The Story of Jesus According to Mark, Pt.9

 

June 16, 2024   NOTES NOT EDITED
The Story of Jesus According to Mark, Pt9:  “The Faithful Farmer”
Mark 4:26-2 

SIS – If we are faithful, God will make us fruitful but if we are foolish we should be fearful.

A Farmer and his wife were travelling on an extended trip through the countryside. It had been a long, tedious trip. The Farmer was rather a quiet fellow, but his wife loved to talk. After a few hours of driving, a state trooper pulled this man over and said: "Sir, do you realize your wife fell out of the car several miles back?" With a stunned look the Farmer replied: "Thank God, I thought I had gone deaf!"

This morning, we are going to examine the life of another Farmer. I call him a “Faithful Farmer.”  In fact, our story revolves around three images, a farmer, a seed, and a sickle. I could have titled this sermon, “The Growing Seed” or the “Sharp Sickle.” But as with the first parable in this chapter, this one also deeply depends on the actions—the faithful actions of the Farmer.

This is one of the  most complicated of the parables that Jesus taught.  It also is only one of the parabolic stories that is unique to Mark—that is, it has no parallel in either Matthew or Luke, or both.

It would be easy to let your “symbolic horses run wild with this text.”  The principle, however, we have learned for interpreting parables is to look for the “single, overriding theme.”  That is not easy to distinguish in this parable.

Is it about the Farmer?  Is it about the Seed?  Is it about Sickle?  All three of these images could be the driving theme of the parable.  However, knowing that a parable has one driving message, I believe that the theme is “faithfulness”—the unwavering trust in God as the Sovereign Giver of the Harvest. A harvest of souls.

If you take faithfulness as the theme, then the three images of the Farmer, the Seed, and the Sickle all contribute to that message.  They are the supporting actors so to speak in this grand play about “faithfulness.”

The two most oft given themes for this parable deal either with the Farmer, or the Seed.  Yet, we will see that BOTH the Farmer and the Seed demonstrate a “faithfulness to God’s plan.”  I believe it is most helpful to see “faithfulness” as the theme of this parable.  So, I call it the Faithful Farmer, with the emphasis on “faithful.” The Sickle serves as both a summary and a warning.

I did not grow up on a farm, but many of my relatives were farmers of one sort or another.  In fact, after my Dad died, I was contacted by a “Land-man,” or somebody that does research for drilling companies like Chevron.  My great-grandfather owned a farm and when he sold it, he did not sell the mineral rights.  Nobody in my family knew anything about this, but a drilling company is obligated to research all the heirs to mineral rights before they drill.

By the time it reaches me, I own 1/75^th of a well pad. A well pad is about about 640 acres.  My great grandfather was a poor West Virginia dirt farmer, but farmers are shrewd businessmen as a rule.  Who would have known that over a 100 years after he sold his farm, one of his great grandchildren would receive a monthly check for gas and oil.

Well, the story of our farmer in Mark 4 has nothing to do with drilling for oil, but it does help us learn how to harvest great blessings from God. 

If we are faithful, God will make us fruitful.  That’s not only the theme of this parable, it is the theme of the Bible.  All throughout the Word of God are scattered the names of men and women who were faithful to God, and who became very fruitful because of their faithfulness. 

As we read our text this morning will will discover at least three characteristics of a “faithful” person, as we examine the life of this “Faithful Farmer.”  Let’s read (Mk 4:26-29):

²⁶ “The kingdom of God  is like this,” He said. “A man scatters seed on the ground; ²⁷ he sleeps  and rises —night  and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he doesn’t know how. ²⁸ The soil produces a crop  by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain  on the head. ²⁹ But as soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle,  because the harvest  has come.” 

This parable begins with a familiar parabolic introduction:  hē basileia tou theou estin hōs—the Kingdom of God is like.  We see this introduce many of the parables in the gospel, and in fact, these parables are referred to as Kingdom Parables.

I think it is very important to note that we are not talking about “any” kingdom of just “any” god.  This is a special Kingdom of a special God—“the” Kingdom of “the”God.  The Greek makes this very clear.  Both “kingdom” and “God” are proceded by the definite article, ho, or “the.”  Interestingly, the word for the farmer is actually just the word for “man,” and without any definite article. 

Even more interesting is that Mark adds the definite article back in when referring to “the” seed.  The man does not bring the harvest, but Yahweh, with a special seed—and we know from a former parable the seed is the Word of God—brings the harvest.  Fruitfulness is not dependent upon man’s effort, but on God’s response to our effort.  A farmer could be the best farmer in the world, but he has absolutely no power to cause a seed to grow.  Only God can bring an increase. As we will notice throughout the parable, fruitfulness is not determined by man’s efforts, but by God’s blessing.

Now, that does not mean that our effort is not important to God’s plan.  On the contrary.  The first characteristic of the Faithful Farmer is that a Faithful Farmer,

1.  WORKS (26b)

Our efforts do not cause our fruitfulness, but God’s response to our efforts does.  God has decreed that He will bless the efforts of faithful men and women.  We do not “work” to get blessed, but we “work” for Jesus because we have already been blessed.  Paul said it like this:

“work OUT your salvation with fear and trembling.”(Phil 2:12)

Jesus also declared,  The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” (Mt. 9:38)

Faithful men and women are diligent workers. The Book of Proverbs has much to say about being a hard-worker, as opposed to a “slacker.”

Prov. 13:4 says, “the slacker craves and yet has nothing but the diligent are fully satisfied.”

I think we all know what a “slacker” is.  The word for “diligent” is interesting.  It is related to the word, “ditch, or trench” and gives the image of “digging a trench,” or manual labor.

God simply will not bless laziness!  In fact, listen to Paul’s admonition in regard to a “lazy person”:

“if a man does not work—neither shall he eat.” (2Thess 3:10

Faithful followers of Jesus are “hard-workers.”

2.  Second we see that the “Faithful Farmer” WAITS (27)

²⁷he sleeps  and rises —night  and day. 

Again Mark, in his characteristic style, gives us clues to the meaning of his words by the word choices the Holy Spirit guides him to use.  In this case, the word for “scatters” is the word, balē, and it is in a past tense that refers to a “simple, one time action in the past.”  The farmer did not continue to “scatter the seed,” but scattered it and was finished. 

The words “sleeps and rises” are both in the present tense.  In Greek, the present tense does not refer to the time of action so much as the kind of action.  Present tense represents “on-going action.”  The man did not simply go to sleep and then wake up, but spent many nights sleeping and waking.  This indicates a “way of life.”  It tells us something about the mindset of this farmer.  He was patient.  He went about his business trusting that God would bring the harvest according to His timing, not the farmers.

Faithfulness is about “waiting and trusting” in God’s plan.  The farmer did not go to sleep and awake the next day, run out to the field and start digging up the seed to see if it was growing.  That would be foolish, and it destroy the seed in the process.  No, the faithful farmer waited.

By the way, the reason night is mentioned before day is because the ancient middle-easterners considered the day to begin at dusk, not dawn.

If you want to be fruitful, you have to be faithful.  If you want to be faithful, you need to be patient, and wait on God’s plan to unfold.  Isaiah said it like this:

“they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Is 40:31)

Many a fruitful harvest has been delayed or destroyed because a believer has moved out ahead of God plan, instead of waiting for God to prepare the way.  There is a saying in business, “timing is everything.” I read something this week I think if very helpful and I’d like to share it with you:

Timing is important in cooking. The juicy hamburger on the grill is raw meat if cooked for too little time and a clump of charcoal if it is cooked too long. Timing is important in medicine. If you catch a problem early you will be able to treat it more effectively. You timing is important in taking medication. If you take your medicine as directed it will be helpful. If you skip doses it loses it's effectiveness. If you take extra doses it can be deadly. Timing is important in finance. When you invest in a particular stock and when you sell the particular stock will make the difference between whether you make money or lose it. Knowing when to borrow and when not to borrow is the key to financial independence.

Timing is even more important in regard to spiritual matters.

Let me draw from the life of Moses to illustrate this point.  Moses, as we know would be the one chosen by God to deliver his people from the oppressive slavery under the Pharaoh of Egypt.  That was God’s plan, but Moses got out ahead of God. 

¹¹Years later,  after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people  and observed their forced labor.  He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. ¹² Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand.

Now, as a result of this deed, Moses would flee into the desert because he feared the wrath of Pharaoh if this deed was discovered.  Moses realized that what he did was wrong.  He would indeed one day lead his people away from the whip of the Egyptian tyrants, but in God’s time, not his.  Moses, tended to act on impulse and in anger, instead of waiting on God to bring about His plan in His time.

Moses would spend 40 years in the desert after fleeing from Pharaoh.  He’d go from being the son of the most powerful man alive, to being a lowly shepherd—all as a result of one impulsive, ill-timed act.

I could also draw from the life of Abraham who tried to hurry God’s plan for a promised son along by having a relationship with his handmaiden, Hagar.  The result was the birth of Ishmael, who is the Father to the Arab people, who are the arch-enemy of Israel.

When we fail to “wait” upon God we rely on our own plans and the result is always difficulty—or worse.  When we fail to wait, we act on impulse, not on faith.  A faithful farmer “waits.”  Waiting is a sign of full trust in God’s plan, even when you don’t see anything happening.  Look at the last part of verse 27:

and the seed sprouts and grows—he doesn’t know how. 

We do not have to “know” the processes of God in order to “trust” the plan of God.  The Book of Hebrews tells us in regard to Abraham:

“he set out for a land he didn’t even know where it was . . .”

Timing is everything.  Even doing a good thing at the wrong time will lead to fruitlessness and failure.

Notice the “automated” process programmed into the seed as revealed in verse 28:  ²⁸ The soil produces a crop  by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain  on the head.

Literally, the verse says, “the earth produces automatically.”  The word translated “by itself,” is the word, automatē, from which we get the word, automatic.  God’s plan does not need us to succeed, we need God’s plan to be successful.  If we are faithful, fruitfulness over the course of our life will be “automatic.”  God has programmed into the economy of the world the formula:  knowledge + obedience = blessing.  If we are faithful, God will make us fruitful. That’s programmed into God’s world just like growth is programmed into a seed. 

So, a Faithful Farmer waits patiently and trustingly as God’s plan unfolds in and through his or her life.

ILLUS.  A big-city lawyer was representing the railroad in a lawsuit filed by an old rancher. The rancher's prize bull was missing from the section through which the railroad passed. The rancher only wanted to be paid the fair value of the bull.  The case was scheduled to be tried before the justice of the peace in the back room of the general store.  The attorney for the railroad immediately cornered the rancher and tried to get him to settle out of court. The lawyer did his best selling job, and finally the rancher agreed to take half of what he was asking.   After the rancher had signed the release and took the check, the young lawyer couldn't resist gloating a little over his success, telling the rancher, "You know, I hate to tell you this, old man, but I put one over on you in there. I couldn't have won the case. The engineer was asleep and the fireman was in the caboose when the train went through your ranch that morning. I didn't have one witness to put on the stand. I bluffed you!"  The old farmer replied, "Well, I'll tell you, young feller, I was a little worried about winning that case myself, because that durned bull came home this morning."

The last part of our text demonstrates the complicated intricacy of this parable and the problem in trying to figure out “who” or “what” the main point is.  The image switches from a fairly inactive farmer and an automatically fruitful seed to a “reaper with a sickle.”

3.  Here we see that a Faithful Farmer WARNS (29)

⁹ But as soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle,  because the harvest  has come.” 

This is one of those times when like when we say, “I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.”

First, the good news.  A great harvest of blessing awaits those who faithfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  A harvest IS coming! As I’ve said throughout this message:  if we are faithful, God will make us fruitful.

Now, our fruitfulness may be received in part in this life. But, faithful farmers will most definitely see the fruitfulness of our labors in the life to come – the final harvest.

This verse most certainly wants to point the listeners, or readers in our case, to the final consummation of the ages.  We know this because Mark is drawing from the prophet Joel,

^3:13 Swing the sickle because the harvest is ripe. Come and trample _⌊the grapes_⌋ because the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because the wickedness of the nations is great.

Now, hears where the bad news comes in for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ when that time of final harvest comes, either in death or in the Second Coming.  Lost people will face the “Sickle of Judgment.”

The word, “sickle,” refers to the large harvesting tool, also called a sling-blade. The purpose is to cut down the stalk so the heads of grain could be harvested.  Many times in Scripture, the sickle, is used to speak of God’s coming judgment.

Notice in the verse of Joel, which Mark is alluding to here, the harsh tones and biting words:  “Swing the sickle and trample the grapes.”  The harsh tone and biting words result from the wickedness that is filling the world like juice from crushed grapes fill the wine vats.

The idea of God’s wrath upon sin is represented by the “sickle.”  While godly people look forward to that final judgment with thankful anticipation, there is nothing to look forward to for non-believers but the pouring out of God’s wrath. This image in the prophets is carried on through the Book of Revelation.  Chapter 15 describes the last seven plagues as the “pouring out of God’s wrath from seven bowls.”

^15:7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the wrath of God

The horror of this coming “judgment” (represented by the sickle being sent into the field of ripened grain and cutting it down) is why as Faithful Farmers we must WARN those who do not know Christ of what is coming as surely as a seed sprouts, grows and ripens.

This parable with the images of a farmer, a seed, and sickle exhort us to be faithful to God in anticipation of the coming harvest—a harvest of blessing for the faithful, and a harvest of wrath for the non-believer.  We learn from the example of the Faithful Farmer that we must Work, we must Wait, and we must Warn.

If we are faithful, God will make us fruitful—not only in this world, but moreso in the world to come. But if we are foolish and do not sow much seed, we have much to fear when standing before God. 

Be a Faithful Farmer!