Mari Ikeda
❖ Video
❖ Audio
The Mystery of God’s Kingdom
(Mark 4:21-34)
A. The key to the mystery is the “lamp”
1. A lamp is to be used to shine a light (21-23)
21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
2. A measure to hear and a measure to receive (24-25)
24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you―and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
B. The mystery of God’s Kingdom
1. Not by human strength, it will certainly produce grains. (26-29)
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.”
2. It looks tiny in the beginning, but will spread wider than any expectation. (30-32)
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.”
3. There are always both things hidden to us and things revealed to us. (33-34)
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.
Summary
We cannot grasp the whole picture of God’s Kingdom, but we can be a part of the Kingdom itself if we live our life by letting Jesus light our way. This lamp can give us a better sight of the Kingdom in this world, which we often miss to recognize. Let us see better by this lamp that God’s Kingdom is indeed coming in ourselves and among others around us.
For Discussion
1) What is the Kingdom of God?
2) What does v.25 mean?