Parable of the Growing Seed

Narrative

The parable is as follows:

Interpretation

This parable can be seen as related to the parable of the Sower, although it does not follow that parable immediately. Seventh-day Adventist writer George Knight suggests that it serves as a "correction provided for any ancient or modern disciples who might be feeling discouraged with the amount of fruitless labor they had extended toward those" who failed to hear the message of which the parable of the Sower spoke. Even when the farmer sleeps, the Kingdom of God is still growing. Its growth is due to God, not man, and follows its own timetable.

Paul the Apostle describes the growth of the church in Corinth in a similar way:

Unlike the parable of the Sower, the seed here seems to represent the Kingdom of God itself. Differences in interpretation result from emphasizing different aspects of the parable, such as the seed, the sower, or the earth.

Leonard Goffiné answers the question of "why the word of God is compared to seed," writing, "Because as good fruits spring from good seed, so do good works from the word of God; and as it is impossible for any soil not sown to produce good fruits, so neither can men produce the fruits of the Spirit without the seed of the divine Word."

Roger Baxter in his Meditations writes, "Christ our Lord is both the sower and the seed itself. He intrusts the soil of our souls with His own precious body and blood. He wishes this divine grain to yield a harvest, not of temporal and corruptible, but of eternal and incorruptible, increase. For " he who soweth in the spirit shall reap life everlasting." (Gal. 6:8)

References

References

1. 0-8280-1837-5, pp. 107-108.
2. 0-8028-4638-6, p. 97.
3. 0-85111-778-3, pp. 142-144.
4. {{bibleverse. 1. Corinthians. 3:6. NIV: [[New International Version]]
5. 0-8028-4241-0, p. 213.
6. 0-8028-4241-0, pp. 184-190.
7. Goffine, Leonard. (1896). "Goffine's Devout instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and holydays". Benzinger Brothers.
8. Baxter, Roger. (1823). "Meditations For Every Day In The Year". Benziger Brothers.