Hi everyone, and welcome back to the podcast, where we take a look at the Gospel reading from the mass today, and then we're going to have a look at an exegesis of that passage. So in today's mass, you'll hear from Mark, Chapter 4, verses 26 to 34, so Let's have a look at the passage.
Jesus said to the crowds. This is what the kingdom of God is like a man throws seed on the land night and day while he sleeps when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing, how he does not know of its own accord, the land produces first the shoot, then the ear then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time. He starts to reap because the Harvest has come He also said, what can we say the kingdom of God is like, what Parable can we
find for it? It is like a mustard seed, which at the time of its sewing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on Earth yet once it is sown, it grows into the biggest shrub of the mall and puts our big branches. So that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them so far as they were capable of understanding. He would not speak to them except in Parables, but he explained everything to his
disciples when they were alone. So we're continuing in Mark chapter 4, which is a whole chapter of parables. And so we have two small Parables today, both which involve plants now again, like, yesterday the lectionary at the start of this passage is a little bit misleading. Because the first, the first part of today's passage in the lectionary says Jesus said to the crowds. But in the actual text, if you look at a Bible verse 26 here,
just says, Jesus said to them. So it's not entirely clear. Who Jesus is talking to. Probably is the crowds giving That he speaks of the parable to the crowd in Parables but this is one of the places where the lectionary creators have deliberately put a word in that's not any original just to make it perhaps a bit more readable for masses. Verse 26. So, Jesus starts his first little Parable. He says, this is what the
kingdom of God is like. So that tells us as marks readers the purpose of the parable that Jesus is about to give, he's telling them this Parable. So that his hearers the crowds, no. Other kingdom of God is, like why does Jesus spend so much time on these kingdom of God? Parables, why doesn't he say, you know, he would be great if he had more Parables about heaven and hell, or something like that. But it's because for him, the kingdom of God is, what his come
to reveal. That's his most important thing. He wants people to understand, is how to be a part of the kingdom of God in the here and now in their daily life. In the time of Jesus, there were heaps of different ideas about what the kingdom of God was. A lot of people thought it was going to be a political revolution that would happen straight away and take over the entire Earth.
So, Jesus primary focus. During his preaching is to reveal the true kingdom of God, but still in a partial way, even when he does give them information, its sin, a kind of cryptic way, as we've talked about in the last couple of days podcasts he sets up The Parables deliberately in a way that they're still kind of concealed. So the not everyone will understand them. So he begins to Power the parable and man through his seed, on the land.
So this recalls the power of the parable of the sower that we looked at yesterday. You remember that was about throwing seed on the land as well. And remember in that Parable Jesus said, if you don't understand the parable of the sower, you won't understand anything else. So the parable of the sower is foundational to what we're looking at in this Parable. So, what's the seed? Remember from yesterday? It's the good news about the kingdom. And the sower is God, and Jesus. Yes.
He then goes on to describe how the seed grows and Sprouts little by little day and night verse 27, how he does not know. So at this time in history, when Jesus is talking, people didn't have the biological knowledge to understand how grain works and grows. They didn't know all the farmers knew is that if they plant the seed, it grows still today. We don't really understand how life grows What's the re still mysterious element to it verse 28 of its own accord.
The land produces first the shoot, then the ear then the full grain in the ear. So Jesus here, intends his readers to understand that the kingdom of God, grows gradually and in stages. So first the shoot, then the ear, then, the full grain. So he wants them to know that it's not an immediate automatic thing. So farming the farmer puts you see it in and he has to wait a while. So farming requires an element
of trust and patience. Just as those who are seeking the kingdom of God require trust and patience. So that's one thing. Jesus is saying here Verse 29, when the crop is ready. He loses. No time. He begins to reap because the Harvest has come. So Jesus will say in later Parables that when the kingdom of God is fully grown, and one day, there will be a decisive time when the kingdom of God fully arrives on Earth, God will harvest.
So this metaphor of harvest is actually used a few times later on. So, we'll talk about this idea of the final coming of the kingdom of God later, in later parables in Harvest paradigm. But a good passage to look at his Revelation 14, which really develops. This idea of the day of judgement being a day of harvest. For now, Jesus just wants his readers to understand that the kingdom of God will go gradually grow gradually, not immediately take over the world.
So their idea of the kingdom of God, the Jews idea was basically that the Messiah would come immediately. They'd Wipe Out the he'd Wipe Out. The Romans, the Jews would take over the world and immediately, the kingdom of God would come. That was their idea of the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is going to go great, grow gradually. This is something new. They didn't realize that. There's another element of the parable here that we can take
away. And his readers probably would have realized this as well from the parable. The kingdom of God, is a Divine work? Not a human achievement. God causes the gradual growth of the Kingdom, even if we don't fully understand what he's doing. So as humans, we can cooperate with what God is doing in the growth of the Kingdom. But we can't hurry it up. We can't make the kingdom come and he quicker. Any more than the farmer can hasten the growth of his grain. He just has to trudge.
Just has to trust. Verse 30. So that was our first Parable the second Parable, he's going to kind of reiterate the same point. This second Parable has the same basic meaning and it's the famous parable of the Mustard Seed. Verse 30, Jesus says, what Parable shall we use to describe the kingdom of God? So you can hear Jesus, kind of captivating, the crowd drawing them in what Parable can we use? And he decides the best Parable for describing this point.
He's making about the kingdom of God. God is a mustard seed, so to the Jews at the time, they would have been quite familiar with mustard seeds, mustard trees were quite common in Israel, and he says, they're the smallest of all the seeds on the Earth. Now some Skeptics would look at this and say, this is an error, Jesus was wrong about this. The mustard seed is not the small seed on Earth therefore, he's wrong. Therefore, he can't be God.
So things along that line, but Jesus is not intention intending to teach botany here. He is kind of using Hyperbole and exaggeration. He's speaking in terms of that they would have been familiar with. So, the Jews often would say, things like the seat, this Mustard Seed is the smallest on earth and the mustard tree. Is the largest on Earth and they knew full well that that wasn't true. So he's used to using a conventional manner of speech here.
It was actually the smallest known ceding Israel, even if they weren't aware of other bigger seeds, in other parts of the world. But the fact that he mentions the kingdom of God, is like a mustard seed to us, that's lucky. Okay. But that will be shocking to the Jews because they would have expected a good image for the kingdom of God would be an army, something like an army or an explosion.
That's how the kingdom of God is going to overtake the world, but actually Jesus says, no, it's like a mustard seed. Once it is sown. It grows into the biggest shrub of them all So, Jesus wants his hearers to understand that the kingdom of God will start small. So, and that is exactly what happened. It started small with his preaching in Galilee and the northern part of Israel.
But over the coming next three years and beyond that and centuries, the kingdom of God would spread over the entire world. So it's important for Jesus to emphasize this to his crowd again, because many Jews were expecting the kingdom of God to come suddenly quickly done deal. So Jesus really needs to stress to his audience that the kingdom of God is coming, and it has started But it's going to develop slowly. Continues in verse 32. The tree Once grown puts forth, large branches.
So that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade. Now, this is one of these passages that I think is susceptible to some wrong interpretations. Although well-meaning interpretations some people have thought that the birds of the air resting in that shade is a reference to Demons. Because remember in the parable of the sower, which is just said the birds do represent the works of Satan in that particular parable. But I think it's pressing the metaphor a little bit too far.
Jesus is not giving some cryptic hidden meaning to the birds here. His focus is on the mustard plant and birds in the natural residents of the plant. So, Jesus is just going with that metaphor who lives in trees. Birds, do who lives in the Kingdom? People do? So the birds represent people here. It's understandable though, because often in Parables, Jesus uses the same image to mean. The same thing like the seed represents pretty much the same thing all the way through.
But there are some Parables where, you know, things like lamps and money, can represent different things and I think here the birds represent people, whereas in the previous passage, Jesus use the birds to represent Satan. So Jesus, here, tells us that eventually many people will come into the kingdom of God. That's what the birds represent, once the kingdom of wants a tree.
The kingdom of God tree, if you like, is fully grown people will come in. And this Echo is the growth of the Kingdom in Daniel 49. If you look at Daniel chapter 4 verse 9 and has this image of the kingdom of God, gradually growing until all sorts of creatures can fit in the Kingdom. So Jesus might have that in mind as he tells the story, So Jesus is told to Parables about the growth of plants and so for his listeners both of these parables
are a call to patients and to recognize that the work of growing, the kingdom is God's Not man's. So two main points from these Parables be patient, the kingdom of God will develop slowly. And secondly, it's the work of God. Not man verse 33. He continues using many parables like these who spoke the word to them so far as they were concerned. Capable of understanding it. So this is Mark telling his readers. It's like a summary statement.
So this part here, where he says so far as they were capable of understanding it, Mark is suggesting to his readers that Jesus is giving Parables that are within the spiritual reach over the crowd. He's not giving him things that will be way too complex, and they don't have a chance of understanding his giving them Parables that they are capable of understanding. Every Parable Jesus gives could be understood by his original hearers.
If the A person goes away and reflects on it and asks God, to Enlighten their mind. I think another area you'll sometimes hear preachers say is that Parables were designed to Be hard to understand and not many people would have understood them. I don't think that's true. They were designed to be hard for some people to understand, but their cleverly constructed in such a way that those who are genuinely seeking will understand. So, it's got to put a positive spin on it.
Those who ask God to Enlighten their mind and help them understand the mysteries of the Kingdom would understand the meaning of these Parables. There's not some hidden message or hidden secret that has been planted in The Parables for us to come and understand in the 21st century. They're designed for his audience in the first century. Now notice though, this is more of a spiritual reflection than
an intellectual one. It's not like only smart people or learned people could understand The Parables. It's those who are spiritually receptive and who asked God, to Enlighten their minds, those who are spiritually capable will understand the parables. So he's deliberately avoiding Parables that are too complex. He wants his readers to understand the kingdom of God is here, is that is verse 34?
Mark now tells us something else, he did not speak to them except in Parables. So Mark tells us whenever Jesus speaks of the crowds at this point in his ministry. It's only in Parables, this is his preferred mode of speaking to the crowd. Remember what's the purpose of the parable overall, it's for the purposes of revealing and concealing some people in the crowd and not going to be open to it. Some people in the crowd are going to be open to it, and Jesus has to work with that.
So he constructs Parables that, we'll both reveal for those who are open, but keep concealed for those who are closed. That should be a reminder to us. That Jesus, that God cares about the effort that we put in. God, is not going to force himself or any of his teaching is honest. If we're not open to it, he's not going to give us more. That's an important theological principle. But then Mark tells us something else about how Jesus worked in
this period of his ministry. Says he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone. So we didn't explain everything to the crowds. You just spoke in Parables to the crowds, but to his inner circle, he explained much more plainly. See has no need to conceal things from his inner crowd for, they're already in the presence of the kingdom of God, so he can explain to them privately the meaning of The Parables and he probably did for most of the Bubbles.
We have some of Jesus private explanations recorded in the gospels and also, the apostles, and his inner circle are going to be the ones that will be required to teach people once Jesus is gone. So, he wants to speak as plainly to them as possible. So that's our passage today. That was analysis of Mark, 4. Verse 26, to 34? How does the Catholic Church? Develop teaching. Based on what we hear, hear paragraph 546 of the catechism has a really really good summary of the purpose of Parables.
So I'll read out that entire paragraph. Jesus invitation to enter, his kingdom, comes in the form of Parables a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his Parables. He invites people to enter the Feast of the Kingdom, but he also asks for radical choice. To gain the kingdom. One must give everything words are not enough. Deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man. Will he be hard soil or Good Earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents?
He has received Jesus and the presence of the Kingdom in this world are secretly of the heart of The Parables. One must enter the kingdom. That is become a disciple of Christ in order to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. For those who stay outside everything remains enigmatic So you'll hear Echoes from Mark chapter 4 about secrets of the Kingdom about those who stay outside about the seeds, the soil, all those kinds of things
are reference there. Hopefully, you found that a useful analysis of Mark chapter 4. Remember you can always send in questions via the email address in the show notes, or by leaving a voice message, the link for that is in the show notes as well. And we'll see you again tomorrow.