We have seen that in His gospel service, the Lord Jesus preached, taught, cast out demons, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, and brought those whom He touched into the forgiveness of sins, and into a condition of feasting with Him, with joy, satisfaction, and freedom. It may have been that those who touched Him wondered what had actually happened to them. In chapter four we have a definition of what the Lord Jesus was doing in chapters one through three.
In 4:1, after ministering in the three foregoing chapters, the Lord Jesus got into a boat and taught the people “many things in parables” (v. 2). The first parable was the parable of the sower (4:1-20), which opens with the words, “Behold, the sower went out to sow” (v. 3). This indicates that in the first three chapters of the Gospel of Mark whatever the Lord did was a sowing of the seed. For example in 1:14-20 the Lord Jesus preached the gospel, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” (v. 15). Since He preached the gospel, we may regard the Lord merely as a preacher. But the parable of the sower indicates that the Lord was a Sower. This means that in preaching the gospel He was not merely a preacher but also a Sower. There is a great difference between a sower and a preacher. Apparently the Lord Jesus was a preacher; actually He was a Sower.
The situation is the same regarding teaching the truth, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper. Apparently the Lord was a teacher; actually He was a Sower. Likewise, apparently He was One casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper. But in doing all these things, He was actually a Sower. When He preached the gospel, taught the truth, cast out demons, healed the sick, and cleansed the leper, He was a Sower sowing the seed.
Mark 4 reveals that the life that lives according to God’s New Testament economy is a sowing life. The Lord Jesus as the Sower sowed Himself as a seed into the people who were touched by Him. We may take the case of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law as an illustration. When the Lord Jesus came to Peter’s mother-in-law, He healed her. Concerning this, 1:31 says, “And coming to her, He raised her up, holding her hand; and the fever left her, and she served them.” Do you think that here the Lord was doing nothing more than healing? To be sure, He was doing much more. That healing was actually a sowing. When the Lord healed Peter’s mother-in-law, something of Himself was sown into her. Of course, at the time she probably was not conscious of anything being sown into her. Nevertheless, it is a fact, a reality, that something out from the sowing Savior had been imparted to her.
The Lord was also sowing the seed when He touched the leper and cleansed him (1:40-45). The leper said to the Lord, “If You are willing, You can cleanse me!” (v. 40). Moved with compassion, the Lord touched him and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed” (vv. 41-42). When the Lord Jesus touched the leper and cleansed him, do you not believe that something from Him was sown into the one who was cleansed? As the Lord was cleansing the leper, He was sowing Himself into him.
The cleansed leper and Peter’s mother-in-law probably were not conscious of the fact that something had been sown into them by the Lord. However, a great change took place in their being. After Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, she served, and after the leper was cleansed, he moved in a different way. This indicates that something of the Lord had been sown into them, even though they were not conscious of it and could not explain what had taken place. In chapter four of the Gospel of Mark the Lord reveals that what was imparted to those with whom He had come in contact was the seed sown into them by Himself as the Sower. The Sower, therefore, is the wonderful Person of the Lord Jesus.
In the parable of the sower there is no mention of the kingdom of God. But in the parable of the seed (4:26-29) the Lord Jesus speaks clearly of the kingdom. In verse 26 He says, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth.” This reveals that the kingdom of God is a seed.
Do you know of any Christian writings which point out that the kingdom of God is a seed? Most Bible teachers, when they come to the matter of the kingdom of God, would say that the kingdom is either a dispensation for God to exercise His government, or a sphere for God to exercise His authority to accomplish His purpose. Some would say that the kingdom of God was first among the children of Israel. However, when the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus, some say that the kingdom was suspended and will continue to be suspended until the coming age, the age of the kingdom. Furthermore, these teachers would say that the present age is not the kingdom age but is merely the church age. They say that the coming age, the age of the millennium, will be the age of the kingdom, which will be followed by the eternal kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth. Although I do not say that teachings such as these do not have ground in the Scriptures, I would call your attention to the fact that this is not what is taught concerning the kingdom in 4:26-29. Here the Lord’s word reveals that the kingdom of God is a seed.