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Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever as, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."
And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."
And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
- Mark 4:21-34
Yesterday, we read that once again Jesus began to teach by the sea. He has chosen twelve disciples, and His ministry has grown tremendously. A great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'" And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it become unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit; some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."
Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever as, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." There are two sayings here, and in some sense the gist of each is dependent upon the other. First Jesus speaks about the revelatory nature of His parables, and in some sense, the entire nature of His mission and ministry. Here is here to reveal everything, to shine a light. He speaks of mystery when He says there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nothing kept secret but that it should come to light. As God Incarnate, He is here to give us spiritual truth. But -- as in the nature of the parables by which He preaches -- everything is dependent upon our own spiritual eyes and ears. What we are capable of receiving we receive; what we are incapable of receiving we do not. Thus "with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you." And again, there is the promise and teaching that we but enter if we hear, the journey only begins, and we are promised that more will be given. My study bible quotes Mark the Ascetic: "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you."
And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." This is a parable only found in Mark's Gospel. It's a parable about the nature of the Kingdom, which my study bible says here is meant to be the whole dispensation or salvation plan. The man -- like the Sower in yesterday's reading -- is meant to be understood as Christ, and the seed is His word, the gospel. His sleep is Christ' death, from which He will rise. That the earth yields crops by itself is meant to teach that Christ doesn't manipulate our receptivity to His word, how we hear and what takes root in us: each is free to receive the gospel and let it grow in his or her own heart. The harvest is the Second Coming, the time when judgment takes place based on our capacity to receive the word, the gospel.
Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." This beautiful parable teaches us about the word, how it becomes an entire kingdom, and what its nature is like. Jesus gives us "pieces" of the Kingdom in His word, like a tiny mustard seed, smallest of the seeds. But its growth is exponential, surprising -- an herb like no other herb, in whose branches may nest birds of the air, reminding us of angels (who are messengers bearing truth), the fullness of the presence of the kingdom of God. It teaches us about ourselves, what we are capable of becoming within this Kingdom, shade and support for the goodness of God to grow in the world. Our communities in His word become like that as well.
And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. My study bible says, "To unbelievers, the parables remain bewildering. To those with simple faith, these stories using common images reveal truth in ways they can grasp, as they were able." We note that in private, He explained all things to His disciples. As His followers, we too can learn through prayer and communion, and of course we have the testimony of the saints in the Church.
I always love to read the parable of the mustard seed, particularly as it is presented in Mark's Gospel. There's something so kind and tender about the "birds of the air who may nest under its shade." In this image I see all the seemingly fragile worthiness of goodness and grace, so easily and thoughtlessly destroyed by the violence and selfishness of our world. That is, the goodness of love and truth and beauty, worth everything, and easily dashed by what passes too often as "progress" in the mindless pursuit of power. Perhaps what I mean to say by that is illustrated in the death of Christ on the Cross; it's so easy, seemingly, for us to destroy the good, for the most base of reasons. In some sense, it is Christ Himself we can see in this mustard tree, this image of the Kingdom. He came to the world as a single, vulnerable human being, born as a babe to parents who had no place, and who would be sought after right from the time He was born. And yet it is He who still holds each of us in the branches of the Kingdom that lives with us and among us, He whose grace and love we know and in which we trust and find comfort and guidance in a world enamored with its violence and ignorance at times overwhelming in its disregard for what it is that makes human life "good." We may tenderly hold and support those "birds of the air" and nurture the goodness of a life in Christ. We cherish His truth and beauty, and cling to grace through all things. The mustard seed, for me, is the great parable that teaches us about what it means to nurture, to build, to grow. In a world that wants overnight results, Christ teaches us about what is truly natural to us, and how things work. He couples this parable, in Mark, with a parable unique to Mark -- about the seed that grows in the earth while the man sleeps. Once again, we're given to understand about the natural processes of growth, of grace: things take place mysteriously, within us, and all of sudden we see results. Shoots and branches, glimmerings of understanding, until everything is ready for a harvest. But most of all I can never quite get out of my mind those gracious, sturdy, sheltering branches that make a home for what is good, the messengers who bring us news of grace. Those branches reflect to us even an image of Mary, the Mother of God, who made a home for the true seed, the Child, in herself, so that His word, and His Church -- His kingdom -- could grow among us. We are each called to be like this, to protect what is precious, to be a home with protective branches, giving shade to what needs to be nurtured in our world. Can we remember the fragility of life, the priceless quality of grace, our need to pursue our faith with patience and growth? Everything depends upon it.
