ACC ~ Mark 4 v26 - 29

OVERVIEW:

The kingdom grows silently (AMBROSE). When the corn is fully ripe, it is like matured righteousness (GREGORY THE GREAT). In four stages righteousness has grown within history after the fall: primitive natural dread, consciousness of the law, the righteousness revealed in the gospel and the mature age of the Holy Spirit (TERTULLIAN).

4:28a | First the Blade, Then the Ear

GROWTH IN THE KINGDOM

AMBROSE: While you are asleep, O man, and without your being aware of it, the earth of itself is producing its fruits. SIX DAYS OF CREATION 3. [1]

[1] FC 42:101*.

PATTERNS OF INCREASE

TERTULLIAN: Observe how the created order has advanced little by little toward fruitfulness. First comes the grain, and from the grain arises the shoot, and from the shoot emerges the shrub. From there the boughs and leaves gather strength, and the whole that we call a tree expands. Then follows the swelling of the germen, and from the germen bursts the flower, and from the flower the fruit opens. The fruit itself, primitive for a while, and unshapely, keeping the straight course of its development, is matured, little by little, to the full mellowness of its flavor. [1] In just this way has righteousness grown in history. [2] The proximate righteousness found in the created order is grounded in the holy God whose righteousness first emerged in a rudimentary stage as an undeveloped natural apprehension in the presence of the holy One. Then it advanced through the law and prophets to childhood. At long last through the gospel, God’s righteousness has been personally manifested with the vital energies of youth. Now through the paraclete, righteousness is being manifested in its mature stage. ON THE VEILING OF THE VIRGINS 1. [3]

[1] Mk 4:28.

[2] Cf. Ps 92:12.

[3] Cetedoc 0027, 1.39; ANF 4:27-28**.

4:28b | Then the Full Grain in the Ear

THE FULL CORN

GREGORY THE GREAT: To produce “the blade” is to hold the first tender beginning of good. The “blade” arrives at maturity when virtue conceived in the mind leads to advancement in good works. The “full corn” fructifies in “the ear” when virtue makes such great progress that it comes into its fullest possible expression. HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 15. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 1710, 2.3.96; GC 1:388.