Markan Parables About The Kingdom of God

Secrets of the Kingdom

In Mark 4.21-34, we have two parables specifically about the Kingdom of God which are introduced by a series of injunctions (Mk 4.21-25) which help to enlighten us further about their meaning. In verse 21, a rhetorical question is answered with the implied answer in the negative. No, we don't put a light under a bushel (KJV, 'a bushel' is measuring bowl or basket) or under a bed. Rather a light or candle is placed on a stand or a candlestick.

Jesus says that the secret and the concealed is to be made open and manifest. It would seem that our Lord is referring both to the Parable of the Sower that he has just made plain to the disciples (Mk 4.10-20) but it might be he is making a general statement regarding the way he is revealing things to the disciples. (In the New Testament, a 'secret' usually means something once hidden but now revealed.)

Ears To Hear

This phrase is one characteristic of our Lord and probably refers to what he has just said. It alerted hearers of that time and us today to the importance of what Jesus has just said about the revelation of the secrets of the Kingdom.

It is important to watch what we hear! It's from that that we give to others. As we give, we ourselves will receive more. But to those who listen to the wrong things, even what they have will be reduced. 

The Blade, the Ear, and the Full Grain (Mk 4.26-29)

Seeds are amazing aren't they? Usually they fit easily into our hands but when placed into earth they will produce first roots, then shoots and finally the fully grown plant. Our Lord is speaking of grain grown for food so he finishes with the action of harvesting the fully ripe crop.

Jesus Messiah packs much meaning into few words. We must keep in mind that he is talking about the Kingdom of God which is the Rule or Reign of God; it is the sphere where the will of God is done 'as it is in Heaven' (Matt 6.9-13). Although this world appears to be so inhospitable to the Kingdom Jesus says that the Kingdom's progress is like a seed that gets planted and grows at first secretly under the ground but then it shows itself more and more until it is fully ripe. The reference to the sickle and the harvest are end-time symbols (Rev 14.14-20). So the Kingdom continues to grow all through this present dispensation until the time of the end.

Mustard Seed Kingdom

Interestingly, according to a great sermon I heard on Sunday from our Vicar, the second parable has certain similarities with the first parable above.

God is the God of small beginnings! We can think nothing is happening with regard to a particular matter but God's angel's are always busy. While Peter was languishing in gaol the angel was on its way to secure his deliverance. At the end of the Acts, Paul is in Rome after appealing to Caesar and it's salutary to ponder the last two verses of the book (Acts 28.30f).

Paul stays there for two whole years! Imagine that! Paul preaches the Kingdom of God to all who are interested and he does this at the heart of the mighty Roman Empire 'quite openly and unhindered' (RSV). Kingdom preaching by an apostle in Rome appeared as something small.

We feel that we are doing nothing of value and then God acts to place someone in our lives for a new purpose. It's seems small at the time but later we look back and praise the Lord for his goodness. We must not despise the day of small things (Zech 4.10).

Blessed Are You Who Have Not Seen

In John 20.29, Jesus says, 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'. Seeing Jesus would be a wonderful experience but it's given only to a relative few in number.

Peter also says to his readers, 'whom having not seen, you love' (1 Pet 1.8). Why are we promised blessing but don't share in the blessing of seeing the Lord?

One preacher I've just heard declaiming on Rom 10.8-21 says a fascinating and helpful thing about the Christian faith. He says that most faiths (the notable exceptions being the Abrahamic faiths) require the use of a god in tangible form for worshippers to see something. The Abrahamic faiths, particularly Christianity emphasise the fact that God speaks with the corresponding theme that we are invited and commanded to listen.

Some years ago, Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) wrote He is There and He is not Silent (1972). Apart from all of Schaeffer's other achievements, the emphasis he makes upon the speaking God is important.

And it's important because it presumes that the most singular part of our faith is the ability to hear what God is saying to us both individually and corporately.

The preacher talked also about the four soils in Jesus' parable about the Sower (Matt 13.3-23): the pathway areas, the rocky ground, the thorny ground, and the good soil. The parable is more about the four places that the soil lands than the Sower or the seed as such. In the first case, the 'heart' of the listener to the Word 'does not understand it' and it is snatched away 'by the wicked one'; in the second, the heart first receives it 'with joy' but when the inevitable trials and tribulations come his lack of a 'root in himself' means that 'he stumbles'. In the third heart, the thorns are the 'cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches' which choke the Word and the person 'is not fruitful'.

But the heart the receives the Word on good ground are those who receive it, understand it and are fruitful.