The heart of Jesus’ parables at the end of Mark 4 teach us that God is the one who causes the seed to grow; He causes spiritual growth. Our only job as believers is to faithfully proclaim Jesus Christ and His gospel and then to entrust ourselves to our gracious God, who loves to save sinners.
Although the Bible teaches that God is sovereign in salvation, it also teaches that man is responsible for sharing the gospel—or, as Jesus describes in His parable in Mark 4, man is responsible for scattering seed on the ground. This simply means that we as Christians must share the gospel, the Word of God, the seed, with unbelievers and allow God to work in their hearts.
During Jesus’ earthly life and ministry most people rejected His claim as the Messiah of the Old Testament and the only way of salvation. But rather than concluding that His ministry was a failure, Jesus taught in this parable that His kingdom would continue to steadily grow and that the gospel would continue to advance.
In ancient Israel, mustard seeds were recognized as one of the smallest seeds in the area. By all appearances, it was insignificant, but as it grew it became quite large. So it is with Jesus and His spiritual kingdom—it had a small, insignificant run in the first century, but as the Word of God went forth, it would eventually grow into a massive kingdom of Christ’s followers.
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