To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?

 

 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 has 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 has, 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 again Jesus began to teach by the sea.  And 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 has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Here Jesus seems to promise that the truths "hidden" in the parables are those things which are meant to come to light.  In effect, His truth is light.  It is spiritual illumination.  In His parables is enlightenment, meant to be revealed, but we must have ears to hear.  If we think of the kind of lamp that Christ is referring to, an oil lamp whose light comes from a flame, then we can know that the truth of Christ is like a flame, a fire that is meant to shed light to all.

 

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 has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  My study Bible says this is a call to attentive listening and discriminating response.  It says that we must not only hear, but hear properly.  More will be given to those who respond to Christ with open hearts; they will grow in understanding.  There is a beautiful quotation given from 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."  My study Bible informs us that this parable is given only in Mark's Gospel.  It notes that the kingdom as used here refers to the whole span of God's dispensation or plan of salvation.  The man is Christ, and the seed is the gospel (see in yesterday's reading, above, Mark 4:13-20).  His sleep indicates Christ's death, from which He will rise.  My study Bible notes also that the man does not know how the seed grows, showing that Christ does not manipulate our response to the gospel, but each person is free to receive it and to let it grow in one's own heart.  The harvest is a figurative image of the Second Coming, when all will be judged on their reception of 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."   My study Bible refers us to a parallel passage in Matthew 13:31-33, in which Jesus couples this beautiful parable of the mustard seed with the parable of the leaven (not found here in Mark).  But each parable teaches about the growth of the kingdom.  In that passage, Theophylact comments that each represents the disciples.  They began as just a few individuals, but "soon encompassed the whole earth."  They also stand for faith entering a person's soul, which causes an inward growth of virtue -- the soul may become "godlike" and can receive even angels (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.  Again we note that to unbelievers, the parables remain bewildering.  But to those with simple faith, these stories using common images are meant to reveal truth in ways they can grasp, as they were able.

 

 Jesus 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."  The parable of the Mustard Seed has ever been one of my favorites.  I couldn't precisely say why, because there are so many elements to the parable that are there to charm in the beautiful details.  Whether it is the brilliant yellow color of small mustard flowers, or the beautiful sense of the birds of the air who find a home and nest under the shade of this sturdy herb's branches, there is something powerfully poetic in this parable.  It shines with the beauty of small things, through which works the grace and power -- and great growth -- of the very kingdom of the eternal and omnipresent God.  For the ancient earliest Christians, it is paradox through which we find God and the presence of the Kingdom.  This small little parable, about small little things through which surprisingly grows the greatest of all, has all of the elements of the beauty of Christianity, and particularly so because it is from the mouth of God the Word, the Logos, who is Jesus Christ.  How could we have all of these beautiful small elements:  the flowers, the tiniest seed, a sturdy bush which is still an herb, and the place where the birds of the air (the angels) may nest and find shade, a harbor for what is good in a world which is also plagued by what is not good.  We have the beauty of the small which God chooses to be made great, which God blesses with power and with grace, through which God chooses to establish God's kingdom.  Can you imagine -- what does it mean when we stop to think of it? -- that the angels may come and rest in the branches we grow through our faith and God's grace, and serve and minister to us?  Can we imagine that we shelter the angels themselves in the communities we build by loving one another as He has loved us (John 13:34-35).  This is the powerful pull of the Kingdom, the beauty and poetry of Christianity, the paradox of the One who said to St. Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).   For if you miss this beauty, you miss Christianity.  This is the grace and paradox, beauty and poetry, that captured the ancient world, even the cultures for whom beauty, truth, and goodness were already understood as aspects of the divine -- those which gave us poetry, drama, music, art, philosophy, architecture, and all that we know as classical culture.  What they lacked, even in the splendor of their empires and great achievements, was this paradox of the great and powerful that acts through the small, the God who could become human, emptying Himself to die for us, and to give us Resurrection and the defeat of death.  Let us consider this parable and its powerful testimony yet today of the beauty of the small and tender, which houses great things, for whom the angels may serve us and take shelter in our faith.