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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary & sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
  • Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit: Spiritual Growth.
  • Stephen Carlson's color-coded Greek Synoptic Parallels: 4:26-29.
  • XVI.49-52; XVII.10-13, 16, 18; Tatian's Diatessaron (c. 150-160).
  • IV.XVIII.3, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180) 
  • Chapter XX, Chapter XXII, The Prescription of Heretics, Tertullian (c. 200)
  • Chapter I, On The Veiling of Virgins, Tertullian (c. 205)
  • V.IV, The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
  • X.9, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Philocalia [anthology of Origen prepared by St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen], Origen. (c.230)
  • X.4, XIV.12, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
  • From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
  • From Wesley's Notes.
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
  • "What the Farm Labourers Can Do and What They Cannot Do: Mark 4:26-29," Charles H. Spurgeon. From Farm Sermons (c 1875).
    • "We need never quarrel with God because we cannot do everything, if he only permits us to do this one thing; for sowing the good seed is a work which will need all our wit, our strength, our love, our care."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Mark 4:26-34, Sharon H. Ringe, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "There is no easy take-home message for us in these parables. They ask that we engage our imaginations to follow the possibilities and incongruities that we distinguish between a world where everything is planned, linear, and logical, to one filled with mysteries and surprises into which a sovereign God invites us."
  • A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 4, Carl W. Conrad. (Click superscript numbers for commentary.)
  • "The Kingdom Is Like Seed Scattered," "The Parable of the Mustard Seed," Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, "a complete verse-by-verse commentary on the Gospel of Mark, focusing on the historicity of people, places, events, and sayings in the world of the Gospel of Mark."
  • "First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 2, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Asserting hope can be rather meaningless unless we have some experience of fulfilment in the here and now. Without it it is probably not even possible to hope."
  • Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks.
    • "Is God ruling now or not? Perhaps we are looking in the wrong places -- staring up in the sky for tall trees, instead of looking on the ground for common weeds -- and maybe we do the same thing with people."
  • "The Growing Seed and Mustard Bush," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Mark 4:26-34, David Ewart, 2009.
    • "As the parables themselves have already explained, the Kingdom of God is not dependant on our getting it right - or even getting it at all! If even the original 12 need extra help because they don't understand, this is a group that I can aspire to imitate!"
  • Seed Growing Automatically, Gospel Analysis, Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington. Detailed background and exegesis.
  • "Hearing Is Believing," study guide, Robert B. Kruschwitz, (other resources at) "Parables," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2006.
  • "It's a Mystery -- But Is That So Bad?" Eric W. Evers, Sabbatheology.
    • "Just as the farmer "at once goes in with his sickle" (v. 29), we can rush with joy and anticipation into the harvest fields of this world. We can serve and give; worship and pray; teach and bear witness; feed and clothe."
  • Wellspring of the Gospel, Ordinary 11B, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
  • "The Kingdom of God Is Like..." Jerry Goebel, One Family Outreach. "Focus on scripture from a justice perspective." Exegesis, study, and teen study and activities.
    • "The words of Jesus confused political leaders (like Pontius Pilate and Herod), religious leaders (like Nicodemus and the Sanhedrin), and even—at times—his own apostles (when the principles of Christ’s Kingdom did not jive with their desires to be political or religious authorities). However, his simple stories—while confounding the wise—enamored children, the ostracized, and the downtrodden."
• Articles & Background:
  • "Parable of the Growing Seed," "Parable of the Mustard Seed," "Parables of Jesus," "Mark 4: Parables," wikipedia.
  • "Hearing Is Believing," James R. Edwards, (other resources at) "Parables," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2006.
    • "Jesus’ parables cannot be understood by standing apart from them with arms folded in neutral objectivity. They can only be understood by 'entering' into them, allowing their stories to lay claim on us. How do we drop our guard so parables may have their intended effect? The answer, repeated throughout Mark 4, is that we enter parables by hearing."
  • Synopsis (English) and discussion of "The Harvest," and "Mustard Seed and Leaven." Focus is on literary relationships of texts. Includes non-canonical parallels and discussion of textual origins. Mahlon H. Smith, Rutgers University.
  • "Mark 4:1-34: Echo," from "Examples of Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation in Mark," at Dr. Vernon K. Robbins' Encyclopedia of Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation.
    • "An important argument for the existence of echo in a chapter of New Testament text has been Burton L. Mack's analysis of paideia (instruction on how to live a successful life according to the values of Greek society) in the planting of the seeds in Mark 4:1-34."
  • "Mark 4: Cultural Intertexture," from "Examples of Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation in Mark," at Dr. Vernon K. Robbins' Encyclopedia of Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation.
    • "Mark 4 contains images of `the field, sowing, seeds, miscarriage, and harvest' that are characteristic of `Jewish apocalyptic, wisdom, and prophetic literatures'. These images, however, occur in a literary context that uses a Greco-Roman mode of rhetorical elaboration to unfold the mysterious nature of the kingdom of God in Jesus' activity."
  • "Jesus, Apocalyptic, and World Transformation," David B. Batstone. Theology Today, 1993.
    • "It is often overlooked how ideologically explosive the notion of the kingdom of God was within Jesus' own social milieu. In first-century Palestine, it did not have the same metaphorical and strictly religious connotation that makes the term so safe within our own theological world. In fact, it evoked the memory and visionary impulse of Yahweh who acts to deliver Yahweh's 'chosen ones' from occupation and oppression at the hands of alien nations. Intrinsic to that symbolic universe is the conviction that the chosen suffer and the unjust prosper in the present day only because history stands at the brink of a great reversal."
• Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices.
  • Ambrozic, Aloysius Matthew, Cardinal, "Mark's Concept of the Parable: Mark 4:11f in the Context of the Second Gospel," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1967.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Bishop, Jonathan, "Parabole and Parrhesia in Mark," Interpretation, 1986.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Crook, Zeba Antonin, "The Synoptic Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven: A Test-Case for the Two-Document, Two-Gospel, and Farrer-Goulder Hypotheses," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2000.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Crossan, John Dominic, "Seed Parables of Jesus," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1973.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Fay, Greg, "Introduction to Incomprehension, the Literary Structure of Mark 4:1-34," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1989.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Funk, Robert W., "The Looking-glass Tree is for the Birds: Ezekiel 17:22-24; Mark 4:30-32," Interpretation, 1973.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Heil, John Paul, "Reader-Response and the Narrative Context of the Parables about Growing Seed in Mark 4:1-34," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1992.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Hoffman, Kathryn Vitalis, and Mark Vitalis Hoffman, "Texts in Context: Question Marks and Turning Points: Following the Gospel of Mark to Surprising Places," Word & World, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Janzen, J. Gerald, "The Verb PARADIDOMI and the Last Judgment in Mark 4:29," Encounter, 2008.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • McArthur, Harvery K., "Parable of the Mustard Seed," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1971.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • McCool, Francis J., "The Preacher and the Historical Witness of the Gospels," Theological Studies, 1960.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Neff, David, "Small Is Huge: Why Jesus Favors Mustard Seed-Sized Ministry," Christianity Today, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Perkins, Pheme, "Between Text & Sermon, Mark 4:30-34," Interpretation, 2004.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Petersen, Norman R., "The Composition of Mark 4:1-8:26," Harvard Theological Review, 1980.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Schellenberg, Ryan S., "Kingdom as Contaminant? The Role of Repertoire in the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2009.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Stein, Robert H., "The Parables of Jesus in Recent Study," Word & World, 1985.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Thiering, Barbara E., "Breaking of Bread and Harvest in Mark's Gospel," Novum Testamentum, 1970.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Weeden, Theodore J., "Recovering the Parabolic Intent in the Parable of the Sower," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1979.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Wilder, Amos Niven, "The Parable of the Sower: Naivete and Method in Interpretation," Semeia, 1974.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Willimon, William H., "The Greatest of All Shrubs," The Christian Century, 1991.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Reviews:
• Sermons:
  • "The Weakness in Virtue, the Virtue in Weakness," J. Warren Smith, Faith and Leadership, 2010.
  • "Noisy Spring," Dr. Kimberleigh Buchanan, Day 1, 2009.
  • "Speaking in Parables," Pentecost 2, 18 June 2006, Luke Bouman, Göttinger Predigten im Internet: Every Sunday Sermons based on the RCL by a team of Lutheran theologians/ pastors.
  • "The Mustard Seed," Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
  • "A Day of Small Things," the Rev. Martha Sterne, Day 1, 2006.
  • "A New Perspective," the Rev. Dr. Hugh L. Eichelberger, Day 1, 1996.
• With Children:
  • "Parable of the Mustard Seed," Illustrating the Stories (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
  • "We Grow in Faith and Serve the Lord," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
  • "Mark 3 & 4 Word Search," Don Crownover's Bible Puzzles.
• Drama:
  • "The Kind of Fasting that God Wants," from A Certain Jesus by Jose Ignacio and Maria Lopez Vigil. Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today's gospel. Claretian Publications.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art Images: Mark 4:26-34, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.
  • Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
  • Mark 4:26-34, Liturgical Drawing, Maria d.c. Zamora, Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use these for free.")
  • Commercial Site: The Parable of the Seed / The Kingdom of God Is Like a Mustard Seed, (Film/Visual Liturgy), The Work of the People.
• Hymns and Music:
  • At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text):
    • More Love to Thee
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Mark