How to sow the right seed

Mark 4: 26 - 34

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” 30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” 33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Christ in the gospel of Mark is presented precisely through the paradoxical link between humanity and divinity that strangely ends with death and takes a full, complete turn with the resurrection, and all happens with the intention of presenting Jesus the man, Son of God. There is a clue present in all of Marcos' work, which is the rejection and incomprehension; in such a way that we can conclude that his Christology is based on the extraordinary, misunderstood, and rejected man who presents himself as the Son of God, and progressively confirms it in words (preaching) and works (miracles), and this reaches its culmination in the resurrection. What interests Mark in the first place in his work is the paradox of Jesus, misunderstood and rejected by men, but sent to triumph by God.

The intention is framed in the messianism of Marcos; The first part of the gospel refers to the ministry of Jesus, presenting him as an extraordinary man, but not sufficiently understood; The designation "Son of man" precisely reveals the paradox of the "man-Son of GodMessiah", but it precisely exposes the problem of the "Messianic Mystery of Jesus", what has been called the "Messianic Mystery of Mark", and it presenting in the middle of a game of questions and statements that lead to a conclusion related in the second part of the Gospel. Jesus presents himself as a prophet, and that is precisely what people ask themselves (6:14- 15), then Peter affirms "You are the Christ" (8:29); This progressive pedagogy of Mark presents followers, even the disciples of Jesus themselves, questioning the messianism of Jesus, and reaching this conclusion in the Transfiguration; In the last part of the Gospel the culmination is the confirmation of "Jesus Son of God", with his passion and resurrection. 

Mark 4:26 says, "This is the kingdom of God, as when a man casts seed on the ground; and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows without him knowing how." In the Christian life, I believe that it is essential to water everything with prayer, but according to this verse, you do not have to do anything for there to be fruit... Your part is to sow without fainting. The harvest does not depend on you since only the Holy Spirit can convince, but let us ask God for opportunities to sow. 

In those lands, the main crops were vineyards, olive trees, and cereals. They could be large properties of land that belonged to wealthy people, and they put them in the hands of an administrator, or small family plots that were inherited from parents to children and were cultivated by themselves. There were also lands under lease, whose tenants had to deliver a part of the harvest to the owner, and there were day laborers with the day's wages. Let us remember the parable of the murderous vinedressers (Mk 12, 1-2) and the workers in the vineyard (Mt 20, 1-15). Land and family were among the most important pillars of the Jewish religion, and the land belonged to God. Jesus lives in this rural environment. He had possibly made plows, yokes, and other implements during his years as a carpenter, figures that he would use as symbols to illustrate his teachings. He is an itinerant teacher who usually speaks in public places such as synagogues or outdoor spaces, and can attract not only his disciples, but also his teachings are available to all who want to listen to him, and who, sometimes, he usually ends them with the phrase: he who has ears to hear, let him hear. 

Mesalim is the Hebrew word that translates as parable, proverb, or saying, very similar concepts that compare and illustrate moments in life. We know that parables are a way of communicating, of making people think or guessing their meaning. Jesus teaches through them and uses such everyday topics at that time as work in the field, the home, the sea, and fishing, and events that occur on the roads. That was a population of farmers, shepherds, and fishermen. The text says that that day he spoke to them about many topics, the tares, the mustard seed, the yeast, and, among them, he spoke to them about the sower. Sometimes we get tired of sowing because apparently there is no result. We sow effort, time for God, moments to bless people, our whole life... and it seems that there is no fruit, but in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 11 and verse 1 it says: "Cast your bread on the waters; because after many days you will find it."And Galatians 6:7 also says: "Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked: for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." If we sometimes use this verse to advise others by telling them not to do bad things since that is what they will reap, why not also apply it to encourage each other to sow good things, such as words of blessing or encouragement?

Once upon a time, there was a man who got on the bus every day to go to work. One stop later, an old woman came up and sat next to the window. The old woman opened a bag, and, throughout the journey, she was throwing something out the window. She always did the same thing, and one day, intrigued, the man asked her what she was doing. - They are seeds! - the old woman told him. - Seeds? Seeds of what? - Of flowers... I look outside, and everything is so empty! I would like to be able to travel, seeing flowers all the way. It would be very nice, don't you think? - But the seeds fall on the asphalt, they are crushed by cars, the birds eat them... Do you really think that your seeds will germinate on the side of the road? - For sure, yes. Although some are lost, some will end up in the gutter and, over time, will sprout. - But... they will take time to grow; they need water. - I do what I can do. Soon will come the days of rain! The old woman continued with her work... And the man got off the bus to go to work, thinking that the old woman had lost her mind a little. A few months later, while going to work, the man, looking out the window, saw the entire road full of flowers. All he saw was a colorful, flowery landscape! He remembered the old woman, but he had not seen her for days. Then he asked the driver: - Do you know anything about the old woman with the seeds? "Well, she died a month ago," was the response. The man returned to his seat and continued looking at the landscape. "The flowers have bloomed," he said to himself, "but what good has his work done? He has not been able to see his work." He suddenly heard the laughter of a little child. A girl excitedly pointed to the flowers...- Look, Dad! Look at how many flowers! They say that that man, since that day, makes the trip from home to work with a bag of seeds that he throws out the window. 

The Bible says that in his time we will reap if we do not faint, although in the case of the old woman in our story, it was others who enjoyed the blessings of the harvest. She released the seed, trusting that it would sprout by itself, regardless of who would see it, although I believe that sooner or later, we will see all or part of the fruit if we are faithful in the sowing. We need to keep moving in faith, sowing our seed, and God, who is faithful, will give us the growth that we expect. The right seed is the gospel, and human hearts are the land where we need to sow the hope and love coming from Jesus, our Lord.