Growing the Seed (Mark 4:26-29)
(Bible Study - January 1999) "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." (II Cor. 4:3)
"The parable of the growing seed" (Mark 4:26-29) has also been called the parable of "hidden seed" or one of "unconscious growth." Some have even referred to this parable as the story of "secret growth" and implied by this a certain mystical message. None of these titles really catches the essence of this parable. Instead of being concerned with headings let us first find out if we can understand the message. If we can do that we will either find a more appropriate name, or it simply will not matter!
God is at work
This parable is recited only in the Gospel of Mark, but its chronological placement
would lead us to conclude the story must have been told in the same sequence as the
parable of the sower (Mark 4:3-20). We might consider this narrative as, at least in part,
an expansion of the story of what happens to the seed that "fell on good
ground" (Mark 4:8). It is also a parable that complements the metaphor used in
Mark 4:21.
The Lord Jesus tells us that no man would put a candle under a bushel, or under his bed. The word for bushel used here was originally of Latin origin and in this context means a container that can hold that measure of dry goods, usually grain. Such a container was normally made of pottery and if inverted over a candle (or oil lamp) would, in short order, stifle the flame for lack of oxygen. Placing the candle under a bed would be even more foolish, since one would not only diminish the light, but would also incur the strong possibility of igniting the bedding, which was usually made of dried straw. The purpose of a candle is to provide light; hiding it, or putting it where it is both concealed from view and dangerous, would be utter folly.
The metaphor for light is surely familiar to us as representing the word of God, but we must not forget that the meaning, as expressed in this short parable, goes beyond that simple idea. Light can only provide guidance if it can be clearly seen and if it is wisely used. We sometimes make qualitative judgments on to whom, or where, we should preach only to be proven completely wrong in our assessments at some later time.
Once when I was in college (long ago!) I had a weekly Bible class in my dormitory room. A dozen students attended those discussions and most were very intent on the study, except one. This classmate was habitually combative. He railed against everything and took every opportunity to denounce the Bible. For a time I thought that I should bar him from coming, but since he was six inches taller, and an avid weightlifter, it didn’t seem the prudent thing to do! When the school year was up I gave each of the students in the weekly Bible seminar a number of pamphlets to read over the summer to keep them interested until we would meet again in the fall.
Three months later, on the first day of classes, this antagonistic young man ran up to me and grabbed me on the campus commons saying: "I want to be baptized!" I was completely amazed! All the other, seemingly more intent students eventually faded away, but the "light" had penetrated the least likely individual (from my limited human perspective). From that time forward I was determined never to make prejudgments. It was my job to keep the candle burning regardless, "but it is the Lord (who) added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).
First principles are clear
Our Lord Jesus Christ goes on to say: "For there is nothing hid, which shall
not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad"
(Mark 4:22). The preposition "for" connects these comments to the
previous verse on "light." What Jesus Christ is saying here is that the
"light," or to expand the allegory, "the word of God"
will leave nothing hidden. All that we need to know for salvation is plainly taught in the
scriptures (II Tim. 3:15-17).
The basic principles expounded in the Bible had to be given in such a way that they would come through loud and clear independent of a particular language of translation, time in history, cultural context, or even the absolute intelligence of the reader (one should not have to be a genius to comprehend the word). Hence the Lord caused the basic principles to be written over and over again in many different ways, in numerous books of the Bible, over a 15-century time span. There are hundreds of references, for example, to the one Lord, or to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to name but two examples. We should automatically be suspicious when we are told that some concept fundamental to our salvation depends on an obscure passage that can only be understood by reference to the original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic, as the case may be. We should also be skeptical of hidden secrets and mysteries that cannot be fully understood by studying the scriptures.
The Living Bible paraphrases Mark 4:22 in the following way: "All that is now hidden will someday come to light," this wording gives a false impression. It has been used by some as a proof to justify the existence of "hidden" mysteries that we cannot fully comprehend until some future time. The belief in the idea of a Trinity is a prime example. It is said by Trinitarians that: "This concept may be difficult to grasp. But then, we shouldn’t expect to fully understand the infinite God with our finite minds." Scripture directly contradicts this attitude: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John.17:3) The Apostle John is telling us that knowing God is a matter of eternal life; surely this is a first principle and is a concept we can and must understand. If knowing God is beyond our comprehension -- or in the words of Trinitarians impossible for our finite minds to appreciate -- then we are all condemned and without hope!
The only mystery the Bible discusses is the exact method that God would eventually provide to undo the workings of sin and death that entered His creation by one man, Adam (Rom. 5:17, 18). The means for conquering sin and death was made manifest, or revealed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Apostle Paul could now tell the Roman ecclesia that the mechanism of salvation was: "now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him" (Rom. 16:25 NIV).
The unintelligible not critical
Nevertheless, there may indeed be secrets, mysteries, or hidden things that we may
never comprehend. But are they essential to salvation? The Lord asked Job: "Where
were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand"
(Job 38:4 NIV, Cp. this entire chapter). Physicists have recently made great progress in
understanding how nature works. However, they can never answer the question posed by the
Lord, nor can they hope to experimentally synthesize the actual conditions that led to the
creation of heaven and earth. Physicists can answer the question, "How?"
but the question "Why?" is unanswerable by man. The laws of physics can
be used to describe the observations that scientists make, but why the laws behave the way
they do, or even why there are laws of physics in the first place is completely unknown
and probably unknowable by man.
While these musings of science may be interesting, and even exciting to some, they are totally superfluous to our salvation. Everything we need to know, every principle vital to our salvation, every lesson in character development, and every aid and comfort for our benefit is in the word of God as recorded in the scriptures. Our Lord said: "Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." It is precisely this spirit of careful enquiry that leads a person to truth (Mark 4:24 esp. NIV).
When we study the word of God we should approach it with an open mind and a faithful heart. For some people, unlearning so many of the falsehoods that they have accumulated from previous experience is far more difficult than understanding the Truth as revealed in the scriptures.
We are not immune to "hidden mysteries," i.e. careless thinking, even within the household – "with the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more" (Mark 4: 24). If we don’t continually measure, or literally weigh out, portions of the word of God we can become equally blinded by false ideas. Too often we encourage outsiders to measure out the word and fail to do so ourselves. All too frequently we ask those we are teaching the word to have open minds while our own remains closed to the problems that have long festered and plagued the household. How can this be? God will measure to us to the limit that we weigh to Him (v.25). Notice that the candle that is put under the bed is hidden within the household and failure to carefully shine the light within our own community can, and has, led to conflagrations.
The seed that grows by itself
The parable of "the seed [that] sprouts and grows" is aimed at
expanding the message of the preceding verses that we have discussed above.
Once again we encounter a parable that purports to tell us "what the kingdom of God is like," yet in our ordinary view it does no such thing. We are told nothing about the wonders of the kingdom age, instead we are told about the nature of the "seed" that will make up that kingdom. This is presumably the "good seed;" an image that we hope includes ourselves. The gospel of Mark says that it sprouts and grows though the farmer knows not how.
In the parable of the sower, the sower was our Lord Jesus Christ, but in this case the farmer cannot be the Son, nor the Father. Certainly Jesus and God know what they are doing! Hence the seed could hardly sprout and grow without their knowing how. The farmer in this case must be us: "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things" (Rom. 10:15). This seed grows all by itself (a good title!) and this is the key to the parable. It is God who tends to the growing and will reap the harvest. We cannot of ourselves "will" anyone into the kingdom. Nor can we decide who may, or may not, be worthy of our preaching efforts. We may even be unaware of some who are already of His household, failing to recognize them because of our own prejudices and narrowness of view.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow" (I Cor. 3:6 NIV). With the help of the Apostle Paul we can fully realize how the "good seed" grows "all by itself" - it is all the doing of our Lord. Those who follow the will of God will be cared for, and brought to fullness, so that they might eventually become ripe grain and at the resurrection harvest join with the first fruits, the Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 15:20-23).
Next, God willing: The Parable of the Bridegroom
John C. Bilello