The Word made flesh and dwelt among us. As we start the season of advent in the build up to Christmas, we are still looking at the Kingdom Life of a believer. We are pursuing a greater understanding of God’s Kingdom through the parables of Jesus.
When we began, we said the Parables of Jesus can be divided into 3 groups.
The Word of the King
The Heart of the King
The Heart of the King’s True Followers
We are still in part one. We are immigrants to this new land and we need to know what the King’s Word is, His laws, His truths and principles so we can live within His Kingdom fully and flourish, amen!
We just finished looking at the Parable of the Sower, and then, right after that Jesus gives us another seed analogy! Enough with the seeds already! But, the farming analogy is so powerful. It’s as if Jesus knew that this would never get irrelevant. Farming is probably the only thing in this world that remains similar to what it was right at the beginning. Yes we have tractors and machinery etc now but it still comes down to seed, time and harvest. Those are laws, principles that will never change.
This Parable of the Seed is only 4 verses in Mark 4:26-29. Let’s read it.
And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
The seed and the ground are designed to work together. The farmer is patient. He does not make the seed grow! He sleeps and wakes, life goes on and the seed grows, ‘he knows not how’. A farmer has to be patient. If a farmer goes out and tries to harvest a crop a week after he’s planted it, he won’t have anything. Hebrews 10:36 - For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Mark 4:29 - But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come. If we do what we’re supposed to, the harvest is guaranteed to come. Read Isaiah 55:10-11. God’s Word will accomplish what it is sent to achieve. His Word has power! You don’t have to make it work, you just have to prepare the ground of your heart. But you can have confidence that the harvest will come if you keep your heart right.
Next Jesus talks about another seed, the Parable of the Mustard Seed in Mark 4:30-32: And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
It’s another great parable to help us understand this principle. The Word is once again the seed. Mustard seeds are tiny! Very, very small. The Word of God, the Kingdom, is like a mustard seed, tiny. It might be disregarded by vast numbers of people in this day and age, but it has the power to completely transform a person. 1 Cor. 1:18-20: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
We read this earlier in the Kingdom Life series but the point here is that the Word of God might be shunned by the world but it is the only true transformative power or agent in this world. Without the Word of God we would have nothing.
So, if the Word is the seed, how does it grow? The gospel and the kingdom of God may begin as small, seemingly insignificant things but they have the power to change the world. It’s not the size of it that counts, it will be the only belief system left at the end of time. Matt. 24:35 - His Word’s will never pass away.
As we approach Christmas, look at that baby lying in a manger. born out of wedlock, in a stable for animals, with a feeding trough for his bed. He lived on the run for years, then when he grew up, He gathered a misfit gang of followers who failed over and over again. But eventually, after Jesus died and rose again, He produced a harvest like no other. The gospel of Jesus Christ spread around the world in a manner which can only be described as miraculous, supernatural.
You see, Jesus is the Word. He is the seed! John 1:1 and 14 say that Jesus is the Word and He was made into a human being. As we begin advent, remember that the Lord of lords and King of kings became a tiny seed, he went into the ground, was transformed and is still bearing a great harvest to this day! What a powerful message!
Next week we will look at how we too are seeds. Until then, have a blessed week!
Upstream Ministries
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