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BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson

All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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4.

THE PATIENT FARMER

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

--Mark 4:26-29

THE PATIENT FARMER

This parable is easy to miss. Only Mark records it. We should be grateful that the Holy Spirit inspired its preservation in one of the gospel accounts, for it offers great encouragement to all who are involved in the Lord's work.

It is easy to step right over this parable and go directly from the parable of the sower to the parable of the mustard seed. So we shall pause and look closely at what Jesus said in this parable.

This parable joins the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven in describing the growth and expansion of the kingdom. This parable focuses on the main instrument of that growth--the seed.

The seed, of course, is the word of God. The ground is the place where the word penetrates and does its work--the human heart.

The farmer in this parable is not the Lord. The Lord knows how the seed grows. This man does not. He is the human agent who sows the seed--the minister, teacher, parent, friend.

Furthermore, the harvest in this parable is not the end of the age. At His coming the Lord will put in His sickle and reap the final harvest. But here the reaper is the one who did the sowing and who does not know how the seed grows. This person is the gospel worker. The process is evangelism and the harvest is souls. Therefore, the parable is not about Christian growth and maturity.

Also, the parable does not teach that the farmer does nothing. He works hard to prepare the soil. He knows what, when and how to sow. He protects the field after it is planted. He knows when to reap the harvest, and he goes at it immediately and energetically.

What Jesus tells us in this parable is that there are definite human limitations in the work of the kingdom. The sooner we learn this truth, the better.

The word of God has life in itself, independent of our efforts. Only the Holy Spirit can cause it to germinate and produce, and that we can trust Him to do. If we are to be effective workers, we must know distinctly what is our part and what is God's part. Paul wrote,

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6,7).

God is not going to sow, water, or reap. That is our business. We cannot produce the harvest. That is God's business. To do our part properly we need God's wisdom and blessing. And though we cannot do God's part, we can hinder the growth of the seed by carelessness and neglect.

In this parable Jesus talks essentially about what is outside of our power in contrast to what is within our power. He teaches us to depend on God and the vitality of His word in all of our labors for Him. This will succeed where a huge expenditure of fleshly, self-confident effort will not.

Knowing the boundary of our responsibility liberates us as Christian workers from what A. B. Bruce calls an "undefined, unlimited burden."

We can go to bed at night and sleep. God is faithful. The power in the seed is working.

In this parable Jesus is cautioning us against boastfulness on the one hand and discouragement on the other. He is telling us to be patient, just as He is patient.

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain (James 5:7).

The apparent absence of immediate results must not discourage us. We must leave the seed in the ground, out of sight. We must resist the urge to go out and dig it up to see if it is sprouting. Sometimes we are eager to rush God's part of the work. Our Lord reminds us that the seed has its own process. God is working in that process and that process involves time.

In what is beyond our power, as William Arnot says, "we are helpless, but not hopeless"!

This does not mean that we have nothing to do. The farmer slept well at night, confident that the seed was growing and that the harvest was coming. But he was awake and busy by day!

So keep sowing; keep watering; keep praying. God is growing His crop. Watch the Holy Spirit ripen conviction. Something on the inside is reaching up toward heaven. In time it will break through. The little blade will appear, then the head, then the ripe grain in the head. Each stage is a God-given promise of the next. Together they are His assurance of the harvest.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him (Psalm 126:5,6).

The farmer waits patiently for the harvest. But when it is ready, he acts immediately. How diligently he works to gather in the harvest as he keeps glancing up at the dark storm clouds gathering overhead! What had been a slow process is now an urgent crisis. Listen to our Lord's appeal:

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest (John 4:35).

The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:37,38).

Let us do our part and trust God to do His. We must wait patiently and prayerfully for the seed that we have sown and that we are watering to do its work.

But, look! Some of the seed has sprung up! Over here stalks are rising! Over there whole fields are already ripe! God is giving the increase. Harvest time is upon us. But storm clouds are gathering. The Lord of the harvest is urgently calling for laborers. Quickly! It is time for all of us to get to the fields and go to work gathering the precious sheaves into the garner of our Lord.

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5. Wheat And Tares

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