Secrets of the Kingdom and Bearing Much Fruit

I was reading from Mark 4 this morning, which starts with the parble of the sower and the seed. These two verses caught my eye.

(NIV)Mark 4:10-11
"When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. [11] He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables..."

Interesting that Jesus compares speaking in parables to receiving the secret of the Kingdom. The KJV says it this way, which is apparently closer to the original Greek.

(KJV)Mark 4:11
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

The Greek word translated secret or mystery is the word Musterion from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth)

Transliterated Word : Musterion pronounced: moos-tay'-ree-on

Definition
1. hidden thing, secret, mystery a. generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals b. a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding c. a hidden purpose or counsel 1. secret will 1c d. of men 1c e. of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly
2. in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense a. of an OT saying b. of an image or form seen in a vision c. of a dream

So Jesus is saying to the Apostles and others, that the secret or mystery of the Kingdom, which they have received is related to the revelation and understanding they receive through their relationship with Him, and their listening to Him speak. As clear as it is to us now, we don't fully grasp the way this story would have caused the people to wonder about the meaning. The apostles and others around Jesus don't understand either, but because they have a relationship with Him, they are able ask Him and receive understanding. Taking it one step further, it seems to me that the clear secret of the Kingdom is relationship with Jesus.

Finally the parable is explained by Jesus, and the key points are that in the Kingdom we are to listen and hear, accept the word and change (repent - change the way we think), and bear fruit because of it. In other words, hear and obey.

Hearing means that we need to be open to His Word, which He is clearly making available all around. He says the seed is sown to every type of soil. He is not going to make His Word only available to the 'good' soil, but to everyone.

Obedience is clearly one of the fruits of a right relationship with Him. He is the Lord, and our obedience to His Word is one of the ways we show we are relating to Him as our Lord. Because of His love for us, our obedience allows us to fulfill the destiny for which we were created. This fulfillment, and understanding our purpose are keys benefits to our own intrnal well-being. Obedience also has the benefit of bearing fruit, or in this case grain or food, for others as well as ourselves. As Jesus said - 30, 60, even 100 times what was sown.

As I was reading this, I wondered how many kernels of wheat are on a standard wheat stalk - the answer is 50. So Jesus example is talking about real abundance, producing in cases twice what would be normal. Its interesting to note that the earlier a winter wheat seed germinates, the more likely it is to produce more heads of grain. Winter wheat can produce up to 5 heads of 22 kernels. In this case, its because the one seed, produces one plant, which then spawns additional plants, called tillers, each which can grow a head of wheat. In some cases one kernel of wheat can produce 700 kernels of wheat during the next harvest, so there levels of fruitfulness beyond what Jesus described. One should note that these are likely related to the advances in the science of genetics. Regardless, it is good to get a perspective of the plans of the Lord for our lives of obedience, that we would bear fruit abundantly. Also, this fruitfulness is just considering one season of planting, and if multiplied by several seasons this could result in crazy amounts of fruitfulness - two seasons of one kernel producing 700 kernels would equal 490,000 kernels. 3 seasons would equal 343,000,000 kernels.

Lord, help us to be fruitful in our lives.