Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Here we are, and we've got another 1 of Jesus' parables, 1 of his little piffy stories about the Kingdom of God. And again, it's about seed. So we're looking at Mark chapter 4 and verse 30. Again, he said, that's Jesus said, what shall we say the kingdom of God is like? Well, what parable shall we use to describe it?

It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the large of all garden plants with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade. With many similar parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable, But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. Another beautiful little parable.

Yeah. It is. Yeah. And another 1 of these simple ones, isn't it? That is so easy to understand, and Jesus is a master teacher the way he can take ordinary, everyday pictures, and just turn them into great spiritual lessons.

If anyone's been watching our evening services, you'll know that 1 of the things we do is something called family matters. And the reason we have those family matters slots, is so that we can keep up to date the church family. And 1 of the highlights for us is seeing kids. And it's amazing that being the youngest kids, how over this lockdown period of few months, how they how they're grown. And there's some Look, he's grown.

Look at his language, or he's so much bigger now. And of course, to to the parents, that that growth is imperceivable sometimes. You know, because they see them every day. And they just grow a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, but when you look at them as parents, you don't really notice. But it's only when somebody else looks, says, wow, haven't they grown?

Haven't they grown? And I think Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God is a little bit like that, and this business of sowing the word of God. That that as we just do it, we by week, faithfully, preaching, teaching, trying to reach out. The growth is often pretty small. It's quite hard to notice, really.

But you you know, you look back in in over a longer period of time, you think, wow, look at what God has done here. There's a church that's been built that wasn't. There's people that know the lord, that didn't, and it's grown and become fruitful. And you you think of, you know, the disciples at the beginning of act, You know, it's just a a handful of quivering ordinary people. Who could have imagined that 2000 years later, there'd be many billions of Christians around the world.

And so day to day, like the mustard seed, the growth is slow, but as you look as you look, it it turns into something awesome, isn't it? Yeah. Absolutely. I think that's definitely a lesson from it. I think the other thing is that very often, at the time, it it couldn't look quite pathetic.

Yeah. I mean, I always remember a preacher in London, Dick Lucas, splutching on this, and he was very posh. And I remember him saying about a little mustard seed. It's a tiny little mustard seed on your hand, blow it away, play it away, and you can't even see it. You know, it's sort of silly.

And I I think I think that's what it's like. It's like those dandy lights. Seeds. They're tiny. They float around.

But you know when you're driving along and you suddenly see that they've actually planted in the road. And they've split the globe. Yeah. Yeah. So, he's using that sort of imagery, isn't it?

His pathetic little message You don't still believe in the message of the lord Jesus Christ, do you? Are there other messages around? Isn't it psychology that we should understand, aren't there better stories? You know, what about the greek myths? We should go down and read those stories.

Aren't they better than the But in the end, it's this message. That not only breaks the ground and grows a dirty gray tree. It brings life. So a bird is flapping a lot. Yes.

Some things, real, I'm like, Vanessa, Yeah. And there's just life coming from this insignificant message. Yeah, there is. And I think I think that is true of of the the the gospel message across the world, and the way it continues to grow. And I think it's also like the parable of sower in a sense also true of the individual Christian, this parable, isn't it?

That that when when the seed, the mustard seed, the word of God is planted into an individual human heart. You know, the lord begins to bring life in that individual. And that's why becoming a Christian is described elsewhere in the bible as as becoming, you know, like the fruit of the spirit. Yeah. You know, that their lives begin to become trees.

Yes. Patience, self controlled, and kind, and loving. And so that they, as individuals, are exhibiting all kinds of life giving fruit, in the community. Yeah. It was as as you say, Christians grow.

Yeah. And to and to bring that life. We're not pot noodles. No. We're you just instantly pour hot water on, and it's it's sort of dark.

It takes time to grow. And, you know, but it does grow, and it will bring life. And and I think back to your first point is, that we just keep plugging on as it were, growing in the lord, and before you know it, you've produced life all over the place. And that's what godly people do, isn't it? You get a godly old man or a godly old lady, and they've been Christians for 50, 60 years.

And you stand back and, you know, they've they've never done anything in 1 sense that the world would say, fantastic. You know, let's get them into Hollywood. Let's give them all kinds of -- No. No. -- celebrations.

Yeah. But, actually, their life has brought life to so many people, isn't it? Absolutely. It's an amazing power. It is.

It is. Yeah. And at the end there, it kind of concludes, doesn't it? A bit of parables. You know, with many similar parables, Jesus spoke to a word that as much as they could understand, he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

So this is something that he said earlier in chapter 4, that there's something there's something incredible about the message of the kingdom coming in this parable form. Which to some will be a form of judgment, and it cloud their understanding. But to those who seek the explanation, like the disciples, it will be a fantastic vehicle of revelation. You know, these these natural pictures from the world around. As they come to Jesus saying, explain it.

They'd like things, and they'll start to see truth in nature, and in farming, and and Jesus is just gonna teach them his amazing And and the difference between the 2 groups is not that 1 is more intelligent and understands what Jesus said because we've got philosophy degree. And others don't, it's that you come to Jesus. So, he is the explanation. He's the 1 who explains. Yeah.

Great. See you next time.