Mark 4

Parable of the Sower and Soils (1-12)

Mark 4:1–12 NASB95

He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”

Parables

Jesus taught using parables, however, those are not always one genre

proverb

comparison

allegory

riddle

fable

taunt

Some of Jesus’ parables take on different forms.

Mark 10. The Parable Discourse (4:1–34)

the predominant use is to refer to a story from nature or human life to illustrate spiritual truth. Whether there is one point of comparison or several must be determined from each parable. Common sense must play a large role in such determination.

The parables in Mark 4 tell what the kingdom of God is like.

When Jesus teaches a parable, He is not opening up “Chicken Soup for the Soul” or a fortune cookie but a window to the hidden heavenlies.

The Soils

Jesus is now using the boat as a pulpit instead of a means of escape.

Apparently, Mark is only giving us a few of the parables Jesus used

Jesus tells the people to listen, and this parable was included in all of the synoptics

synoptic-to see with the same eye

Matthew, Mark, Luke

Have much of the same information but viewed through different lenses.

All of these facts underscore the importance this parable.

In ancient Palestine, they scattered the seed on the ground and then plowed it under.

The unusual element in this parable is the superabundant harvest

The elements

The Sower-who?

The seed- the gospel

The soils-the hearts of the hearers

The Disciples vs. The outsiders

Both groups were confronted by Jesus and His message

The Disciples were enabled by God to understand the message, the outsiders were not

The secret of the parables was that in Jesus, God’s rule has come into human experience in a spiritual form

The disciples believed in Jesus even though they didn’t fully understand

Those blinded by unbelief rejected Jesus and saw Him as a threat.

Jesus quotes

Jeremiah 5:21 NASB95

‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.

The Meaning

Mark 4:13–20 NASB95

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? “The sower sows the word. “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

It’s important to note

The emphasis is not on the seeds but on the soil

The main thing is the abundant harvest—unexpected

Symbols

Birds-instruments of Satan

Somewhat consistent in parables

Main Points

Superabundant harvest despite setback, loss, rejection

This should encourage Christians that God’s kingdom will come despite these things

This should encourage us in our sharing—we don’t control the outcome

This parable is universal to all Christians in all centuries

The Purpose of Parables

He begins this discussion in 10-12

Mark 4:10–12 NASB95

As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”

He continues it in

Mark 4:21–25 NASB95

And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

The word mystery in v. 11 is only found in this story in the gospels (all synoptics)

Paul uses it 21 times

Mark (2) The Purpose of Parables (4:10–12, 21–25)

a truth that was not known in the past, that cannot be known apart from divine revelation, and that has recently been revealed by God.

the secret or “revealed truth” is that the kingdom of God has drawn near in Jesus Christ

We understand it like this—Isaiah prophesied, knowing that they wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t understand, and wouldn’t repent

Jesus taught knowing the same things about His words

Most people didn’t get it

Even with the miracles

So while the parables do veil the truth, they also provoke thought and discussion

21-25 are various sayings of Jesus that help us understand the purpose of parables more fully—how do they reveal truth?

v. 21-Jesus and the kingdom didn’t come to be hidden, but to be made known…Jesus says the parables do this

Things that were hidden—the truth about Jesus—were hidden to be revealed at this time

Just as things about our future are hidden to us to be revealed later

Even the truth about Jesus wasn’t fully known until after His resurrection

v. 25—if you want to know, you will known

Jeremiah 29:13 NASB95

‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

God wants to be found by us as we seek

The Spontaneous Seed

Mark 4:26–29 NASB95

And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Emphasizes that we don’t have control over the results of sowing

There will be a harvest

The Mustard Seed

Mark 4:30–32 NASB95

And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

Is this a positive or a negative?

Either this is the ultimate end of the spread of the gospel

That from one tiny seed the tree grows

The beginning and the end of sharing the message

Negative—growth that is unhealthy with a consistent image of the birds

Conclusion

Mark 4:33–34 NASB95

With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

We don’t have all of the teachings of Jesus—just a small selection

John 20:30–31 NASB95

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Mark seemed to believe that those who were hostile to Jesus’ teachings would be unable to understand what He was saying.

Miracle Stories

Miracles reveal Jesus’ power as the Son of God. They give authority to His words. **Think about the paralytic in chapter 2

Mark 2:9–11 NASB95

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”

Mark now gives us a collection of these stories.

The Stilling of the Storm

Mark 4:35–41 NASB95

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself 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 got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

This miracle establishes that Jesus is the Lord of Nature as much as He is Lord of people

As the storm comes up, Jesus is sleeping

tired from ministry—He was human

fully confident in God—the storm doesn’t scare Him

The disciples’ response

Mark (1) The Stilling of the Storm (4:35–41)

Teacher, are we to drown, for all you care?

4. After all they’d seen, the disciples still didn’t have faith

5. Fear is show here as a lack of faith

6. The disciples still seem to have no idea who Jesus is

Mark 4:41 NASB95

They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

7. How do people experience all that Jesus does, has done, is doing, and still don’t understand who He is?

8. What does this say to us as believers about faith?

Mark (1) The Stilling of the Storm (4:35–41)

The entire story reassured the believers who had already experienced popular abuse and were facing the prospect of official persecution. Although Jesus may not always appear to be present or to care, he will deliver his people who are in various kinds of trouble. Therefore his disciples should never doubt