Mark 4:26-29, 33-34
“Notice what you notice.” Mark adds to Matthew’s seven parables in chapter 13 with one of his own, the Parable of the Growing Seed – a parable found only in Mark. Frankly, to me, it’s something of a romantic parable: …first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear (v. 28). The singsong nature of these words is almost like 1960s folk music, sung by Joni Mitchell or Judy Collins. But beyond the lighthearted nature of verse 28 is the phrase that precedes it – …he knows not how (v. 27). God’s creation remains a mystery to us today. Agronomists with modern scientific tools can tell us a lot about “how”, but the more we know, the more fascinated we are about our world. It calls to mind Proverbs 25:2, It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.
So now we come to the end of this section of parables, but there are more to come. Mark adds a bit of an explanatory note in verses 33 and 34 (see also Mt. 13:34) as to Jesus’ affinity for speaking in parables. Would that we also could sit at His feet as …privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
As to there being more parables to come, I offer you a Wikipedia snippet: “The Gospel of Luke contains both the largest total number of parables (24) and eighteen unique parables; the Gospel of Matthew contains 23 parables of which eleven are unique; and the Gospel of Mark contains eight parables of which two are unique.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parables_of_Jesus)
Slava Bohu!