MARKAN MEDITATIONS

Meditations in the Gospel of St.Mark

St. Mark 4:30-34

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THE PARABLE of the mustard seed, which we have in these verses, is another parable of the kingdom, and tells us something more about the nature of the Kingdom of God. Whereas the previous parable told us of the certainty of the growth of the Kingdom of God by the power of God, this parable tells that the growth will not be small.

Christians are often few in any one place. We see all the hosts of the people of the world all around us, and we feel small and insignificant before the might of the world. We are only able to see what is happening in our own small area, and in spite of reading what God is doing in other parts of the world, and what he has done in the past, we feel very often that the kingdom of God is making very little headway in the world. This parable gives a different and truer perspective, and therefore is a great encouragement to God's people. It is meant to lift us up and increase our faith, and cause us to call more urgently upon God that he will make this growth evident where we are.

The parable is a very vivid one. We see a seed which is the smallest of all seeds. It is seemingly something that will only produce small results, and thus is not worth much consideration. Yet Jesus points out that when it grows, it grows into a great tree. The size of the plant that grows is out of all proportion to the size of the seed. The seed produces a tree which is so big that other creatures can find refuge in its shade.

This is a picture of the Kingdom of God. From very small beginnings in the days of the Apostles, the Kingdom of God soon spread throughout the Roman world of that time. Very soon the Emperor became a member of the kingdom, and declared that Christianity should be the religion of his empire. Since then, although there has been some very dark periods, the Kingdom of God has never been extinguished, but has revived and again grown, and in our day the Kingdom of God has spread throughout almost all of the world.

If we were able to count all the members of the Kingdom of God throughout the world at this time, it would no doubt be a very large body of people; and if not larger than any other grouping, yet so large as to be of great influence. Although the members of the Kingdom are scattered thinly in many parts of the world, it is from the members of the Kingdom that good comes to the world. Throughout history the number of the members of the Kingdom are without number. In Genesis God promises to Abraham that the children of the Kingdom would be as the stars in the sky for number, and in Revelation we have described a multitude that no man can number standing around the throne of God in glory.

Down the ages and still today people have found refuge in the Kingdom of God. If we can attach any significance to the birds of the air finding shade in the branches of the mustard tree, then surely it is telling us, that the Christian church has brought so much good where it has grown, that those not of the kingdom have found refuge and peace under its protection. Such has been the influence of the Kingdom of God, that where there has been reform and the betterment in the life of humanity, it can be traced to the influence of the Kingdom of God.

By looking at our own patch, or considering our own experience, the Kingdom of God may appear to be small, and so insignificant that the world despises and ignores the Kingdom. This is only the perspective from a small area, and from a particular time. This parable calls us to look up, out and back. When we look up to God, we receive his word and promise expressed in this parable, that the Kingdom of God will grow and dominate over all. When we look out into the whole world and get a world perspective, although there is so much discouragement through the advance of evil, yet there is also the encouragement in the advance of the Kingdom in so many places and in so many ways. If we look back in history we can't help be lifted up by the many times of great revival that have taken place, and the untold benefit that has come to humanity through these times of blessing. Such remembrances give us faith to lay hold of the truth of the parable, that the Kingdom of God, though apparently so small in its beginning, in the purpose and through the power of God will grow into a vast and blessed kingdom.

History also tells us this comforting fact, that the Kingdoms of the world come, they increase, and then they fall and fade away; but the Kingdom of God, though it has its bad times has never failed and has never been overcome, and will last for eternity after all the kingdoms of the world have failed.

This short section ends with the information that parables were a common teaching method of Jesus, and he persevered in his teaching until people could absorb no more. It ends with the comforting assurance that Jesus does not leave his people without understanding. He explained everything to his disciples in private. The believer is never left in doubt as to the truth. Jesus makes his truth known to us. The Spirit has been given for this very purpose. We are meant to rely on this truth when we read the Bible, and give God no rest until we have his word opened up to us.