The Growing Seed

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

 

 

As chapter 4 of the Gospel of Mark begins, we find our Saviour, Jesus Christ, teaching a multitude of people from a ship that “sat in the sea” (v. 1).  Jesus often did his teaching from this type of ‘pulpit,’ thus allowing him to speak to a multitude of people without having them press up against Him (and perhaps because it, more than likely, created good acoustics as well as providing a nice background).

 

Jesus teaches this crowd using a parable about a sower (or farmer) who plants seeds on various different types of soils and terrains.  Later that day, while Jesus was alone with His disciples, they ask Him about the meaning of the parable that He had taught earlier (v. 10).  After explaining the meaning of His teaching that day, He goes on to tell His disciples the parable of the Growing Seed.

 

Although Jesus does not tell us the meaning of the Growing Seed, we can see that it expands, in some ways, His earlier teaching (v. 3-8) of how the “good ground” (a receptive heart) receives the “seed” (the Word of God).  Jesus tells us that the “seed” is the Word of God (v. 14), and we can extrapolate that meaning to our parable of the Growing Seed. 

 

There are two points that Jesus emphasizes in this parable, the first being that the growing of the seed is mysterious and the person that planted the seed has no control over it.  The other point is that the seed grows gradually over a period of time; it just doesn’t “spring up.”  Both of these points are very important.

 

Interpreting from Scripture that the seed is the Word of God, we can now understand that the growing of the plant is the working of God’s Word in individual hearts.  As the farmer’s crop grows without his intervention, so does the work of God.  He can accomplish His purposes even when we are absent or unaware of what He is doing.

 

Jesus will later tell us that “no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44), and “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

 

In a manner of speaking, God does all the hard work.  He will use us to “plant the seed,” but it is God Himself Who will make it grow, without the help of man.

 

And this growing is done over a gradual period of time.  When we spread the Word of God, we probably will not see the result of that planting right away.  Sometimes it will take a long time for that seed to grow.  We may not even get to see it grow at all.  But eventually the seed will grow and the Word of God will spread.

 

The parable of the Growing Seed ends with a harvest.  As soon as the grain is ripe, the sickle is employed, and the seed is harvested.  This happens at just the right time.

 

This parable is well illustrated in 1 Corinthians 3:6, where the Apostle Paul is writing to the church located in Corinth, and writes, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”  Just like a farmer cannot force his crops to grow, neither can an evangelist force the growth of a spiritual life.

 

In conclusion, we can say that God will use His Word in the heart of an individual mysteriously and completely independent of any of man’s effort.

 

May we all be faithful in “sowing the seed,” praying for a harvest, and leaving the results to the Lord.