Morning Cup of J(esus)
Fueling the Day!
The Parable of the Growing Seed
The parable of the growing seed is next in our continuing lessons about Jesus’ parables as told in the New Testament. In Mark 4, Jesus continues to teach to various crowds. As He is teaching by the sea, a great multitude comes up to Him with questions, so He launches out in a boat and teaches the multitude that is on the shore. Jesus teaches the parable of the Sower, then the purpose of parables in general, then He explains the parable of the Sower. The parable of the Growing Seed seems to pick up on the lessons about the Sower with the seed being the Word of God.
This parable does not have an explanation like most other parables. Jesus tells about a man who scatters seeds on the ground and then does not pay much attention to it afterwards. Soon the seeds begin to sprout, then produce stems and leaves, then flower, and lastly full grain. The farmer really didn’t make it grow; he only started the process with the seed that was available. This parable ends with the harvest as soon as the grain is ripe. The key points to take from this parable are to plant, water, pray, wait for the harvest, and let God give the increase.”
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (I Corinthians 3:5-8) The key points to take from this parable are to plant, water, pray, wait for the harvest, and let God give the increase.”
Mark 4:26-29
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come.”
I Corinthians 3:5-8
Watering, Working, Warning
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
Photo credits: Pexels- Magda Ehlers, Jill Wellington, and Tyler Nix; Unsplash- Sandra Iglesias