And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
The verse pictures the kingdom of God as a man casting seed into the ground and then passing through ordinary nights and days while it sprouts and grows by a process beyond his understanding and power. The sower stands for human laborers working in Christ's place, while his not knowing how does not describe Christ, who made the seed, gave it its vital properties, ordained its laws of growth, and watches and knows how it grows. After planting, growth goes on continuously night and day, silently and almost imperceptibly, in divinely ordered successive stages, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. God alone implants life in the seed and by His Spirit sustains its development to maturity, while people have their part in preparing the soil, sowing, tending, and cherishing the living Word until it bears fruit. The seed is the Word of God and His truth rooted in the heart, which acts constantly upon the life to reproduce Christ's character and ripen the soul in continual progress toward perfection until God gathers His grain at the harvest.
Words and Parable Setting
The kingdom of God is like a man casting seed into the ground and then sleeping and rising night and day through ordinary days while the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how it happens. After the sowing he has no further power over its life, and the growth goes on apart from his knowledge, beyond his understanding and power. It belongs to one of the most beautiful and impressive parables, that of the sower and the seed. The tiny seed itself was created with its vital properties, and the laws governing its growth were ordained, so that it stands as a living illustration of truth in both the natural world and the spiritual world.
The sower in the picture represents those who labor in the place of Christ. His not knowing how the seed grows does not describe Christ, for Christ watches over His charge day and night and knows how it grows. He Himself made the seed, gave it its life-giving properties, and appointed the laws by which it develops.
The seed carries a germinating, life-giving principle implanted by God. Yet the life contained in it cannot grow by itself, and people can only help promote its growth and must beyond their part depend on divine power. It becomes fruitful only through sunshine and living water from the Source of truth. So received into the heart, the truth develops and gives life when nourished, by a hidden, living process while the sower sleeps and rises, and its growth is not proved by noise, shouting, or bodily excitement.
Teaching Through Nature
This verse belongs to one of the most beautiful and impressive parables of Christ, that of the sower and the seed, in which the kingdom of God is likened to a man casting seed into the ground with no further power over its life while growth goes on night and day beyond his knowledge of how it happens. It is part of His teaching by illustrations and parables drawn from nature and from familiar events of everyday life. He used the occupation of the husbandman to illustrate the most sublime truths of the kingdom of God. By such means He associated natural things with spiritual things and linked the things of nature and the life experience of His hearers with the truths of the written word. The growth of seed thus becomes a natural picture of spiritual sowing and growth, where people can share the truth while its increase is shown through familiar things in nature.
The illustration is taken from daily life to set forth immortal truth, simple in form yet of wonderful depth of meaning. It uses well-known objects such as the seed sown by the sower, its springing up, and the harvesting of the grain. Through this familiar natural process He made divine truth plain even to people without formal education. In the same way He used the husbandman's work to make the most sublime truths of the kingdom understandable.
His method was to identify Himself with the interests of His hearers by using objects with which they were familiar. He aroused minds by presenting truth through their most familiar associations, calling into activity their most hallowed recollections and sympathies in order to reach the inner temple of the soul. He did this while breaking up the accustomed train of thought as little as possible, yet weaving a new and transforming economy of truth into experience.
Its purpose is practical remembrance, so that whenever the eyes afterward rest on those objects His lessons are repeated. Whenever hearers afterward see seed growing they recall His words, truth becomes a living reality to them, and nature and the daily affairs of life repeat His teaching. Looking upon the springing seed and the harvested grain afterward reminds them of what He taught.
Pattern of Unseen Growth
After planting, growth is gradual and follows a divine order through successive natural stages, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. That ordered development illustrates ordered stages of human and character development, with principles planted in the heart growing into character as truth takes root and is made fruitful by divine grace. The life and character reveal the nature, extent, measure and quantity of the seed sown, while the Spirit's sanctifying influence leads toward righteousness with continual progress carried out in daily duties throughout life until ripeness for harvest.
The growth goes on night and day, continuously, silently and almost imperceptibly, by an unseen, hidden, living process whose workings are not visible to the sower. It cannot be explained, understood or controlled by human knowledge or skill, for the seed contains life and grows while the sower sleeps and rises, though he does not know how. Truth received into the heart acts constantly and gently, springing up and developing to give life when nourished, carried forward by firm, divine, supernatural agency as divine agencies and the Holy Spirit develop the believer from early growth to maturity unto perfection and fruit leading to eternal life. A growing religion cooperates with that work by humbly resting on Christ and receiving divine help, while predominant self keeps the Lord from working with human effort, and its growth is not proved by noise, shouting or bodily excitement. God gives power to soil and seed, and without Him the seed would be useless, yet people have a part through sowing and cultivation, and studying this process teaches recognition and appreciation of God's unseen work in nature and the kingdom of heaven.
There can be no life without growth; as in nature so in grace the plant must either grow or die. A person's life may be perfect at each stage of development, yet fulfilling God's purpose involves constant advancement.
The growth of seed teaches the mysteries of the kingdom and the secret of growth in grace, revealing spiritual truths from nature even when human wisdom cannot explain them. God puts His Spirit into the seed, and under His care its germ breaks through its covering, develops and bears fruit. That lesson from nature in the soil is to be applied to spiritual things, leading learners to recognize, appreciate and reach the Creator.
Divine Power Behind Growth
The life in the seed and the laws that govern its growth come from Christ, who alone implants life in it, gives power to soil and seed, puts His own Spirit into the seed, calls forth the life He implanted, and sustains its development by firm, divine, supernatural agency. That agency works day by day almost imperceptibly, developing the believer from early growth to maturity until perfection of character is reached, with divine agencies and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit carrying the work constantly and gently onward. No human knowledge or skill can make the seed produce a living plant or explain how truth springing in the heart grows, for the natural development illustrates the growth of truth in the spiritual world and teaches the secret of growth in grace that leads to the Creator.
Under God's care the germ breaks through its covering, develops, and bears fruit, revealing a germinating principle implanted by God that yet cannot grow by itself. People can prepare the soil, sow, tend, and help promote growth, but beyond their part they must depend on God's power, since without Him the seed would be useless and the farmer cannot make it grow. The preacher therefore can proclaim God's Word and leave results to God, because the Word itself changes hearts and advances its work in ways the preacher cannot bring about or explain.
Applied to work for saving souls, the good seed grows and bears fruit through God's power though those who sow it do not understand or control how the growth happens. God watches over the seed sown, causes it to spring up while the sower sleeps and rises through ordinary days, and brings an abundant harvest even when the work begins amid great difficulty. The Reformation is pictured in the same way as seed Luther had sown, which spread and gained strength even while he was absent, through the efforts of other workers, while the sower carried on with ordinary life not knowing how its growth happened.
Human Part and Duty
The human part is to prepare the soil, sow, tend and cultivate the crop, yet no one can make the seed produce a living plant, for it grows by a life-giving power beyond human knowledge, understanding, skill or control. God alone implants life in the seed, calls it forth and sustains its development, giving power to soil and seed, while divine agencies work together with human effort, care and ability, without which the seed would be useless. The living Word of God is seed sown in the mind, and after it has been prayerfully and carefully received it must be cherished and practiced in the daily life with diligent care through its successive stages, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, until it springs up and bears fruit.
In spiritual work parents and teachers are to sow the seed faithfully and expect a harvest, trusting the means God uses to make it flourish even though the hidden process of germination and growth cannot be explained or controlled. The daily work of sowing, cultivating and harvesting displays God at work in nature and represents the kingdom of heaven, making the realities of that kingdom plain. Studying this unseen process teaches students to recognize, appreciate and learn that God is at work both in nature and in heaven's kingdom.
The seed springs and grows while the farmer sleeps and rises night and day, though he does not know how. Applied to teaching truth, this warns against planting the seed too deeply. Truth buried too deep keeps its tender blade from ever reaching the surface.
Character Growth to Harvest
The seed in the verse is the word of God, His truth and His principles, planted and rooted in the heart and mind and made fruitful by divine grace. When truth takes root it springs into life and bears fruit, and as it is nourished it develops and gives life within. The life and character reveal the nature, extent, measure and quantity of the seed sown. Even the natural growth of a plant can teach children how this takes place in the heart.
Its springing and growing means truth acts upon the heart constantly and gently, springing up and growing by a firm, divine, supernatural agency. As Christ lives in a person His character is reproduced in that person, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit appear in differing measure. The sanctifying influence of the Spirit works day by day almost imperceptibly, leading believers toward righteousness and developing them from early growth to maturity as they humbly rest on Christ and receive divine help. This growth produces fruit that leads to eternal life. A growing religion cooperates with that work, while predominant self keeps the Lord from working with human effort, and its growth is not proved by noise, shouting, or bodily excitement.
Cultivating Christian character is the work of a lifetime, carried out in the daily duties of life with continual progress and constant advancement toward perfection of character and righteousness. There is no period when there is no more to learn and no higher attainments to reach. A person's life may be perfect at each stage of development, yet fulfilling God's purpose involves constant advancement. Applied to youth, each stage should be cultivated so that its natural beauty unfolds in its proper time rather than being forced into premature maturity, as Christ Himself grew through childhood and youth.
Progress continues throughout life until the soul is ripe, the fruit is perfect, the life-work is ended, and God gathers in His grain with the sickle at the harvest. When the fruit is ripe the life-work is complete and God gathers His grain. As in nature so in grace the plant must either grow or die.
The verse pictures the kingdom of God as a man casting seed into the ground and then passing through ordinary nights and days while it sprouts and grows by a process beyond his understanding and power. The sower stands for human laborers working in Christ's place, while his not knowing how does not describe Christ, who made the seed, gave it its vital properties, ordained its laws of growth, and watches and knows how it grows. After planting, growth goes on continuously night and day, silently and almost imperceptibly, in divinely ordered successive stages, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. God alone implants life in the seed and by His Spirit sustains its development to maturity, while people have their part in preparing the soil, sowing, tending, and cherishing the living Word until it bears fruit. The seed is the Word of God and His truth rooted in the heart, which acts constantly upon the life to reproduce Christ's character and ripen the soul in continual progress toward perfection until God gathers His grain at the harvest.
Words and Parable Setting
The kingdom of God is like a man casting seed into the ground and then sleeping and rising night and day through ordinary days while the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how it happens. After the sowing he has no further power over its life, and the growth goes on apart from his knowledge, beyond his understanding and power. It belongs to one of the most beautiful and impressive parables, that of the sower and the seed. The tiny seed itself was created with its vital properties, and the laws governing its growth were ordained, so that it stands as a living illustration of truth in both the natural world and the spiritual world.
The sower in the picture represents those who labor in the place of Christ. His not knowing how the seed grows does not describe Christ, for Christ watches over His charge day and night and knows how it grows. He Himself made the seed, gave it its life-giving properties, and appointed the laws by which it develops.
The seed carries a germinating, life-giving principle implanted by God. Yet the life contained in it cannot grow by itself, and people can only help promote its growth and must beyond their part depend on divine power. It becomes fruitful only through sunshine and living water from the Source of truth. So received into the heart, the truth develops and gives life when nourished, by a hidden, living process while the sower sleeps and rises, and its growth is not proved by noise, shouting, or bodily excitement.
Teaching Through Nature
This verse belongs to one of the most beautiful and impressive parables of Christ, that of the sower and the seed, in which the kingdom of God is likened to a man casting seed into the ground with no further power over its life while growth goes on night and day beyond his knowledge of how it happens. It is part of His teaching by illustrations and parables drawn from nature and from familiar events of everyday life. He used the occupation of the husbandman to illustrate the most sublime truths of the kingdom of God. By such means He associated natural things with spiritual things and linked the things of nature and the life experience of His hearers with the truths of the written word. The growth of seed thus becomes a natural picture of spiritual sowing and growth, where people can share the truth while its increase is shown through familiar things in nature.
The illustration is taken from daily life to set forth immortal truth, simple in form yet of wonderful depth of meaning. It uses well-known objects such as the seed sown by the sower, its springing up, and the harvesting of the grain. Through this familiar natural process He made divine truth plain even to people without formal education. In the same way He used the husbandman's work to make the most sublime truths of the kingdom understandable.
His method was to identify Himself with the interests of His hearers by using objects with which they were familiar. He aroused minds by presenting truth through their most familiar associations, calling into activity their most hallowed recollections and sympathies in order to reach the inner temple of the soul. He did this while breaking up the accustomed train of thought as little as possible, yet weaving a new and transforming economy of truth into experience.
Its purpose is practical remembrance, so that whenever the eyes afterward rest on those objects His lessons are repeated. Whenever hearers afterward see seed growing they recall His words, truth becomes a living reality to them, and nature and the daily affairs of life repeat His teaching. Looking upon the springing seed and the harvested grain afterward reminds them of what He taught.
Pattern of Unseen Growth
After planting, growth is gradual and follows a divine order through successive natural stages, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. That ordered development illustrates ordered stages of human and character development, with principles planted in the heart growing into character as truth takes root and is made fruitful by divine grace. The life and character reveal the nature, extent, measure and quantity of the seed sown, while the Spirit's sanctifying influence leads toward righteousness with continual progress carried out in daily duties throughout life until ripeness for harvest.
The growth goes on night and day, continuously, silently and almost imperceptibly, by an unseen, hidden, living process whose workings are not visible to the sower. It cannot be explained, understood or controlled by human knowledge or skill, for the seed contains life and grows while the sower sleeps and rises, though he does not know how. Truth received into the heart acts constantly and gently, springing up and developing to give life when nourished, carried forward by firm, divine, supernatural agency as divine agencies and the Holy Spirit develop the believer from early growth to maturity unto perfection and fruit leading to eternal life. A growing religion cooperates with that work by humbly resting on Christ and receiving divine help, while predominant self keeps the Lord from working with human effort, and its growth is not proved by noise, shouting or bodily excitement. God gives power to soil and seed, and without Him the seed would be useless, yet people have a part through sowing and cultivation, and studying this process teaches recognition and appreciation of God's unseen work in nature and the kingdom of heaven.
There can be no life without growth; as in nature so in grace the plant must either grow or die. A person's life may be perfect at each stage of development, yet fulfilling God's purpose involves constant advancement.
The growth of seed teaches the mysteries of the kingdom and the secret of growth in grace, revealing spiritual truths from nature even when human wisdom cannot explain them. God puts His Spirit into the seed, and under His care its germ breaks through its covering, develops and bears fruit. That lesson from nature in the soil is to be applied to spiritual things, leading learners to recognize, appreciate and reach the Creator.
Divine Power Behind Growth
The life in the seed and the laws that govern its growth come from Christ, who alone implants life in it, gives power to soil and seed, puts His own Spirit into the seed, calls forth the life He implanted, and sustains its development by firm, divine, supernatural agency. That agency works day by day almost imperceptibly, developing the believer from early growth to maturity until perfection of character is reached, with divine agencies and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit carrying the work constantly and gently onward. No human knowledge or skill can make the seed produce a living plant or explain how truth springing in the heart grows, for the natural development illustrates the growth of truth in the spiritual world and teaches the secret of growth in grace that leads to the Creator.
Under God's care the germ breaks through its covering, develops, and bears fruit, revealing a germinating principle implanted by God that yet cannot grow by itself. People can prepare the soil, sow, tend, and help promote growth, but beyond their part they must depend on God's power, since without Him the seed would be useless and the farmer cannot make it grow. The preacher therefore can proclaim God's Word and leave results to God, because the Word itself changes hearts and advances its work in ways the preacher cannot bring about or explain.
Applied to work for saving souls, the good seed grows and bears fruit through God's power though those who sow it do not understand or control how the growth happens. God watches over the seed sown, causes it to spring up while the sower sleeps and rises through ordinary days, and brings an abundant harvest even when the work begins amid great difficulty. The Reformation is pictured in the same way as seed Luther had sown, which spread and gained strength even while he was absent, through the efforts of other workers, while the sower carried on with ordinary life not knowing how its growth happened.
Human Part and Duty
The human part is to prepare the soil, sow, tend and cultivate the crop, yet no one can make the seed produce a living plant, for it grows by a life-giving power beyond human knowledge, understanding, skill or control. God alone implants life in the seed, calls it forth and sustains its development, giving power to soil and seed, while divine agencies work together with human effort, care and ability, without which the seed would be useless. The living Word of God is seed sown in the mind, and after it has been prayerfully and carefully received it must be cherished and practiced in the daily life with diligent care through its successive stages, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, until it springs up and bears fruit.
In spiritual work parents and teachers are to sow the seed faithfully and expect a harvest, trusting the means God uses to make it flourish even though the hidden process of germination and growth cannot be explained or controlled. The daily work of sowing, cultivating and harvesting displays God at work in nature and represents the kingdom of heaven, making the realities of that kingdom plain. Studying this unseen process teaches students to recognize, appreciate and learn that God is at work both in nature and in heaven's kingdom.
The seed springs and grows while the farmer sleeps and rises night and day, though he does not know how. Applied to teaching truth, this warns against planting the seed too deeply. Truth buried too deep keeps its tender blade from ever reaching the surface.
Character Growth to Harvest
The seed in the verse is the word of God, His truth and His principles, planted and rooted in the heart and mind and made fruitful by divine grace. When truth takes root it springs into life and bears fruit, and as it is nourished it develops and gives life within. The life and character reveal the nature, extent, measure and quantity of the seed sown. Even the natural growth of a plant can teach children how this takes place in the heart.
Its springing and growing means truth acts upon the heart constantly and gently, springing up and growing by a firm, divine, supernatural agency. As Christ lives in a person His character is reproduced in that person, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit appear in differing measure. The sanctifying influence of the Spirit works day by day almost imperceptibly, leading believers toward righteousness and developing them from early growth to maturity as they humbly rest on Christ and receive divine help. This growth produces fruit that leads to eternal life. A growing religion cooperates with that work, while predominant self keeps the Lord from working with human effort, and its growth is not proved by noise, shouting, or bodily excitement.
Cultivating Christian character is the work of a lifetime, carried out in the daily duties of life with continual progress and constant advancement toward perfection of character and righteousness. There is no period when there is no more to learn and no higher attainments to reach. A person's life may be perfect at each stage of development, yet fulfilling God's purpose involves constant advancement. Applied to youth, each stage should be cultivated so that its natural beauty unfolds in its proper time rather than being forced into premature maturity, as Christ Himself grew through childhood and youth.
Progress continues throughout life until the soul is ripe, the fruit is perfect, the life-work is ended, and God gathers in His grain with the sickle at the harvest. When the fruit is ripe the life-work is complete and God gathers His grain. As in nature so in grace the plant must either grow or die.