A Sprig, Some Seeds and a Mustard Plant?

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to.

The Parables of Seed Growth and the Mustard Seed in Mark 4

St. Mark, the fourth chapter. Jesus said, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps, he rises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. And he said, what can we compare the kingdom of God or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.

Yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables he spoke the word to them.

As they were able to hear it, he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. All right.

I love these Pentecost texts because they give me the opportunity to kind of weave in some themes from other passages. Since it's the summertime and today we're not having communion, we'll do a little bit of Bible study, right?

Daniel 2 and the Dream of the Great Image

So, I mean, when you look at our Old Testament texts, this is kind of weird. What do we make of this? A sprig taken from the top of a cedar tree and then finding one little portion of it and planting it on a mountain and it filling the earth?

What's that all about? And then you have these parables. Jesus talks about seeds and the farmers plant the seeds. They don't have any idea how it works. They just plop them in the ground. Water from the rain comes and next thing you know things are growing, right?

They have no idea how this all works. Well, what is that referring to? And then you have Jesus talking about this mustard seed thing. Right? A mustard seed, tiny little thing planted in the ground. It grows up and then next thing you know you have a large mustard plant.

I haven't seen a mustard plant now that I think about it, but apparently it's large enough the birds can rest in its shade and make nests and things like that. What's that all about? Well, if you're saying, well, it has something to do with Jesus, well, then I think that maybe, just maybe, I've catechized you well because always the answer is Jesus.

But I thought it'd be kind of fun because the themes in these texts, our Old Testament texts and our Gospel texts, are the exact same themes that we see in the book of Daniel chapter 2. Now, we're all familiar with Daniel chapter 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but in chapter 2 we learn, if you want to turn in your Bible and follow along, in Daniel chapter 2, well, we learn what is happening to Daniel and his three friends who have all been renamed according to Babylonian words, Babylonian concepts, according to the false deities of Babylon, but they're all working for the king even though they are in exile.

They've been taken out of Judah and brought to Babylon. And we learn, and I'll kind of put this bluntly, Nebuchadnezzar, nobody can accuse him of being reasonable. This is one fellow that you would be slandering him if you say that he behaves in a way that's sane and logical and even-tempered according to wisdom and things like this.

Far from it. Nebuchadnezzar is one of these fellows who is very tyrannical, but at the same time he has been given a very important job we learn from God himself. So in this text, we'll read through here, we'll note that this dream that Nebuchadnezzar has gives us some keys to unlocking what's going on in Ezekiel as well as in Jesus' text that we read in Mark chapter 4.

So it says this in Daniel chapter 2, The magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, and boy, with a list like that I want to add in the false prophets from Bethel and Redding and things like that, but they're not really listed in here.

That's a different story. So the Chaldeans, they be summoned to tell the king his dreams. Note that their task is to tell Nebuchadnezzar what he dreamt. I can't read minds. Can you read minds? I can't read minds.

No. So the king said to them, I had a dream. It's kind of fascinating that long before Martin Luther, King Jr. said, I have a dream, Nebuchadnezzar said, I had a dream. So it's kind of fascinating. We have to attribute this way of thinking to him, I guess.

So the king said, I had a dream. My spirit is troubled to know the dream. So the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, O king, may you live forever. Tell your servants the dream. We'll show you the interpretation.

So the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, the word from me is firm. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb and your houses shall be laid in ruins.

Say what now? Come again? Excuse me? We have to tell you the dream or you're going to kill us? And kill us in a horrible way? Torn limb from limb? This doesn't sound like a good way to perish. It sounds rather painful and awful, right?

So they said, if you show the dream and its interpretation, but he goes on, he says, if you show me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore, show me the dream and its interpretation.

Well, most people who are sane would basically say, listen, you can offer us all the gold in the world. That doesn't make it possible for us to understand what's going on inside of your head or the dream that you had last night.

So they answered a second time, well, let the king tell his servants the dream and we'll show you its interpretation. So the king answered, says, I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time because you see that the word for me is firm.

If you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time changes. Therefore, tell me the dream and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.

Apparently Nebuchadnezzar doesn't trust anybody. So the Chaldeans answered the king and said, there's not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.

The thing that the king asks is difficult and no one can show it to the king except for the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. Now, funny enough, they're kind of right. The issue is that they use the word plural, you know, gods.

There are not gods plural. There's only one god singular. And what they've said then is true, that only God can reveal to Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and its interpretation. Well, the thing is that these magicians, these enchanters, these sorcerers and Chaldeans don't worship the one true God.

They're idolaters. They're in the dark. They're under the dominion of darkness. So Nebuchadnezzar, who cannot be accused of being reasonable, because of this the king was angry, he was furious, and he commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.

Wow, that's one way to get rid of the bureaucrats, just wipe them all out. And everybody said, amen. But this would leave a political vacuum and there would still need to be work done. This is not exactly what we call a wise decision.

This is quite rash on his part. But again, Nebuchadnezzar can't be accused of being, well, anything close to being reasonable. And so his decision was made in rage. So the decree went out. The wise men were all about to be killed and they sought Daniel and his companions.

They happened to be part of that bigger group. And of course they've done nothing wrong and they were sent to kill them as well. So Daniel replied with prudence and with discretion to Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

And he declared to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree of the king so urgent? Then Ariok made the matter known to Daniel and Daniel went in and he requested of the king to appoint him a time that he might show the interpretation of the king.

And you can see him going and talking to Nebuchadnezzar, who's still in a rage, and saying, give us just a little bit of time. I think we can sort this out. But no sooner does Daniel leave the king's presence, you can just see him hoofing it back to his house and rounding up his friends who have been renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

But their Jewish names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And you can see him just going, we are in deep trouble, guys. Hooray. And that's what he does. So Daniel went to his house and he made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

And he told them, seek mercy from the God of heaven. Seek mercy. We're going to die tomorrow if we don't, if God doesn't answer our prayers. So seek his mercy. Oh, these are good words for us, by the way.

We need to also seek the mercy of God. Because the ruler of this age, the devil, he's a terrible tyrant. Nobody can accuse him of being reasonable. And we were born under his dominion. We were born doing his deeds and believing his lies.

So we need to seek mercy from the God of heaven as well. But Daniel said, seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

So then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. And then Daniel blessed the God of heaven, and Daniel answered and said. And you're going to note, this is a good thing. When God answers your prayers, and he does.

And don't ever think that you are not in dire need from God, because you are. We pray daily, give us this day our daily bread. And you know what? God answers that prayer. And so we thank God when we gather around our dinner tables.

We thank God for the meal that we are about to receive. And we have to always recognize that there isn't a single day in your life when you are not in need from God. You and I, we are dependent beings.

And it just so happens that the dependence that Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah felt that day was, well, a pressing dire need because they were about to perish if God didn't answer their prayers.

And God did. And so what does Daniel do? He thanks God. And this is what we read next. So blessed be the name of God forever and ever. To whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and he changes seasons.

He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him.

To you, O God of my fathers, I give you thanks and praise. For you have given me wisdom and might. You have made known to me what we asked of you. For you have made known to us the king's matter. Therefore, Daniel went to Ariok, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon.

He went and he said thus to him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king and I will show the king the interpretation. So then Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him, I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.

So the king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belshazzar. That's a name given to him by Nebuchadnezzar. And the king declared to Daniel, Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?

Pay attention to his answer. Pay attention, because Daniel is a man who is humble. And we all have something to learn from a man like Daniel. Daniel answered the king and said, No wise men, enchanters, magician, or astrologers can show the king the mystery that the king has asked.

But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the later days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in your bed are these.

To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what will be after this. And he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

So Daniel humbly basically says, Nope, I don't know the answer. But God is the one who has revealed this mystery to you. And God wills for you to know what this mystery is all about so that you may know the thoughts of your very mind.

So he continues. You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. And so now we get the details, and we're going to learn that he saw an image that was made of multiple types of metals, and then also a little bit of clay and iron.

The top part of it, gold, the chest, silver, then bronze, and iron, and then the last bit mixed with iron and clay. All of this, a picture of a highlight reel, if you would, of the empires of the world, starting with the Babylonian Empire, coming down to the Persian Empire, then to Alexander the Great's Greek Empire, and then the iron, the Roman Empire, and then the last of days, the final empire of the earth, comprised of multiple kings.

And it's described in this way. And so you'll note that the words used regarding this image were, its appearance was frightening. Have you ever stopped to think that, you know, there's something just off in the world?

I mean, COVID and the pandemic and the way the governments of the world have handled themselves or mishandled themselves has alerted us to the fact that oftentimes we human beings are not being paranoid when we have a little bit of fear and trepidation when it comes to our governments, because we ourselves know our own sinfulness and our own proclivity to oppress, to harm, to hurt, and rather than engage in justice, but to engage in justice.

And we ourselves know from human history that despite the fact that God has established earthly kingdoms for the purpose of punishing the evildoers, that's their function, that's their mission, that many times, well, kingdoms and empires go rogue.

And rather than punish the evildoers, they punish those who are doing good, those who believe the truth, those who trust in Christ. You know, I always, again, point out the martyrs of the Soviet Union, of China today, those under the oppression of Islam.

Then we consider, even in our own day, Christians are being persecuted subtly at the moment within our own culture, but things are ramping up. And so we'll note that frightening is this image is a good way to describe it.

But Jesus Christ is not somebody whom we need to be afraid of. He's not an oppressor. He's a true liberator. And you can see the difference when we just do the contrasting work. So, it says then, the head of the image was a fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs were made of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of clay.

And as you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay. And it's this weird thing. Out of nowhere comes this stone not cut by human hands, and it strikes this image on its feet of iron and clay, broke them in pieces.

The iron and the clay and the bronze and the silver and the gold all together were broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found.

But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. What's this stone? Let me ask the question again. Who's the stone? Right? That's the right question. Who's the stone?

And you can see here, there's a connection thematically in the Scriptures here of Christ. So here's the interpretation. This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation, Daniel says. You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the might and the glory.

Note, it is God who establishes earthly kingdoms, both in the Old and the New Testament. He's the one who's given you this glorious kingdom, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them.

You are the head of gold. Another kingdom, though, inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze. So the inferior kingdom of silver is the Persian Empire. The bronze is that of Alexander the Great.

And it shall rule over the earth, and there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. Because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things, like iron that crushes it shall break and crush all of these.

This is referring to the Roman Empire. And as you saw, the feet and the toes, partly of potter's clay, partly of iron. It shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with that of soft clay.

And this is talking about, well, the kingdoms of the earth in the latter days. Note that it's mixed with iron. Have you ever stopped to think that the republic we live in here in the United States, just do your history.

Oh, our founding fathers were big fans of the Roman Empire. In fact, classical architecture, all of that was intentional because it was an homage to, well, the old Roman Empire. Here in our republic we have pieces, bits and pieces of Roman jurisprudence woven into our constitution and basic concepts that were a part of the Roman Empire interwoven into, well, this soft clay kind of thingy.

So you'll note that, you smell that? Yeah, we have the whiff of iron here in the United States and also of clay. But this is a phenomenon that is spreading around the world. So he's describing the earthly kingdoms in the last days that have just that whiff of iron of the old Roman Empire.

And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. We read that part. And as you saw, the feet and the toes, partly of potter's clay, partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom.

Some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, partly brittle.

And as you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings, plural, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people.

It shall break in pieces all of these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. Ah, we're talking about the kingdom of God. Now, presently, the kingdom of God, where can you point to it?

Where is it here on planet Earth? I look high and low. I've searched around the world for it. Every time I've flown over other countries, I've looked out the window to see if I could see the kingdom of God.

Ah, alas, there's not a single nation on Earth that we can call the kingdom of God, is there? And every earthly kingdom has been delusional enough to think that it is the kingdom of God, has engaged in all kinds of horrible atrocities.

The kingdom of God is among us now. So, he goes on. Nebuchadnezzar has failed his first lesson in catechism class. First commandment is you'll have no other gods before me, and you do not worship or make sacrifices to human beings.

He's got a long way to go, but he's well on his way. God is instructing him and bringing him to repentance. And if you read ahead in the book of Daniel, you'll find that Nebuchadnezzar has written a letter to you and to I, proclaiming that Yahweh is the only God.

So, he'll eventually pass his catechism class. But right now, he's a newbie. There's some things that he's got to learn. But the king answered and said to Daniel, Truly your God is God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries.

Doesn't quite have the right cadence to it, but he's getting in the ballpark. For you have been able to reveal this mystery. Then the king gave Daniel high honors, many great gifts, made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, chief prefect over the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court. So, we started off with a sprig from a cedar, talked about seeds that grow all by themselves, talked about a mustard seed, and now we've got a stone that comes and smashes an image and grows into a mighty mountain.

What is this all about? You'll note that God oftentimes talks in symbols like this. Christ is speaking in parables, and his will is for you to unpack these things and to understand how they connect to him.

The Sprig from the Cedar and the Dry Tree That Flourishes

So, if we look at our Old Testament text, we read Thus says Yahweh Elohim, I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will break off from the top most of its young twigs, a tender twig, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

What are we going to make of that? How do we unpack this twig that came from this sprig? Well, I would note that the interpretive key is found in these words at the bottom of verse 24. The dry tree will flourish.

What is this twig that God's going to plant in a high mountain? Well, I would like to postulate, could it not be the cross? Didn't God plant the cross at the top of Mount Moriah in Zion? Indeed, he did.

And so you'll note that here's a prophecy regarding an important feature, that the dry tree that God will cause to flourish is none other than the dry wood of the cross itself, and that God himself planted it on Mount Moriah, and from that tree, that tree, that sprig, that despised, ugly, dry thing, God is creating and pulling together a kingdom, a kingdom that will fill the earth.

So it says this, On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, that it may bear branches, produce fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it will dwell every kind of bird in the shade of its branches.

Birds of every sort there will nest, and all the trees of the field shall know that I am Yahweh. I bring low the high tree, make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, but I make the dry tree flourish.

I am Yahweh, I have spoken it. And here we can see that imagery of little birds. Have you ever noticed that birds are not exactly keen to come and chat with you and sit on your finger and talk to you about what they're up to?

The only way we can generally talk to the birds is if they're stupid enough to fly into our windows and they're stunned, and then we can pick them up and pray that they don't perish because of the wounds, right?

But otherwise, you walk outside and just as you're opening the door you can hear all the birds squawking, and as soon as you walk outside it goes like this. And you can see the birds just flying off. There's this female cardinal that lives in our yard, and every time I see her I say, hello there!

And she goes, ah! Right? But she's cute. One of these days I'll get a photo of her, hopefully. But the point is this, that birds resting in the shade of the branches and the tree, they only do this in places where there is no fear.

That they're not afraid. That they actually feel some safety and security. And so here we have a picture of the kingdom of God, and who are these little birds? It's you! It's me! Where are these little birds?

And in the kingdom of Christ we have nothing to fear like we have to fear from the empires of men. We have nothing to fear in Christ because we are invited to rest in the shade of His kingdom. And all of that being said, I would note this then, that Christ is currently building a kingdom, and He's bringing citizens into this kingdom that He is creating.

And the funny thing about this kingdom is that every single citizen of this kingdom in the first generation, after the return of Christ and the establishing of this kingdom, every single one of them are forgiven apostate rebels.

You think back to the American Civil War, right? And always the question is, how do you take the South and bring them back into the Union? Because they were rebels, and shouldn't they all be hung from a tree?

Well, that's technically what they all deserved for their treasonous actions against the United States, but I think Abraham Lincoln was pretty wise. He wanted a very simple way for them to be reconciled and brought back in and seen as brothers.

But even greater than that, we have participated in the rebellion of the devil himself. We have sinned grievously against God. We have exalted ourselves above God and made ourselves into our own deities.

We have worshipped those things that are false, and we have deserved the same punishment as the devil himself. But Christ has seen fit in his great love and mercy to pardon us, because he went to the cross.

He bled and died for our sins. He died on the tree that was dry and dead, and he's taken his cross and he has made it into a glorious, flourishing tree. One of the branches of that tree extends all the way out here to Kongsvinger, and we are all resting in the shade of that tree, in the shade of Christ.

Christ the Seed, the Mustard Plant, and the Growing Kingdom

And it's with this we consider the words of our Lord from our gospel text. The kingdom of God is if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps, he rises night and day, the seed sprouts and grows, and he knows not how.

Kind of ignorance is bliss. I mean, I have no idea how seeds work. I have no idea how that works. How does a seed know that it's been planted in the ground, and why does it start growing when you do plant it in the ground?

I don't know. I can't even explain how my diesel truck works. I really don't understand the finer points of how a combustion engine works. And I don't need to know. I'm just glad it works. And the kingdom of God is a lot like that.

If you've ever heard somebody say, I've got the secret formula, the franchise turnkey methodology on how to cause the church to grow, don't believe that person. I don't know how the kingdom of God grows.

In fact, one of the things I've noticed over the years here at Kongsvinger is that it's always intrigued me who the gospel attracts to come here to be fed the word of God. There's a lot of new faces here.

How did this church grow? I don't know. Because I'll tell you, I just do the same thing every single week. I preach the word. And every other week, we administer the sacraments. We pray. We have our fellowship time together.

I mean, it all seems kind of humble and ordinary, if you think about it. And yet, the kingdom of God is growing. So, what am I going to do next week? The same thing I'm doing this week. We'll sing some hymns.

We'll hear the word of Christ, law and gospel, sin and grace. We'll hear that our sins are forgiven. We'll pray. We'll have the Lord's Supper. We'll have some fellowship time. And then, do it again. It doesn't make any sense.

I don't know how it grows. And if the church shrinks, who cares? That's Christ. That's His business, not mine. What am I supposed to do if the church is shrinking? Same thing. Same thing. Nothing changes.

It's all up to Him. It's not my purview to pay attention to those details. So, the earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. When the grain is ripe, He puts in the sickle because the harvest has come.

And the harvest will eventually come. And then the next parable, what shall we compare the kingdom of God or what shall we use for it? It's like a grain of mustard, which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth, yet when it's sown on the ground it comes up larger than all the garden plants, puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

Who is this mustard seed? It's Christ. I mean, did we not put Him in the ground when we buried Him in the tomb? Did He not rise from the dead three days later? Indeed He did. And so Christ is this mustard seed.

He is this mustard plant, this tiny little despised thing. A lot of people were really keen on His ministry when He was put to death. And yet, this despised Jesus, after His resurrection, His kingdom has grown and grown and grown, larger than other plants, and He continues to put out branches, like I've said.

And so we can see then what this is all about. You cannot unpack these symbols, the symbol of the sprig, the symbol of the seeds, the symbol of the mustard seed, the symbol of the branches and the birds, unless you recognize that Christ is the one to whom they all point to.

And I would note this then. All of that being said, consider His mercy and His grace. Consider His forgiveness for you, and consider all the ways in which we need to repent because we think we know better than Jesus how His own kingdom operates.

We just don't. And so, recognizing that His kingdom will eventually fill the earth when the harvest comes, let us take rest in the shade of the gospel, the good news that Christ has bled and died for our sins.

Even rebel sinners like us will enjoy the full benefits of the freedom and the rest that comes when He returns in glory to judge the living and the dead in a world without end. Jesus is not our oppressor.

He is our liberator. And so we pray. Come, Lord Jesus. In the name of Jesus,.

Amen.

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