I’ve just published the next part of the Learn to read the Bible series on Mark’s Gospel. This week we are looking at Mark 4:26-34, two short parables about the Kingdom of God.
For those who are coming to this new, the idea behind this series is not for me to simply explain everything to you, but rather to give you things to think about yourself. This is about training you to read the Bible for yourself, rather than just giving you all the answers!
See this page if you’d like a few pointers for how to use these videos. Don’t forget to pray!
You can read the passage online here (although I’d suggest it’s better in a physical Bible). You may also want to have a pen and paper handy to jot down notes and things you want to look into more.
Key points from Mark 4:26-34
- This is a continuation of the line of thought Jesus began in the parable of the sower. (You might like to refresh your memory about what the Kingdom of God is!)
- The parable of the growing seed (v26-29): what is the main point Jesus is making? You might like to think about what it’s like to grow plants from seed. Can you make it grow? What point is Jesus then making about God’s kingdom?
- The second parable of the mustard seed (v30-32): what is the main point Jesus is making about the mustard seed? The smallest thing can grow into the biggest thing. Christianity has grown from one man to being the world’s largest religion.
- It’s an encouraging thought – maybe you could just spend a moment reflecting on those parables and taking some encouragement from them!
- Jesus spoke in parables “as much as they could understand” (v33). Have you found that the Bible has made more sense to you as you’ve grown in understanding?
- Jesus explained everything to his disciples. Why? Maybe because he wanted them to teach everyone what the parables meant – but when you grasp who Jesus is, the parables really start to make sense on their own.
Take a few moments to re-read the passage, think, and pray.
Looking for more?
You can see the rest of the videos in this series on the this page. If you’d like a more focussed series teaching the Christian faith, check out the teaching programme.
You might also want to see the previous episode in the series on Mark 4:21-25.
