Mark 4 Notes

The verb “to hear” akouo is mentioned 13x in this chapter.

Crowd literally standing on the soil — greek (ge)

The sower sows liberally, but the emphasis is not on his failure, but his success. See Isa. 55 -

Jesus is the sower — a metaphor for God’s work in the OT Jer.31; Ezek 36; Hos 2; Ezra 8-9

Jesus came to preach See Mk. 1:38

“And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”” (Mark 1:38, ESV)

Parable of The Sower

“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. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 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. 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. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”” (Mark 4:1–9, ESV)

Mark says that it is the key to understanding the other parables (Mk. 4:13) — “And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13, ESV)

What is the reason for parables? Is Jesus trying to trick anyone? No, the parables expose people’s hearts. To those who don’t understand, they can still hear the words and they can see the word pictures. They can even see the Word made flesh Himself, but they can’t understand because of their hearts.

It’s like an exam. The teacher isn’t trying to trick you in most cases, they are testing you. There are rewards for being ready and there are demerits for not being ready. They are exposing what is already there or not there.

What is being tested is not our IQ, it’s our heart. They don’t have a thick head, they have a hard heart. And consequently, what you love greatly affects the way you think, just as the way you think affects what you love. If you love your pride, and self, and addiction, and bitterness, and lust, and money, and gossip, your thinking will go right along with it. You won’t be able to understand grace, submission, worship, church membership, sanctification, prayer, repentance, etc. And if you love God’s word and love His ways, your thinking begins to change with it. You can take a marvelously complex idea like God’s sovereign election and understand it simply. Why? Because it has happened to you. You have experienced God’s grace and has made a complex theological equation as plain as day to your mind. Like the blind man when He was asked what happened, he said, “I don’t know. I was blind, but now I see.”

Parable itself

Walk through soils:

Breaking Down The Parable

Jesus’ explanation teaches the disciples why it is that some people cannot see or hear or understand the kingdom.

For some, it is as if the seed of God’s word falls along the path and gets snatched up by Satan. We know that he is the father of lies. I have heard people say many times that they simply cannot come to God because He wouldn’t accept them or get along with them. But that’s a lie. Many people have a false perception of God’s love and mercy and His character. “Did God really say,” said the serpent in the garden.

For others, the seed is sown on rocky ground. They are shallow. The seed seems to sprout up quickly, but it soon dies away. There is great optimism and joy over what a relationship with God might bring to them (community, grace, hope, joy, etc.) but when that relationship with God brings any difficulty or discomfort, they fall away. Many people followed Jesus while He was giving away free bread, but few would follow Him to the grave. As Jesus teaches, a servant isn’t to expect that He shall be greater than his master. If Jesus was treated such, so should His disciples prepare to be treated.

For others, the seed of God’s word grows in thorny ground. It grows and takes root, but it is always fighting and being choked out by other loves. The cares of the world and the love of money, we are told, are things that choke this seed down. Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and money. This was embodied by the Pharisees who knew their Bibles forwards and backwards but who also loved prominence and extortion and gain. Their backwards heart created backwards minds — they couldn’t recognize that God was standing right in front of them, even though they had studied about Him relentlessly. The seed is there, but it produces no fruit.

For others, the seed falls on good ground and produces fruit. And not a regular harvest but a truly spectacular and miraculous harvest. God’s word in them makes them salt and light, the land of Goshen, a clear and mighty display of God’s grace.

So, we can apply this to ourselves and reflect on our own hearts. What is there that is preventing a harvest? Where can we repent or pray for change? I do believe that this parable has explanatory power regarding our hearts, but the central point, I believe, is something else.

There is a trend that I see in some commentary and sermons on this text to call this parable the parable of the soils or the parable of the seeds.

Now, if by that they mean that in Jesus’ explanation of the parable he primarily focuses his interpretation on the types of soils, then I understand. But if you take the soils as the main focus, you might misunderstand the parable.

If it’s about the soils, it explains why God’s word is rejected, but it can also lead to anxious introspection trying to determine if we are the right soils and what we need to do to become the right soil. It might lead us to think that we need to do something or become something before God would bless us and redeem us. But if the parable is about the Sower, then the differing soils is still explanatory (a diagnosis), but we also see the glory of the Sower’s grace (the curative). He is the one who prepares the ground. He is the one being rejected by the bad soil. The parable is about Him.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:25–27, ESV)

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6, ESV)

What if we make the seed the central focus? We may conclude that some people are not worthy of the seed, that it is foolish to plant among such hard soil, but that would be to determine for ourselves who is worthy of the grace of the Sower. A better understanding would be that we should scatter the seed broadly. The word of God should fall indiscriminately among any that God puts under our ministry and care. We can take courage in this action by keeping the focus of the parable on the Sower who is the one who gives the growth.

The soil might be hard, and Satan might come to snatch the seed away, but God’s word can protect the seed. God’s word can bring truth that drowns out and exposes the lie. God’s word and till the soil.

The soil might be shallow, but God’s word can give the heart depth. It can take the man who prizes comfort and security and make him into the man who says “to live is Christ and to die is gain”. The word can rearrange priorities and affections and cause a man to sell all of his possessions to buy the treasure buried in the field.

The soil may be choked up with thorns, but the word of God can clear the thicket. It can take a Pharisee of the Pharisees and make him into a man who would give anything and endure anything if it meant that they would know the love of God. It would cause Zaccheus to say “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house…” (Luke 19:8–9, ESV)

This is why we preach. The soils might be in many differing states of preparedness, but the Sower can make it right. The soils might explain to us what is going on, but they are not the last word. By God’s grace, we all who were not ready or able to bear fruit have been recipients of God’s grace.

Mark for You The Purpose of the Parables

Why is the kingdom of God not immediately obvious to everyone? Verse 12 gives the answer. All the hearers will see and hear, but only the insiders will perceive and understand. That is the point of quoting Isaiah 6.

The division of people into insiders and outsiders is not an unintended consequence of the parables but their very purpose. The phrase “so that” signals an intent, not just a result (v 12). Jesus knows what he is doing. He is fulfilling Isaiah 6:9–10:

“They may indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:12)

Mark for You The Meaning of the Parable

The disciples are different. There is a fourth type of heart. The word will win over the things of this world in the hearts of true followers of Christ. The fourth type of hearer hears the word and accepts it. The language changes here to a present tense conveying a continuous process: it could be translated “the ones who are hearing the word, accepting the word, and bearing fruit” (v 20). These three things basically define what a disciple is.

Interpretive issues:

Mark for You Part Three

One perplexing issue is that of why Jesus would not want people to turn and be forgiven (v 12). Jesus uses a negative purpose statement meaning “in order that something would not happen.” We use these types of statements in everyday language when trying to avoid an unwanted result: “I am not going to speed so that I don’t get a speeding ticket.” But why would Jesus not want people to turn and receive forgiveness? The answer is that he is turning some people over to judgment.

Isaiah 6:9–10 shows up at least four other times in the New Testament with this same sense (Matthew 13:14–15; Luke 8:10; John 12:39–40; Acts 28:26–27). That is why the context of Isaiah 6 is so important. God declared judgment upon Israel for their idolatry. Why the reference to ears and eyes that don’t hear or see? God was communicating that this was poetic justice. They had become as blind and deaf and mute as the idols they worshipped (Isaiah 44:18–20). The psalmist gives the same warning:

“Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:4–8)

The Lord had handed them over to this: “They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand” (Isaiah 44:18; see 29:10).

outsiders can be insiders, that’s the call to preach. The repeated word and theme in this section is hear. Listen as questions listen again See understand Look again.

The disciples were not more special than the others in the crowd, but they did ask questions and follow Christ. This is a divine grace, but it also exposes the hearts of the crowd. They were indifferent.

Mark Bridging Contexts

the parables’ purpose to hide the truth from those who are spiritually calcified. Parables are not homely stories for sluggish minds or visual aids designed to illustrate a simple point. As a didactic method, they are “the opposite of prosaic, propositional teaching.” The teaching is indirect and requires an investment of imagination and thought to seek their meaning for us. If one refuses to make that investment, then one will find no meaning in Jesus’ parables.

Mark Bridging Contexts

The only way parables can be understood at the deepest level is for one to dare to become involved in their world, to be willing to risk seeing God with new eyes, and to allow that vision to transform one’s being. Parables do not always make something obscure clearer by using vivid picture language. On the contrary, they may only befuddle. If one is blasé and takes no interest in what they might mean or in the one who speaks them, or if one refuses to make any decision until all the facts are in, one will remain in a fog.

It’s not that they wanted to become insiders but the door was locked. They were indifferent.

The Isaiah passage could read “So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may in deed hear but not understand; because the last thing they want to is to turn and have their sins forgiven”

— B. Hollenbach “Lest They Should Turn Again and Be forgiven: Irony”

2. Parables Reveal and Judge

Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9–10, a foundational OT text about prophetic ministry: “They may see but not perceive… lest they turn and be forgiven.”

This introduces the concept of judicial hardening—where God gives people over to their rebellion by confirming their blindness. The parables are a mercy to the humble, but a judgment to the hard-hearted.

3. Judicial Hardening: What It Is (and Isn’t)

Definition: Judicial hardening is when God, in righteous judgment, withholds further light and allows people to remain in (or be further hardened by) their own unbelief. It is not capricious or unfair—it is justice after rejection.

Biblical Examples:

· Pharaoh (Exodus 7–14) - God hardened his heart after Pharaoh hardened his own (Ex. 8:15, 32). God confirmed Pharaoh in what he had chosen.

· Isaiah’s Audience (Isaiah 6:9–10) - God commissions Isaiah not merely to preach, but to be a means of hardening to a rebellious people.

· Jesus’ Opponents - In Mark 3, the scribes have already attributed the Spirit’s work to Satan. They are not innocent seekers. The parables now serve to seal their posture.

· Romans 1:24–28 – “God gave them up…” - Paul uses this language three times. When men suppress truth, God does not violate their will—He lets it run to its natural conclusion.

· Romans 11:7–8 – “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened… God gave them a spirit of stupor…”

WLC Q.68–69: “God may, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, for the punishment of sin… give them up to their own lusts, and deny them His grace.”

4. Why This is Not Inconsistent with God’s Character

God owes grace to no one.

· If God left all sinners in their blindness, He would still be just.

· The fact that He opens the eyes of anyone is sheer mercy.

· Romans 9:15 – “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy…”

God’s hardening is reactive, not arbitrary.

· He hardens those who persistently resist (cf. Pharaoh, scribes).

· Mark 4 is not the beginning of rejection—it is the judgment that follows rejection.

· God’s judgment reveals His holiness.

· Just as the Word gives life to the humble, it exposes and condemns the proud.

· The same sun that softens wax also hardens clay.

5. Application and Teaching Emphasis

· If you want to understand Jesus’ teaching, that’s already evidence that you are not being hardened.

· The parables are not puzzles to decode—they are spiritual mirrors. Some will look and walk away. Others will look and be changed.

· True disciples are those who stay close, ask questions, and receive understanding through fellowship with Christ (v.10).

Ferguson: “Parables demand faith. They expose the posture of the heart. Those who stay outside remain blind—not because Jesus was unclear, but because they were unwilling to come inside.”

💬 WLC Q.68–69: God may withhold grace, giving people up to their own blindness—not unjustly, but as righteous judgment.

Mark 4:13–20 — The Explanation (~10 minutes or save for next week)

Goal: Walk through Jesus’ interpretation of the parable.

Each soil represents a type of hearer.

Path – hardened, immediate loss. Rocky – impulsive joy, no root, falls away under pressure. Thorny – distracted by worldly concerns. Good – hears, accepts, and bears fruit (only this one is saved).

Connection back to Mark 3. The crowd, family, and scribes were all soils—only the disciples “inside” are beginning to understand.

Purpose of The Parables

“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 listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”” (Mark 4:10–12, NRSV)

Mark for You Part Three

The right response to Jesus’ words is not resignation and fatalism. The good news of the gospel goes out into all the world. The only way that any hearts will receive it is if the Lord opens people’s hearts as he did for Lydia (Acts 16:14). If he has opened your heart, then receive the word today. Have you heard his voice through his word? Receive it with haste. Do not push it away or put it off. The Bible speaks today and says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).

If you are a Christian, the Bible’s message is full of hope and help. That is why Jesus keeps referring to “ears to hear” (Mark 4:9). If you have been given ears to hear, then use them! God does not see for us or believe for us or hear for us or obey for us, but he does do the decisive work that enables us to see or believe or hear or obey. Once he fixed our broken eyes and ears and hearts, then he says, I have given you new eyes; use them.

The right type of hearing is in the sense of the active participle — active and ongoing

“The good hearer welcomes the word immediately so that it cannot be snath

“The good hearer welcomes the word immediately so that it cannot be snatched away by Satan. The good hearer welcomes it deeply so that it is not withered by persecution. The good hearer welcomes it exclusively so that other concerns do not strangle it. As the seed fails in three different ways in the bad soils, it succeeds in three different ways in good soil; but the parable and interpretation do not expand on the reasons for this varying success.”

David E. Garland, Mark, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 164.

Lamp Under a Basket

“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? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 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. 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.”” (Mark 4:21–25, ESV)

The lamp is Jesus

Mark for You The Lamp and the Measure

Jesus’ opponents (and even his family) want to limit his influence. In effect, they want to hide him under a basket or a bed. But the light of the world has come into the darkness in order to occupy an elevated place and spread the light.

The preaching of Jesus brings the hidden things into the light. The light will expose what is hidden in darkness, and it will also reveal the children of light. The family of God has the gift of ears that hear (v 23).

The flip side of this command is a warning. The disciples are to use care in how they hear. The measure they use for listening will be like a boomerang and come back upon them. If someone listens well and receives the truth, they will receive even more (v 24–25). If someone listens poorly and rejects or shows no interest in the truth, even the little they have will be taken from them (v 25). The parable of the sower has given an example of this principle: Satan snatches away the seed that is given to those with hard hearts (v 15).

Mark The Parable of the Lamp (4:21–23)

God’s glory is revealed indirectly in disarming ways through riddling parables, weakness, suffering, and death. The mystery of the relationship of Jesus to God’s reign will become clearer after his death on the cross and his resurrection—after his earthly ministry—but even then it will go unrecognized by those who grope in their own darkness. Many will remain clueless until the end because their eyes have been blinded by the dazzle of this world’s fond hopes and because their ears have been deafened by the din of this present evil age.

Parable of Seed Growing

“And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”” (Mark 4:26–29, ESV)

The first parable focuses on the hidden power of the seed and the process of growth. Even though it looks as if nothing is happening for a long time (it is hidden and under the surface), the miracle of growth is happening (v 27). The seed has the power to be productive even while we sleep or rise. The earth produces fruit “by itself” (v 28). All the farmer does is harvest it (v 29).

This teaching would shatter misconceptions about the kingdom. No one had imagined that the coming of the kingdom would be hidden and happen under the surface. People expected it to be big and obvious and overpowering. They also expected it to come as a result of their hard work of obedience to God. But in fact it is God himself who brings the growth.

Jason Meyer, Mark for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2022), 78.

Parable of The Mustard Seed

“And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 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.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.” (Mark 4:30–34, ESV)

Mark for You The Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed

The second parable (v 30–32) is also surprising. Jesus compares the kingdom to a small seed. No one had expected that the kingdom of God would look so feeble at first. But the point of the parable is that the kingdom has a deceptively small beginning but an epic ending. This text almost certainly contains an allusion to Ezekiel 17:22–24, where God promises to plant a tree. That promise features a reversal of expectations. Rather than starting with a lofty cedar tree, God is going to begin with a tender twig.

“Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”” (Ezekiel 17:22–24, ESV)

Mark for You The Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed

Christ came the first time in such a hidden way. He was born in a manger, not a king’s palace. The first coming was deceptively small in his birth and death. But he rose from the dead. He ascended to the throne of the Majesty on high. He sent the Spirit to continue his work in the world. He will come again on the clouds of heaven with all the angels as the reapers at the final harvest. That second coming will be big and obvious and overpowering.

This (above), too, is a kind of parable

Mark The Parable of the Seed Cast on the Earth (4:26–29)

Both parables address the deceptive insignificance of the coming of the kingdom before its final manifestation. God’s purposes will be fulfilled in God’s way, and God entrusts the secrets of those purposes only to those who are willing to trust him despite unpromising appearances. Can one believe that the kingdom of God advances through ignominy, through defeat, through crucifixion? Can one believe that Jesus of Nazareth, who was hanged on a tree, is indeed the judge of the living and the dead (see Acts 10:38–43)?

Notice the images used by Jesus, not grandiose but lowly and vulnerable — humble. What is our work like?

It looks like the foolishness to the world’s eye. 1 Cor. 1:18

Jesus Calms The Storm

“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. 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?”” (Mark 4:35–41, ESV)

Insider vs. outsider

This was a physical storm, not merely spiritual metaphor. Yet it shows that

“Jesus is shown to possess power to still outward storms that threaten life and to still the inward storms of torment and grief that threaten our souls”

David E. Garland, Mark, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 189.

Jesus looks indifferent, disciples ask in confusion, “don’t you care? We thought you did.”

Those most open to receiving Jesus’ power in their lives are those who recognize their own desperate need of it. Those who are not open to his power are no less desperate but have convinced themselves that they do not need it.

David E. Garland, Mark, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 190.

Hopelessness is the path to hope — Paul Tripp

“There is bitter irony that these same disciples will go to sleep on him in his hour of terror in Gethsemane, unmoved by his pleas for them to watch and pray with him” (14:37, 40–41) — David E. Garland, Mark, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 191.

Sleep and faith:

“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.” (Psalm 3:5, ESV)

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8, ESV)

“Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” (Proverbs 3:23–26, ESV)

“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” (Psalm 3:5–6, ESV)

Jesus is God — a retelling of Psalm 107

“Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,” (Psalm 107:23–33, ESV)

Jesus is God — the object of their faith

Jesus doesn’t appeal to God to stop the storm; He does it. Jesus is God.

Their fear turns from the storm to Christ — that’s the right direction

“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 4:41, ESV)

We don’t have a confession of faith yet, that is coming later. But the disciples are beginning to put the dots together that Jesus is more than the Messiah.

WE are not always delivered form the storm but we are saved/delivered through the storms.

Jesus has won the battle against the strong man.

End with this:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31–39, ESV)