And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know….It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

—Mark 4:26-27, 31-32

I recently started a new Bible study with some women from my small group that walks through the book of Mark. Before starting this Bible study, the only parables I had heard about seeds were the parable of the sower in which the sower sows seed on different types of soil, and the example of what faith the size of a mustard seed could do. So these two were new to me, but I think they’re now two of my favorites.

These two parables follow close after the parable of the sower and build on the message of the previous parable. The parable of the sower is pretty easy to figure out because it actually comes with an explanation—the seed is the gospel and there will be some people whose hearts will be open to receiving it and some that won’t be for one reason or another. 

If we stop right there, though, we’re left with a message that seems pretty discouraging because of the four types of soil Jesus describes, only one is good and results in a fruitful harvest. Given those odds, it seems like we’re playing a losing game, as if there’s a 75% chance that all the work we’ve done to advance the gospel has been for nothing. But that’s where the next two parables about seeds come in.

In the first parable, another sower is scattering seed, but this time we get to see what happens after he finishes sowing his seed. It might seem like a good idea for him to have prayed and maybe fasted as he beseeched God to grant him a bountiful harvest, but that’s not what he does. Instead, he goes to bed at the end of the day.

I love this reaction, partly because a good night’s sleep is one of my favorite things in life, but also because of the complete and utter lack of anxiety and worry. Jesus makes it clear that the growth of the seeds is a mystery to the man—he has no idea which ones take root and which don’t, when they will become ripe, or how they turn into mature crops—and nevertheless, he rests with full confidence that the mysterious work will be done.

Where the first seed parable explains that not all people will respond to the message of Christ, this parable offers us a wonderful measure of reassurance because we are not responsible for the growth of the seed. 

It can be discouraging to continually invest in sharing the gospel with someone, inviting them to church, and praying for them when they don’t seem to respond because it can feel like a failure. That’s why this parable is so sweet. Because all we have to do is be faithful to scatter the seed to as much of the field as we are able to reach and God will take it from there. It might take longer than we’d like and our sowing might come to fruition in a way we never expected, but we don’t have to worry about that part.

The news gets even better in the next parable because not only can we rest in the fact that God will take care of the growth when we are faithful to sow the gospel, but we also get an idea of how much God can do with our work. It doesn’t matter how small the seed seems to be—maybe it was a small act of service or a kind word at just the right time—God can turn it into something amazing.

The fact that Jesus chose a mustard seed is significant because of all the things a mature mustard plant offered. They could be very large, up to 15 feet and their branches can easily house bird nests. The leaves of mustard plants were also used as a source of food, and, of course, the seeds were ground and used as a condiment. 

This plant, which is used to represent the result of God’s work in promoting the growth of gospel seeds, offers shade and comfort, nutrition and sustenance, and an abundance of flavor, just like the metaphor of the salt of the earth. This means that God can take even the most unlikely of people and work in their lives, through the faithful spreading of the gospel, to create a mature follower of Christ that offers the world a picture of what it looks like to know the Source of all rest, life, and beauty.

I find this so comforting. Especially for those of us who know someone close to us who has not accepted Christ, we don’t have to carry the burden of worrying whether our efforts will be fruitful. We just have to keep sowing in faith and expectation, believing that God will take care of the growth.