Mark 4:21-34
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” 26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
What do a basket, a seed growing, and a dormant mustard seed have in common? I'm not quite sure myself. I do not know if there is a punchline there somewhere. But if I had to answer abstractly, it would have something to do with Jesus. Sounds like a good answer, right? Well, read the scripture again.
There are some tricky sayings of Jesus in this passage. Verse 25: "For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." That doesn't quite seem to fit my picture of Jesus; everyone is blessed and receives. Jesus, however, does not work in easy sayings. "When the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." That picture for me is one reminiscent of the grim reaper than the harvest season.
"With what can we compare the kingdom of God?" A mustard seed of course. Come on Jesus, make some sense to me, something that I can understand. Remember in school what it was like to be in on a secret? Imagine being in on the greatest inner secret, Jesus' revealed mystery. Well, I think the answer is easy, but one that we are not ready to hear. The one who has abundant life, will be given more. The time when we start to grow, bloom into what Christ has for us as real disciples, we will receive God's blessings, but we will be cut from what we once looked like. When the dormant mustard seed dies, only then is it able to grow. The reality is that we are all a part of God's inner circle, because Christ himself had everything taken from him, was crucified, died, but then came back to life. That is the Easter message we celebrate and the hope that sustains us in our times of doubt and fear.
Prayer: God, help us to die to ourselves so that we may live for you. Amen.
G. Thomas Martin
