The Parable of the Growing seed

1. The Parable ofthe GrowingSeed – 10th
September2016
“As soonas the grainis ripe,he putsthe sickleto it,because the harvest has come.”(Mark4:29).
The firstthingwe notice aboutthisparable isits similaritytothe Parable of the SowerinMark4:2-9. In
some ways,this parable expandsonJesus’teachingof how the “goodsoil” - whichisreferredto a
receptive heart- receivesthe “seed”thatreferstothe Word of God.
The Parable of the GrowingSeed isfoundin Mark 4:26-29. Init Jesus tellsof aman whoscatters seed
on the groundand thenallowsnature totake its course. We can read from Verse 26-27: “He alsosaid,
“Thisis what the kingdomofGod islike. A man scatters seed on the ground. Nightandday, whether
he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts andgrows, thoughhe does not know how”. Asthe man who
sowedthe seedgoesabouthisbusinessdaybyday,the seedbeginstohave aneffect.First,the seed
sprouts;thenitproducesa stalkand leaves,thenaheadof grain, and,finally,fullydevelopedkernelsin
the head. Verse 28 tellsus“All by itselfthe soil produces grain—firstthestalk,then the head,then the
full kernel in the head”.Here we can readthat Jesusemphasizesthatall of thishappenswithoutthe
man’shelp.The man whoscatteredthe seedcannotevenfullyunderstandhow ithappens—itissimply
the work of nature.The parable endswitha harvest.Assoonas the grain isripe,the sickle isemployed,
and the seedisharvested.Thishappensatjustthe righttime. “Assoon asthe grainis ripe, he puts the
sickle to it, becausethe harvest hascome.”(Mark4:29).
Jesusdidnotexplainthisparable,asHe didsome others.Instead,He leftittous to understandits
meaning.Takingthe seedtobe the Word of God,as we note in Mark 4:14, “The farmer sows the
word”.We can interpretthe growthof the plantsas the workingof God’s Wordin individual hearts.The
fact that the crop growswithoutthe farmer’sinterventionmeansthatcanGod accomplishHispurposes
evenwhenwe are absentor unaware of whatHe’sdoing.The goal isthe ripenedgrain.Atthe proper
time,the Wordwill bringforthitsfruit,andthe Lord of the harvestwill be glorified aswe can learnfrom
Luke 10:2, “He toldthem, “The harvest is plentiful,butthe workers are few. Ask the Lord ofthe
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into hisharvest field”.
The truth of thisparable iswell illustratedinthe growthof the earlychurch: “Iplanted the seed, Apollos
watered it, but Godmade it grow” (1 Corinthians3:6).Just like afarmercannot force a crop to grow,an
evangelistcannotforce spiritual life orgrowthonothers. To summarize the pointof the Parable of the
GrowingSeed:“The way Goduses His Wordin the heart of an individual ismysteriousand completely
independentofhumaneffort.” May we be faithful in“sowingthe seed,”prayingforaharvest,and
leavingthe resultstothe Lord!