Mark 4 (Hiding Words)
Notes
Transcript
Mark 4 (Hiding Words)
Mark 4 (Hiding Words)
Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables, in order that
‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket or under the bed and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. If you have ears to hear, then hear!” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and it will be added to you. For to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”
He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?”
When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables, in order that
‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”
Notice, ‘so they may not turn again and be forgiven.
Parables are hidden:
Context is Is 6:9-10
And he said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes and listen with their ears and comprehend with their minds and turn and be healed.”
Isaiah is directed mostly at Israel’s leaders
Remember, just before this teaching of Jesus, the scribes just maligned Jesus by associating him with Baal-Zebub, with the satan!
Right after this, in Is 7, the prophet addresses King Ahaz
Who rejects God by not giving the terms of a test
And we ended up with a major part of the Christmas story!
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.
And that section is, in and of itself, a parable!
Who is receiving the sign?
King Ahaz
So the question remains: Are Jesus’ words directed at everyone or just leaders?
***And what happens next is shocking to the reader***
He turns to the DISCIPLES…and he asks...
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
Which parable?
The one he just spoke?
The one in Isaiah?
Jesus says what he does to trap the Scribes…but then he turns to his disciples!!!
The disciples and those who were closely following Jesus are clueless too!
So, are they among the group that ‘will not turn and be forgiven?’
And it was not a one and done…
With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Why do they need continual explaining?
Here is why:
They expected a son of David to come and rule
They are testing Jesus’ words and actions through their system
Just like we do!
The parable of a lamp under a basket:
What did you think it was about?
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and it will be added to you. For to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
Do you think Jesus is talking about money?
No!
Most will allegorize this saying about themselves, but they miss the point!
What is the object?
A lamp
A lamp in Judaism is something that lights the path one should walk
It is the wisdom of scripture
It is the WORD of God
So, the more wisdom you give, the more you get, and it will strengthen you
If you have wisdom and use it properly, you will get more.
But…
If you have no wisdom (an intentional fool)
Then what you have, which is nothing of value, you will lose
Which is not offensive
Because you take nothing to the grave!
How about the Growing Seed Parable.
Did you understand it?
He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”
Notice:
The kingdom of God is like something growing
The seed, we already know what that is:
Do you remember?
The word, scripture, for the hearers of the day, the Hebrew Bible
Who scatters the seed?
Someone
Where is it scattered?
The ground
Good or bad ground?
It does not say, because it does not matter
Does the scatterer make it grow?
Nope
But when the fruit is ripe (mature)
Then the harvest comes.
What is the point?
While you are alive, you have a chance to produce fruit.
But there will come a time when the harvest happens
And if you have no fruit, you miss the harvest
You may be the useless stubble
The Kingdom is not:
A building
A throne
A temple
It is like a tree…
Which is why the mustard seed parable is interesting:
You cannot judge the seed, you don’t know what it can do
You cannot judge the soil, it might be good
You can only judge by the fruit
And in case you are getting a big head, we are reminded of something shocking
With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
And their confusion deepens with the next event
Remember, he started teaching from a boat to people onshore
The image is that he is fishing…from a boat…just like Isaiah said.
We return to the boat
The storm comes…
Mark 4:35–41 “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.
Does the story remind you of another story?
And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 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. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?””
This is here intentionally
Allow me to set a trap for you…
What do we learn about this story?
This is about Jonah
There core things about Jonah that we need to know
1st, Jonah did not trust the LORD
2nd, Jonah wanted outsiders destroyed
3rd, Jonah cries out ‘I am perishing!’
4th, Jonah is rescued
5th, Jonah gives the word to Nineveh (five words)
6th, Jonah was angry with God’s loving kindness, mercy, patience, and compassion
Jonah tried to ‘hide the lamp’ under a bushel basket
I don’t want Nineveh to know (so he fled)
Jonah scattered very few seeds, just a few words (five)
‘Still forty days and Nineveh shall be overturned!’
He did not tell them they could repent and avoid disaster
Jonah sat outside the city to watch its destruction
The LORD provided a single plant during the day
As opposed to a large bush from a tiny seed
But a worm ate it through the night
And Jonah is incensed angry
Yet, it was the King of Nineveh who spread the five words far and wide
He did not hide it under a basket
The King scattered it everywhere
All kinds of soil
So much that the animals repented with the people
And the few words spoken (the seed) was like a mustard seed
The words grew up over the whole of the city of Nineveh
And it became like a large shade tree under which everyone could rest
And the whole city was overturned within forty days
They turned from wicked to good
What was the response of the disciples?
Jesus said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?”
The second Jesus warned you about parables you should have been on the lookout for a trap!
More importantly, you have the wisdom, the words of God that you can scatter.
So the question becomes:
Are you in the boat in a storm and scared?
Are you still trying to figure out who Jesus is?
We call that Christology…
Or are you out scattering seed?
Mark 4 (Hiding Words)
Mark 4 (Hiding Words)