| Alvin Shaul
BL425, Lyons Final Exam #1: The Parable of the Growing Seed: Mark 4:26-29 I think it is quite clear from reading Mark 4:33-34 how Mark views the telling of Jesus� parables. The verse itself seems to point to the fact that Mark might have been present when some of the parables were explained. Mark 4:33-34 states that �With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.� The parable of the growing seed is placed right after Jesus� argument that lamps are not meant to be placed under bushel baskets. Both sections seem to deal with things that are hidden but will be exposed. What happens during the evening is not seen and is only exposed in the morning when the man arises to find that he has a crop. Directly following this parable is another parable comparing the Kingdom of God to a crop. It seems as if Jesus is intentionally using agricultural metaphors that he knows the people can understand. It would also seem, however, according to verse 34, that he is not so concerned that they understand the deeper spiritual meaning of his parable, since he explains them only to his disciples. Also quite interesting about this parable is that it is the only parable in Mark that is not found in one of the other synoptic Gospels. If Mark is the original source, as is generally accepted among modern scholars, then why did Matthew and Luke choose to omit this parable? Does the fact that this parable appears only 17 verses following the parable of the sower have any relevance? Maybe Mark was simply more agriculturally minded than Matthew and Luke, and so when Matthew and Luke chose what to take from Mark, they thought that this parable was so close to the others around it that they need not include it in their writings. �Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.� This is from Joel 3:12-13. There are a few similarities that might be noted, whether or not this passage might have been in the mind of Jesus as He told this parable. First of all, in the parable the man is not looked upon in a favorable light. He is rather seen as almost ignorant to the nature of his fields, yet extremely happy to see that they have yielded a crop for him. All this happened while he was asleep and had forgotten about his planting. The parable speaks of the bounty of the grain once it is fully grown, as is the bounty of the press, fats and wickedness. This passage from Joel is a good example of what happened when the harvest came and the enemy was not ready, whereas the parable is describing how we are indeed becoming ready overnight. This might seem to suggest that our response to God is the only thing that can prepare us for the harvest. If God is the harvester, then he is waiting for the harvest to become ripe. Origen, Augustine, R. C. Trench might very well have interpreted this parable allegorically. They would say that God was the harvester, and thus also the sower. God then lets us live our lives and the world continued to move on. Somehow, those who follow God are helping these seeds (new believers) to grow . What doesn�t make since to me is that God would not know what is going on. I don�t know how to take God out of this picture as both the sower and the harvester. It doesn�t make since to say that He is one and not the other, but it doesn�t make sense to say He is neither either. With God still in the position of the harvester, the allegorical interpreters would say that this meant that God was waiting for the world to ripen so that he can take His sickle and harvest the souls that have been saved. This parable is still important today because it shows that God cares about our growth and maturity in relationship with Him. He cares about our witness to the rest of His children. #1: The Parable of the lost sheep: Matthew 18:10-14, Luke 15:3-7 There seems to be a completely different context in Matthew from that of Luke. Matthew places this parable directly after speaking of the importance of not compromising one�s faith and directly before the advice on handling the sin of a brother. Luke places this parable with the parables of the Lost Son and the Lost Coin, which both have a similar story to tell. Directly preceding the parable in Luke is a section on worthless salt. Both authors use a preceding passage that focuses on the value of the individual as a person of faith. However, Matthew goes a different direction than Luke following this parable. Instead reemphasizing the idea of the parable as Luke does, Matthew turns to how that idea applies in conflict. If a brother sins against you, do not let him stray away without going after him. Help him to see the error in his ways and come back to flock. This parable is not found in Mark, so it might be suggested that it originated from source Q. We see the metaphor of followers as sheep several other times throughout the gospels, including later in Matthew 25. We also have Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God. One might conclude that as Jesus was the Son of God, so also we are children of God, and that is why the similar metaphor is used. However, this may be unlikely, as the normal interpretation of Jesus as the lamb of God is drawn from his sacrifice in relation to the OT custom of the sacrifice of lambs. C. H. Dodd, and Joachim Jeremias might try to say that these parables are actually accurately kept in their literal form. They would say that it was normal to make sure that the entire flock was accounted for. I�m not so sure that they would leave the other ninety-nine unattended, but they would undoubtedly go for the one that left as soon as was possible. They might see the story as a broad comparison, since Jesus seems to imply such, but they would not directly allegorize the parable. Their historical/literal approach would be most interesting in such a case. This parable is much easier applied to us today than that of the Growing Seed. Regardless of hour much our societies and cultures change, as long as there is Christianity, there will be people turning away from Christianity. There will be conflict within the Church. The message Christ is giving us this parable is that we cannot give up on these people. They are as much integral to His plan of salvation as we are. Just as the woman would not give up on her lost coin and the father would not give up on his lost son, so also we must not give up on those whom some might presume to be beyond hope. No one is beyond hope in the eyes of Christ. #2: The Kingdom of God: Before this class began and before a few other of my classes this session began, I had very little idea of what the Kingdom of God really was. I had heard the typical opinions that it is the heaven of the future, or the earth of the future. Some said it was God living in us or that Jesus was the Kingdom of God. I still do not have a strong grasp on what I want to believe about the Kingdom of God, but I have a few ideas that are more favorable than others. One thing is certain, as it repeated over and over in the New Testament: The Kingdome of God is now. Many of the parables specifically talk about the Kingdom of God in terms of the harvest and judgment. Let me suggest that the Kingdom is not the final component in those parables but the underlying one. The Kingdom of God is the world now as it is being prepared for Christ�s return. It is continually being laid as the foundation of life itself. One might even say that the answer to life is not forty-two as some movies would have us believe, but rather the Kingdom of God. Life is about preparing the Kingdom. This is how I will live my life for the time being, pending new discovering of the Kingdom of God. Bibliography American Bible Society. 1992. The Holy Bible : Today's English Version (2nd ed.). American Bible Society: New York The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989. Thomas Nelson: Nashville New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. The Lockman Foundation: LaHabra, CA Peterson, E. H. 1995. The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. NavPress: Colorado Springs, Colo. You stumble a bit on the Growing Seed parable. Your other treatment is much stronger, but then you researched it for one of your creative studies. You say nothing about Hultgren or Scott. You are on the right track in your treatment of the kingdom of God. Keep working on it. Grade: B |