The Parable of the Sower, Why Jesus Used Parables, and The Parable of the Sower Explained Gospel reading: Mark 4:1-20 Video clip: https://youtube/watch?v=OxOCvNwbZTY The Parable of the Sower 4 Again He began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around Him. So He got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was on the shore facing the sea. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them: 3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, this occurred: Some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it sprang up right away, since it didn’t have deep soil. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it didn’t have a root, it withered. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce a crop. 8 Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop that increased 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.” 9 Then He said, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!” Why Jesus Used Parables 10 When He was alone with the Twelve, those who were around Him asked Him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables 12 so that they may look and look, yet not perceive; they may listen and listen, yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back— and be forgiven.” The Parable of the Sower Explained 13 Then He said to them: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones along the path where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root in themselves; they are short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately stumble. 18 Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of this age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But the ones sown on good ground are those who hear the word, welcome it, and produce a crop: 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.” **Verses 4:1-20 Between the parable found in verses 3-9 and its interpretation in verses 13-20, Mark provided Jesus’ explanation for why He spoke in parables in verses 10-12. The parable of the seeds and the soils, was for Mark, the key to understanding the rest of Jesus’ parables. **Verse 4:1 ‘Again’ recalls Mk. 2:13 and 3:1. The ‘sea’ refers to the Sea of Galilee. ‘He got into a boat’ so that He could use it as a floating platform from which to ‘teach’. **verse 4:3 The importance of ‘listen’ was a call to obedience to what is being taught, not just mere understanding. ‘The sower’ represents Jesus. **Verses 4:4-7 Three failure which are based upon soil types and circumstances are presented. The seed that ‘fell along the path’ did not have time to germinate (profess faith) before the ‘birds (Satan) came and ate it up’. The seed that ‘fell on rocky ground…sprang up’, meaning that there was evidence of faith, but it quickly ‘withered’ when the ‘sun’ (pressure, persecution) came. The seed that ‘feel among thorns’ (worries) was ‘choked’ and ‘didn’t produce a crop’. **Verse 4:8 The seed that ‘fell on good ground…produced a crop that increased’. Jesus pointed to the productive nature of the good soil as opposed to the unproductive or fleeting and brief yield of the others. Jesus reinforced this by specifying a bountiful increase of ‘30, 60, and 100 times what was sown’ (cp. Gn. 26:12). **Verse 4:9 The phrase ‘anyone who has ears to hear should listen’ recalls His original admonition to “listen” (v. 3) and prepares His listeners for the important information in verses 10-12. **Verses 4:10-12 These verses, among the most difficult found in the New Testament, give Jesus’ rationale for teaching in ‘parables’. Scholars are divided on the meaning, but possibly one Jesus’ purposes in using parables was to deliver judgment against hard-hearted listeners. **Verse 4:10 Verses 10-12 were not part of Jesus’ lakeside teaching but were spoken ‘when He was alone’. This is the first mention of ‘the Twelve’ since being chosen (v. 3:14). ‘Those who were around Him’ were not just the Twelve and is read in the Greek as “those around Him with the Twelve” (cp. 3:34) indicating a larger group. **Verse 4:11 Jesus differentiated two audiences: ‘you’ (plural) to whom revelation ‘has been given’ (by God) and ‘those outside’ who only heard parables. Insiders learned ‘the secret’, literally translated in the New Testament as “mystery”, which is truth that is hidden and can only be known if God reveals it (Dn. 2:18-19, 27-30, 47). The secret relates to ‘the kingdom of God’, which is what Jesus came to announce (1:15) and what He will begin to explain in Mark 4:26-32. **Verse 4:12 The use of ‘so that’ can mean either purpose or result. Jesus’ quotation of Is. 6:9-10 either offers the reason for His teaching in parables or describes the result. Matthew 13:13 reads “because” and thereby states the result of the hearers unwillingness, not its cause. Mark uses an abbreviated quotation of Is. 6:9-10, reverses the first two clauses, drops the first half of verse 10, and changes “and be healed” to ‘and be forgotten.’ ‘Turn back’ expresses repentance. “Be forgiven” is a divine passive which has a meaning “be forgiven by God.” **Verse 4:13 For Mark is verse is key: Whoever does not ‘understand this parable’ will not understand ‘any of the parables’ of Jesus. **Verses 4:14-20 In Jesus’ explanation, the seed sown is the ‘word,’ and the birds become Satan; the sun and scorching become ‘pressure and persecution’ (i.e. religious persecution); withered becomes ‘stumble’; the choking from the thorns is specified as ‘the worries of this age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things (i.e. from misplaced priorities [Mt. 6:24-34]), and the good ground is identified as ‘those who hear the word, welcome it, and produce a crop’. Clearly Jesus’ emphasis was on the ‘word’ (Gk. Logos) which was used eight times in these verses and on the use of ‘hear’ which was used four times. Those who hear the word, welcome it, and produce a crop are true disciples, even though they produce varying results (Mt. 25:14-30). HCSB Study Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 11:56:45 +0000
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