The Parable of the Growing Seed (also called the ''Seed Growing Secretly'') is a

parable of Jesus A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

which appears only in . It is a parable about growth in the Kingdom of God. It follows the Parable of the Sower and the

Lamp under a bushel The parable of the lamp under a bushel (also known as ''the lamp under a bowl'') is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in Gospel of Matthew, Matthew Matthew 5:14, 5:14–Matthew 5:15, 15, Gospel of Mark, Mark and Gospel of Luke, Luke . In ...

, and precedes the

Parable of the Mustard Seed The Parable of the Mustard Seed is one of the shorter parables of Jesus. It appears in Matthew ( 13:31–32), Mark ( 4:30–32), and Luke ( 13:18–19). In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, it is immediately followed by the Parable of the Leave ...

Narrative

The parable is as follows:

Interpretation

This parable can be seen as related to the parable of the Sower,George R. Knight,
Exploring Mark: A Devotional Commentary
', Review and Herald Pub Assoc, 2004, , pp. 107-108. although it does not follow that parable immediately.

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

writer George Knight suggests that it serves as a "correction provided for any ancient or modern

disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

s who might be feeling discouraged with the amount of fruitless labor they had extended toward those" who failed to hear the message of which the parable of the Sower spoke. Even when the farmer sleeps, the Kingdom of God is still growing. Its growth is due to God, not man,Richard N. Longenecker,
The Challenge of Jesus' Parables
', Eerdmans, 2000, , p. 97. and follows its own timetable.James R. Edwards,
The Gospel According to Mark
', Eerdmans, 2002, , pp. 142-144. Paul the Apostle describes the growth of the church in

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...

in a similar way: :''I planted the seed,

Apollos Apollos ( grc-gre, Ἀπολλώς) was a 1st-century Alexandrian Jewish Christian mentioned several times in the New Testament. A contemporary and colleague of Paul the Apostle, he played an important role in the early development of the ch ...

watered it, but God has been making it grow''. Weigel lamp on a stand and the growing seed

Unlike the parable of the Sower, the seed here seems to represent the Kingdom of God itself.

Klyne Snodgrass Klyne Ryland Snodgrass (born December 28, 1944) is an American theologian and author, who served as professor of New Testament Studies at the North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois from 1974 to 2015. His publication ''Stories with I ...

,
Stories with Intent: A comprehensive guide to the parables of Jesus
', Eerdmans, 2008, , p. 213. Differences in interpretation result from emphasizing different aspects of the parable, such as the seed, the sower, or the earth.

,
Stories with Intent: A comprehensive guide to the parables of Jesus
', Eerdmans, 2008, , pp. 184-190.

Leonard Goffiné Leonard Goffiné (6 December 1648 – 11 August 1719) was a German Catholic priest who wrote devotional texts which remained influential in his country for two centuries afterwards. Born in Cologne, or according to some, Broich, at the age of ...

answers the question of "why the word of God is compared to seed," writing, "Because as good fruits spring from good seed, so do good works from the word of God; and as it is impossible for any soil not sown to produce good fruits, so neither can men produce the fruits of the Spirit without the seed of the divine Word."

Roger Baxter Roger Baxter (1784–1827) was an English Jesuit, a Catholic missionary in the United States, and Prefect of Studies at Georgetown College. Life Baxter was a native of Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, in Lancashire and studied at Stonyhurst Coll ...

in his ''Meditations'' writes, "Christ our Lord is both the sower and the seed itself. He intrusts the soil of our souls with His own precious body and blood. He wishes this divine grain to yield a harvest, not of temporal and corruptible, but of eternal and incorruptible, increase. For " he whosoweth in the spirit shall reap life everlasting." (Gal. 3:8)

References

{{Parables of Jesus, state=expanded Growing Seed, Parable of the Gospel of Mark

Narrative

Interpretation

See also

References