What many refer to as the Parable of the Growing Seed can be called by several other names: the Parable of the Plowed Field, or the Parable of the Fertile Soil, or the Parable of the Automatic Yield, to name a few. This parable is a continuation of the former parable, or what I call the Parable of Taking Heed. These parables were spoken and offered to the disciples privately, sometime after the multitude was sent away. The sower in the Parable of the Soil seems to be the believer, because how can we say that the Lord sleeps and rises day after day and doesn’t understand how the seed grows into a useful plant (Mark 4:26-27)? Therefore, the sower in this parable must be someone other than the Lord, and, since it immediately follows the context of taking heed (Mark 4:24), I believe Jesus is speaking of the believer, himself. That is, what the believer takes heed of and plants in his heart.
The seed is the word of God (Mark 4:14), but the emphasis of this parable is not upon the seed, itself, but upon the ground, or the soil into which the seed is sown. The ground, remember, represents the heart of the hearer (Mark 4:15), but the Lord isn’t speaking of the hearts of the multitude, but, rather, the hearts of those who take heed (Mark 4:14). The word of the Lord is spoken to the believer, or perhaps read by him, and that part of Jesus’ words that the believer takes heed of becomes the seed in his heart (cp. Mark 4:26; Luke 17:21). Although Jesus’ words are heard or read by many other believers (Mark 4:14), the Spirit of God operates differently within each believer, and the operation of the word, to which each takes heed (Mark 4:24), may vary from what takes place in the hearts of his other brethren (cp. 1Corinthians 12:1-11).
Many scholars believe the time of harvest in Jesus’ parable points to the end of the age, but I don’t believe this is true. I believe it has to do with the time it takes for the word, which the believer heeded, to bear fruit in his life. When the time of harvest would arrive, the believer’s life would have changed, according to what he had heard, and he would have become what he heeded in the word of God, or what he believed about God’s word that he understood as meant for him. This is the time of the harvest spoken of in this parable (Mark 4:28-29).
Notice that after the seed is planted, or after what one takes heed of seeps down into his heart, the believer is unable to do anything to aid the process of growth, except to water it (1Corinthians 3:6; cp. Hebrews 10:22; 1Peter 3:21). Nevertheless, the actual growth is a mystery, which man is unable to reproduce by his own effort. We can only be patient, while the growth takes place (Mark 4:27), because the increase is according to the work of the Spirit in the heart of the believer (1Corinthians 12:1-11; 15:37-38; cp. Job 33:15-16).
The ground (G1093) in the parable acts upon the seed, not vice versa, so the emphasis is upon the ground or heart of the believer and not the seed or the word of God. Jesus tells us that the ground / heart produces fruit of itself (G844; automatos). The word is used only once more in the Greek scriptures, namely, where the city gate opened “of its own accord” for Peter (Acts 12:8). We get our word automatic from this Greek word. In other words, the heart is a plowed field made ready to accept and act upon seed, whether it is the word of God or that of man. Nevertheless, in the context of the parable, we are interested only in the operation of the heart of the believer, as he takes heed of what Jesus says. His heart acts automatically upon the word of God, and produces fruit accordingly, without the active help of the believer (Mark 4:26, 28; cp. Luke 6:45).
In this parable Jesus offers us a pattern for growth in the Kingdom of God from within the heart of the believer (cp. Luke 17:21). It is a gradual process and the word of God (the seed) is needed to produce any fruit to the Lord. That is, our good intentions aren’t enough to equal the power that is shed abroad in our lives by the word of God. However, we shouldn’t be discouraged, if there is no immediate growth. Wait for the blade to appear, then the head, and finally the full grain in the head. In other words, there is a process toward maturity, and we shouldn’t expect maturity of the fruit during any of the immature stages of growth. Therefore, testing or judging the grain or its growth, according to preconceived measures, wouldn’t be wise, nor could such behavior produce better results. Spiritual growth occurs without and in spite of the labor of man. Instead, spiritual growth occurs automatically and according to the laws of God.
Finally, when the maturity of the fruit of the word within the believer permits, a harvest occurs (Mark 4:29) and that for the benefit of the believer who sowed the word of God in his own heart. In other words, he has become what only the power of the word of God could produce. Nevertheless, it is of the utmost importance how we take heed (Mark 4:24; Luke 8:18), because he who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly (2Corinthians 9:6; cp. Galatians 6:7-8)!
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