LESSON 31 – A TRIO OF SEEDS

A TRIO OF SEEDS

In our last lesson, we learned why and how Jesus spoke in parables. It was revealed that the “mystery of the kingdom” served a dual purpose: First, it would be receptive to those with receptive hearts, and secondly, it would conceal it from those who have hardened themselves against Him. If you recall, the people were not interested in hearing the Word, but only wanted to be healed of their illnesses, so their minds and ears were “turned off.” Jesus spoke in parables and said that people would be curious to understand the truth, and as a result, they would seek it out.

Mark gave us a trio of parables that Jesus first expressed, all dealing with seeds. Marks three parables are “The Parable of the Sower”, also referred to as “The Parable of the Soils”, “The Parable of the Seeds, and “The Parable of the Mustard Seed”.

The parable of the Sower, God shows us how different conditions of the heart affect spiritual growth, what God is doing, how this touches and enters our hearts, and one’s response to God’s kingdom. The second parable, the parable of the seed shows how God’s Word mysteriously causes a growth process in the believer’s heart, and with God’s divine power, the individual receives full understanding of the kingdom of God without human effort. Third, the parable of the mustard seed will show the effect his kingdom will have on the world, how his kingdom will expand above and beyond what seems possible.

Here is the Parable of the Sower:

“Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Mark 4:3-9 NAB)

Even the twelve disciples were confused and didn’t understand. Afterward, they said, “Explain the parable to us.” So, Jesus explained it to them and said, “To you it is given to know the secret of the kingdom of heaven,” and as he gave them the explanation, he said in Verse 13:

Jesus said to them, “Do you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?” (Mark 4:13 NAB)

This question is of paramount importance, as the parable of the sower is the key to understanding and interpreting all the parables. The parables must be treated as allegories.

A simple explanation of an allegory is that every detail means something, and Jesus says that parables are allegories whereby every detail matters and has its own meaning to the whole. This is the key to interpreting all the parables. It appears that some commentators do not follow this principle but make the mistake of making the parables mean whatever they choose them to mean.

In verse 14, Jesus explains this parable:

“The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown to them. (Satan represents the birds that came and ate the seed.) And these are the ones that are sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:13-20 NAB)

This is how God’s kingdom comes to us. The focus is on the condition of the heart and how receptive a person’s heart is to God at any moment.

The key components of the Parable (Mark 4:14-20):

The Sower: Anyone sharing the Word of God (Jesus, disciples, or believers).

The Seed: The gospel message or the “word of the kingdom.”

The Path (Hard Ground): People who hear, but Satan immediately snatches the word away because they don’t understand or accept it.

Rocky Ground: (Shallow Ground): People who receive the word with joy but lack deep roots; they fall away quickly when persecution or trouble arises.

Thorny Ground: People who hear the word, but the worries of life, the pursuit of wealth, and the desires for other things choke it, making it unfruitful.

Good Soil (Receptive Heart): People who hear, accept and understand the word that results in a transformed life that produces a bountiful harvest 30, 60 or a hundredfold.

The second parable is shown in Verses 26-29:

The Parable of the Growing Seed: He said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God;

it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29 NAB)

I think this is the most inspiring of all Jesus’ parables. Unique to the Gospel of Mark, this parable likens the Kingdom of God to a man who scatters seed and then goes about his life. The seed sprouts and grows all by itself through a mysterious process he does not understand until it is time for the harvest. The seed contains an inherent, “automatic” power to grow, and this signifies that the Word of God is infused with life and will inevitably produce results when planted in a receptive heart. The seed grows, he knows not how, but the word grows secretly and our Lord is teaching us that God is at work. It doesn’t depend on us! This shows divine sovereignty vs human effort. The farmer scatters the seed, then “sleeps and rises” while the crop develops. This highlights that spiritual growth is not a human achievement. God establishes his purposes even when we are unaware or absent.

It shows that the process of growth happens in stages; “first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head”. This teaches us the necessity of patience, as spiritual maturity is a gradual and invisible process. The core takeaways for believers are that followers of Christ are called to be “messengers” who faithfully scatter the gospel seed without worrying about immediate results. The parable removes the “pressure” to force others to change, as the results are left to God. All of us spread the word: God does the work. Then the final harvest. When the grain is ripe, the sower uses the sickle. This symbolizes the climax of God’s redemptive plan, representing both the gathering of believers and divine judgment.

The third parable is the Parable of the Mustard Seed given to us in Verses 30-32:

He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32 NAB)

Jesus uses the mustard seed as a symbol of faith. He declares in Matthew 17-20; “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in the field. It is the smallest of all seeds, yet when full grown, it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds or the air come and makes nests in its branches. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there, ‘and it will move.’”

Please note that this is the first parable whereby our Lord does not give us the interpretation, so because of what we learned from prior parables, he expects us to use the same principle he gave us in the parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat & weeds to understand the others by utilizing the symbols our Lord used there, as well as other symbols he employs in scriptures. One of the basic laws of reading and understanding the Bible is that the Bible never uses a symbol in two contradictory ways. They remain constant throughout scripture.

There are 5 symbols used in this parable. There is the sower, the field in which he sowed, the seed that is sown (the mustard seed), the tree which grows from the seed, and the birds that make their nests in the branches.

The first two symbols are easy to interpret. The sower is our Lord, “the Son of Man”. The field in which it is sown is the world, the seed that Jesus planted, the mustard seed, the fourth is the tree, and last is the birds.

A question one might have is why Jesus chose the mustard seed for this parable? Mustard has a pungent quality. It is biting, irritating, harsh, hot and fiery, and this is what our Lord wants to convey. It indicates that the message our Lord in portraying is that the kingdom of God is intended to stir up the people, be arousing, irritating, exciting positively or negatively, to get people to engage in conversation.

Now, let’s move on to the “tree”. Jesus said, … yet when full grown, it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and makes nests in its branches.” Here is the main point of the parable. Have you ever seen a mustard tree? NO! Because the mustard seed does not grow into a tree, and it is impossible to grow into a tree. It is intended by nature to be a low shrub, maybe eight to ten feet tall at best, clearly not able to support a nest of birds. So, what does this mean? Jesus is telling us the secret of God’s kingdom. God says that the mustard seed is supposed to be lowly and unimpressive, but the Lord teaches us that it is extremely abnormal and unusual for it to grow into a tree. Being abnormal, it will incite a false growth, and it will propel a wholly false system seeking to be powerful and dominant to exercise satanic forces that will seek power and influence to dominate political life and influence people. It will seem to be tremendously powerful, but it will not.

Why? Well, what are the characteristics of a true believer in the gospel? The gospel tells us that we are to be meek and lowly of heart, to get rid of pride, self-centeredness, and to be gentle toward others. We are to be patient, tolerant, lenient, compassionate, forgiving and merciful. This would be the normal result of the mustard seed’s growth. The abnormal growth of the mustard seed would be pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, and domination of others.

Now we come to the importance of the “birds” of the air that come and make nests in its branches. Remember that we must always be aware of possible false impressions of the bible. I read one interpretation of this parable that states the birds of the air are songbirds, robins and bluebirds and are symbols of beautiful things that happen in the church. I don’t agree with this interpretation. The Lord in the first two parables he uttered tells us that the “birds” represent the evil one, the enemy. I believe that the birds represented here are not songbirds, but they are birds of prey, vultures, symbols of evil that reside and dwell in the church, but despite persecution, the church has flourished.

Mark is telling us that God is at work today, just as he was then, sowing the Word in various ways in our hearts and lives. He is working out his purposes in our individual lives and in the life of the church. It is God’s battle, and we must have our hearts and minds ready to receive and spread the word. Then we can rest on it until judgment time when God separates the righteous from the wicked.

Finally, God asks us to work together to spread the word. God wants us to be sanctified (The lifelong process of becoming more like Christ in character and conduct). We can only do accomplish this by studying and applying God’s word.

Until next time, may peace, love & joy be with you always.