The Parable of the Growing Seed

Introduction

When one thinks of how Jesus ministered to the people, one usually thinks of two main ideas: miracles and parables. Jesus used miracles to meet people’s immediate needs and show he was divine. When Jesus spoke to the crowds, he used parables because “they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand” (Matt. 13:13 New Living Translation). Simply put, a parable is a short story that illustrates a religious theme or principle. Jesus spoke in parables so that his disciples would understand the spiritual or heavenly meaning of the story, but unbelievers would not. Only those truly interested in what Jesus was teaching would realize the whole meaning of Jesus’s words.^[1] This exegetical paper determines the meaning and application of the parable of The Growing Seed in Mark 4:26-29 by examining the passage’s historical, cultural, and literary contexts.

Historical Context

To properly understand the parable’s meaning, one must first understand the historical context in which Jesus tells the parable. Here, Jesus speaks to his disciples and the crowd gathered to hear him on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where the public ministry of Jesus was primarily based.[2]Jonathan Reed states, “life in first-century Galilee—though not necessarily dissimilar to other parts of the Mediterranean—was substantially different from the modern world and cannot be characterized as stable.”[3]During this time of Roman rule, the population increased, leading to changes in the local economy. Herod Antipas built the cities Sepphoris and Tiberias roughly around 20 AD. These cities brought urbanization, which could upset the balance of economics in the area and hurt the lower-class residents.[4] The urbanization in this area also affected society in ways one does not frequently think about, disease and migration. While these new Galilean cities were being built, small settlements were also being settled in areas prone to malaria.[5] This building led to sudden death, widespread disease, frequent pregnancy, and migration issues that created a negative socio-economic impact on those living in this area.[6]

Cultural Context

One must also remember that Jesus was a first-century Jew and was speaking primarily to first-century Jewish people. They were still under the Mosaic Law and the laws decreed in the Torah. Their culture was partly determined by their ancestors’ exercise of rules and traditions. During this time, they considered Judaism more a way of life than a set of religious doctrines because of several factions in the Jewish culture.[7] What made them unique, however, was their worship of the one true God, the maker of the universe. The Jews also believed that God would send them a Messiah to defeat their Roman oppressors and usher in a time of peace. That Messiah would also establish Jerusalem as the center of their world.[8] For this parable, Jesus likely spoke mainly to the Am ha-Aretz, or the common people. These people are the ones Jesus thought of as the lost sheep of Israel (Matt. 10:6) and who were the focus of His ministry.[9]Although the common people likely made up most of the crowd, it is also likely there were members of the Pharisees and Sadducees present and His disciples. Given the historical perspective presented above, one can conclude that because of wealthier families’ migration into the cities, most of the common people Jesus spoke to were middle- to lower-class working families. Many of Jesus’s parables deal with agricultural topics such as seeds and growth that would have been familiar to a more agrarian society, such as those outside the major cities in Galilee.

Literary Context

Although the cultural and historical contexts of Mark’s parable are important, one must also think about the literary context of the parable if they are to make an accurate interpretation of the meaning behind the story. One of the first things one must do when thinking about the literary context of a parable is to look at the parable in the Gospel’s context in which one finds it. Each Gospel writer writes with a specific message and writes their Gospel to facilitate the delivery of that message. Therefore, it would be unwise to use a parable from the Gospel of Matthew to help determine the meaning of a parable in Mark’s Gospel.[10] In Mark 4, Jesus teaches by using four parables. Three out of the four parables Jesus uses mention seeds. Since these parables occur in the same Gospel and within the same chapter, they can help determine the meaning of each other.

As one studies the various parables presented in Mark 4, one will notice they are part of an ecological literary system. As Paraskevi Arapoglou writes, “These texts were admittedly written at a specific age and addressed audiences of a particular cultural, national, historical, and geographical background, different in many aspects from ours. Yet, the texts still remain part of contemporary religious communities that quite often refer back to them.”[11] Because most contemporary readers are not as agriculturally minded as those in the first century, it can be challenging to understand ideas of reaping and sowing. However, because of scientific advances, the modern reader understands more of the scientific principles inherent in these parables. Most listeners of Jesus’ parables and most of the audience to which the New Testament is written consider this agricultural knowledge commonplace.[12] Such is a reason so many parables and teaching had imagery associated with agriculture. In the Parable of the Growing Seed, Jesus tells the crowd the farmer does not understand how crops grow, and the earth produces the crops on its own. Modern readers are familiar with the basic tenets of biology and how things grow, but that still does not make it any less miraculous. The immediate literary ecosystem of this parable is its place close to three additional parables, of which two are also dealing with agricultural themes. One can then expand to see the ecosystem between the gospels and progress to the literary ecosystem of agricultural references throughout the New Testament. One can achieve an accurate interpretation through these literary ecosystems and the cultural and historical contexts.

Meaning

As one applies the literary ecosystems and the cultural and historical contexts to interpret The Parable of the Growing Seed, it becomes necessary to define the meaning of a key term: the kingdom of God. In Mark 4, Jesus discusses the kingdom of God in two parables, the Parable of the Growing Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. In these two parables, Jesus uses a simile to compare the kingdom of God to a farmer and a mustard seed. What Jesus is doing here is trying to provide an object to illustrate the kingdom of God.[13] His audience knows what a farmer and a mustard seed are. However, neither parable tells the audience what the kingdom of God is. The phrase “kingdom of God” appears in the New Testament roughly between 65-70 times, depending on the English translation. The Oxford English Dictionary defines kingdom as “Kingly authority, power, or function; sovereignty, supreme rule” and “The territory or country ruled over by a king or queen; the area over which a monarch’s rule extends; a realm.”[14] By these definitions, one could conclude that the kingdom of God is the realm in which God’s authority and supreme rule extend. However, that is not the only definition. The Greek word used in this verse for “kingdom” is βασίλειο. The times it is used in the New Testament, the purpose of the word kingdom illustrates the definition from the Oxford English Dictionary. However, if one looks at the Septuagint, one can find another meaning of the word βασίλειο. First Chronicles 17:11 states, “It shall be, whenever your days are filled and you shall fall asleep with your ancestors, that your offspring shall rise after you, which shall be from your belly, and I shall prepare his dominion.”^[15] In this verse, the Greek word βασίλειο is translated as “dominion.” Other passages in the Septuagint, including 2 Chronicles 7:18, 2 Chronicles 21:3 & 4, 2 Chronicles 22:9, and 2 Chronicles 25:3, also render it as dominion. Suppose one takes the definition of kingdom from the Oxford English Dictionaryand adds the additional definition from the Septuagint of dominion. In that case, the following meaning of the kingdom of God takes shape: The realm in which God’s sovereign authority and supreme rule extend and to which He has sole dominion.

Jesus is bringing about the coming of God’s kingdom. If the Jews worshipped God, the creator of the universe, why did Jesus have to come to bring about God’s kingdom? Once again, a look at the Old Testament provides the answer. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are told by God to “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground” (Gen. 1:28). God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth. Their dominion ended in chapter 3 with the introduction of sin, and Satan claimed the earth as his kingdom. At the time of this parable, and still to this day, Satan has dominion over the earth. People are born into the kingdom of Satan because he currently has dominion over the earth. Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of God. Entering the kingdom of God means entering the place where God rules.[16] The Jewish people expected a Messiah to usher in the kingdom immediately, but that is not God’s plan, which is what Jesus is speaking about in Mark 4.

In this chapter, Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God being like a farmer who scatters seeds on the ground twice. Early in the chapter, Jesus mentions four places seeds fell: a footpath, shallow soil covering rock, among thorns, and fertile soil. Jesus tells the Disciples and those gathered around, “The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others” (Mark 4:14). Jesus then mentions the farmer again in verse 26, saying, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground” (Mark 4:26). By using the ecology of these two parables being close to one another in the same book, one can conclude that in the Parable of the Growing Seed, the kingdom of God comprises people who take the Word of God to others.

In verse 27, Jesus states, “Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens” (Mark 4:27). One difference to note in this parable vs. the one in verses 3-8 is what happens after the seed is scattered. In the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed, Jesus spends much of the parable speaking about what happens to the seed. In the Parable of the Growing Seed, what happens after sowing the seed is a mystery. The only thing known is that the seed grows after the farmer plants the seed. This verse mentions nothing about the farmer doing anything to help the seed grow. The only mention of the farmer is that the farmer does not understand how the seed grows. After the farmer scatters the seed, he goes about daily life. This verse does not mean he is uninterested in what is taking place or that the farmer abandons the seed. This verse implies that the farmer knows there is nothing he can do to make the seed grow faster. He must let the seed grow at its own pace and follow its course.[17] The farmer watches and patiently waits on his crop. One will also see in this parable that even though the growth of the seed is hidden, the farmer is sure growth will happen.[18]

As mentioned previously, the kingdom of God is about people delivering the Word of God. Jesus ushered in the kingdom of God. However, one should not look to the farmer in this parable as Jesus. If one interprets the farmer as Jesus, it would be a misinterpretation because the farmer does not know how growth happens. Jesus, being God and the Creator, knows how growth happens. In verse 28, Jesus says, “The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens” (Mark 4:28). Notice that nothing is said about human intervention causing the seeds to grow. The earth causes the seeds to grow. By thinking of ecology again, this time in the natural sense, one understands God causes all things to grow. It will be the same with the kingdom of God. Christians will spread the Gospel “seed,” but it is not up to them to make the “seed” grow. Just like the farmer in the parable, Christians do not know how saving faith in Christ grows. It is the job of the Christian to spread the message and let God produce growth in the person who receives the message. This verse shows the audience that it is not dependent on them to make the kingdom of God grow. It is their responsibility to spread the message only. God Himself will bring upon His kingdom and is not reliant upon humanity. The kingdom will come “of itself.” The audience of Jesus and Mark would understand this means God Himself would bring about His kingdom and is not reliant upon humanity.[19]

In verse 29, Jesus concludes the parable by saying, “And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come” (Mark 4:29). This verse gets to the heart of the parable. The entire purpose of planting crops is to harvest them. The same can be said about the kingdom of God. With this verse, one must look at the entire ecology of Mark’s Gospel to understand the harvest. Mark speaks of things that must happen before the kingdom of God is here: “Elijah must come (9:11–12); the Son of Man must suffer in Jerusalem, be put to death, and rise (8:31; 9:31–32; 10:32–34); he must drink the cup given him (10:38); the disciples must experience persecution (13:9–13); the abomination of desolation must take place (13:14); the gospel must be preached to all nations (13:10).”[20] As stated above, the farmer is not a reference to Jesus, and therefore cannot be assumed here. God does indeed bring about His kingdom and judgment, but to read God into the role of the farmer would be contrary to what the scripture says. The meaning of the parable can be boiled down to one sentence. It is the Christian’s job to spread the word of God (the seed) so that humans can come to know Him (by growing) and can enter His kingdom (the harvest).

Significance and Application

With the parable’s meaning understood, it is time to move on to its significance and how to apply it to one’s life. Many Christians today have a fear of evangelism. They fear personal rejection and equate rejection of the Gospel message with the rejection of them as a person. However, this is not what Jesus teaches in this parable. If Christians are the farmers, it is their only job to spread the Word of Christ and to collect the harvest after God has done work in their life. It is not up to the Christian to persuade or harass someone into a saving faith in Christ.

This parable is significant and applicable to the way modern Christians evangelize. To understand this significance, we must once again look to the parables in their ecological context. Notice again that the farmer “scatters seed on the ground” (Mark 4:26). The Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed tells the audience what happens to the seed as the farmer scatters it. Some will land on a footpath, some will land on shallow soil, some will land among the thorns, and some will land on fertile ground. This meaning is precisely why it is essential to see the parables in their ecological contexts. Parables teach a spiritual truth by themselves, but by studying them in context, one gains a deeper understanding, and the whole picture emerges.

These parables, taken together, should provide the modern Christian evangelist with hope. One should not fear spreading the Gospel. It is the Christian’s job to spread the Word and God’s job to grow it. This frees the evangelist from the burden of having to worry about rejection. Jesus plainly states that not all seeds will grow. In three out of the four instances, it does not. Still, in the last instance, it will produce “a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Mark 4:8). It does not matter that some of the seeds did not produce a crop when the seed that does produces so much more than one will ever realize. This is the power of evangelism and the Holy Spirit.

When one looks at these parables, one must not neglect their own life as being a seed ready to be grown by God. Not every form of evangelism must be verbal and one-to-one. As in the time of Jesus, many today think that holiness is something that is fragile and can be corrupted.[21] However, this is not the case. Christians, like Jesus, need to be among the world for the world to see Him through them. This was the point of the second parable in Mark that Jesus told between the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed and the Parable of the Growing Seed. Jesus tells those listening, “A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine” (Mark 4:21). While people can use this parable on its own to illustrate the concept that Christians should not be ashamed of their faith, Jesus places it amid three parables about farming and seed. This placement is not a coincidence. Once again, these parables must be looked at together to create a complete picture. Christians today have more opportunities to share the Gospel than ever before. This opportunity is where one can see the harvest, as mentioned in the parables. Once God makes the seed grow, it is up to the farmer to harvest. Traditionally, the farmer would group all the same crops together and then take them to market to distribute them. In a spiritual sense, Christians must do the same with new believers.

A Christian is not meant to grow alone. They do so within the ecology of other believers. Stephen and Mary Lowe state, “A contagion effect occurs within the body of Christ as individual members grow in their faith because of their common connection to Christ and subsequent connections with one another.^[22] As practicing Christians bring new believers into their midst, they are helping to both strengthen the body of Christ and the new believer. Most people today know how contagions spread from person to person in the form of disease, but the same is true of beliefs and actions. Each Christian’s personal network connects to other networks that other believers have created. This network strengthens everyone. Evangelical Christians harvest the believers made from spreading the Gospel and bring them into the larger church fold. However, that is not the end of the story. Just as Jesus ministered personally to His disciples, the Christian is responsible for ministering to those they have led to Christ. Yes, evangelists like Billy Graham lead large crusades, but most Christians will evangelize to those they know. The more the Gospel is shared, the more connections are made, and the more the kingdom of God grows.

God’s kingdom grows through people by the power of the Holy Spirit. God uses people where they are, within their ecologies of work, school, and social group, to affect the growth of His kingdom. One does not always know how God works, only that He does. This is the actual application of the Parable of the Growing Seed. Christians need to be faithful to spread His message, and God will take that message, sprout it in the hearts of those who hear, help them grow, and then allow His faithful to continue to minister to them so that, in turn, the kingdom of God grows.

Bibliography

Akpan, Aniedi M., and Francois P. Viljoen. “Guidelines Towards Plausible Interpretation of Gospel Parables.” In Die Skriflig 55, no. 1 (2021): 148-56.

Arapoglou, Paraskevi. “The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth be Eco-Sustainably Translated? some Preliminary Thoughts.” The Bible Translator 70, no. 3 (2019): 283-96.

Dictionary, Oxford English. “Kingdom, N.”: Oxford University Press.

Freyne, Sean. “The Galilean Jesus and a Contemporary Christology.” Theological Studies 70, no. 2 (Jun 2009: 281-97.

Kaiser, Walter C., and Moisés Silva. Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 1994.

Lane, William L. The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, vol. 2, 1974.

Lowe, Stephen D., and Mary E. Lowe. Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age. Westmont: InterVarsity Press, 2018.

Matera, Frank J. “Ethics for the Kingdom of God: The Gospel According to Mark.” Louvain Studies 20, no. 2-3 (Sum 1995): 187-200.

Penner, Ken M., Rick Brannan, and Israel Loken. The Lexham English Septuagint. Second ed., Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019.

Yarbrough, Robert W., and Walter A. Elwell. Encountering the New Testament (Encountering Biblical Studies). Encountering Biblical Studies. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.

^[1] Moisés Silva, “‘But These Are Written That You May Believe’: The Meaning of the Gospels,” in Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Moisés Silva (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 163.

[2]   Sean Freyne, "The Galilean Jesus and a Contemporary Christology," Theological Studies 70, no. 2 (Jun 2009: 281.

[3]  Jonathan L. Reed, "Instability in Jesus' Galilee: A Demographic Perspective," Journal of Biblical Literature 129, no. 2 (2010), 343.

[4]Ibid., 344.

[5]Ibid., 343.

[6]Ibid., 364

[7]Robert W. Yarbrough and Walter A. Elwell, Encountering the New Testament (Encountering Biblical Studies) (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 36.

[8]Ibid., 37.

[9]Robert W. Yarbrough, and Walter A. Elwell, Encountering the New Testament (Encountering Biblical Studies), Encountering Biblical Studies (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 42.

[10]Aniedi M. Akpan and Francois P. Viljoen, "Guidelines Towards Plausible Interpretation of Gospel Parables," In Die Skriflig 55, no. 1 (2021), 4.

[11]  Paraskevi Arapoglou, "The Growing Seeds (Mark 4.26-32): Can Growth be Eco-Sustainably Translated? some Preliminary Thoughts," The Bible Translator 70, no. 3 (2019), 283.

[12]  Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E. Lowe, Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 28.

[13]Walter C. Kaiser, and Moisés Silva, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 1994), 162.

[14]Oxford English Dictionary, "Kingdom, N." (Oxford University Press).

^[15]Ken M. Penner, Rick Brannan, and Israel Loken, The Lexham English Septuagint, Second ed., vol. Book, Whole (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 488.

[16]Frank J. Matera, "Ethics for the Kingdom of God: The Gospel According to Mark," Louvain Studies 20, no. 2-3 (Sum 1995).

[17] William L. Lane, The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, vol. 2 (1974), 169.

[18] Robert H. Stein, Mark, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 230.

[19] Stein, 232.

[20]Stein, 234.

[21]Lowe and Lowe, 190.

^[22] Lowe and Lowe, 131.