In the spring, young children love to watch what happens when they plant a few seeds in a cup, put the cup against a sunny window and wait ... day after day ... for the thin green blades to push their way up through the soil. It is the miracle of new life and it comes in such a mysterious way that their minds are captivated. To have to wait for a week or two is part of the excitement.

The lessons learned from watching and waiting as a seed germinates and a plant begins to grow are not only valuable for children but, as we see in our parable, they are impor­tant lessons for all who wish to know how the kingdom of heaven takes shape.

The Scenery⤒🔗

This parable is only recorded by Mark. We find it on the heels of the parable of the sower, in which Jesus spoke about the preparation of the soul for the gospel message. Christ was making clear that not all hearts have been prepared to receive the gospel. The seed must have a specific prepared “landing place” in order to bear fruit.

Now, in this parable of the growing seed, Jesus is deal­ing with the process that the gospel message undergoes in the soul. The parable mentions three main stages in the process: sowing, growing, and reaping. During the sowing stage the seed is “cast,” or embedded in the ground. During the second stage, the seed grows, first into a blade; next, the ear; and then the full corn in the ear. Then, finally, there is the reaping stage, when the fruit is fully ripened.

Between stages 1 and 3, however, the sower has noth­ing to do with what is happening to the seed. That happens secretly. In fact, the parable puts emphasis on the sowers’ non-involvement with the seed. After “casting” the seed to the ground, the man in the parable “sleeps.” We read of him rising “night and day,” which tells us that time is passing. The sower isn’t anxiously turning over the soil to see if he can detect any growth or pacing up and down the fields at night trying to hasten the growth of the crop. On the con­trary, he sleeps at night and rises each day to do whatever else he may need to do, and simply leaves the seed to grow.

Christ draws specific attention to the fact that the farmer does not know or understand all that goes into the process of the seed springing and growing (v. 27). He operates with an implicit confidence that there will be a harvest. He trusts that there will be a harvest even when he doesn’t understand all that is happening under the ground.

The Substance←⤒🔗

For both the parable of the sower and the parable of the tares, the Lord had given His disciples an explicit interpretation. That probably means that the parable we are considering now may have been the first parable that these disciples – newly initiated into the mysterious world of the parables – would need to try to interpret.

The basic message of this parable is found in the phrase:

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself. v. 28

The Greek word translated as “of herself” is automate, from which the English gets the word “automatic.” Christ is saying that the growth of the plant is subservient to the order and laws in creation. It is the natural process of a seed, when cast into the earth, to bring forth a plant. This natural process is far greater than anything a farmer or any number of farmers could do; ultimately, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has designed all things and still maintains and directs them, through these means brings forth a harvest from the seed. It’s like Paul says elsewhere: “God ... giveth the increase” (1 Cor. 3:7). Matthew Henry comments: “God carries on his work insensibly and without noise, but insu­perably and without fail.”

When God gives the increase, He does so gradually, just as we see with corn. The seed begins to grow and comes to fruition along the steps of the blade, the ear, and the full ear of corn. Some in the kingdom of God are still “blades,” others “ears,” and still others are “full ears of corn.” A blade is something that doesn’t show fruit, but it does evidence new life. A blade is very sensitive and might be easily trampled, but every lush corn-bearing plant at one time was a mere blade. The ear is the beginning of the formation of fruit, but to think it was the ripe and mature fruit would be a mistake.

Of course, we should not force the parallelism to spiri­tual life as to imply that those who die quickly after conver­sion would not be bringing forth a full measure of fruit to the glory of God. God measures and gauges fruit according to what pleases Him and, from that divine perspective, the sickle never comes a moment too early.

The Savior←⤒🔗

Many have difficulty seeing that the sower of this par­able is Christ because the parable seems to be suggesting that the sower does not know how the seed springs and grows (v. 27). Nevertheless, the parable puts us into a bind, for if Christ were not the sower, neither would He be the reaper, for verse 29 says: “Immediately he (that is, the sower) putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Since we know that Christ is ultimately both the sower and the reaper, the only way out of this seeming dilemma is to regard this detail of “not knowing” as belonging to the earthly level of the story. Since Christ has both a human nature as well as a divine nature, we shouldn’t be surprised that this detail simply cannot carry over to the person of Christ.

In the end, the point is precisely that Christ is much more than just the sower. In His incarnation, He took on a true human nature in order that He could come to this world and personally sow the message of the kingdom. He could also be fully confident that the harvest of this seed would be most certainly accomplished, because as the second person of the divine Trinity, He has at His disposal the power behind the laws and processes of creation that enable the seed He has sown to sprout and grow. And through His life, death, and resurrection, He exerts a power equivalent to that of creating the universe as He regenerates people. Through the power of His Spirit He makes them to grow up in Him. Paul says it this way:

If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.Rom 6:5

In the covenant of redemption, He has been given people to sow, grow, and reap – all to the glory of God.

Later the same day that Christ told this parable, an event transpired that confirms this point. We read about the great miracle of Jesus calming a terrible storm, in which it seems like all of “nature’s” power is combined against the disci­ples (Mark 4:35-51). Nevertheless, if the disciples had had Christ’s parable fresh on their minds, they may not have been surprised to find Jesus sleeping on the ship. After all, like the sower of the parable, He had completed His day of sowing and now He could sleep, confident that His Word would not return void but accomplish what He purposed (Isa. 55:10).

So then, Christ, who at one moment is the sower who can sleep confidently, explains the next moment exactly why He can sleep – and we through Him: He proves that even earth’s fiercest powers are under His control. In other words, “the earth” that grows the seed acts under the control of this human and divine sower. The growth of the kingdom is not left simply to natural laws; the Lord Jesus directs nature. Though hidden in the ground, unseen by men’s eyes, the seed is still taken care of, cultivated, and nourished by Him, who sits enthroned over all creation. Precisely through these storms, He is growing the seed of faith in His people’s life, until He has the growth exactly where He wants it to be (see Mark 4:40).

The Searchlight←⤒🔗

This parable is useful in examining ourselves on at least three points.

1. Self-reliance. Often we get bogged down with the latest trends, methods, and strategies, thinking to produce spiritual growth in ourselves or in others. We may try to grow the seed in our children or friends or neighborhoods, even working tirelessly as we do so. We may be trying to work up some growth in our lives through self-improvement and the like. The confident sleep of the farmer in the parable proves how vain our self-reliance can be.
    
2. ​Faith. Instead of relying on ourselves, do we rest in the gracious providence and covenant of God? Indeed, we are called upon to sow the seed of God’s Word in the lives of our children, friends, and neigh­bors, but do we carry on with our day-to-day busi­ness, knowing that Christ will bring His harvest to fruition through His Spirit’s work? The life of faith is a life lived trusting in Jesus Christ. It is by faith that we must continue, even in the times that seem spiritually to be the driest and most uneventful.
    
3. ​Growth. We can’t read this parable without ask­ing: Which stage am I in? Has fruit started to show itself in my life? Or is it perhaps true that my life does not so much as show a blade of new life?

As the searchlight of this parable reads us, we need Christ from heaven to decrease our self-reliance and increase our faith. We are not the shapers of our own destiny. Instead, we need to learn to be content to be seed on His earth, which He is growing from heaven through His almighty grace.

Questions←⤒🔗

1. So often when the Bible tells us to believe, we want to behold. Discuss how the parable should con­vict us on this point.
    
2. The Bible speaks elsewhere about various levels of faith (weak faith, strong faith, great faith, etc.). Trace how the disciples’ faith might have developed throughout their lives along the three stages (blade, ear, full corn in the ear).
    
3. After telling this parable, Christ takes the dis­ciples onto the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). There Christ sleeps while the disciples fret. How does this parable of the seed growing shed light on growth in the life of the disciples?
    
4. Small beginnings often discourage us. How does this parable remind us that they should not? Why do you think God often chooses to work in the way of small beginnings?