Show Don't Tell: Mark 4:26-29

Instead of saying "Jesus told the parable of the growing seed," watch growth happen mysteriously. "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground." Simple enough. "Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how." The farmer doesn't make it grow. He can't even explain it. The soil produces grain "all by itself"—the Greek word is automatē. First the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. Invisible process, visible result. "As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." The kingdom advances mysteriously. We scatter; God grows. We can't force it or fully understand it. But harvest comes. This parable appears only in Mark—God's mysterious, automatic work in growing his kingdom.