conditions in which it was sown. Some seed is sown on the hard path and it doesn’t take root. “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them” v. 15. Still other seeds are sown on some rocks. Jesus said it had no roots either. “When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” How many people at the first sign of trouble or hardship want to bail from their faith and give in when they feel like it’s not the way they expect it to be. The next seed is thrown among thorns. “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” vv. 18-19. What types of worries do we allow to take us away from our trust in God? Only the seeds sown in the “good soil” are the ones that take root, grow, and continue to produce a crop. How can you till the soil around the lives of others so that when you sow the seeds of the Word of God they will grow, take root, and in the end produce a crop?
The next parable that uses a seed is called the “growing seed.” Seeds are planted and mysteriously they grow day and night. If we take the seeds to be the word of God again it produces growth. This growth could symbolize spiritual growth in Christians or illustrate the divine sovereignty of God in how He works in the lives of His people. It is possible to see how we must be patient and trust the Lord to work in our lives or the lives of others too. In the end, the harvest comes. This often symbolizes judgment and when the time is right God will reap the seeds He has sown.
The final seed illustration in Mark 4 is the parable of the mustard seed. Critics often use this very to cry foul at the Bible and say it’s wrong. “It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground” v. 31. The next sentence says, “Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants” v. 32. It’s often said the mustard seed is not the tallest tree, which is true, but we have to read carefully and in the context of when and where this was written. The key is “garden” variety trees. Also, one must keep in mind this was written to a first century audience in Palestine and not to someone viewing the great forests in northern California. Jesus used the mustard seed to show how just a small amount of faith can grow into something much bigger.
What seed parable grabs your attention most? What other seed parables do you know from the Bible?
What else do you read in these three chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.
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