Marcos 4

Marcos 4

Pentecost - This parable was given to reveal to those who will be sent to sow the Word that they must do their sowing in utter dependence on the power of the Word to produce its own fruit. The essential contribution of this parable to the unfolding of the kingdom program in the present age is to stress that while human agencies may disseminate the Word of God, fruitfulness will be the result of the Word itself, not the human agent. (Parables of Jesus) Bock adds "Nor do we read of the role of the sun and rain, or of destructive elements such as drought, heat, hail, weeds, and locusts. This is true also in the following parable. The focus of this parable is upon the seed and its inevitable growth." And he goes to bed at night and gets up by day - Both verbs goes to bed and gets up are in the present tense picturing this as this man's life day after day. Hiebert points out that "The order “night and day,” rather than “day and night,” “reflects the oriental understanding of a ‘day’ beginning at sundown." This is the life of a farmer – he does not stay up all night fretting over the growth of the seed; one season is condensed here into a series of repetitive acts of going to bed each night and getting up each day until you see growth Importance of Faithfulness in daily tasks Ray