Mark 4:26-34 for Sunday, July 22, 2007

Translation:
(26) And he kept on saying, "In the same way the kingdom of God is as a man who should throw seeds upon the earth. (27) And he should sleep and he should wake night and day, and the seed may sprout and grow though he himself does not know how. (28)The earth itself is bearing fruit, first a shoot then a head thena full grain in the head. (29) And when the crop permits, he immediately sends the sickle because harvest has come. (30) And he kept on saying "How shall we compare the kingdom of God or in what parable shall we use for it? (31) As a mustard seed, which when the seed is upon the earth is the smallest of all the seeds upon the earth. (32) And when it is sown, it comes up and is larger than all the garden plants and it has large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest under it's shadow." (33) And with many such parables he spoke to them the word, just as they were able to hear it (34) but without a parable he did not speak to them, and by themselves he explained everything to his own disciples.

This scripture includes two parables on a similar theme: seeds and sowing. This analogy of a sower and plant growth is used to draw a parallel to the kingdom of God. In the story, the sower simply "should" throw seeds. The Greek verb here is subjunctive, indicating what "might" happen, a probability of events or even what should or ought to happen. If the sower throws the seeds, the rest happens without his assistance. The sower is very passive and the earth mysteriously yields its fruit without any help.

Like the kingdom of God, the seed is sown and presently grows without any noticeable change to the sower. It emerges unnoticed until fruit emerges and the sower must take on a different role: harvester. This seems to allude to the time of judgment. The kingdom of God is presently coming, though many may not notice the signs. When the time arrives, God will make the harvest, or judgement. Just as a seed grows in the earth and the sower is unaware of exactly how it grows into a large plant, so the kingdom of God comes at a time and in a way that none of us can predict.

The parable of the mustard seed is similar. It also describes the coming of the kingdom of God, but in an unusual way. The mustard seed (the smallest of many seeds) grows into a large, shady bush. To use a bush as an analogy for the kingdom of God would have been unusual. Tall, towering trees would have been a more usual analogy for a kingdom. The cedars of Lebanon are commonly an analogy for the greatness of Lebanon. But, the kingdom of God is not the same as earthly, human kingdoms. Therefore, what humans consider great is not what God necessarily considers great. The kingdom of God defies expectation. The mustard seed grows into a bush and provides shade and shelter for the birds. The kingdom of God is not just for individuals, but for all people and all creatures.

Both parables are introduced with a Greek imperfect verb, "he kept on saying." That Jesus kept on saying these things means that Jesus is always talking in parables and always communicating about the kingdom of God. This is an important matter for Jesus.

There is much to be gleaned from these parables, and much that is still elusive to us even today. What we can learn is that the kingdom of God is not what we expect it to be. It is bigger than we suppose and more mysterious than we might guess. All the same, the kingdom of God is coming and there is even evidence that it is here!