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.

“Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.”

Some thoughts on this scripture

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.

Reflection
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.

Reflection
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.

Reflection
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.

Reflection
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.

Reflection
From even the tiniest seed planted in a soul, the Kingdom of God can grow so that the person who trusts in God is a source of nourishment and care for others.