Mark 4:26-34 NRSVue
26He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”
30He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
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Reflection on Mark 4:26-34
Inspiration from 2025-01-31 Daily Prayer
A farmer sows tiny seeds in the ground and leaves them to grow silently at their own pace. In John 5 Jesus has told us that both he and his Father are at work in us. Often it is only when we look back at our lives that we see the fruit of his silent working in us. We give him thanks and entrust ourselves more and more to his loving care.
In his parables about the kingdom Jesus often uses images of natural growth. For our God size does not seem to matter. He often uses the little things and little ones to accomplish great things. Our faith, although tiny, can grow by our frequently using it in prayer.
Further reflection
Jesus thinks and speaks in parables and images which he draws from the world around him. He reaches especially for symbols of life and growth. From a tiny seed grows a mighty tree. From Mary, the twelve apostles and the holy women has grown the largest body of believers on the planet, a church of every colour and culture. We are not uniform or cloned – all sorts of birds can make nests in our shade - but united in our recognition of Jesus as the revelation and Son of God.
Much of life's biggest lessons and learnings come with patience. Faith, too, grows in the ebbs and flows of the lives of each of us. God is not impatient with our growth. God is the one who creates us from nothing and creates us each day of our lives. God grows love in us, so that adult love can shelter and comfort many others.
Seeds grow when the conditions are right. They need light, heat and energy. God’s kingdom of love grows slowly and demands patience and faith.
Lord, our world is blighted by the destructive seeds of greed and oppression. But deep down there are also small seeds of justice, peace and reconciliation peeping out. May I help them to grow.
Like the seed in the earth, the Kingdom of God does not come all at once. It arrives in stages like the stalk, the head and the full grain. Our job is to watch and pray and to serve it.