Mark 4:26-34 - Two More Parables

Mark chapter four is one of only two places in Mark's Gospel where we get an extended look at the actual content of Jesus' teachings. For the most part, in Mark, we only get snippets. But here and then later in chapter thirteen we get more.

Remember the setting? Jesus is on a boat and the crowds are on the seashore. Jesus is speaking in parables. Two weeks ago we looked at the first parable, that of the Sower and the Soils. Last week Jesus explained to his disciples why he spoke to the crowds in parables. The purpose of the parables was to reveal the secrets of the kingdom to the disciples while at the same time leaving the unbelievers in the dark. The parables, then, are not evangelistic in nature per se, but they are full of gospel nonetheless.

Now Jesus is going to give two more parables, without explanation, and with those two parables Mark will bring this section to an end. Both parables are similies and they describe the nature of the kingdom of God which the coming of Jesus inaugurated. In the sermon linked below we looked at them--the Parable of the Seed Growing and the Parable of the Mustard Seed.

So what are we to make of these parables and why did Mark choose these three, specifically, to record in his gospel? Think about his audience for a minute. Although he undoubtedly knew that his gospel would eventually be read by a wide variety of people, it was originally intended to be read by a fledgling Christian community experiencing persecution at the hands of the greatest empire ever known to the world. If Christ was King and had ushered in a kingdom, then where was it?

You and I need to understand this as well. Where is the kingdom of Christ and why hasn't it overthrown the kingdoms of this world yet? Here we are 2000 years later, where is this kingdom? And the answer is that it came in a person--Jesus Christ. And like a field that is sown or a garden that is planted it is coming gradually. And it is coming through the seed which is the word which is the gospel. It began in Galilee in the hearts of those disciples and it spread to Jerusalem. From there it went into all Judea and Samaria. From there it went into the uttermost parts of the earth. The kingdom is in you and in me and in all who hear the gospel and believe. And the word implanted in our hearts grows and produces fruit until one day the reaper comes and brings in the harvest. The sower was Jesus and so is the reaper and one day he is coming again and that is when we will see the kingdom in its fullness. That is when his work in us will be complete and that is when his work in this world will be complete.

And the surest sign that that day will come and that we will see the King in his glory and the kingdom in its fullness happened early on a Sunday morning about this time of year 2000 years ago, when Jesus came out of that grave. His resurrection is your resurrection is the resurrection of this dead and cursed world.

Take a few moments and listen to the sermon linked below where I expand upon all of these things. I know you will be blessed in the hearing.



Mark 4:26-34 - Two More Parables


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