Mark 4:26-34

The harvest is coming. (Mark 4:26-29)

It can be easy for us to be reminded of the parable of the sower in this story from the beginning of Mark 4. Although we shouldn’t think that read into the same allegorical identifications although it shares many elements.

This parable is its own parable different from that one.

The first parable of today reminds us that we cannot make the seed grow; in fact, we cannot even explain how it grows.

There is a mystery to the growth of the seed and the development of the harvest.

THERE IS A WHOLE PROCESS THAT A SEED MUST GO THRU TO GROW.

SEED GERMINATION:

After the seed has made it to a new location and is covered with dirt, it can begin germination. Germination is the process of seeds developing into new plants.

First, environmental conditions must trigger the seed to grow. Usually, this is determined by how deep the seed is planted, water availability, and temperature.

When water is plentiful, the seed fills with water in a process called imbibition.

The water activates special proteins, called enzymes, that begin the process of seed growth.

The seed grows a root to access water underground.

Next, the shoots, or growth above ground, begin to appear. The seed sends a shoot towards the surface, where it will grow leaves to harvest energy from the sun. The leaves continue to grow towards the light source in a process called photomorphogenesis.

There are so many influencing factors to a seed. Water, temperature, climate, SOIL and so on.

It takes a good deal of faith to be a farmer, and also a good deal of patience.

You know there are a lot of factors that are out of the hands of the farmer.

You never know what the weather is going to do. If it’s going to rain, if it’s going to rain too much. If it’s going to be a season of heat and dryness. If it’s going to be a season of unending freeze and wind.

It can be a very frustrating thing at times. Farmers can often be discouraged because of all the uncertainty’s, the up’s and downs of farming. In the old times of farming, much of your seed you scattered might now even see the light of day.

In the Parable of the Sower and the Soils (Mark 4:1-9), the Lord suggested that much of the seed scattered would fall on unproductive soil. This fact could discourage His workers; so, in this parable (Mark 4:26-29), He reassures them.

Galatians 6:9 ESV

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

The success of the Christian message similarly does not depend upon human effort or understanding—though Christians certainly need to scatter the seed—but upon GOD’S POWER.

Tell the story of the person’s spiritual journey on a pencil or pen.

It will succeed precisely because God is active.

We cannot cause the KINGDOM OF GOD to happen suddenly. We do not have that power. We can’t come up with some revolutionary activity or any other effort that is not aided by God in our effort to reach the lost.

BUT, we must still scatter the seed!

We must be diligent in scattering the seed. But we must know it will come with its frustrations of the process, the rejections, the unknown, and that it takes FAITH.

Be encouraged! Even though our message may be rejected, even though we may not understand God’s purposes… GOD’S KINGDOM WILL SURLY COME!

The parable of the mustard seed.(Mark 4:30-34)

Here we see this emphasis on the contrast between the small beginning and the enormous consummation (completion) of the Kingdom of God.

THE ENCOURAGEMENT WAS....

THE GROWTH OF THE KINGOM’S INFLUENCE:

The mustard seed was not technically the smallest seed in Palestine, although it was used in idioms and sayings and known for its smallness. Which is why God’s word uses this seed.

Although the mustard seed was so small and a herb at that, it could grow to heights of 6-8 feet and attain a thickness of 3 or 4 inches.

The difference from the seed to this huge herb is a perfect illustration of the difference between the beginning and the end of the manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: The Servant, the Crowds, and the Kingdom (Mark 3:13–4:34)

Our Lord began with 12 Apostles. Later, there were as many as 500 believers (1 Cor. 15:6). Peter won 3,000 at Pentecost; and throughout the Book of Acts, that number steadily increased (Acts 4:4; 5:14; 6:1, 7). In spite of the sins and weaknesses of the church, the message has been carried to other nations; and one day, saints from every nation shall worship before His throne (Rev. 5:9).

1 Corinthians 15:6 ESV

6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Acts 4:4 ESV

4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Acts 5:14 ESV

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Acts 6:7 ESV

7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Revelation 5:9 ESV

9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

Mark and his readers/hearers were much nearer to the beginning than the end. Neither is the greatness of the kingdom apparent 19 centuries later!

in 2015, Christians remained the largest religious group in the world in 2015, making up nearly a third (31%) of Earth’s 7.3 billion people, according to a new Pew Research Center demographic analysis.

Thats 2.3 billion Christians worldwide spanning from Catholics to Protestants.

BE ENCOURAGED CHRISTIAN… THAT GOD IS AT WORK!

HE IS AT WORK BRINGING THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD TO HIM!

YOU ARE NOT APART OF SOMETHING THAT IS DEAD LIKE CULTURE WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO BELIEVE...

BE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT IS ALIVE AND WELL.

CONCLUSION:

Mark (5) Conclusion (4:33–34)

Verse 33 implies that Mark presented only a small selection of what Jesus taught. The same is true of the other Gospel writers so that no one of them or all of them together give a complete account of everything that Jesus did or taught (cf. John 20:30–31). Again Mark emphasized the necessity of understanding. A better translation of the last part of v. 33 may be “in a way they could understand.”