The kingdom of God is described in many different ways in the Bible. In Mark 4, the kingdom of God is described in terms of small seeds quietly planted by a farmer. The seeds can grow to great size, like a mustard plant which in ancient Israel became one of the largest of bushes. Small beginnings can have great endings.

Before looking further at this slow but potentially great growth in Mark 4:26-34, it helps to look at the context of our text, the passage before the two parables of the slow growing seeds, namely the parable of the four soils. In this parable in Mark 4:1-20, Jesus says that the response to the word of God is like four soils. In all three parables, Jesus points to our response to the word of God. In the first parable he says that we are called by God to be good soil. In th…