Gospel June 14

Gospel Proper 6

Mark 4:26-34

"The kingdom of God is as if ..."

Two brief parables and a summary statement for the entire text of this selected passage. Both parables focus on seed sown. Small in themselves seeds grow only when they are planted, and they grow without help for the sower, and may grow into a huge plant which bears no relationship to the six of the original seed.
The kingdom of God is like that, Jesus says.

Mark makes the interesting observation that Jesus spoke only in parables to his hearers, but did offer explanations privately to his disciples.

Why is this so? The Jews had lived under the law for centuries. Ten commandments, the books of Moses, the Mishnah and various regulations that had grown up around these texts provided the basics for life 'the way God intended' for his chosen people - or at least that was the view of the leadership.
The burden of keeping he law had become onerous - and that which had been given for a better and a holy life had become a series of obligations and demands that the common people could not keep.

For Matthew - with a predominantly Jewish congregation in view - took the law and lifted it to a higher plane. "You have heard it said...but I say to you..." is a formula that appears in the text of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-7:39), along with a call for a "righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees" (5:20) one of this language appears in Mark's gospel. Instead we find pictures of life in the Kingdom of God.

IN the verses prior to our text Jesus has called his disciples to follow him (!:16-20;2:13=17;3:13-19), healed the sick and demon-possessed (1:21-34, 40-45; 2:1-12;3:1-11), dealt with legalistic challenges to his actions (2:18-28) and preached the message of the kingdom of God (1:14-15,35-38). The only mention of the law came in response to criticism that Jesus was breaking it.

Only after this does Mark share with us these parables - word images of the kingdom of God. Perhaps Mark is trying to tell us that the kingdom of God is about far more that rules and regulations - it is about revealing your love for people, easing their pain, helping them carry their burdens and enabling them to participate fully in family and community.

As we affirm the worth of others and help them to health and wholeness we are sowing seeds for the kingdom of God - and we will never know what will result from those seeds.