He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 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.”
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Jesus tells three or four more parables
- lamp on a stand
- measure
- growing seed
- mustard seed
As Mark says in verses 33-34
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches
We need to listen to what God is saying. In our overly politicised day, we are bombarded by so many voices - news, fake news, social media, friends, internal voices - do we take time to be still, quiet, and listen to the voice of God, through the Scriptures, through the nudge of the Spirit.
The parable of the mustard seed has a couple of very important aspects to it.
This is what the kingdom of God is like... Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
First, we are back to the kingdom of God. What God is doing is so much bigger than what we evangelicals have often reduced it to - personal salvation. Yes, it includes that, but when we limit salvation to personal salvation, we miss the kingdom.
Secondly, we don't know how God works. I love this verse. God makes the seed grow, whether we are asleep or awake. He is the one who causes the growth, not our programs or even our hard work.
Who dares despise the day of small things, NIV
Do not despise these small beginnings NLT
Small beginnings, small things. Those things are almost anti-North American. We want bigger, better, larger, more. Yes, the kingdom of God is coming. Yes, the kingdom of God will transform everything. But, it begins with small things. It begins with you and I walking with God in the everyday, ordinary things of life. Dying to self and caring for others.
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