The Seed

The Parables

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

In Matthew 13 the disciples asked that very question. Jesus told them that He spoke in parables because those that trusted in Him would understand, and those that didn’t, wouldn’t.

While seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

I would submit there is also another reason:

What’s your favorite color?

Coming home to Martye and Jordon

You are likely to remember.

When the event happens again, you will be reminded.

The Parable of the Seed.

Mark 4:26–29 NASB95

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

A couple weeks ago, we looked at Jesus’ parable of Sower and the Soil:

beside the road

rocky ground

among the thorns

good soil.

That parable immediately proceeded this one and in that parable Jesus identified the seed as what?

The Word

He is describing the Kingdom of God and it starts with His Word.

The sewer is anyone that spreads God’s Word.

The Sewer sews the seed and then leaves it alone. Lets it do it’s work.

Germination

Seeds have three parts:

The embryo (Plumule and Radical), The endosperm (food source) and seed coat.

You can learn all this about the seed, but if you want to grow a garden, You put the seed in the ground, water it, and wait for the seed to do what it’s supposed to do.

A Man casting Seed?

This is how Jesus describes the Kingdom of God.

The British Kingdom: Buckingham Palace, The Crown Jewels, All the Royal Guards. The pomp and circumstance.

All those things that are foreign to your daily lives.

Jesus describes the Kingdom of God as something that is near and familiar. He calls God our Father, the church is called the bride of Christ.

Acts 17:26–27 NASB95

26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

In the last parable, I gave you the good news that you aren’t responsible for the soil, just to sew the seeds.

You’re not responsible for the growth of the the kingdom. Just cast the seed!

There is a caution to those that hear the Word and don’t respond.

Mark 4:29 NASB95

29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

This is a reference to the Judgment of God.

It is completely possible for me to manipulate people into making a profession of faith in Christ.

It is impossible for me to manipulate someone into accepting Christ as their savior and submitting to His Lordship.

They may look the same on the outside, but it’s what happens inside that seed that produces a new life.

There are two aspects to being born again, His calling and your free will.

If you know that He is drawing you to himself, but you are resisting; I will simply remind you, there is a harvest coming.

The Mustard Seed

Mark 4:30–32 NASB95

30 And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

This imagery of the tree providing protection for the living things of the earth is found in several places in the OT. It refers to the Assyrian Kingdom in Daniel, God’s Kingdom in Psalms, and in Ezekiel it particularly point to the line of Davide establishing God’s Kingdom on earth.

The Smallest Seed

Christianity spread because a people followed a guy with no possessions, no property, no title, no political power, and no standing army.

It could not have a more humble beginning.

Your story

Everyone that is a believer in Christ has a testimony.

Love people, then tell your story.