Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp Under a Basket
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
The Parable of the Seed Growing
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
Jesus Calms a Storm
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4 ESV
Mark 4
Sat in it on the sea - We saw before that He was pressed by crowds, that after one miraculous healing He could no longer enter neighboring towns without being mobbed. So the boat and the sea provide a great venue, a natural barrier, plus it could accommodate larger crowds than a synagogue.
Parable - This word means to set along side, and He is a great and mindful teacher, giving them life instances, comparing the Kingdom to very ordinary, rural knowledge. Each time it corresponds to a spiritual truth, hence set along side, and it is the Spiritual to which they are deaf and what Scripture calls dead.
See but not perceive - They hear the words He is saying, the images come readily to mind, but they want to take it, or at least I would, and make it pragmatic, staying in the realm of agriculture. Guzik gives an interesting string of thought.
The farmer thought, “He’s telling me that I have to be more careful in the way I cast my seed. I guess I have been wasting an awful lot.”
· The politician thought, “He’s telling me that I need to begin a farm education program to help farmers more efficiently cast their seed. This will be a big boost in my reelection campaign.”
· The newspaper reporter thought, “He’s telling me that there is a big story here about the bird problem and how it affects the farming community. That’s a great idea for a series in the paper.”
· The salesman thought, “He’s encouraging me in my fertilizer sales. Why, I could help that farmer more than he knows if he only used my product.” - E Word
So Jesus tells them in very common language, yet even His own disciples are struggling to understand, but dare we apply what is not the Author's intent, or be so flippant as to leave without asking the questions? If we are left to our own disinterest, self righteousness, and ignorance, is that not judgement?
8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!” 9And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”… Isaiah 6: 8-10
The Sower sows the Word - This is a very helpful sort of Rosetta Stone, the key to the whole parable. We now know what the seed is, and we now understand that the implications go beyond life at the farm.
…16But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”… Romans 10: 16-18
But if the seed is the word, then every preacher must make sure he uses good seed. “It is a high offence against God to change the Master’s seed, to mix it, or to sow bad seed in the place of it.” (Clarke)
The soil is the heart and in Jewish thinking this encompasses the whole of one's being, the mind, emotions, understanding. The heart needs to be prepared.
Some seeds fell along the path - Well, a path is worn in, the soil is tampered, like you prepare the earth where you are going to pour a floor. It is hardened, there are no air pockets, the soil is not broken up, tilled, will not accept the seed. The seed will just lay on top, and the birds that are watching this will come down and easily steal them away. Too much foot traffic here to germinate seed, and the soil is too hard for the root to penetrate. Jesus breaks it down further for His disciples in verse 19, we learn that the seed is the word of the Kingdom, the gospel message. We also learn that the soils are hearts, and the seed never changes, the message is always the same, but the outcomes change according to the heart. This soil, heart, belonging to the path, is hardened, it doesn't understand the gospel message, and so it won't be received. Verses 10-16 give more insight into this condition, and I will move to that in the next post. The seed here on this path is resisted by the soil, and what doesn't get eaten by the birds gets trampled under foot. When I was young I used the excuse of people who called themselves Christians, for why I didn't believe it was true. I used the excuse of unmet expectations, fleeting and changing feelings, disappointment, all these things as means to tamper my heart, to make it impenetrable. I heard the gospel message, I could regurgitate it, but I didn't understand it, I needed to be broken. - From Matthew 13 Post
Satan immediately comes - These would seem to coerce themselves, very easily believing that the Bible isn't real, isn't relevant for today, it's antiquated and not worth your time. They are already hardened towards it, and so the birds easily come and remove it. He just whispers once to their ego, "you're too smart for the gospel, there's no God, you need no saving, besides, a lot of people think you're a pretty good guy."
Rocky ground - No depth of soil here to sustain them through any persecution, and some people's idea or threshold for this can be as little as a laugh or an eye roll. They wilt under the heat.
Deceitfulness of riches - They are very worldly minded at heart, yet they may often seem to have fervor at first, but upon closer inspection there's would be another gospel altogether, that of pragmatism, of a legalism that leads to wealth; it is the prosperity gospel.
Is a lamp - For light to illuminate. This links back to the good soil, we are not given the word to hide it, but to scatter it and help nurture the hearers. This produces the 30 fold, the 100 fold. People put such a big deal on influence today, but what does it matter that so many are influenced by what you are saying if you are not saying what glorifies God and convicts men of their need for a Savior.
The earth produces by itself - This reminds me much of Nicodemus meeting with Jesus, salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit in a man's heart, this regeneration that brings life. We are given the seed which we did not make, charged with protecting it and not allowing it to be switched for that which would only bring forth tares, but in the end we can only marvel at the harvest. Salvation is of the Lord.
Birds nest - It comes from small beginnings, so that we should learn not to judge by a worldly rule. Jesus was as root out of dry ground, He did not bear the elements that they associated with majesty. The kingdom of God shunned earthly royal beginnings in favor of a beauty we could not naturally see. Oddly, where it has seemingly thrived and been accepted, the birds eventually come and nest.
Who then is this - Yeah, Who does that sort of stuff, controls nature?
…2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.… John 1: 2-4
