The Mystery of the Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The Gospel of Mark
We’ve seen the growth of Jesus’s ministry
And last week we saw Jesus appoint 12 of his followers to go out and replicate his ministry
And we saw the conflict Jesus faced
From evil spiritual powers
From the religious leaders
From his own family
Today we are in Mark 4
I know we said this when we started, but Mark is an action Gospel
There is a lot of emphasis on what Jesus did, and where he went, but there aren’t very many long portions of his teachings in Mark
Today we are looking at the second longest teaching from Jesus in Mark
So let’s pay attention to Jesus’s words
It is his teachings of Parables about the Kingdom
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
(SLIDES)
1 Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them, 3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.” 9 Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”
10 When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables 12 so that
they may indeed look,
and yet not perceive;
they may indeed listen,
and yet not understand;
otherwise, they might turn back
and be forgiven.”
33 He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
(SLIDES)
Outline
The Mystery of the Kingdom
The Mystery of Following Jesus
My outline is very simple today
Jesus has 4 parables he teaches
We’ll look at what each one means in the big picture
We’ll also see what they mean for us as individuals
Then we’ll wrap up
The Mystery of the Kingdom
The Mystery of the Kingdom
(SLIDES)
33 He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
Why he taught in parables?
To draw people in
(SLIDES)
“A parable is a shell that keeps a good fruit for the diligent but keeps it from the slothful”
—Matthew Henry
Parables are incredibly simple—but deeply complex
Each parable is singular in it’s aim or purpose
There is a singular meaning—its not a complex analogy
But each parable makes us think deeply
And understand simple spiritual truths in a much deeper way
[PARABLE]— “A placing of one thing beside another” — Spiritual and Physical
It’s one thing to say that we depend on the word of God
It’s another thing to liken God’s word to food—something we need to survive
Or for Jesus to say—you need me to be satisfied
Instead of—I am the living water, whoever drinks from the water that I will give them will never thirst again
So let’s look at these four parables in light of the big picture—hopefully we can glean something new
Here Jesus is describing what the Kingdom of Heaven is like
He’s giving us visuals to help us understand
Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Sower
(SLIDES)
13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them. 16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. 18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
The Kingdom of Heaven will grow like a farmer sowing seeds.
We are disconnected from some of these parables
We just go to the grocery store
But this is a society of farmers and agriculture
And for the original listeners (of farmers) this is quite shocking
It seems like the sower is being wasteful
Seeds are a limited resource
The wellbeing of your family and finances depend on these seeds
And this sower is tossing it everywhere
On the road
On rocky ground
In the thorns
And on good ground
And guys, this shows the generous and indiscriminate heart of God
It might seem wasteful
But God isn’t concerned with efficiency
He wants his word to be made known everywhere
Even if it will be rejected or tossed aside
And I want us to think about the people in our lives
The people that are too far gone
The people that are unlovely and honestly might seem like a waste of time
God doesn’t see a single person like that
God’s kingdom is for everyone
It doesn’t go out with a strategy
“These are the influential people we need to convert…”
It goes out freely to each person
And in this parable, it’s not the seed that is bad—it’s the ground it is falling on
Every person has an opportunity to respond to this
Some, is snatched away
Some, are short-lived
Some, are choked out
But others fall on good ground
But God’s word isn’t only for the ‘good ground’
It is for all
Parable of the Lamp
Parable of the Lamp
(SLIDES)
21 He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Secondly, the kingdom of God isn’t something that remains hidden
It is a lamp—a light in a dark world
The imagery—imagine being in a pitch dark room that you need to see in
Would you cover up a lamp and then turn it on?
Now this isn’t just a room—this is our lives
And so many people are living their lives in darkness and confusion
And God’s Kingdom is a lamp that provides vision and revelation
Like a lighthouse for sailors at sea
Would they cover it up?
Parable of the Growing Seed
Parable of the Growing Seed
(SLIDES)
26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Thirdly, Jesus likens his kingdom to a growing seed
We know that it will grow—and how to support it in growing
But we have no idea how it actually grows
Again these are farmers
This is more than just a metaphor for thought
Their lives depended on grain
But they had no idea how it actually worked
Just that they needed to plant seed
Water—and harvest when it was ready
This isn’t a perfect analogy—but its how most humans relate to driving a car
They have no idea what is actually happening
I just turn my key, press a pedal, and steer
But the one who designed it knows all of the intricacies
Well similarly, God, the creator of the universe knows these things—and we live in ignorance of so much
And similarly—the kingdom of heaven is not a science
We actually don’t know how everything works
There is a mystery
I think many churches are in danger when they try to simplify what kingdom growth looks like
Or steps, procedures, pipelines, etc.
At the end of the day
We put our selves to the work
We sleep and rise night and day
And God provides the growth
(SLIDES)
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Parable of the Mustard Seed
Parable of the Mustard Seed
(SLIDES)
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
Finally, the parable of the mustard seed
A mustard seed is 1-2 mm in diameter
(SLIDE)
A mustard tree can grow anywhere from 20-30 feet tall
(SLIDE)
Here Jesus is talking about the completely unexpected growth of his Kingdom
Think about it
One man—in the public eye for 3 years
With 12 followers
Was crucified by the Roman Government around 2,000 years ago on the other side of the world
Jesus of the nowhere town of Nazareth
Born of Mary—the teenager
Talk about a mustard seed
(SLIDES)
“From small beginnings God accomplishes great things. When Jesus left this earth, he had a little more than a hundred followers. Yet that mustard seed of a movement swept across the Mediterranean region and throughout the world, transforming the lives of millions and changing the course of human history.”
—Mark Strauss
And think of the impact today
We literally split history by his life (BC/AD)
Although his followers were persecuted and killed
They continued to grow
There is an estimated 2.38 billion Christians on Earth today
The impact Christianity has had on the world
Hospitals
Orphanages
Universities
Literacy
Abolition of Slavery
Women’s Rights
No one would ever expect the impact Jesus would have on human history
Where are all of the Roman Emperors of Jesus’s times that claimed to be God?
Forgotten in history books
Where is Jesus?
Still alive with us today over 2,000 years later
But here he is talking to his disciples and followers that have no idea
They see just this little mustard seed
And that is what the kingdom of heaven is like
Small humble beginnings
The Mystery of Following Jesus
The Mystery of Following Jesus
Now these parables are great, and they do apply to the big picture of history and God’s kingdom
But they all are searching in our own hearts and lives
These parables are speaking to us
Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Sower
(SLIDES)
13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them. 16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. 18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
The implications of this parable for us can’t be understated
Jesus is clear what is being sown—
“the sower sows the word”
The kingdom will come through words
A proclamation of the gospel
And the problem in this story isn’t with the seed, its with the soil
And we can tend to view this parable in terms of salvation and evangelism
But everyday, God is trying to speak to us
He is longing to speak to us
Whether it is encouragement, correction, affirmation
His word is sown—but what is the quality of our hearts?
You see just like this parable we face, our hearts can be good ground for his word to produce fruit—or it can be rejected
Let’s look briefly at the three bad soils
Satan snatches the seed
Trials scorch the sprout
Worries and desires choke it out
We are all in danger of these three things—even today
Even in the simple truth God is trying to get across—
I LOVE YOU
Will we prepare our hearts for God
Turn away the birds
Till the ground of our hearts (remove rocks)
Remove the unfruitful thorns
If we do—we can expect much fruit
Parable of the Lamp
Parable of the Lamp
(SLIDES)
21 He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Our walk with Jesus isn’t for the ‘private life’
It is something to be lived out for all to see
(SLIDES)
When the modern world says to us aloud, "You may be religious when you are alone," it adds under its breath, "and I will see to it that you never are alone." To make Christianity a private affair while banishing all privacy is to relegate it to the rainbow's end
—C.S. Lewis
Our faith is more than just our devotional times—and when we are alone
We must like it out, without hypocrisy
Parable of the Growing Seed
Parable of the Growing Seed
(SLIDES)
26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Spiritual growth in the personal life is not a formula
And it’s not linear—its a winding path
It can’t be turned into a plan
I just have to read my bible and pray everyday and then ill mature
We scatter seed, we water, and we trust that God will bring the growth
Rest easy, its like watering a plant and watching and waiting for it grow
A good farmer isn’t one that’s constantly watching and measuring the growth of his plants
He is simply doing his job—and he trusts the process
And the simplicity of the Christian life is — just choose Jesus
In everything you do
(SLIDE)
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
Parable of the Mustard Seed
Parable of the Mustard Seed
(SLIDES)
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
God’s work in our lives often starts in the small things
Will we be faithful?
(SLIDES)
20 “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Our lives are not about how great or strong we become
Its is about how great our God is
My teaching gift example
A little faith goes a long way
Faith vs The Object of Faith
Conclusion
Conclusion
I just want to end with what Jesus says at the end of his teaching on these parables
(SLIDES)
34 He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
Following Jesus is a mystery
We don’t have it figured out
We have to trust God when things don’t make sense
It’s not efficient, its unexpected, it not easy or clean
And life will throw us some big curveballs
Some big whys?
But I hope that if theres one thing you take from today, its to come to Jesus with these questions
Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
He might not give us the answers we want or are looking for
But he reminds us that he is in control
That he knows whats happening
Even believers will ask these questions
But we are insiders—we have Jesus
(SLIDES)
Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand…
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.
Reflection Questions
Reflection Questions
Where do you go when life gets difficult and confusing?
How can you keep your heart soft to the words of God?
