About Mark: Mark's adult life coincides with the early growth of Christianity. From being a boy when he saw Jesus, Mark observes the first twenty-five years of the Christian community expanding throughout the Mediterranean world, before writing his Gospel.
These three stories continue the agricultural theme of the parable of the Sower. The mustard tree story mentions the birds of the air, which in the Sower parable represented Satan. From the presence of Judas amongst the disciple band, it was plain that the Christian community would attract various undesirables. A tree's purpose is to produce fruit, but it will also attract the birds.
Mark didn't want to give the impression that everything in the church was perfect. As is often said, if you find the perfect church never join it, or you'll ruin it. The purpose of a church was to display Christ, not Christians. Mark wants his Gospel to present Jesus as he is. He wants to describe Christians as they are, sometimes stumbling and falling. And he also wants to clarify that around the church are others, not bearing fruit, just sitting in the branches. Wise people will tell the difference.
Bible: Mark 4:21-34, A Lamp under a Bushel Basket
21 He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" 24 And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
The Use of Parables
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Comment: LESSONS FROM LIFE ON THE LAND
MARK clusters three more stories about farming in agricultural Galilee. The bushel basket is meant for measuring seed, as lamps are meant to shine. So when light from God is given (11, 22, 24), we must take care how we receive it. The attention we give, is the measure of what we get. At the end of these parables Mark comments on Jesus' teaching method. He never taught them without using parables in one form or another to help them understand. He taught little by little "as they were able to hear", and to avoid misunderstanding "he explained everything in private to his disciples". His teaching was skilled. They paid attention, and the more they perceived the more they received.
The next story, of the seed growing secretly, is Mark's only parable not used by Matthew and Luke. God has given it to us through Mark and we must attend to what it says. It is based on the agricultural assumption that the farmer and God are co-workers in producing a harvest. The farmer scatters seed on the ground, and later harvests with his sickle. But in between, it is God who gives life and growth to the seed. The farmer can do nothing. He simply goes about
the normal routines of life, "sleeping and rising night and day". Yet the seed sprouts and grows, and the farmer "does not know how." For this is God's part. We have sowing and reaping tasks, but only God gives the growth. Paul wrote about his missionary work, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:7).
And so it is in the kingdom of God. The twelve apostles, and others since, sow and reap. But no one should think that growth is something that they produce. We observe the growth, we notice the stages - sprout, stalk, head, full grain in the head, and then maturity - but we don't do it. God gives the growth, while we sleep.
And in that manner the kingdom of God has grown till now and still. Judicious sowing and reaping are important. We sometimes hear people mistakenly claim to be responsible for the growth, or that they know how the growth occurs. Where God is at work, growth is out of our hands. As the story says, the sower "does not know how".
When we see growth reaching maturity, we should celebrate that God's kingdom is right here, amongst us, and avoid any thought we have done it ourselves.
Discipleship today: Put together, these stories explain an important feature of Christianity. The first story confirms that we have a responsibility for how we hear and heed God's word to us. Christianity is not a secret society, whose members conceal their faith. It is about an enlightenment that shines out openly. We are responsible for what God entrusts to us.
The second story, however, confirms that it is not totally up to us. God too is at work. In agriculture there is always a part for us to play - we reap what we sow. But there are times when the doing is God's. God gives the growth. And in the passing of time there is no telling how big an outcome results from how small a seed.
This affects how you relate to God. You must respond responsibly to God. Pay attention to what you hear! But also you must trust God to work his work within you and others. You cannot do God's work for him, any more than he can do our work for us. But whatever you do, never limit the ultimate result of what you and God together can do.
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