Mark 4:1-34
1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” 24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. (Mark 4:1-34)
In this text Jesus tells three parables that are all connected to the kingdom of God (verses 11, 26, 30). We know that after He was baptized by John the Baptist, He came into Galilee and preached the good news. Mark 1:15 tells us what the message of the good news was:
15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
The heart of the good news was the announcement that the kingdom of God had arrived. Jesus Christ preached the kingdom of God, and He did it calmly. Jesus preached it with confidence, because He Himself was the King. And the encouragement for us who read this message is that the kingdom of God is not something that can be lost, not something that can be defeated. The kingdom of God is coming. The kingdom of God is here (Luke 17:20-21). The kingdom of God will come in fullness and glory. What matters is that we be part of that kingdom, so that we may share in the glory of God, in eternity.
In these parables that Jesus spoke in Mark chapter 4, we see three characteristics of the kingdom of God that carry an incredible encouragement. Through them, then, I want both to encourage you and, at the same time, to challenge you toward a deeper devotion to the work of God.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT FOR EVERYONE
The first characteristic of the kingdom of God that we see is found in the parable of the sower. It is this: the seed, the word of God, is not received by everyone. The kingdom of God grows by the spread of the word. When Jesus began to explain this parable, He said that the seed is the Word. But not everyone receives the seed, and not everyone who receives it produces fruit. Each of the four kinds of soil receives the seed differently. If the seed falls along the path, the birds quickly snatch it away. The rocky place cannot hold the seed either. Among the thorns the seed cannot thrive either. But, glory to God, there is also soil that receives the seed. We should be encouraged, because even though there are people who do not receive the word, or who receive it only partially and for a time, there will always be people whose hearts are “the good soil,” the soil that receives the seed and bears fruit.
That is why Jesus said, “Consider carefully how you listen!” It is very important to understand the word. In Matthew’s Gospel, where the same parable is recorded, the writer draws attention to the understanding of the word. In Matthew 13:19, 23 we read:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. (Matthew 13:19)
23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 13:23)
It is not enough only to hear the word. It is important to understand it, to grasp it, to take it in. And this understanding comes with the help of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who opens our spiritual eyes so that we can understand the Word of God.
So this is the first truth about the kingdom of God: not everyone will receive the kingdom. Perhaps until now we have not looked at the parable of the sower from this angle. But it is a fact. Not everyone will believe. Not everyone will be saved. There will be people who reject the good news. And this is something God has known from the very beginning. When Jesus spoke to the apostles He said, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” What does “has been given” mean? It means it has been given from above, from God. If we understand the kingdom of God, if we understand the Word of God, it is because it has been given to us. Glory to God!
From the words spoken between the parables it becomes clear that, with respect to the kingdom of God, there are two kinds of people: those “on the outside” and those on the inside (verse 11). The outsiders are those who do not believe; they are the ones who do not receive and do not understand the Word; they are the ones who are outside the church. For them everything comes in parables; they cannot understand it. For them the good news is like some enigma, a riddle, some mystery. They look, but do not see. They listen, but do not hear.
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4:10-12)
The prophet Isaiah writes similar words. Isaiah 6:9-13:
9 He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.” (Isaiah 6:9-13)
God sent the prophet Isaiah to His people with a message of judgment. Why? Because when they had a time of grace and a time of opportunity to serve God, they did not turn to Him. They turned instead to idols, to their own inventions and the works of human hands. This is also how the apostle Paul begins his letter to the Romans:
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)
People are without excuse, because the seed is sown, the word is given, but it is not received. That is why those who do not receive it will be hardened all the more, “otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.” God wants all people to be saved, yet here Jesus says, “otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.” Why? Because they are appointed for destruction, on account of the fact that they have rejected God’s grace, mercy, and revelation.
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus told yet another parable—the one about the wheat and the weeds. There He speaks not only of the “outsiders,” but also of “the people of the evil one.” There are people who are not only unbelievers, but are servants of Satan. These are the false teachers (2 John 1:7), as well as people who carry out the devil’s orders and serve him (Matthew 13:24-30).
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30)
There is wheat, but there are also weeds. I pray that we may all be part of the “wheat,” but among us there are also “weeds.” That is why we must examine ourselves, so that we are not part of these weeds. In Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus explained this parable in the following way:
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Matthew 13:36-43)
I think it is important here to make a distinction. It is the distinction between the “outsiders” and “the people of the evil one.” As long as a person is an “outsider,” he is not yet part of the household of faith, not part of the church and of the kingdom of God, but he still has the opportunity to change. Even as an outsider, he can come to see, to understand, to repent, and to be saved. But if he hardens his heart, such a person moves from being an “outsider” and becomes a “child of the evil one.” For such a person there is no more turning back. He has given himself over to enticements and to the doing of lawlessness. So, if you have not yet become a “child of the evil one,” then repent, and use the favorable time so that you may move from being an “outsider” and become someone on the “inside” of the kingdom.
This is the first truth about the kingdom of God. Not everyone will receive the good news. Not everyone will remain in the church. Not everyone will be in the glory of God. But there will be a portion, a remnant chosen by grace (Romans 11:5), a good soil that will bear fruit for the kingdom. And God wants that fruit to last (John 15:16).
THE KINGDOM OF GOD CANNOT BE STOPPED
The second characteristic of the kingdom we find unveiled in the next parable of Mark chapter 4, and it is that the kingdom of God cannot be stopped. The kingdom of God cannot be bound. It is alive and it grows (Mark 4:26-27).
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. (Mark 4:26-27)
The sower goes out, scatters the seed, and goes away. What happens to the seed from that point on, he does not know. He does not go and dig up the ground to see whether it has sprouted or not. Why? Because the seed has life in itself (Mark 4:28-29).
28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:28-29)
The phrase “all by itself” means an automatic, natural process. When you approach a door with a photocell, it opens automatically. You do not need to press it or push it. The door simply opens. It is the same with the seed. You do not need to force it to sprout. It carries life within itself, and if it is sown, it will surely grow.
The Greek word translated “all by itself” in this verse is very interesting. It is “automate,” and in Greek it is an adjective meaning “automatic”—“without any cause.” Apart from this verse, this word is used in only one other place in the New Testament, and the interesting thing is that there too it speaks of a door that opened “automatically”—yet this did not happen by a photocell, but by a miracle (Acts 12:10).
10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. (Acts 12:10)
The kingdom of God grows automatically. And it will keep growing until the hour comes when Jesus will send the angels to gather the harvest.
The kingdom of God cannot be stopped. We see this in many examples from the Word of God. Remember the terrifying image in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:32-35).
32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:32-35)
This is the kingdom of God. It came with the coming of Jesus, during the reign of the Roman Empire. From then on it grows and fills the whole world. The kingdom of God cannot be stopped, because it is alive. Jesus Himself likened Himself to a seed. In the Gospel of John 12:24 He says:
24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)
When Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice for us, He won the church. The kingdom of God spread. First there was Jesus, then twelve disciples were added (Matthew 10:2). Their number grew to seventy (Luke 10:1-17), then to a hundred and twenty (Acts 1:15), then to five hundred brothers (1 Corinthians 15:6). After that they became three thousand (Acts 2:41), then five thousand disciples (Acts 4:4); the churches began to multiply (Acts 16:5), and so the kingdom of God filled the whole world of that time. And today there are around one billion Christians throughout the world. Glory to God!
This is the second truth about the kingdom of God. It is that the kingdom of God grows and cannot be stopped. It cannot be bound. It is alive and grows automatically. We must know that, despite the difficulties, the kingdom of God will keep on growing. Perhaps we think we can stop the growth of the kingdom by not praying, by not going to church, or by not serving God. We may lose our salvation, but the kingdom of God cannot be stopped. We may fall away from the faith, but the kingdom of heaven will keep on growing. Because it is alive. There have been people in history who wanted to stop the kingdom of God by killing Christians. But the more the church was persecuted and hunted, the more it grew in numbers. In our own day the church in China is living proof of this truth.
In the places where there is persecution, the church grows most soundly and most strongly. When the apostle Paul was in prison because of his faith in Christ, at one moment he felt lonely. And then, in his second letter to Timothy, he wrote to his spiritual son these words (2 Timothy 1:15):
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:15)
Asia was a province in Asia Minor with its capital at Ephesus. The apostle Paul had gone there to preach the Word of God. There he found twelve men who had not heard about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ, then laid his hands on them, and they began to speak in unknown tongues and to prophesy (Acts 19:1-8). There the apostle Paul made a Bible school in the school of Tyrannus, where for two years he taught the Ephesians the teaching of Christ (Acts 19:9-10). There was a revival. People were healed in supernatural ways (Acts 19:11-12). The teaching of God became known everywhere (Acts 19:20). But after a time, while he was imprisoned in Rome, the report reached the apostle Paul that all those who had believed in that revival had turned away from him and had rejected his apostolic authority. How do you think he felt then? Yet despite those who had deserted him, God still had a remnant. A man named Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:16-18).
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus. (2 Timothy 1:16-18)
There are moments when the seed is sown and everyone receives it with joy. There are moments when trouble comes, persecution, or else weeds, and the seed is choked and cannot bear fruit. But there is always a good soil. Glory to God! For a certain time the apostle Paul preached the good news freely. Later he was arrested and put in chains. Satan thought that in this way he would stop the spread of the Word. But in 2 Timothy 2:8-9 the apostle Paul writes:
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. (2 Timothy 2:8-9)
The Word of God cannot be bound, because it is alive. The growth of the living seed cannot be stopped. Once it falls into good soil—how it sprouts, how it comes up, we do not know, but one thing we know: it grows and it bears fruit. An old gospel song says:
1. Sow the seed at all times
And with faith in every place,
At evening and at early morn
The good seed sow.2. Whether this one will thrive,
Or whether that one will,
You do not know, nor how it grows,
That seed there in the soil.3. But God will keep it safe;
He is the Giver of life,
And faithfully He will bless
In His own time.4. Then there will grow
From these seeds
First the blade, and then the head,
And at last the grain.5. Do not be afraid; your labor
Is not without fruit;
Its fruit will be gathered in
The heavenly barns.
So do not be afraid! Our labor in the Lord is not in vain. There will be fruit, because the fruit does not depend on us. The fruit depends on the Word, which is alive, mighty, and active. We do not understand the process of growth. But the seed grows, and this is a fact (Ecclesiastes 11:5, 6).
5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. (Ecclesiastes 11:5-6)
We must do what depends on us. To sow the seed, to share the good news, to serve God. To be faithful in our service to God, according to the gift He has appointed for us. To some it is given to be apostles (missionaries), to others prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Each one has his own gift before God, in order to serve (1 Corinthians 3:5-9).
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)
The field is God’s. The seed is God’s, and it will grow, because the Lord is the one who makes it grow. Jesus Christ Himself is the Builder of the Church. And in the Gospel of Matthew 16:18 it says that He will build it in such a way that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Glory to God!
THE KINGDOM OF GOD BEGINS SMALLEST, BUT ENDS GREATEST
The third characteristic of the kingdom of God is that even though it begins smallest, it will end greatest (Mark 4:30-32).
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32)
Look, in order to understand this parable we must understand the degrees of comparison—small, smaller, smallest, and great, greater, greatest. If the mustard seed is “the smallest of all seeds on earth,” then it is the smallest seed. If it becomes “the largest of all garden plants,” then it becomes the greatest plant. The mustard seed is very tiny. No one who sees it would guess how large it will become when it grows. It begins as the smallest of all seeds. But when it grows it becomes greater than all the garden plants. Mustard is a plant that becomes a tree. It begins “micro,” but it ends “mega.” The kingdom of God has within itself the power to fill the whole world. To cover everything. It begins as the smallest, but the day will come “when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!” (Philippians 2:9-10).
Therefore, no one should despise the “small things” in the kingdom. Why? Because of their potential. Because, even if they are “small” and even “insignificant,” if they are things of the kingdom, they will become great. In Zechariah 4:6-10 we read of the encouragement God gave to Zerubbabel for the building of the temple.
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. 7 What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 10 Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (Zechariah 4:6-10)
The beginning of a building project is hard work. When you know how much lies ahead of you to accomplish, it is easy to become discouraged. But if the work is God’s, then it will be done not by human abilities, nor by human strength, but through the Holy Spirit. Yet for Him to work, we must set ourselves to the task. Therefore, no one should despise the day of small things! Because it is not the end, but only the beginning of something great.
And so, let us be encouraged that, even though the kingdom of God is not received by everyone, it is alive, it grows. It begins smallest, but ends greatest. Glory to God!