THE PARABLE OF THE GROWING SEED
"And He [Jesus] 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." (Mark 4:26-29).
Jesus told this parable to His hearers to reveal the
mystical nature of the Kingdom of Heaven by comparing it to something very
common and familiar. The process of
casting seeds into the ground, waiting for it to mature, and harvesting a crop
from it is a process that most folks understand at least in theory. Many of us have had experience with planting
and watching things grow, but in some ways the process seems counter-intuitive
to the way we might think things should be.
Once we bury seeds in the earth, they rot and die. This death is what releases the germ of life from
within each seed. So, every time we
plant, we are taking a gamble. If I let
my precious seeds die, will new life really emerge? If I keep them in the packet, they will stay
safe, but if I do this, they cannot produce fruit. It is this cycle of death and resurrection
that perpetuates the spread of plant species and, through cultivation, also
feeds the world. And it is this very
basic principle of laying down our lives in order to be fruitful that spreads
the Gospel and nourishes hungry souls who are starving for truth. In John 12:23-28, Jesus foretells His own
passion and resurrection; but He is also teaching us the need to die to self if
we wish to be born again and experience a new life in Him. “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn [kernel] of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He
that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal.”
This principle also applies to the Kingdom of God, however, and reveals
something of the mystery of the Kingdom.
It is necessary to understand that the whole planting
cycle is a process that we cannot rush.
Though we rise night and day in anticipation of a harvest, every plant
has its own rate of maturity. First the
tender shoot, then the blossom, and finally the ripened fruit. Once the fruit is ready, it is time for the
harvest, and the plant has fulfilled its purpose.
When Jesus began His earthly ministry, it was to preach
the good news (or Gospel) of the Kingdom of God. He was sowing the seeds of this Gospel as He
preached and taught the Word. Through
the Parable of the Sower, we understand that Jesus planted good seeds into the
world in the three and a half years of His earthly ministry. Not all those seeds fell on "good ground," though. For varied reasons they did not mature. Many of those seeds did reach maturity,
however, and multiplied themselves many times over. "And
these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and
receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an
hundred." (Mark 4:20).
After Jesus' ascension, the Apostles continued to
preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, and to flesh out the principles which Jesus taught
– the principles that govern the Kingdom of God. Drawing from the words of Jesus and the
Hebrew Prophets, they articulated the foundational truths of God's Kingdom,
lovingly watering and caring for the Church that Christ planted. The seeds which Jesus sowed became a tender
blade emerging from the earth in the form of a young Church. The Word grew and spread rapidly, starting at
Jerusalem, into all Judea, then Samaria, and finally into the uttermost parts
of the earth.
During the first few centuries after Christ, the Church
grew and expanded despite the great persecutions that came upon them by the
Romans, the Jews and others. It would
seem like, given the cruel and sometimes monstrous ways in which the early
Christians were martyred, that it would have been difficult to bring new
converts into the fold; but because of the great fervor of the early Church,
and their willingness to lay down their lives for the Lord Who had bought them
with His own blood, the Church
flourished and grew during the first three centuries.
In 312 A.D., the Roman Emperor Constantine became a
Christian, and everything changed.
Christianity became in vogue. In fact, there were now certain advantages
afforded to folks who became converted to the faith - and disadvantages to
those who did not! C. N. Cochrane writing
in his Christianity and Classical Culture
said, "For vast numbers who were
content not to think but simply to follow the leadership of the Emperor, it was
merely a matter of substituting Christ for Jupiter, the Eucharist for the
sacrifice, baptism for the taurobolium [purification ritual that involved
the sacrifice of a bull], and pretending
to themselves that otherwise everything was the same." The Church became filled with those who had
not truly been born again, but who simply wanted to follow what was popular and
accepted. Now that the Emperor was a
Christian, he felt it was his duty to guide the affairs of the Church as well
as the government, and he encouraged the clergy to become involved in the
affairs of the state. All of this began
to change the fundamental structure of the Church. Rather than seeking the invisible Kingdom of
God and being transformed by its principles, the Church was gradually
conforming itself to the structure and organization of the kingdoms of the
world. The Popes of Rome merely replaced
the Caesars.
Arguments can be made on both sides of the question as
to whether Constantine worked more good or bad for the Church. On the positive side, he did much to
challenge the heresies of his day and spearheaded the effort to establish
orthodoxy among the believers. His Edict
of Milan brought an end to much persecution, and commanded tolerance to
Christians throughout the Roman Empire.
From the Nicene Council, which he convened, came the famous Nicene Creed
that encapsulated the basic Christian beliefs in one universal statement of
faith. On the negative side, under
Constantine the Roman Church grew into a secular powerhouse that ultimately
became filled with such pomp and self-indulgence, such ritualism and relic
worship, and such iniquity, idolatry and heresy, that it became the enemy of
God and of every true believer. Truly,
Jesus' pronouncement on the Laodicean Church could have been applied to the
Roman Church and what it became. He
said, "I know thy works, that thou
art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (Revelations 3:15-17).
Through the midst of all the chaos, heresies,
divisions, infightings, and inquisitions, God has always had a Body. Just as in the days of Elijah the Prophet
when God said, "I have reserved to
Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal,"
even so has God always had a remnant down to today. It is not everyone who names the name of
Christ who will be part of the Kingdom of Heaven, however. "Not
everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven;
but he that doeth the will of My
Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21). "And He said, Take heed
that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ;
and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them." (Luke
21:8). Jesus warned the disciples in His
Parable of the Wheat and the Tares that Satan would sow tares in among the good
wheat which the Lord had planted. As we mentioned
in a previous chapter, tares look almost identical to wheat when they are growing. Trying to remove tares from a crop of wheat
would mean jeopardizing some of the good plants by uprooting them when the
tares are pulled. Instead, Jesus said to
wait till the harvest and then destroy the tares and save the wheat (Matthew
13:36-43).
Scripture speaks of the harvest of the world in the end
time when the sons of God will be revealed to the world. "For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God." (Romans 8:19). "Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3:2,3). "Be
patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the Husbandman waiteth for the
precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until He receive
the early and latter rain." (James
5:7). This is what God and all of
creation is waiting for: for Christ's
body to finally come into maturity, and into the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ. This will be the
culmination of God's great purpose. His
plan will be finally realized. Satan
will be thrown into the bottomless pit, the wicked will be judged, and the
righteous will receive their reward.
They will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. "The
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ;
and He shall reign forever and ever." (Revelations 11:15b). The Word of God will have prevailed, and the
seed will have come to fruition! Then
also will death and hell be defeated forever.
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