The true focus of Mark 4:26-29 is neither the seed nor the farmer who sows the seed. Mark has three major concerns: (1) Christological, the identity of Jesus; (2) theological, the God who establishes the kingdom; and (3) "mathetological," discipleship. This brief parable meets the third concern, characterizing action in the face of an abundant harvest, which symbolizes the realization of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus. Disciples, who do not know how the seed grows, nonetheless know how to gather in the ripened grain. The stages in the growth of the seed itself parallel stages in development of the disciples' awareness of the action demanded.
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