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Seed Theology:
Lessons from Farming
Mark 4:26-34
Text Outline
I. The Growing Seed (v. 26-29)
II. The Grain of Mustard Seed (v. 30-32)
III. Mark’s Summary (v. 33-34)
v. 26-29
This parable is found
exclusively in Mark.
Mark 4:26
• And he said, So is the kingdom of
God, as if a man should cast seed
into the ground;
What is the
“kingdom” now?
The universal rule of God in the
lives of people who are born
again and all of creation.
What is the “seed?”
The Seed is the “Logos”
(See v. 14)
Logos = Word
Logos became flesh and dwelt
among us; full of grace and truth
(John 1).
Our Apostolic Example
Acts 5:42
• And daily in the temple, and in every
house, they ceased not to teach
and preach Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 4:2
Paul told Timothy to:
• Preach the word [logos]
What is the “ground?”
It is the hearts and minds of
humans
(see v. 15)
Throwing the Seed
is what we call soul winning,
witnessing, or sharing or
preaching the Word [gospel].
Planting Seed
2 Corinthians 4:5
• For we preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord;
Notice
what the farmer does after he
throws some seed on the soil
Mark 4:27
• And should sleep, and rise night and
day,
After a day of planting seeds the
farmer goes to bed—he knows he
has done what he can do.
Once the seed has been
planted there is nothing the
farmer can do to manipulate
germination.
Mark 4:27
• And should sleep, and rise night and
day, and the seed should spring and
grow up,
• he knoweth not how.
Our Lord is Preparing
Our Lord is preparing the
disciples for the rejection of the
kingdom message by 1000s upon
1000s
Mark 4:28
• For the earth bringeth forth fruit of
herself;
• first the blade, then the ear, after that
the full corn in the ear.
As a Side Note
Let me show you the value in
studying the Greek behind the
English
www.blueletterbible.org
Herself
pronoun
• 1 : that identical female one — compare she
— used reflexively, for emphasis, in absolute
construct
• 2 : her normal, healthy, or sane condition or
self
Have you ever heard
the expression
“drawing the net” when it
comes to evangelism?
In spite of the fact that soulwinners are described as
“fishers of men,”
“Drawing the net” is never used in
a lesson for soul-winning in the NT.
1 Corinthians 3:7
• So then neither is he that planteth any
thing, neither he that watereth;
• but God that giveth the increase.
Planting the Seed
Is an authoritative
commandment (suggestion) to
repent and believe the truth
about Jesus Christ, the gospel,
heaven, hell, and one’s self as a
sinner.
We can’t manipulate the
seed’s germination
God may use someone else
to fertilize, water, and hoe—
but in the end, God brings the increase.
But the farmer (discipler)
Can’t Make the Crop
Grow!
This is why
We can’t overemphasize the
importance of prayer.
My dear baby Christian
Don’t blame anyone for your
lack of personal growth!
Let’s look at v. 29
and
Turn over to Mark 6:11
Mark 6:11
• And whosoever shall not receive you,
nor hear you, when ye depart thence,
shake off the dust under your feet for a
testimony against them. Verily I say
unto you, It shall be more tolerable for
Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of
judgment, than for that city.
Look at what the
disciples say:
To a city that rejects Christ
and His Gospel
Luke 10:11
• Even the very dust of your city, which
cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against
you:
• notwithstanding be ye sure of this,
• that the kingdom of God is come nigh
unto you.
Mark 4:29
• But when the fruit is brought forth,
immediately he putteth in the sickle,
because the harvest is come.
Commentary v. 29
• The end emphasis and perhaps primary
focus of the parable is the assurance of
the harvest.
• The harvest almost certainly represents
the judgment at the end of the age.
– James A. Brooks
Turn back to Matthew
Matthew 13:25-30
• But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed
tares among the wheat, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth
fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants
of the householder came and said unto him, Sir,
didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from
whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An
enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him,
Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But
he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye
root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow
together until the harvest: and in the time of
harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together
first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn
them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Parable Two: v. 30-32
A 2d Lesson from a Seed
Mark 4:30
• And he said,
–Whereunto shall we liken the
kingdom of God? or with what
comparison shall we compare it?
Mark 4:31
• It is like a grain of mustard seed,
which, when it is sown in the earth, is
less than all the seeds that be in the
earth:
Mark 4:32
• But when it is sown, it groweth up, and
becometh greater than all herbs, and
shooteth out great branches;
• so that the fowls of the air may lodge
under the shadow of it.
Jesus Said
John 12:24
• Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
The Blessing of the Kingdom
Mark 4:32b
• So that the fowls of the air may lodge
under the shadow of it.
This is a Promise
The contrast between the seed and
the end result is a picture of the
beginning of the Kingdom 2000
years ago and what the end state
will be when Christ comes again.
God Guarantees the
Growth
We are co-laborers serving our
Master, but He will give the
increase—that has already been
predetermined from eternity
past.
Paul Said
2 Timothy 2:10
• Therefore I endure all things for the
elect’s sakes, that they may also
obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Mark 4:33-34
• And with many such parables spake he
the word unto them, as they were able
to hear it.
• But without a parable spake he not unto
them: and when they were alone, he
expounded all things to his disciples.