The Parable Of The Soils (part 10)-Mark 4:1-20

Last Sunday morning in our journey through the Gospel according to Mark in the message entitled; Beyond The Point Of No Return, we looked at the Unforgivable Sin from Mark 3:22-30. In these verses we saw an encounter Jesus had with the Scribes and Pharisees. At the beginning we compared Jesus brothers feelings, that their older brother was crazy, with the scribes and Pharisees accusation that not only was He lying, but that the power He was displaying was not from God but from Satan. In comparing the 2, we discovered that Jesus brothers were operating with a Limited Understanding. They had likely only heard Him teach on one occasion, which almost cost Him His life, and there is no record they had seen any of His miracles. Based in their Limited Understanding, and the realization He was going without food, going without sleep, surrounded by crowds so large there was a danger of Him being crushed and His constant confrontations with religious and political leaders that had the power to have Him put to death, based on all of those things, they felt He must be crazy. The opposite was true for the scribers and Pharisees. They had personally witnessed miracle after miracle, had heard Him teach on many occasions, His knowledge and understanding of Scripture baffled them, they had asked Him multiple questions in an effort to discredit Him and make Him look foolish, and He answered everyone in such a way that they were the ones made to look foolish. They had a Complete Understanding that the Hand of the Almighty God was on Jesus and everything He did, yet still refused to acknowledge that He was the Messiah, because they understood that to do so they would follow Him and that would cost them too much. As a result, they concocted the theory that He was empowered by Satan. Jesus pointed out that this would be an impossibility, it would be like Satan fighting himself, a Logical Absurdity. Instead He gave evidence that He was overpowering Satan, that was a Logical Reality that could not be denied. Jesus went on to warn them that they were getting dangerously close to The Point of No Return, where it would be too late for them to turn to Jesus with a repentant heart.

During the time of Jesus public ministry, there was an unprecedented interest and longing for the Messiah to finally come onto the scene. The Nation of Israel had scarcely heard from God for well over 400 years, and about 6 months to 1 1/2 years before Jesus began His public ministry, John the Baptist came on to the scene declaring “after me One is coming Who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals...” The overwhelming feeling among most was, the Messiah would soon arrive. John the Baptist preached to upwards of 100,000 + which meant the expectations were very high. The problem was, the Nation of Israel had ignored many prophetic portions of Scripture. Their expectation was for a political leader to come, riding on a white horse to lead them into victory over the hated Roman Empire. They had ignored the prophecies that made it very clear that the Messiah would first come as a suffering Servant. Passages like Psalm 22:1-18, Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and Zechariah 12:10. As a result, when He came, once the crowds realized Jesus was not going to meet their faulty expectations, they began to abandon Him. That hadn’t happened yet in this mornings passage, but it was fast approaching.

In many ways, Jesus, in the parable we are looking at this morning, is preparing His disciples for the future, giving them a realistic picture that most that they would preach to would not turn to Jesus with repentant hearts, most would turn their backs on the life changing message they would bring.

With this as an introduction, would you please stand with me for the reading of God’s Word? We will be reading the first 9 verses of Mark 4 this morning. Next Slide

Mark 4:1–9 ESV

1 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.”

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word! Please be seated. Next Slide

Jesus Teaches From a Boat.

Where or what was Jesus sitting in when He taught in this mornings passage? _____________________

As we start this mornings passage, we see such a large crowd assembled that Jesus had to teach from a boat.

Cove of the Sower

Based on what we read earlier in chapter 3, we understand that had He not done so they crowd may very well have crushed Him.

Why was Jesus teaching from a boat? ___________________

As I mentioned in our introduction to the Gospel According to Mark, most of Mark is more of a narrative of what Jesus was doing than it was a declaration of what He was teaching. This morning we will be looking at one of the 2 areas in Mark where we see Jesus spending time teaching as opposed to hearing about what He was doing.

It had to be difficult for His disciples to understand how Jesus could accomplish so much, do so many miracles: healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, the mouths of the mute, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, displaying power over demons who fled at the sound of His voice, teaching with such authority; yet so few truly followed Him. Sure there were huge crowds, but it was obvious to them that the crowds were nothing more than thrill seekers following with a “what’s in it for me” mentality and that following was from a non-committed distance.

As Jesus dives into teaching in the form of a parable, He is opening their eyes to the truth that much of the crowd would turn a deaf ear to His teachings, and later on to their teaching the truth’s they had heard from Him. In fact, at the end of His earthly ministry, just 500 in Galilee and 120 in Jerusalem still followed Him closely. To do this, He tells them a parable, while many in the crowd would not understand the the truth’s He was teaching them in The Parable of the Soils, they would readily understand the picture He was painting.

What was the Name of the parable Jesus was teaching? ________________

He used an analogy from agriculture, which they knew well as farming was one of the largest industries in Israel at the time employing up to 90% of them. Virtually everyone had a good knowledge of agriculture.

As He taught, vivid pictures came to their minds. He began by saying; Next Slide

“Listen! Behold a sower went out to sow.” In their minds they pictured a farmer with a bag of seed tied to his waist, walking his field and rhythmically casting the seeds. While they may not have fully understood it at the time, we now know that the seed was a proper and powerful symbol of the Word of God. Next Slide

What did the seed represent? ______________

The Soil On The Path.

Where did the first seed fall? _______________

Along with that picture, they easily pictured what happened to the seed that was scattered, they understood because most had either experienced it themselves or they had witnessed it. We learned a few weeks ago that the way farm fields were set up in Israel, there were multiple paths criss crossing the fields. As people used the paths, the dirt became packed down, so much so that the seeds just rested on the top. So, when Jesus said; Next Slide

“And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path”

they likely nodded their heads in agreement. They understood that the way things were done in those days is that the farmer would first scatter the seed, then go back and prepare the soil, plowing by hand or with an animal. But they didn’t do any of that work on the paths, they just left them be. As a result; Next Slide

“the birds came and devoured it.”

Again, they had seen this take place countless times.

When Pam and I bought our home in Kansas City, our yard at the beginning was pretty much nothing but weeds. Our first spring there I did my best to plan a ton of grass seed. Within a couple hours of planting the grass seed, there were birds everywhere, thoroughly enjoying the tasty seeds I had planted! By the fall I had discovered this cool machine called a “Verta-Slicer”. On the front of the “Verta-Slicer” there was a drop spreader. I would fill the drop spreader with grass seed and right after it was dropped onto the soil, the “Verta-Slicer” not only sliced into the soil, but it also pushed the seed down below the surface where the birds couldn’t get to it. While I wasn’t planting on a path our first spring, the way I was planting the seeds stayed on top where the birds could easily swoop down and eat it. The farmers in Galilee didn’t have “Verta-Slicer” to help them on the paths!

Moving on, Jesus continued; Next Slide

“Other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil”

Here we see Jesus move on to the:Next Slide

The Rocky Soil.

Where did the second seed fall? ______________

His listeners were very familiar with the rocky soil in Israel. They knew that farmers would traverse the land they would be planting on in advance to remove all of the rocks that were visible, but that for every rock that was visible, there was several just under the soil that you couldn’t see. So, they pretty much knew what He would say next; Next Slide

“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.”

They understood that it sprang up quickly because a healthy plant grows down before it grows up. Healthy plants have a strong root system, so before they make their appearance above the soil, they penetrate as deeply as is necessary to be strong, and after that they make their appearance. But in the instance of seeds falling on the soil with rocks hidden just below the surface, there was virtually no room for a root system, so the seeds quickly sprouted above the surface. But because there was no real root system, these plants were quickly scorched by the hot sun and withered and died.

The week before last, Pam and I, well mostly Pam! Well we got a good picture of this. Close to a corn field that borders the parsonage and our neighbor to the east, there was a place that was an eye-sore. Overgrown with weeds, nothing worthwhile would grow there. Pam decided she wanted to plant a rock garden there and received clearance from our neighbor to plant. The first thing she did was to remove all of the weeds. Of course that was a big job, but then got her shovel and began to prepare the soil. Guess what she found out very quickly? Just under the surface of the soil was rocks, probably close to 200 rocks. We found out that home owners and farmers in the area work in many ways like the farmers did in Jesus day. They prepare to soil for planting, whether it be for produce or for grass. In their preparations, they haul rocks to the back corner of the property. That’s the corner Pam was wanting to make into a rock garden, emphasis on the word rock! Before she could plant she had to move all of those rocks. She loaded them into our wheel barrel and I then hauled them to a different back corner to dump! Pam and I now have a better understanding of what Jesus was talking about here! The only thing that grows well near rocks is weeds!

Jesus moves to the next soil when He said: Next Slide

“Other seed fell among thorns”

We see here that Jesus next talked about: Next Slide

The Thorny Soil.

Where did the third seed fall? _________________

In Ancient Israel, in some ways similar to rocky soil, oftentimes there are hidden thorns just beneath the surface of the soil. This is especially common near the criss cross paths. This ground looked good, like it was ready to really produce a good crop, but as the crops were watered, along with the crops came up thorns. Thorns are generally really invasive, they just kind of take over. They overwhelm the good seed and suck all the moisture and nourishment away from the planted crops, pretty soon all you see is thorn bushes. Everyone present there that day understood the picture Jesus was painting. Heads nodded, perhaps a few commented, “Don’t you hate it when that happens!” This was a reality they were all too familiar with! So much so that they may have even spoke with Jesus when He went on to say: Next Slide

“and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.”

They had a “Been there, done that.” Reaction!

As most of you know, Pam and I spent 5 years on the southern Oregon Coast. It didn’t take long for us once we moved there for us to see yellow flowering bushes all over the place. At first they looked somewhat pretty to us, but we soon found out the locals hated them. They called them “Scottish brooms” They were brought over from the British isles in the 1800’s. Initially they were only planted on the east coast, but by the 1900’s they made there way to Oregon. Well the climate in Oregon was ideal for the “Scottish brooms” because of the mild winters, and they soon went wild. So wild that they took over the landscape. Along with the yellow flowers they also have a lot of thorns and have almost an oily surface which means they provide dangerous fuel for wildfires. Wherever “Scottish brooms” grows, virtually northing else grows. This very much what Jesus audience was experiencing when their seeds fell among the thorns.

From the 3 bad soils, Jesus moves on. In verse 8 we read; Next Slide

Mark 4:8 ESV

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Finally Jesus moves on to talk about:

The Good Soil.

What was the fourth soil? _______________

The soil Jesus moves to next isn’t hard packed like the paths, it wasn’t shallow like the soil that had a bedrock just under the surface and it wasn’t weed infested like the thorny soil. This soil was soft and deep. Next Slide

Happiness Farms

I don’t have a ton of experience with farming, but I did spend the summer of 1976 working on my Uncle Danny’s farm in Florida. He grows caladiums. In fact he has the largest caladium farm in the world. I discovered something that summer, now I don’t know if this is the case everywhere, but at least there I found out that really good soil had a distinct smell to it. I am guessing it is the nutrients that just flourish in good soil.

I wonder if when Jesus started talking about this good soil, if those listening there that day breathed in a little deeper, imagining the beautiful smell of good soil loaded with the nutrients that crops grow like crazy in. Chances are smiles spread across most faces in the crowd there that day. But as Jesus went on in this illustration, the faces changed from smiles to....well let’s just say their jaws dropped. You see Jesus went on to say; Next Slide

“yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

You see, in ancient Israel, farmers could usually expect a 6-8 fold crop yield. A crop that yielded 10 fold would have been well above average. When Jesus spoke of crops that produced thirty, sixty or a hundred fold, His listeners would have been stunned. They would have quickly understood this could have only come from the Hand of God. In fact many in the audience may have immediately thought of the only time in the Old Testament when someone had this type of crop yield. The account is found in Genesis 26:12 and this account, Isaac was just getting ready to head down to Egypt because the land there was experiencing a great famine. He made it to the land of the Philistines and there the Lord appeared to him and told him not to go down to Egypt, promising that if he stayed in the land he was in that God would bless him. Isaac obeyed God and as a result, when most of the land was experiencing a famine, we read in Genesis 26:12 Next Slide

Genesis 26:12 ESV

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him,

Jesus listeners understood that yields the size Jesus was referring to could only come from the Hand of God Almighty. I’m sure the thought intrigued them greatly.

But to be honest with you, practically no one present there that day had a clue what Jesus was illustrating in this parable, even most of His disciples. Which is why He ended the parable with the statement we see in verse 9: Next Slide

Mark 4:9 ESV

9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Do you recall Jesus confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees last week? We ended looking at Jesus warning to them about how dangerously close they were to committing the “Unforgivable Sin”. They had all watched Jesus closely, they had seen enough to make it abundantly clear that He was empowered by God, Himself, in fact that He was God in the flesh. But they refused to believe knowing that if they acknowledged that God was at work, they would have to surrender to Him fully. In there eyes the cost was too high; power, prestige, money, were all dependent upon them holding onto their positions. By that time most had moved beyond The Point of No Return. After that, to a very large degree, Jesus changed how He taught. He now taught in parables. Remember the definition of parables we looked at last week? “To lay alongside”. In other words it is an illustration laid alongside a Biblical truth that makes the message clearer. Well many of the parables Jesus told, including this one, weren’t laid alongside some Biblical truth. They were just stories and nothing else. In fact, as we will look at in more detail next Sunday, they were purposely designed to keep the vast majority in the dark as to the true meaning. Because most there, and not just the scribes and Pharisees, had moved beyond The Point of No Return. As a result, when Jesus said “He who has ears let him hear.” The ears He was referring to were spiritual ears and most there were anatomically lacking spiritual ears, without spiritual ears they had no way of hearing.

Going back to the parable Jesus had just told them, most there fell into the three bad soils; the Soil on the Path, the Rocky Soil or the Thorny Soil. The only way they would ever be able to hear what He was teaching them was if they put effort into preparing the soil of their hearts. Until that time His parable would....well they would fall on deaf ears....or I guess you could say on no ears at all.

We will look more at this as well as His explanation next Sunday. But as we close out this morning the question we all need to ask ourselves is: