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Parable of the Patient Husbandman or The Seed Growing Secretly
Mark 4:26-29

  26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
  27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
  28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
  29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.


Notes on Customs

      This parable has very little to take note of. The methods of sowing by broadcasting seeds (see the Parable of the Sower) and the harvest by the sickle are normal for that region of the country. The growth stages are ordinary and typical: the blade, the ear, and finally the full ear. The corn of course is wheat.


Language Notes

      Verse 26. “So is the Kingdom of God, as if” is a simile in that the Kingdom of God resembles or is a comparison to the whole of the story. It could be expressed as “The Kingdom of God in this way takes place or it happens in this way."

      Verse 29. “When the fruit is brought forth,” corresponds to, “is ripe or puts forth its fruit.” It has reached its maturity, it might be said its intended conclusion.

      “Putteth in the sickle,” sends forth the sickle is more correct. Some interpret this phrase to be a metonymy, where the noun sickle stands in the place of reapers. If this is correct, and it appears that it is, then the word translated as “sends forth” has a greater sense. The phrase “sends forth” are translated from one Greek word (apostellei, apo=from, and stello= to send) which is the verb form of the word that apostle comes from. The idea is to send forth on a certain mission or purpose. So it would be to send forth the reapers.


Points of the Parable

      This parable is found only in Mark. Its setting seems to be the same as that of Matthew chapter 13 and was delivered unto the general audience. The parable begins and ends with the same character, the man sowing and then reaping.

      The reference in verse 27 to his sleeping and rising is a continuous action indicating that he goes about his normal business and does not involve himself with cultivating the field or the growing process of the seed.

      A key point of the parable is that the man does not know how the seed grows and for his part he can do no more. The growth is a mystery to him. He has no connection with the progress and development of the crop. But it is the earth, which brings forth the growth or causes the yield. The phrase “of herself” is “automatic,” or "self-acting." For this to happen three conditions must be present: good seed, good soil, and good weather.

      The mystery of the unseen growth is the seed itself. A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures, points out, “The secret of growth is in the seed, not in the soil nor in the weather nor in the cultivating. These all help, but the seed spontaneously works automatically according to its own nature.”[1]


Given Interpretations

I. First is a common interpretation with minor points of variance.
      This parable is a secondary or supplementary parable to the parable of the Sower. It also has the kingdom of God compared to a harvest. The field of this parable is the good ground of the Sower parable. Just as that parable describes a sower going forth and sowing the seed and then does no more until the harvest comes, it is the same with this story also. There is a sharp contrast between the activity of the man between the planting and the reaping when he is in complete inactivity. The man can do no more. He simply waits as the seed grows from stalk to ear, from ear to ripened wheat. How it grows he knows not how, but with patience waits for the harvest. The seed development is dependent upon the seed itself, the ground and on Heaven’s blessings of sunshine and rain. The naming of each stage of the process describes the unceasing process of growth. His patience is rewarded and when the wheat is ripe the sickle is thrust in.

      Thus it is with the kingdom of God. The harvest hour is God’s hour, when the last term is complete, and it brings in the Last Judgment and the Kingdom. Man can do nothing with regard to it; he can only wait with the patience of the husbandman (James 5:7). We can only go abut our daily work, or lie down to rest, as day and night alternate; we see, but know not the how of the growth of the seed. What lies between them is of that other Dispensation of the Spirit, till He again sends forth His reapers into His field.

II. Second interpretation.
      On the heels of the parable of the Sower, the most natural interpretation would link the man who sows the seed first of all with God, and then, deriving with Jesus and all who preach God’s word. The growing seed then represents the fruit of the proclamation – the growth of God’s Kingdom inaugurated on earth, manifesting itself in the creation of disciples. The seed, being the Word of God, progressively grows, develops and matures in the disciples it creates. The harvest naturally stands for the final judgment, the reference to putting in the sickle when the grain is ripe refers to the coming great Day of the Lord. The rest of the imagery in the story, however, must not be pressed. (my Italics)

      There are problems with this view. If the sower is first of all God, then it is patently false to say that God sleeps and rises or is ignorant of the nature of the growth of His Kingdom.

      --- Again, it is unfortunate that this writer along with many others falls into the pattern of denial. Knowing that the allegorizing the sower with God cannot be consistent with all of the points of the sower, he resorts to simply dismiss the contradictions, rather than change his suppositions. ---

      This interpretation has this final conclusion.
     (1) The kingdom will continue to grow inexorably, though sometimes almost invisibly, and that
     (2) At the end of the age the kingdom will have grown into all its fullness, after which Judgment Day will immediately follow.

III. A third interpretation is presented because of its incessant use of the allegory.
      Without doubt, it can be regarded as supplementary to the parable of The Sower, being designed to complete the history of the growth of the good seed, which fell on the good ground. Before the bringing in of His (God’s) harvest, the seed must be first sown. The parable’s chief design was to teach the progressive revelation of the divine purpose of the Kingdom. Jesus was directing His disciples to the three stages of the Kingdom of God.

1. The Blade = The Kingdom in the Church Age.
2. The Ear = The Kingdom in the Millennial Age.
3. The Full Corn = The Kingdom in the New Heavens and New Earth.

The component parts are explained.
1. The Sower = Representative of all those God uses in the establishment of His Kingdom within the hearts of men and in the world.
2. The Seed = The word of God, the secret, invisible energy of which can make men “children of the Kingdom.”
3. The Ground = The human heart as the same soil of the Sower parable.
4. The Blade = The church age.
5. The Ear = The millennial age.
6. The Full Corn = The ultimate harvest, not by calendar or clock, but by the definite season when the consummation of the Kingdom occurs.

      The author then makes the application of the parable quite different than his explanation. “The harvest is the end of each man’s life, and the sickle is in the hands of the Angel of Death.” There is to be a dread harvest of doom for “the tares,” for all who die out of Christ. There is to be a harvest of reward for all those who at faithful unto death.

--- The difficulties of these allegories are that they in conflict with one other. ---

A) If the sower represents all who testify the Word of God, then it is they who initiate the Kingdom of God, not in the world but in the hearts of men. But this cannot agree with his explanation that the stages of growth are the Kingdom in different ages and not in mens hearts.
B) Also, as to the harvest, it becomes two very different events (a harvest of men’s souls and a harvest of the ages). And this makes the full corn to be two different objects (a ripeness of the hearts of saints, and a ripeness of the ages).
C) The point has been made by others and this author also; that the growth is automatic, requiring no attention by men to help in its progressive development. This conflicts with the urgings upon the believer to constantly and very carefully attend to his life and spiritual standing before God. There is nothing at all about the automatic spiritual growth of the child of God. Growth cannot be neglected, for if it is it will fall into ruin.


The Interpretation

      We have some very good points presented by the above interpretations. It is tempting to make a connection of this parable with that of the Sower, but does it compare? Here are the points of the parable; the seed grows automatically and with a steady progression. It goes through stages of growth until it reaches maturity. Can this be truly said about Christians? The Word of God does not perform in such a manner in the hearts of men. It takes total dedication for men to achieve the high standards of discipleship. It is a difficult task for all of us. Paul said he beat his body daily to bring it under subjection. Oh, if it only were all so automatic. We refer to Jude 3 to see the battle we are to wage within ourselves to achieve for ourselves The Faith.

      The reaping of the harvest goes well beyond that of one group of individuals. The harvest is that of the ripeness of time. When all events, prophecies, fulfillments have reached their end, then the sickle is sent forth. As the language suggests the noun “sickle” stands in the place of reapers and they are sent forth with the specific objective of reaping. The most difficult detail to understand is what exactly are they reaping? Could it possibly be the result of all the labor God has expended in His dealings with men?

      At the risk of reading too much into this parable the following seems to be the objective of the message of Christ. Men have no real, deep concept or understanding of the development of the Kingdom of God. We do not comprehend the evolving of history and current events and their contribution to the involvement of God and His divine purposes.

      The Kingdom of God progresses as He intends. His will is irresistible and cannot be thwarted. His Kingdom development has a predetermined course or agenda from beginning to end.

      And, not until it all satisfies Him will the end come and not before.


The Application:

      God’s hour comes irresistibly. He has made the decisive beginning, the seed has been sown. He leaves nothing undone (Phil. 1:6). This beginning ripens to its fulfillment. Till then it obligates men to wait in patience and not to try and anticipate God, but in full confidence, and trust, to leave everything to Him.

Next: Parable of the Mustard Seed




This page last updated September 14, 2004 at 11:18am





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