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Mark
4:26-34
 | Reading the Text:
|
 | Historical References, Commentary and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) |
 |
Exegetical
Fragments. (XXXI)
Irenaeus
(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:
 |
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." |
|
 |
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. |
 |
Wellspring of
the Gospel, Ordinary 11B, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn
Turner, Weekly Wellsprings. |
 |
"The
Growing Seed and Mustard Bush,"
Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible
Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed
textual notes. |
 |
"The Mustard
Seed," Mark Vitalis Hoffman, Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Gettysburg, CrossMarks Christian Resources. The Parables of Jesus - to
learn & teach, to share & discuss, to re-imagine & re-present. |
 |
"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." |
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|
 | 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." |
|
|
 | Articles in
ATLAS Journals. (Direct link when you are
subscribed and logged in to
ATLASerials online collection of Religion and Theology Journals.):
 | 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. |
 | 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. |
 | Janzen, J. Gerald,
"The Verb PARADIDOMI and the Last Judgment in Mark 4:29,"
Encounter, 2008.
Image Browse -
PDF |
 | Perkins, Pheme,
"Between Text & Sermon, Mark 4:30-34," Interpretation, 2004. |
|
 | Reviews: |
 | Sermons:
 |
"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. |
 | The Dimming of the Light: Mark 4:1-12, 21-25, 33-34, by Ray C.
Stedman. Text or
Real Audio. |
 | Seed Thoughts: Mark 4:3-9, 13-20, 26-32, by Ray C. Stedman.
Text or
Real Audio. |
|
 | 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. |
 |
Mark 4:26-34, Liturgical Drawing,
Maria d.c. Zamora,
Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use
these for free.") |
 | Commercial Site:
The Work of the People - Mark 4:26-34 - Films/Visual Liturgy based on
RCL texts. |
|
 | Hymns and Music:
 | At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke
files, projection text):
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 | 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 |
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