The Largest Tree

Mark 4:21-34 Using Your Light

Prayer: Help us to desire You more Jesus and to want to understand Your Word more. Open wide the gates of our hearts wide to actually absorb what you are telling us.

If you walk into a dark room what is the first thing you usually do?

Where is the actual light fixture usually placed?

In Jesus day there were obviously no light switches or fixtures. Instead they used lamps. The principle is the same though. If you lived in Jesus day and you walked into a dark room with a lamp where would you set the lamp? In the middle of the room to light up the whole room.

Mark 4:21-24 He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

What do you think Jesus's point is in verses 21-23? Hiding a lamp would be silly and defeat its purpose. Jesus is using parables because He wants to be understood. He wants the truth to be known. 

Beware of anyone who tells you that they have found some secret hidden spiritual meaning in the Bible. Yes there are symbolic numbers and end times prophecies and there are things that are hard to understand in this book. But that is not the purpose of God’s Word. The purpose is to point us to the Savior of the World. 

In verse 24, Jesus says to “pay attention to what you hear.” Think about these things. Ponder what Jesus means. The more you dig into what Jesus says, the more you get. Jesus wants you to engage in what He’s saying.  You can’t receive Jesus or any of His teachings by osmosis, by simply hearing. This is true for all of the Word of God, not just the sayings of Jesus. 

Mark 4:26-29

26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Do you know how a seed germinates and grows? Well neither does this guy. 

There are some things that we can’t ever fully understand. It’s the same with some concepts in the Bible. There are things in the Bible that don’t make sense to us that we ultimately accept. What happens during a communion service? Why is blood needed for forgiveness of sins? There have been Christian thinkers and scholars even since Jesus returned to Heaven who dissect every single angle of things like this. 

It is good to think critically about our faith and what different verses mean. But also, it is good to acknowledge there are things that we can’t fully grasp here on earth. There is some mystery to these things. The whole Gospel really is a mystery if we think about it.

So next Jesus shifts to tell another story about a gardener and just one seed.

Mark 4:26-29  “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

What do you think this parable is about? What was the seed in the last story? The Word of God. In this story I think it is the same- maybe specifically the Gospel.

Sprouting and growing. Can we explain how God’s Word has “germinated” us? Let’s think about the a seed prior to germination. Is it alive? No. Perhaps you could argue it’s potential life.

Once the seed is put in the soil and it gets wet it starts to bust open. Is it alive now?

Maybe. Probably. But how or why it happens or why it has potential in the first place is something that only God knows. The point is that God’s Word has power that works on us, our hearts and our minds, and it gives us life.

Mark 4:30-32  And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”

Since it’s Christmastime/Advent let’s think about Jesus and how He came to earth. Who created Jesus? No one. He is literally the creator of everything and He decides to be born to an unwed mother in this time and place. He didn’t choose a palace or even indoor plumbing. You guys know the Christmas story about the manager and all that. 

Likewise, the mustard seed is seemingly the smallest and least opposing seed of all, yet it grows to be a huge tree.

And Christianity (true believers) have done more good in this world than any other organization. The kingdom of God is the source behind any other source of goodness. That small Christ child who was born into a cold and dark world changed the world for good.

Mark 4:26-29

26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Do you know how a seed germinates and grows? Well neither does this guy. 

There are some things that we can’t ever fully understand. It’s the same with some concepts in the Bible. There are things in the Bible that don’t make sense to us that we ultimately accept. What happens during a communion service? Why is blood needed for forgiveness of sins? There have been Christian thinkers and scholars even since Jesus returned to Heaven who dissect every single angle of things like this. 

It is good to think critically about our faith and what different verses mean. But also, it is good to acknowledge there are things that we can’t fully grasp here on earth. There is some mystery to these things. The whole Gospel really is a mystery if we think about it.

So next Jesus shifts to tell another story about a gardener and just one seed.

Mark 4:26-29  “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

What do you think this parable is about? What was the seed in the last story? The Word of God. In this story I think it is the same- maybe specifically the Gospel.

Sprouting and growing. Can we explain how God’s Word has “germinated” us? Let’s think about the a seed prior to germination. Is it alive? No. Perhaps you could argue it’s potential life.

Once the seed is put in the soil and it gets wet it starts to bust open. Is it alive now?

Maybe. Probably. But how or why it happens or why it has potential in the first place is something that only God knows. The point is that God’s Word has power that works on us, our hearts and our minds, and it gives us life.

Mark 4:30-32 30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”

Since it’s Christmastime/Advent let’s think about Jesus and how He came to earth. Who created Jesus? No one. He is literally the creator of everything and He decides to be born to an unwed mother in this time and place. He didn’t choose a palace or even indoor plumbing. You guys know the Christmas story about the manager and all that. 

Likewise, the mustard seed is seemingly the smallest and least opposing seed of all, yet it grows to be a huge tree.

And Christianity (true believers) have done more good in this world than any other organization. The kingdom of God is the source behind any other source of goodness. That small Christ child who was born into a cold and dark world changed the world for good.