Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

 Sermon Text: Mark 4:26-34

 Other Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Colossians 1:3-8


 

  1. How should we understand what the kingdom of God is?
     
  2. Some say that Jesus used these parables because he is playing off imagery in Old Testament passages. Look at our First Lesson from Ezekiel 17:22-24. Can you find any possible connections between Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Jesus’ parables here?
     
  3. In our Second Lesson, Saint Paul wrote that “the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world” (Colossians 1:6). If the holy Christian church is worldwide, why do you think Jesus compared it to a tiny mustard seed?
     
  4. In Mark 4:29 Jesus talks about the sickle being taken to the grain at the harvest. What is “the harvest”? Does this passage warn us or comfort us?
     
  1. Whenever Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God, he emphasizes it as a divine activity, not a place with borders or earthly laws. Therefore, we say that the kingdom of God is the way that God graciously rules in the hearts of his believers.
     
  2. We can see similarities in the tremendous growth of both the cedar shoot / tender sprig and the mustard seed. The phrase, “[Birds] will find shelter in the shade of its branches” (Ezekiel 17:23) may remind us of the birds perching in the shade of the mustard tree (Mark 4:32).
     
  3. The holy Christian church (all believers in Jesus everywhere) and the thing that grows the church (the gospel, or the good news of Jesus) both look very insignificant in the eyes of the world. There are billions of people who are either atheists or of a different religion. The gospel about a crucified and risen Savior gets laughed at in philosophical and academic circles. In the same way, a mustard seed looks like it has little potential compared to, say, a pumpkin seed.
     
  4. The harvest seems to be a reference to the Last Day when Christ will return. While Jesus will judge on that day, this is actually a comfort for us who trust in him and belong to his kingdom. At the harvest, he will gather all his believers into the “storehouses” of his heavenly barn. God is growing his kingdom for the direct purpose of bringing it into paradise with him. What comfort!