The Parable of the Growing Seed

It's the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time and our Sunday gospel today talks about the Parable of the Growing Seed found in Mark 4:26-34. Our Lord Jesus speaks to his disciples in parables so they would have an easier time understanding his teachings about God's ways. Here is Mark 4:26-34.

"26 Jesus said to the crowds, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.

"30 Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade." 33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything."

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In today's gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a parable about the reign of God. If only our Lord Jesus came in these times when the world communication has flourished, he could have presented his disciples with a tourism map of the Kingdom of heaven or a brochure of what the Kingdom of God would be like. Let's first talk about the first part of this parable, which our Lord teaches his disciples.

"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." inside the soil… which is still a blessing from God.

This gives us an idea that God knows what farmers do with their produce, although 2,000 years ago farmers were clueless about how seeds grow while buried in the soil. With today's technology, farmers understand how the seed grows but there is no question that everyone relies on what God gives to the farmer as a blessing from the heavens until harvest time comes and the farmer merely puts his sickle to his harvest and blessing God gave him. Now whether or not the farmer understood what our Lord was teaching them about this parable and how the Kingdom of God works, we really have no idea.

So we go to the next part of today's parable, allow me to reprint that part "Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade." 33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything."

What do you think the Kingdom of heaven is like? If you really want to know, you can search for it in the Bible and read our Lord talking about his Father's house. But in the end, nobody really knows what heaven is like, except that it is a place for peace. As for me, I will know about heaven when I leave this earth for good. But I will only carry my trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and I know I'll be okay!

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