Parables of the Kingdom – Mark 4:21-34

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Last week, we studied the parable of the soils (Mark 4:1-20). In that parable, Jesus showed that when the gospel (the message of the kingdom of God) is shared, it lands on different types of soil. These different soils represent human hearts. Thus, the gospel is received or rejected by its hearers depending on the state of their hearts.

Today, Jesus continues teaching in parables.

Sermon Text: Mark 4:21-34

The first thing we see is that the message of the kingdom (the gospel) is not meant to be hidden.

The Message of the Kingdom is not Meant to Be Hidden (21-23)

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.”

In vv. 21-22, Jesus uses the imagery of a lamp. He asks his listeners, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?” Of course, the answer is no. The purpose of a lamp is to give light and illuminate one’s environment. In biblical times, at nighttime, you needed a lamp or a fire or you would have been in the dark. Thus, a lamp was “brought in” a room to give light (v. 21).

The lamp in this text refers to the word about the kingdom – the gospel message itself.

Contextually, this passage follows the parable of the soils. In the parable of the soils, the seed is the word of the kingdom; that is, the gospel.

In verses 23 and 24, Jesus puts an emphasis on hearing. In fact, look in Mark 4 at the references to hearing and listening to the word:

• 3 – “Listen!”
• 9 – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
• 12 – they “may indeed hear but not understand”
• 15 – “when they hear…”
• 16 – “the ones who hear…”
• 18 – “they are those who hear the word…”
• 20 – “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it…”
• 23 – “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
• 24 – “Pay attention to what you hear…”
• 33 – “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.”

In case you weren’t counting, there are 10 references in Mark 4 to hearing and listening to the word.

Thus, in verses 21-22, Jesus is saying that he has come to speak the truth of the gospel and the words about God’s kingdom. That message is not something that is to be put under a basket or put under a bed. That message is to be put on a stand and give light to all that surrounds it!

At the time Jesus taught these words, the kingdom of God consisted of a few disciples. Jesus is preparing his disciples for the day that they will replace him as heralds of the gospel message. Remember, Jesus is training them to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17). One day, it would be the responsibility of the disciples to communicate the gospel of the kingdom to the world (Acts 1:8).

Notice verse 22. The truth of Jesus’ message will come to light. After Jesus’ resurrection, it became known that he was no ordinary man. Many who were skeptics of Jesus before his resurrection became his followers. Christianity went on to explode after Jesus’ resurrection, most prominently on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The gospel of the kingdom that the disciples had is the same message that we have — that God has sent his son Jesus into the world and that all who turn from their sin and place their faith in Jesus and his life, death, burial and resurrection can have peace with God.

Rather than experiencing God’s just wrath for our sin in hell, we can have forgiveness through Christ. Paul said in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The light of the gospel message is not to be hidden, but it is meant to “come to light” in our hearts and in the hearts of those that we share it with.

This morning, I want to ask you, who are you praying would come to faith in Christ?

Who are you trying to share the gospel with?

We have the greatest message of all time. Let’s share the light of the gospel with others.

We have the greatest message of all time. Let’s share the light of the gospel with others.

In vv. 21-23, we see that the message of the kingdom is not meant to be hidden. In the next section, we see that the message of the kingdom will be revealed to those who listen.

The Message of the Kingdom Will Be Revealed to Those Who Listen (24-25, 33-34)

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.”

In these verses, Jesus teaches us how God reacts towards one’s response to the word. The measure one gives to hearing will be the measure one receives. Thus, if someone has ears to hear and receives the word joyfully, they will be given more of the word and more truth will be revealed to them.

Whoever seeks to understand the message of the kingdom will receive more, but those who are not good soil and don’t respond to the word in obedience, Jesus says, “even what he has will be taken away.”

I have found this to be true. Those who are humble and teachable are given more truth. Those who are apathetic or hard-hearted will have what truth they do know taken away. In other words, if you do not respond in obedience to the spiritual truths you learn, then you will not be fruitful. And remember, true disciples bear fruit (Mark 4:20).

Mark’s comments in vv. 33-34 give a glimpse of the measure described in vv. 24-25.

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.

He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear, but he explained everything to his disciples.

You’ve heard it said that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. This is exactly what Jesus is saying about spiritual truth. Those who do not have ears to hear will become mired in a pit of ignorance and indifference. Brothers and sisters, we in America have much access to biblical truth. We must be careful to have ears to hear!

• Do you have ears to hear?
• Are you the good soil that was mentioned last week (Mark 4:20)? Remember, those will hearts of good soil hear the gospel, accept, and bear fruit.
• How do you react to God’s Word?
• Are you reading it?
• Are you learning from it?
• Are you applying it?
• Are you bored by the preaching of God’s Word?
• Do you seek to learn from the preached word? Do you take notes?

My caution to you this morning is that if you’re not seeking to understand and apply God’s Word that your heart will grow indifferent and even what you know will be taken away. Those are Jesus’ words, not mine!

The message of the kingdom is not meant to be hidden. The message of the kingdom will be revealed to those who listen. In the rest of our passage, Jesus promises hope regarding the kingdom of God!

First, Jesus teaches that God brings about the growth of his kingdom.

God Brings About the Growth of His Kingdom (26-29)

In vv. 26-29, Jesus uses a parable about the sowing, growing, and harvesting of a seed to describe the kingdom of God.

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.”

Notice in the parable that the sower plays a minimal role. The seed grows without his effort. He sows the seed and “the seed sprouts and grows.” In fact, the text says, “He knows not how.”

Jesus wants to encourage his disciples that as the seed of the kingdom is sown, that eventually there will be a harvest. Just as “the earth produces by itself,” God is at work to bring about the growth of His kingdom.

Jesus says the kingdom of God is like this. As Christians scatter the seed of God’s Word, it will succeed because God is active. There is no amount of human effort that can bring about a harvest in God’s kingdom. We are dependent on his power for there to be a harvest.

John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

1 Cor 3:6-7

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

Rom 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

This parable should do two things.

First, the parable should remove a burden from us. We learn that as we share the gospel, we don’t have the power to save anyone. These verses show that ultimately the result is not up to us. I’ve heard it said that “Evangelism is sharing the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” Notice what the sower does in the parable. He sleeps and rises. He sows the seed and leaves it be. We are not ashamed of the gospel! God is at work and he will give the growth and build his church (Matt 16:18)!

Second, the parable should drive us to our knees in prayer. Because God is the one that brings about the harvest, we must pray to him as we share the gospel with others. We pray that the Father would draw, the Holy Spirit would convict of sin, and that people would come to faith in Christ. Sometimes we see a blade, sometimes an ear, and sometimes the grain!

R.C. Sproul:

“That’s the way the kingdom is. We often do not know what God does with our service. We plant the seed, go to bed, and, while we sleep, God germinates the seed so that life grows and eventually produces a full harvest. Then God Himself reaps for His own glory. We simply need to forget about trying to see the fruit of our service immediately. It does not matter if we ever see it. We are called to take the light and let it shine, then let God do with it whatever He pleases.”^[1]R.C. Sproul, Mark, 76.

As a church, we must learn the lesson from this parable and the parable of the soils. As we sow the seed of the gospel, will fall on different kinds of hearts. But as we sow broadly and pray earnestly, then inevitably, we will see a harvest. It may be slow, but we will see one!

Jesus assures us in verse 29 that there will indeed be a harvest.

God’s Kingdom Will Grow Large (30-32)

In vv. 30-32, Jesus likens the kingdom of God to the growth of a mustard seed. Though the mustard seed is very small, eventually it grows much larger!

Read 30-32

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.”

A mustard seed’s diameter is only about 1/10 of an inch, but the plant itself grows into a very large shrub (about 10-12 feet tall). When Jesus first called his disciples, the kingdom of God looked insignificant. Jesus was teaching them that eventually the kingdom of God would be much larger than they could have imagined.

Jesus is telling his disciples that the kingdom of God is going to be massive. It will be proportionately much larger than its humble beginnings. Jesus started with 12 disciples and today there are millions of people who are followers of Jesus.

There will come a day when the kingdom of God will surpass every kingdom that has ever existed on earth. We know from the previous parable that even though we don’t see all of it now, one day we will.

There will come a day when the kingdom of God will surpass every kingdom that has ever existed on earth.

Notice the reference to the birds making nests in the shade of the mustard plant in v. 32.

In biblical times, the image of great trees symbolizing great kingdoms was common. We see this in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 17, Ezekiel 31, and Daniel 4. Specifically, in Ezekiel 17:22-24, there is a messianic prophecy that says that under the rule of the Messiah, nations will come to salvation, and the Gentile nations are pictured as birds coming to lodge in the tree of blessing. It is almost certain that Jesus is borrowing from this imagery and thus, in our text, the birds represent the Gentile nations.

Again, though the kingdom of God has been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus, one day, Jesus tells his disciples, that the kingdom of God is going to be much larger than they could’ve ever imagined.

Revelation 7:9-10

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Conclusion

These last two parables show us that even at times when the kingdom of God may seem hidden, God is at work to produce a harvest that is bigger than we can imagine. We must be faithful to the commission of our Lord Jesus to sow the seed of the gospel!