SUNDAY, ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY,
ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Ez
17:22-24;
Ps 92:2-3,13-16; 2 Cor 5:6-10;
Mk 4:26-34
HOW
DOES THE KINGDOM OF GOD GROW?
Nature
is a wonderful teacher. Albert Einstein, the renowned scientist, said, “Look
deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” The earth,
sky, fields, lakes, rivers, mountains and the seas are excellent teachers and
communicate to us far more than we can learn from any books. Jesus loved nature
very much. Jesus made great use of examples from nature. All through his
teaching ministry, Jesus presented various examples, metaphors and symbols from
nature to explain the Kingdom of God. This we can also observe in the Gospel
today. Jesus narrates two brief stories which are part of everyday life – that
of “the seed that grows by itself”, and of “the small mustard seed which
grows”.
The
story of the seed which grows alone: The farmer who plants knows the process:
seed, the green sprout, leaf, spike, grain. The farmer knows how to wait. He is
out there in the field each day, faithfully weeding and watering and caring for
the plants. He does not cut down the grain before it is time. But he does not
know how the soil, the rain, the sun and the seed have the power to make the
plant grow from practically nothing until it bears fruit. This is how the
kingdom of God is.
There
are stages and moments to its growth, which is silent, hidden and subtle. It
produces fruit at just the right moment, but nobody knows how to explain its
mysterious force. The first thing we need to learn from this is that if we want
to see God’s kingdom grow, we must plant the seeds for it. If you leave out
this step, no matter what else you do, you will never harvest a crop. We can
see in the parable of the sower that planting seeds means sharing God’s word
with others. Thus, if we are to see God’s kingdom grow, we must share God’s
word with others, especially the good news of Jesus Christ.
The
story of the small mustard seed: In this parable, Jesus reveals that God’s
kingdom starts small. Now that should seem strange to us because God is so
great and majestic. God’s kingdom may start small, but it will grow
surprisingly large. The mustard seed is a very tiny seed that grows into a very
large plant. And that is why Jesus used it for this parable.
God’s
kingdom starts small, but it is going to finish strong. We can certainly see
this unfolding in the story of the spread of the gospel over the centuries.
Christianity began with twelve ordinary men following Jesus around a small
piece of land in the Middle-East, and has now grown to penetrate every country
in every continent on earth. The gospel continues to go forth, and God’s
kingdom continues to grow. Certainly, those twelve men who began this journey
in such a small and ordinary way, are now overwhelmed by the growth of the Church,
and are giving praise to God even as his kingdom continues to expand.
The
parable of the growing seed teaches us that God is the one who makes his
kingdom grow. The parable of the mustard seed teaches us that God’s kingdom
starts small but will grow amazingly large compared to its beginnings.
Together, the two parables teach us not to be discouraged, but to continue
working and praying for the establishment and growth of God’s kingdom. We need
to be faithful in planting seeds and then trust that God will make them grow in
his time. When the kingdom looks small to us, we need to remember that God is
doing something big in a silent, hidden and subtle way. One day Christ will be
revealed, and his kingdom will be manifested in all its glory. And on that day,
we will marvel at how God’s kingdom has grown. From Christ’s humble beginnings
in Bethlehem, to his death on the cross, to his exaltation in heaven, to his
glorious return, like a seed growing to harvest, God’s kingdom will fill the
whole earth.
Response:
It is good to give thanks to you, O Lord.
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