Parables Of Jesus Christ: The Fruitful Seed
by Wayne Blank

See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

The Messiah's parable of the fruitful seed:

"4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 4:27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 4:28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 4:29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." (Mark 4:26-29 KJV)
"If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"

A seed can exist for a long time without coming alive. It may be viable, but without water it will remain, for all intents and purposes, dead. It requires rain on the grain.

Wheat
"30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal" (Isaiah 30:23 KJV)
The water that causes the spiritual seed of humanity to sprout and grow is the Holy Spirit, the "living waters."

"4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14 KJV)
Once sprouted, seed must grow. There's no turning back (see No U Turns On The Road To Life). If conditions become such that growth does not proceed, the seed will corrupt and rot to death.

"2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13 KJV)
The "seed of Abraham" speaks not merely of his physical descendants, physical Israelites (or any of the many others who are descended from him; see Abraham Wasn't A Jew and Circumcision). The seed of Abraham are those who are truly faithful and obedient to the LORD, as Abraham was.

"4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 4:17 As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be." (Romans 4:16-18 KJV)
It is that "seed" that the parable describes - the good seed that grows toward the harvest.

"3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:27-29 KJV)
"15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [see Resurrections] 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." (1 Corinthians 15:35-38 KJV)

"15:51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed [see Could Christ Return Tonight?]. 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory [see Death's Obituary]. 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:51-55 KJV)

Fact Finder: Why is "bad seed" that sprouts allowed to grow until the time of harvest?
See Why Does God Allow Evil?