Mark 4:30-32
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”
John 4:34-38
One Sows and Another May Reap
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Revelation 1:8
God is the Alpha and Omega
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Jesus teaches us about the eternities...God, His kingdom, and the subject of eternity are some of the most complex of subjects (if not the most complex of subjects) to discuss...Jesus often described God and the kingdom of God as what His Father and the kingdom are like...He wanted to use plain and simple examples, to explain these most complex of issues...Parables that we can visualize...He seems to want His followers to do their best to describe in plain and simple words, to those listening about Him and His Father...He wants and tries to explain all these great sacred and holy complexities and mysteries in simple humility and simple understandings (as best as one can, for such a complex subject)...Because that is the way He went about explaining things...
I sometimes think that He is talking about our faith, and how it at many times starts small, then grows, and then becomes more mature...He also maybe talking to us about the gospel, the Good News of His arrival, and how it would start with Him being the Seed...After His resurrection His followers, at first would grow slowly...Then over time Christianity would become a very large religion and then over two thousand years, He would have a tremendous amount of followers...So, if you believe the kingdom of God is now and in the present and growing, and that we are currently living in the kingdom of God -one could see how His followers are the seeds and future seeds are those His followers are converting with their own planting and watering...Eventually needing to be harvested...
Without a seed there would be no plants, no grasses, and no trees...The seed is the smallest part and the starting point of all plants -even the largest of our trees...All our plant life, our plants and our trees begin with a seed...The seed is planted, takes root with water and good soil, and then it grows...The seed and its growth is a process that happens over time...Man is often only gradually aware of these things that grow gradually and slow...For instance, as one ages one may not realize that their hair is thinning, turning gray, and they are gradually getting stiffer, as they get older...The process of aging takes time, like the planting of a mustard seed and awaiting it to grow tall and get branches, so birds of the air can perch in its shade...It maybe like the sixty year old man getting up one morning, a little stiff and sore and now gray headed, saying where did all the years go -man, I am getting older!...
In Jesus' talking about the kingdom of God being like the gradual growth of a mustard seed, which (evidently) was the smallest seed you could plant in the ground in His time...He maybe speaking about God's grace...We do not notice His Grace at first, especially the infinite size of it...How could we miss it...We work, keep busy, and have our minds on one thing or another...But His Grace is infinite (and has always been there both grand and infinite), and sometimes, only by reflecting on things that happen gradually, are we actually aware of His wonderful and eternal grace...Maybe we only realize over time the enormity of His Grace as our faith matures... God is near us, and is with us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but we may not be attentive to His Grace...Our lives and as our faith grows and unfolds and is happening right before our eyes, but maybe we do not see it until later...He is the Alpha and the Omega...He is the One Who is, and Who was, Who is to come...He has always been here and near us, and always will be near and dear to us...
And He is very much talking about the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Mark...And it seems that the kingdom of God is a process that takes time, like that of a seed planting and growing and being nurtured...The mustard seed has grown and evolved to the largest of all the garden plants...As the harvest gets ready to reap there will be believers, who will benefit from His Grace, like the birds are benefiting from the shade of the full grown mustard plant...His kingdom is forever growing for those who will be followers of His in the future...
Jesus teaches us and His disciples that others (in the past) have sown seeds and sometimes it takes time or years to see that the harvest is ready...The early Prophets, the other authors of the Bible, wise men who taught the good word, John the Baptist, and even Jesus Himself have planted many seeds...The Prophets and the others are the ones who get some of the credit for the harvesting that the disciples will be doing soon...But let us rejoice that the sower and the reaper may be glad together...Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true...Jesus sent His disciples to reap what they had not worked for -for much of the planting was done by the Prophets, wise men who taught the good word, and John the Baptist...Others have done the hard work, and the disciples will be reaping the benefits of the labors of others...
So, as I read the gospels of Mark and John about the kingdom of God and about the sowing and reaping...I see faith as an integral lesson in His teaching...I see the growth of the Gospel and His Word in these verses...I also see God's infinite grace at work in His kingdom, and it always has been...He wants the sowers and the reapers not only working together, but also being happy and glad together...Let us all work together and be glad the kingdom of God is growing and will grow...And as we work hand in had as sower and reaper -maybe He is telling us one more thing...Working together and being happy and glad together is to Love thy neighbor...