The meaning of this is that from the small beginning of the new People of God, represented in the twelve disciples, God's rule will be manifested throughout the whole world. This would have been another parable of encouragement to those of Mark's readers who felt weak and insignificant, particularly in the face of discouragement or persecution. In 4 :33-34 Mark indicates that there were many other parables 'like these' through which Jesus taught the people. To find some of them we can turn to the gospels of Luke and Matthew. Mark's three parables of the sower, the seed growing secretly and the mustard seed, are parables of contrast, illustrating how there is a final great result from a very small and apparently insignificant beginning. They are parables to encourage as well as to challenge the hearer; they would have been of great significance to the early Church with its scattered Christian communities in the great and powerful Roman empire.