Mark 4 – Three Broad Observations
Mark 4 contains three parables that employ seeds. The first and the longest is the parable of the sower and the next two are the parable of the growing seed and the mustard seed. While much can be said about these parables, I will touch on three broad points. First, Jesus underlines the importance of preaching and teaching, since the seed represents the word of God (Mark 4:14). Second, Jesus speaks of seeds to emphasize the smallness or the unspectacular nature of Christian preaching (Mark 4:29; 4:31). Third, Jesus employs the idea of the seed to speak of inevitable and explosive growth (Mark 4:8; 4:28; 4:32).
Churches need to spread the word broadly. This is one of the most important tasks of the church, because it is only the church that can do it. To put it another way, only those who are convicted and convinced of the message can herald it properly. This point brings us back to the church. However, in an effort to fit into the world, churches tend to water down the message to gain acceptance. We must never discount the reality of social pressures, since we are all social beings.[1] The danger of this posture though is that soon the church may loose what makes it the church, namely, the message of what God has done in Christ. Western Europe may be a case in point.[2] Slowly but steadily the lands of religious Reformation and counter-Reformation are now secular.
A challenge in preaching and teaching, or any Christian endeavor, is that these things seem so small, insignificant, and at times downright foolish. How can words change people and societies? It really takes faith to believe that little things make differences. This is why so many people have such a hard time believing in Christ. Who could ever believe that a crucified man is the savior of the world or is God’s answer to the world’s deepest problems? It is akin to asking someone to see life in death, or glory in shame. Truly, God is a hidden God, as Martin Luther often said. The challenge, then, is to see wisdom and glory in a seed, instead of what we think is glorious and wise. This will be a challenge not only for those outside the church, but also for those inside the church. The dullness of the apostles is case in point (Mark 4:13).
If these parables reveal a spiritual truth, the church needs patience and faithfulness. The job of the church will be to herald the work of God in Christ in season and out of season in both word and deed, irrespective of the perceived outcome. When the church does this, God promises inevitable fruitfulness – thirty, sixty, even a hundred fold, a tree so large that the birds of the air even perch in its shade (Mark 4:8; 4:32)! We would not do justice to this text, if we did not explore some of the Old Testament echoes. Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6 and Daniel 4:18 all employ the imagery of a cosmic tree that offers rest for the birds of the air, beasts of the field, and even multitude of nations. Within the context of the Ancient Near East, there was a myth of a cosmic tree that would be a world empire.[3] Mark’s point is that this world empire is the kingdom of God, namely, that it has come undetected in Christ, and that it will bring blessing to the world.
If we take another hermeneutical step in examining the imagery of trees in the bible, there is another tree that offers blessing to people. We come to this tree in Ezekiel 47:1-12 where there is a vision of trees on both sides of a heavenly river that flows from the temple of God. Ezekiel writes that the fruits and leaves of this tree never wither; instead, the fruits provide food and the leaves offer healing. The book of Revelation, undoubtedly, picks up on this theology in Revelation 22:1-6, where we see the tree of life, next to the river of water of life that flows from the throne of God.
Finally, there is a gracious irony to all of this talk of trees. There is another tree that makes all of this possible; this is the tree of the cross of Christ. Jesus does not partake of the leaves or fruits of this tree, though he has every right. In fact, he dies on a tree, naked, thirsty, and forsaken. He becomes a curse as Deuteronomy 21:23 and Galatians 3:13 state by hanging on a tree. It is he, therefore, that makes possible the partaking of this tree of life, because he took our sin, shame and guilt. It is he who gathers the nations to this tree so they may enjoy its shade and fruits. It is he who says to the church to preach this message to the world.
[1] For a brilliant chapter on the church and society, see: Peter Berger. A Rumor of Angels (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 1-30.
[2] Peter Berger. “Reflections on the Sociology of Religion Today” Sociology of Religion. 62.4, (2001), 443-454. Berger offers two reasons for the secularization of Western Europe: the rise of pluralism and the state control of education. “In most of Europe public education has been mainly in the hands of the state which sends out teachers into all corners of the land; many of these teachers were, so to speak, foot-soldiers in the army of secular enlightenment.” Peter Berger. “Reflections on the Sociology of Religion Today” Sociology of Religion. 62.4, (2001), 448.
[3] Joel Marcus. Mark 1-8 (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 331.