The Gospel of Mark 4:26-34

 Brian Hirvela

3/8/24

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;27 and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts 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 grain is ripe, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

30 And He was saying, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil,32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it;34 and He was not speaking to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

We spoke last week about how the word of God is the light by which our hearts are illumined. It exposes the darkness of our sins and ways and brings people to a right understanding of our state as humans before God and how we need a redeemer to save us from that wickedness.

Jesus said the Word of God is the seed being planted and, in this parable, he builds upon the analogy of the seed being planted, saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;” In the Kingdom of God men cast seed upon the soil. There are four types of soil, which we say were the hearts of mankind, rock-hard, shallow convictions, being tangled up in the cares of the world, and fertile soil.

Here Jesus walks us through the heart of man who has a fertile and the work of the Sower. You see, the Sower is the one who casts the word of God. One who preaches the word of God to everyone he meets.  For example, we come here every week casting the seed of truth, God’s word to the soil in front of us, everyone here today. So, we plant the seeds, and we go home and go to sleep.

“and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.”  We do not know which of you has a fertile heart for the word to grow in, and we do not know how it will grow. But we can see the growth as the seed takes root in fertile soil, so the word of God takes root and begins to grow. When the word takes root, we see the budding of righteousness and the hatred of unrighteousness spring forth.

“The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.” Thus, the heart that is welcoming to the seed, the word of God, grows in faith and trust in God and matures in God’s righteousness as it takes on the principles, the statutes, the character, and the likeness of Jesus to full maturity of faith. The heart does this by having the word of God planted in it. And it is not the Sower who does the growing, it’s the heart of the man who loves God’s word to follow it.

But once it has matured, “when the grain is ripe, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” That’s when the harvester comes and collects the wheat. The wheat is those who believe in Jesus and love Him so much that they willingly obey Him. The Harvester is the one who receives the mature man into the gracious embrace of God’s kingdom.

And He was saying, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

Though small at first, the Kingdom of God grew, from twelve men to the entire world. Each heart that receives the word of God expands His kingdom that will grow and sustain all who live in it, give shade to protect, and provide places for people and families to grow. Why does a bird nest? To hatch their eggs and produce other birds, why do they need shade? To be protected from the harsh elements. Thus, the Kingdom of God will grow until all who are under its protection can grow in the safety of His sovereignty. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father watching over His children, keeping them from the evil one.

“And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; and He was not speaking to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples. And through His disciples, those who came to know the truth, proclaim that truth to all who have ears to hear. That’s why we are here to sow the seed of God’s word, the truth, to everyone here. We Go home and pray to Father to work in the hearts of every one of you. We pray the seed will take root and in time, we may reap the harvest and rejoice with our new brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

We may come in here sounding harsh, but I want you to know that our work here is for your benefit because we know the power of God. The word is not folly to us it is precious, and we love it, and we love sharing God’s word with you. Our desire is for God to save you, that is why we are here. So, if you have heard the Word of God and you begin to want to hear more or read more of the bible, you begin to want to follow Jesus and give up your life to do so, it may be that you have been saved. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

Jesus came to save sinners. Sinners repress the truth and hide in their darkness because they love the darkness, they are unbelieving, vile, foolish, rebellious, haters of God who have adopted the ideologies of this world and the doctrines of men, become slaves to their sexual desires, perverting the flesh and mind, who rebel at the created order of God doomed to condemnation and will be judged by Jesus and sent to Hell where they will burn for eternity in the lake of fire.

But God so loved His creation, Mankind, that He sent His Son Jesus, who can forgive you of your sins and restore you whole again, for He has the authority and the power. Jesus brings life to all who repent and believe. For Jesus bore all our sins; He bore all the sins of all who believe in Him. Jesus was born and lived a perfect life of obedience to God as a man. Jesus was condemned to be executed and die in the sinner’s place. He suffered the totality of God’s Wrath upon Himself on the Cross, which every sinner deserves, so that those who believe in Jesus may have peace with God. Jesus rose from the dead, conquering death, and lives, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and He is in your midst with us, come out of the darkness as we proclaim the light of His salvation.