Tuesday, October 17, 2006
SPONTANEOUS GROWTH
84. The parable of spontaneous growth
Mark 4:26-29. And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
27. and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up 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."
This portion of scripture is included only in Mark’s gospel and should awaken us to pay particular attention to his inspiration. He has just given us the details on the sower and the soils and then pulled us out of sequence by the parenthetical explanation to His disciples after He had them alone.
We look and find that Mark gives us this sequence of three sowing parables; the sower/soils (4:3-25), the germination and fruition of the seed (vv. 26-29), and the abundant growth we shall see in the mustard tree (vv. 30-32). These Markan parables taken in context tell us about human responsibility in the parable of the sower and soils. In this present parable of mysterious growing we learn of the sovereignty of God. In the next parable of the mustard tree we see the abundant growth obtained when these two powers operate harmoniously.
Mark 4:26-27 and He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27. and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows how, he himself does not know.
It is about this parable that C.H. Spurgeon says, “It is a parable for all who are concerned in the kingdom of God. It will be of little value to those who are in the kingdom of darkness, for they are not bidden to sow the good seed: Unto the wicked God saith, ‘what has thou to do to declare My statutes?’ But all who are loyal subjects to King Jesus, all who are commissioned to scatter seed for the Royal Husbandman, will be glad to know how the kingdom advances, glad to know how the harvest is preparing for Him whom they serve.”
This is spoken to teach patience to the kingdom citizens in that there are things that they can actively contribute but there are also those which are out of their control and jurisdiction. The kingdom citizen can sow and he can reap but in between those points the seed is completely left in God’s hands. We are also to understand that no kingdom citizen lives in obscurity and no one is excluded in sowing the seed. Again Spurgeon says, “There is not within the family of God an infant hand which may not drop its own tiny seed into the ground… sacred service is within the reach of everyone’s capacity and carried by the feeblest hand where it shall multiply a hundred fold.
Mark 4:26-29. And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
27. and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up 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."
This portion of scripture is included only in Mark’s gospel and should awaken us to pay particular attention to his inspiration. He has just given us the details on the sower and the soils and then pulled us out of sequence by the parenthetical explanation to His disciples after He had them alone.
We look and find that Mark gives us this sequence of three sowing parables; the sower/soils (4:3-25), the germination and fruition of the seed (vv. 26-29), and the abundant growth we shall see in the mustard tree (vv. 30-32). These Markan parables taken in context tell us about human responsibility in the parable of the sower and soils. In this present parable of mysterious growing we learn of the sovereignty of God. In the next parable of the mustard tree we see the abundant growth obtained when these two powers operate harmoniously.
Mark 4:26-27 and He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27. and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows how, he himself does not know.
It is about this parable that C.H. Spurgeon says, “It is a parable for all who are concerned in the kingdom of God. It will be of little value to those who are in the kingdom of darkness, for they are not bidden to sow the good seed: Unto the wicked God saith, ‘what has thou to do to declare My statutes?’ But all who are loyal subjects to King Jesus, all who are commissioned to scatter seed for the Royal Husbandman, will be glad to know how the kingdom advances, glad to know how the harvest is preparing for Him whom they serve.”
This is spoken to teach patience to the kingdom citizens in that there are things that they can actively contribute but there are also those which are out of their control and jurisdiction. The kingdom citizen can sow and he can reap but in between those points the seed is completely left in God’s hands. We are also to understand that no kingdom citizen lives in obscurity and no one is excluded in sowing the seed. Again Spurgeon says, “There is not within the family of God an infant hand which may not drop its own tiny seed into the ground… sacred service is within the reach of everyone’s capacity and carried by the feeblest hand where it shall multiply a hundred fold.
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:30 PM
