The Parable of the Seed Growing, Part 1
Historical and Cultural Contexts behind Mark’s Gospel
In the following few posts, I will be sharing portions of my work submitted as an overview of Mark 4:26-29. The goal of this body at the time of publication was to demonstrate the ecological nature of what Jesus shared with his followers, as documented in Mark’s Gospel.
What I hope you as the reader take away is that your place in the Kingdom matters, as you have a role to fill that is yours and yours alone. You also have roles that are not yours to own and fulfill, and that’s okay. Ultimately, trusting in The Lord’s movement is what we are called to do.
The world at large consists of endless processes, seemingly independent of human intervention. As the sun rises and sets, it needs no assistance from any other created being, no matter how knowledgeable he or she may be concerning solar or terrestrial patterns. The same principle applies to the Kingdom of God and how it both spreads and operates. While God graciously invites His human creation to participate in the Kingdom, their participation does not derail or distract God from accomplishing His work in growing the Kingdom. Such an idea is illustrated in Mark 4:26-29 (English Standard Version):
And he [Jesus] said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The purpose of this paper is to, as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:15, “rightly divide the word of truth” found in Mark 4:26-29, demonstrating the underlying historical, instructive, and applicable natures of the parable of the seed growing. Thus, the parable of the seed growing illustrates how the Kingdom of God permeates the physical world, both because of and despite the believer, ultimately as a result of God’s power at work.
Historical Context
Before entering into a verse-by-verse exegesis of Mark 4:26-29, it is crucial to understand better the historical context in which the author wrote the account as a whole. While scholars may differ on the specific date on which the Gospel of Mark was written, there exists a consensus concerning the era and time frame for authorship, landing between 65 and 75 A.D.1 Even further, the traditional understanding that underpins this “later date” comes from the church father Irenaeus of Lyons, who writes, “After their [Peter and Paul’s] departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter.”2 The location where Mark wrote his Gospel is just as important as when it was written. Scholars agree that Mark’s account was written in Rome per the eyewitness account of the apostle Peter.3 Therefore, the reader can confidently assert that the Gospel attributed to Mark was written in Rome in the latter portion of the first century after Peter and Paul left the city.
Cultural Context
Following a historical understanding, one must consider the cultural context in succession. When the Gospel of Mark was written, it was considered turmoil for the Jewish society across the Roman Empire, especially in the church in Rome where Mark wrote his Gospel. Bleeding into a time when Roman Christians especially needed guidance and comfort that their faith was correct, Mark’s account of the life of Jesus served not only to spur readers to action but also to provide an ample record of the Lord whom they served instead of the emperor. James A. Brooks provides excellent context and insight into the cultural animosity at play:
The expulsion of the Jews—and Jewish Christians—was a decade and a half in the past. Paul had recently been a prisoner in Rome but evidently had few contacts with synagogue or church, in part at least because associating with him was dangerous. Although the Neronian persecution had not begun, it is unlikely that it was the result only of the fire of the summer of a.d. 64. Quite likely the authorities already had been making hostile gestures toward Christians. As a result the church at Rome felt threatened. The threat of persecution may constitute the occasion for writing Mark.4
Therefore, it appears that Mark sought to preserve the account of Jesus’s life to ensure that contemporary and proceeding readers could feel empowered to live in the pattern Christ modeled despite persistent and intense persecution.
James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 28.
Irenaeus of Lyons, “Irenæus against Heresies,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 414.
Timothy J. Geddert, Mark, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2001), 20-21.
Brooks, Mark, 29-30.