6
A New Teaching Tool
Mark 4:1-25
As we begin chapter four we find that the crowds are still present and surrounding Jesus. But Jesus is doing something different. He has chosen 12 apostles and it is necessary to give them special training for ministry. That is difficult to do when the crowds of people need to hear the basics. This new method of teaching will be called using parables to teach advanced truth.
And as we read through this first parable we hope to discover what Jesus wanted to get across to His apostles, while at the same time giving the crowds a simple story that they also could benefit from.
4:1 ¶ And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4 “And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
5 “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
6 “But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
7 “And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 “But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him him hear.
Many of us would be familiar with the parable of the Sower and the Seed. It makes an interesting story in itself. I enjoyed hearing about it in Sunday School as a kid.
I remember the ‘hand-out’ paper that showed a person with a seed bag held to his side by a sling over one shoulder. He was walking over the field spreading seed by hand in a throwing motion. The person looked like Jesus as we pictured Him to be.
And now comes the advanced teaching for the Apostles.
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.
11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12 “so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
Verse 12 can be a bit tough for us to grasp. We must understand that there are reprobates in the crowd. Why are they present? Perhaps because of curiosity, but they come with their minds already made up. They are certain they can learn nothing from this teacher, but, nonetheless they are curious. It is not that God does not want them to hear. But because they already do not want to hear, God does not have anything for them. In our era the Holy Spirit is here to convince and convict the world of sin, righteousness and of judgment to come. Prior to Pentecost Jesus was that convicting force. If a listener already decided they had nothing to learn from Jesus, especially after witnessing miracles they know are of God, they are rejected by God. But in all fairness we cannot judge the final outcome of the fate of these people. We do not know if, in time, their hearts also would become softened and the goodness of God would at that time lead them to repentance.
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
Those of us disciples who want to ‘grow in grace’ must begin with realizing, acknowledging …”There certainly are many things about scripture I do not know”. This is a statement of a good disciple and this is opposed to the attitude which says, “I am quite ok. I have read the bible through more than once.”
This first parable is actually quite simple when we think of it in relation to parables that are about to follow this one. There will be parables to show God turning away from Israel and turning to the gentiles. Those would have been extremely hard for a Jew to understand let alone accept.
This parable and the ones following have been called The Kingdom Parables. The Kingdom of God was a major emphasis in the teaching of Jesus. We read in Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, …”
These are Jesus’ words. He is clearly saying that a change in focus, scope and method is taking place at that very moment during His personal ministry on earth. As Jesus preached and taught, He used the phrase, ‘kingdom of God’, repeatedly.
Mark 1:14 ¶ … Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
We are going to come across this phrase fifteen times in the Gospel of Mark.
The Kingdom of God is a prominent part of God’s eternal purposes.
There are several aspects to God’s kingdom. In one sense, His kingdom is eternal. God is the King of Heaven and all His created universe.
From our perspective the kingdom involves us in two ways. For one, it is something that is coming to earth soon. We pray for His Kingdom to come to earth as we pray according to the model prayer that He gave us.
And for two, it is something that people can become a part of now.
He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20b–21)
The phrase, ‘in your midst’, or actually the word ‘midst’ that is used here is a word used only twice in the original Greek New Testament. The other use of the word refers to the inside of a cup. So we could say, the Kingdom of God is within you. Or we are in it.
The kingdom for which we pray will, in fact, come with observable signs. So as we read the Kingdom parables, we must be careful to discern which aspect of the Kingdom is being illustrated.
Continuing in Mark,
14 “The sower sows the word. Part of that is clear. We are reading about the spread of the gospel. One part is not defined and that is, is Jesus the sower or is the sower other believers?
15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Alberta, Canada, is farm country and throughout the years a lot of seeds have been sown. A farmer reading the words of this parable could have thoughts like this:
"How much seed fell on the wayside? The sower, he needs to be more careful where he is throwing the seed.
And he is throwing seed on rocky soil? Those rocks need to be removed!"
"Why did he not treat the thorny weed-infested ground with a good tilling/summer fallow for a year before sowing seed there? (Or use roundup first?)"
"The sower obviously needs to learn how, where and when to sow!"
And I believe that questions like these are supposed to be entering the minds of the disciples as they hear the parable of the sower.
What can we learn from this parable?
Sow the seed as properly as we can. Perhaps we cannot help the seed that falls on the wayside, where people are not ready for it at all, but we can take care to prepare the soil first.
For instance, regarding the seed that fell on stony ground we are told that these individuals received the word with joy but persecution came into their lives and changed everything. What should have been done by the sower? He should always present the gospel with its claims on us. We are dead. By accepting the gospel we recognise that He bought us with His blood. We are no longer owners of ourselves. As His children we are admonished to ‘take up our cross’ and follow Him. This is talking about persecution and even faithfulness unto death if necessary. The rocks in the soil represent false expectations that need to be removed.
The ones who received the seed on stony ground did not expect persecution. They were not forewarned. The sower did not do a complete job of presenting the gospel. He presented it as a ‘feel good gospel’ free of charge. He ‘dumbed down’ the gospel, so to speak.
We are counseled to tell others to count the cost before they too quickly say 'Yes'.
The ones who received the gospel in the weed infested soil, we are told, who are choked out by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. This is a serious North American problem. We are a society of those who want things, all kinds of things. We want to be well off. We want everything. And when the gospel asks them the question, Do you want everlasting life?, they don’t have to think twice. The answer is, 'Of course, yes. I want that too'.
Salvation was presented as a ‘name it and claim it' offer. Easy Believism has created thousands of pseudo believers all across the country.
The sower must prepare the soil. We must stop saying salvation is free … Jesus paid it all. That is only half true. The other half is, it costs us everything. He bought us. Salvation is not about what we are going to get. It is about the fact we are (were) already condemned when He found us. We thought we had a life and wanted to add more to it? We didn’t. We were dead and did not know it.
The soil must be prepared. We all play a part in that .
In this parable Jesus is showing us our part in growing the Kingdom
Mark has a parable coming up that illustrates God’s part in growing the Kingdom
And then another parable that illustrates the extent of the kingdom from the apostles' time and throughout the church age..
But next parables that add to the responsibilities entailed in our part of growing the Kingdom.
21. 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?
22. For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
Jesus is saying that although parables seem to be hiding the light, that is really not the purpose of them. The truth in them is to be taken in by the disciples and then put on a lampstand so that others in the group (church or small group) can benefit from that light. Jesus makes this especially clear in the following verses.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 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.
25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
To whom was Jesus saying these last statements? To the crowd, to anyone, to the disciples?
My view is that He was saying to the disciples, “You are the ones who are hearing my words, deciphering my parables for the purpose of being able to share them with others. You hear what I am saying? I want you to assimilate these truths into your lives before you transfer them to others. “
“If you listen well, learn well, more will be given to you. But if you listen and do not share what I am giving you, less will be given to you.”
This is Jesus' version of our saying, 'Practice what you preach'.
Mark has given us the parable of the sower first. This is a parable that clearly shows the important part that Jesus wants us to play in promoting the Kingdom of God.
Next time we begin by looking at a parable that shows God’s part in growth of the kingdom and we will also look at a parable that reveals the extent of God’s Kingdom
And as we read through this first parable we hope to discover what Jesus wanted to get across to His apostles, while at the same time giving the crowds a simple story that they also could benefit from.
4:1 ¶ And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4 “And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
5 “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
6 “But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
7 “And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 “But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him him hear.
Many of us would be familiar with the parable of the Sower and the Seed. It makes an interesting story in itself. I enjoyed hearing about it in Sunday School as a kid.
I remember the ‘hand-out’ paper that showed a person with a seed bag held to his side by a sling over one shoulder. He was walking over the field spreading seed by hand in a throwing motion. The person looked like Jesus as we pictured Him to be.
And now comes the advanced teaching for the Apostles.
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.
11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12 “so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
Verse 12 can be a bit tough for us to grasp. We must understand that there are reprobates in the crowd. Why are they present? Perhaps because of curiosity, but they come with their minds already made up. They are certain they can learn nothing from this teacher, but, nonetheless they are curious. It is not that God does not want them to hear. But because they already do not want to hear, God does not have anything for them. In our era the Holy Spirit is here to convince and convict the world of sin, righteousness and of judgment to come. Prior to Pentecost Jesus was that convicting force. If a listener already decided they had nothing to learn from Jesus, especially after witnessing miracles they know are of God, they are rejected by God. But in all fairness we cannot judge the final outcome of the fate of these people. We do not know if, in time, their hearts also would become softened and the goodness of God would at that time lead them to repentance.
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
Those of us disciples who want to ‘grow in grace’ must begin with realizing, acknowledging …”There certainly are many things about scripture I do not know”. This is a statement of a good disciple and this is opposed to the attitude which says, “I am quite ok. I have read the bible through more than once.”
This first parable is actually quite simple when we think of it in relation to parables that are about to follow this one. There will be parables to show God turning away from Israel and turning to the gentiles. Those would have been extremely hard for a Jew to understand let alone accept.
This parable and the ones following have been called The Kingdom Parables. The Kingdom of God was a major emphasis in the teaching of Jesus. We read in Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, …”
These are Jesus’ words. He is clearly saying that a change in focus, scope and method is taking place at that very moment during His personal ministry on earth. As Jesus preached and taught, He used the phrase, ‘kingdom of God’, repeatedly.
Mark 1:14 ¶ … Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
We are going to come across this phrase fifteen times in the Gospel of Mark.
The Kingdom of God is a prominent part of God’s eternal purposes.
There are several aspects to God’s kingdom. In one sense, His kingdom is eternal. God is the King of Heaven and all His created universe.
From our perspective the kingdom involves us in two ways. For one, it is something that is coming to earth soon. We pray for His Kingdom to come to earth as we pray according to the model prayer that He gave us.
And for two, it is something that people can become a part of now.
He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20b–21)
The phrase, ‘in your midst’, or actually the word ‘midst’ that is used here is a word used only twice in the original Greek New Testament. The other use of the word refers to the inside of a cup. So we could say, the Kingdom of God is within you. Or we are in it.
The kingdom for which we pray will, in fact, come with observable signs. So as we read the Kingdom parables, we must be careful to discern which aspect of the Kingdom is being illustrated.
Continuing in Mark,
14 “The sower sows the word. Part of that is clear. We are reading about the spread of the gospel. One part is not defined and that is, is Jesus the sower or is the sower other believers?
15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Alberta, Canada, is farm country and throughout the years a lot of seeds have been sown. A farmer reading the words of this parable could have thoughts like this:
"How much seed fell on the wayside? The sower, he needs to be more careful where he is throwing the seed.
And he is throwing seed on rocky soil? Those rocks need to be removed!"
"Why did he not treat the thorny weed-infested ground with a good tilling/summer fallow for a year before sowing seed there? (Or use roundup first?)"
"The sower obviously needs to learn how, where and when to sow!"
And I believe that questions like these are supposed to be entering the minds of the disciples as they hear the parable of the sower.
What can we learn from this parable?
Sow the seed as properly as we can. Perhaps we cannot help the seed that falls on the wayside, where people are not ready for it at all, but we can take care to prepare the soil first.
For instance, regarding the seed that fell on stony ground we are told that these individuals received the word with joy but persecution came into their lives and changed everything. What should have been done by the sower? He should always present the gospel with its claims on us. We are dead. By accepting the gospel we recognise that He bought us with His blood. We are no longer owners of ourselves. As His children we are admonished to ‘take up our cross’ and follow Him. This is talking about persecution and even faithfulness unto death if necessary. The rocks in the soil represent false expectations that need to be removed.
The ones who received the seed on stony ground did not expect persecution. They were not forewarned. The sower did not do a complete job of presenting the gospel. He presented it as a ‘feel good gospel’ free of charge. He ‘dumbed down’ the gospel, so to speak.
We are counseled to tell others to count the cost before they too quickly say 'Yes'.
The ones who received the gospel in the weed infested soil, we are told, who are choked out by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. This is a serious North American problem. We are a society of those who want things, all kinds of things. We want to be well off. We want everything. And when the gospel asks them the question, Do you want everlasting life?, they don’t have to think twice. The answer is, 'Of course, yes. I want that too'.
Salvation was presented as a ‘name it and claim it' offer. Easy Believism has created thousands of pseudo believers all across the country.
The sower must prepare the soil. We must stop saying salvation is free … Jesus paid it all. That is only half true. The other half is, it costs us everything. He bought us. Salvation is not about what we are going to get. It is about the fact we are (were) already condemned when He found us. We thought we had a life and wanted to add more to it? We didn’t. We were dead and did not know it.
The soil must be prepared. We all play a part in that .
In this parable Jesus is showing us our part in growing the Kingdom
Mark has a parable coming up that illustrates God’s part in growing the Kingdom
And then another parable that illustrates the extent of the kingdom from the apostles' time and throughout the church age..
But next parables that add to the responsibilities entailed in our part of growing the Kingdom.
21. 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?
22. For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
Jesus is saying that although parables seem to be hiding the light, that is really not the purpose of them. The truth in them is to be taken in by the disciples and then put on a lampstand so that others in the group (church or small group) can benefit from that light. Jesus makes this especially clear in the following verses.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 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.
25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
To whom was Jesus saying these last statements? To the crowd, to anyone, to the disciples?
My view is that He was saying to the disciples, “You are the ones who are hearing my words, deciphering my parables for the purpose of being able to share them with others. You hear what I am saying? I want you to assimilate these truths into your lives before you transfer them to others. “
“If you listen well, learn well, more will be given to you. But if you listen and do not share what I am giving you, less will be given to you.”
This is Jesus' version of our saying, 'Practice what you preach'.
Mark has given us the parable of the sower first. This is a parable that clearly shows the important part that Jesus wants us to play in promoting the Kingdom of God.
Next time we begin by looking at a parable that shows God’s part in growth of the kingdom and we will also look at a parable that reveals the extent of God’s Kingdom