Mark 4:21-41
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The Text
The Text
21 He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? 22 For nothing is concealed except to be revealed, and nothing hidden except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen!” 24 Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured and added to you. 25 For to the one who has, it will be given, and from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” 26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” He said. “A man scatters seed on the ground; 27 he sleeps and rises —night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain on the head. 29 But as soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 And He said: “How can we illustrate the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown in the soil, is smaller than all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the vegetables, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.” 33 He would speak the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. 34 And He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, He would explain everything to His own disciples. 35 On that day, when evening had come, He told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was already in the boat. And other boats were with Him. 37 A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, “Teacher! Don’t You care that we’re going to die?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then He said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?” 41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
Using your light
2 Things Jesus is communicating here.
If you have been given light, it is for a purpose.
Imagine that someone is stuck in a deep dark cave,
Imagine that you were chosen to be the one to travel into the cave to get them.
You’re a search and rescue operator,
and your supervisor hands you a flashlight.
How evil would you have to be,
knowing that that person is dying in the cave, to tuck that flashlight under your shirt, and refuse to look for them.
THAT is exactly what Israel has always done.
They are God’s chosen people from among the nations.
But they’re not just chosen for nothing,
they’re chosen for a purpose.
They are to be a light to the nations.
This is so clear in scripture.
6 “I, Yahweh, have called You for a righteous purpose, and I will hold You by Your hand. I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
6 He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”
10 The Lord has displayed His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your radiance.
So this idea of light from the prophet Isaiah is clear that the light is for the sake of the nations,
and it also is somehow implying that this light would be found in one person.
So we get to the New Testament and what do we find?
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
23 that the Messiah must suffer, and that as the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
So when I read this parable, I see Jesus reminding them of their identity as God’s people, and telling them to listen VERY carefully,
because the light is here amongst them, but has not been fully revealed yet.
And if they are going to be a people who will continue to live in covenant with God,
it will absolutely be contingent on their faith in Jesus.
You cannot be a light, if you do not have THE light.
2. Simply being in God’s covenant will not save a person.
Jesus is warning them about this when He says:
24 Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured and added to you. 25 For to the one who has, it will be given, and from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”
We’ve reached the part in the story where the light is going to reach the nations.
Jesus lifted up on the cross is a beacon that shines through all time now
and He is drawing people to himself.
To put it plainly,
if Gentile who was not previously in the covenant has Christ, then He’s going to get the covenant.
But if you have previously been in the covenant, as all of Jesus’ current listeners are,
and you reject Christ, then even what you have will be taken away from you.
Example for today:
Baptized children.
Our children have been handed the gifts of light.
Teaching them to listen carefully, that they may benefit from the gifts they have been given.
God gives promises to parents, and then gives them tools for living in those promises.
What tools? The Word.
Speak the Word to your children.
Teach them as you go along the way.
It will bear fruit.
And when we’re struggling to see the fruit,
in your life,
in your kids life,
in the lives of those you care about and work with,
think about these next two parables Jesus tells.
The parable of the growing seed
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Mark 4:21–34)
we know not how the Spirit by the word makes a change in the heart, any more than we can account for the blowing of the wind, which we hear the sound of, but cannot tell whence it comes, or whither it goes.
This is so true when I think about child rearing,
or the coworker I pray for,
We don’t know how it happens, we just see the evidence of it.
And this is a gradual work of Christ both in the world and in our hearts.
Gradual growth of Stephie’s garden
I find it helpful to look to one or the other for encouragement when it gets hard to see God’s plan.
For example,
if you are struggling in your faith personally, look outside of yourself to the work of God in the world and in history for encouragement.
And when you have days when it gets hard to see God’s work in the world, here’s what you do.
Look to God’s work in your own life.
Remember your baptism.
Don’t just look inward,
don’t be a spiritual navel gazer,
look at how God has worked internally in you through external means.
What does that mean?
Even our individual progress is completely the product of grace.
Meaning it doesn’t originate in us!
Listen to the parable.
“The seed sprouts and grows, he doesn’t know how.”
What this parable tells us is essentially what we see in
6 I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Whether we are talking about the kingdom of God on a grand scale, or the kingdom of God taking root in your life personally,
the banner headline is.
Jesus started this, and he’s going to finish it.
Jesus goes even further by describing the kingdom this way:
The parable of the mustard seed
30 And He said: “How can we illustrate the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown in the soil, is smaller than all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the vegetables, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
May I remind us all the Jesus was literally sown in the ground like a seed.
And what sprouted out?
A mighty tree that has been growing ever since.
There will be over 2.6 billion Christians worldwide by the middle of 2023 and around 3.3 billion by 2050, according to a report published in early January by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
Do you know how many Christians there were at the beginning?
Well, if we use Pentecost as the birthday of the church,
120.
That’s how many were there.
Why does Luke, when he is writing the book of Acts make sure and mention that?
I think he is intentionally highlighting the super small beginnings.
That’s about the size of a small church today.
How many today?
2.6 bil
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke 6. Parable of the Mustard Seed (4:30–32)
“The example of the mustard seed should prevent us from judging the significance of results by the size of the beginnings.”
Again, same point as last week,
God’s.
Word.
Works.
Master of the Storm
So now we reach the end of this chapter, and Jesus is about to tie up this package of teaching with an astonishing visual aid.
Mastering the storm.
But before we get there, Mark points out that Jesus was explaining the parables privately to His disciples.
Why?
Jesus is like the sower in the parable from last week,
as he sits on a boat and teaches thousands of people at once,
he’s sowing the seed of the word freely.
It will have varied effects in these people, not everyone will believe.
But His disciples have an important role to play in the growth of the kingdom, and He is telling them things plainly so they will understand.
But they seem to be lacking something.
They do not KNOW Jesus rightly.
So what does Jesus do?
35 On that day, when evening had come, He told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was already in the boat. And other boats were with Him. 37 A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, “Teacher! Don’t You care that we’re going to die?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then He said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?”
So in case we missed it,
a man just TALKED to a fierce storm and completely dissipated it.
Try that this monsoon season.
I’m serious.
It’ll help you get a sense of how small you are and how big God is if you walk out in that downpour and just tell it to cut it out.
Be demanding.
Be loud and as authoritative as you can.
I’m not sure that before this they really grasped that He is God.
I’m not sure that we really grasp that either.
I’m not sure that we have have really come to terms with the fact that the YAHWEH of old, the ancient of days, the creator of the cosmos
has humbled Himself to take on flesh.
I’m not sure we understand the gravity of this.
What kind of God does that?
So they have a knowledge problem.
We have a knowledge problem.
We do not know God as we should.
How is a knowledge deficiency solved?
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.
The fear of the Lord will bring us right knowledge of who God is.
That’s the start.
That’s where the disciples are right now.
They now know that Jesus is God.
But you can know God and not love Him.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.
That’s written to people who KNOW all the right things about God, but aren’t obeying Him.
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Wisdom makes us love God.
These disciples are going to be wisdom people one day.
They will become some of the most influential and spirit filled individuals ever.
Why?
Because they knew right things?
Yes AND
they KNEW the Master.
They feared their God.
Meaning they understood the difference between Him and them.
But this fear didn’t push them away, because Jesus keeps beckoning us close!
We receive the gift of faith like a little seed when we finally understand the difference between us and God and how sinful we are and in need of His grace and restoration.
As that seed grows, as our faith grows, we grow to understand that the fear of God and loving God are not mutually exclusive.
The most powerful, dangerous being in the universe, Jesus, wants to BE with US.
That’s WHY He took on flesh.
You can’t hug a cloud.
But you can hug a person.
The best example of this dynamic is found in Revelation.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” 12 I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool—white as snow —and His eyes like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading waters. 16 He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at midday. 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, 18 and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Jesus is KING.
But he’s also your brother.
Draw near to Him.
Fear Him.
Know Him.
Love Him.
For He loves you.
The storm God who separated the chaos waters at the creation, calmed the storm in the boat, and baptized you into Himself,
wants to sit with us by still waters.
He can restore your soul.
Nothing else will.