DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Mark 4:1-9
(9/9-9/22)
Friday of the Thirteenth Week after Pentecost
Jesus Christ Is Life: Saint Mark 4:1-9, especially vs.
8: “But other seed fell on
good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some
thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” In
Saint Mark’s Gospel, readers find many people projecting their personal
hopes and fears on our Lord Jesus.
Christ our God always evokes strong reactions to Himself. Over the centuries, some have loved Him
ardently and some have hated Him venomously. Strongly divided opinions were the case
in the early days of His ministry, as the Evangelist reports; and such
continues to be the case, as you will find in the media and the among many
people.
Many do ‘not’ honor the Lord Jesus Christ
despite the fact that salvation remains the prevailing purpose of God even in
this present age. To speak in the
language of Jesus’ parable, be not dismayed because some new growth is
choked, some scorched and withered, and some is devoured by alien
teachings. God definitely aims to
endow every man and woman with eternal life - if ‘we’ will. Yes, Christ our God cares about the
outcome, about the ‘catch’ of His fishermen, about the
‘crop’ that He longs for from the seeds that He sows.
Also, take care not to read this parable as a mere desire
on God’s part. The Lord spoke
prophetically through the image of the sower. The Church sows Life into human affairs,
and the yields have continued through two millennia - thirty, sixty, a hundred times
over. The Lord our God will not be
frustrated. Note well: the Lord
Jesus starts the parable with the word, “Listen” (vs. 3), and He
ends it with this counsel: “...He who has ears to hear, let him
hear” (vs. 9). Listen
well! The harvest is underway. “Join in or get out of the
way” is the message.
In the parable, the Lord Jesus clearly teaches that there
is irresistible power in life, in physical life and spiritual life alike. Everything that can be called life flows
from God, comes from His Person. For this reason, Christ our God said,
“I Am the...Life” (Jn. 14:6), which makes the parable
exciting. He Who
is Life, yields life many times over.
What are we to do in the face of this prophecy in parable form? How may we receive Life so that He
flourishes within us?
First, examine and hear the parable in the light of
first-century Palestinian farming - the context in which it was spoken. For planting to be successful, seed had
to be covered with soil to the correct depth required for the seed - wheat,
barley, rye, etc. The method used
in Galilee for grains was first to sow and then to plow. The plow blade was set to assure that
the seed was covered to the right depth.
Accidentally, sowers did cast some seed on
ground that was rocky just beneath the surface. Some soil was infested with thorns, and
there were paths among the fields.
The loss of seed in the overall planting process occurred despite the
fact that the sower made every effort to broadcast
his seed where it could be plowed and expected to grow. God scatters His Life exactly where He
knows it will produce best, and He anticipates losses.
Finally, when the Lord Jesus spoke of sowing, He was
referring to the mystery of the kingdom of God (Mk. 4:11). His consistent use of the image of the
kingdom caught the imagination of His first hearers for they were people whose
land and nation were under foreign occupation and subjugation. The parable drew them to Christ in the
hope of finding where true life might be found (vs. 1). Later, in the New Testament Epistles,
there was little mention of the “kingdom.” The Apostles focused their message on
the ‘Person’ of Christ.
Why the shift? Because the Lord Jesus is the kingdom of God. Where He is and where He
reigns is Life. He is Life:
“...everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting
life” (Jn. 6:40).
O Master Who didst bestow upon us
Thy terrible and life-giving Mysteries, grant that they may be for us unto
growth in Thy divine grace and the attainment of Thy kingdom.
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