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The Parable of the Sower
4 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.”
The Purpose of the Parables
And when he was alone, those around him 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 is in parables, so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along 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: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
A 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.”
The Parable of the 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.”
The 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.
Jesus Calms a 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?”
(ESV)
Mark 4 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The Purpose of the Parables
By utilizing parables as His primary vehicle for delivering “the secrets of the kingdom,” Jesus was assured more time to invest in those who were seeking. There’s no doubt as we read the Scriptures that the religious elite could not handle the truth that Jesus possessed.
So rather than continuing to confront them directly with truth that they were not willing to hear, He uncovered the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven with metaphors and symbolism. With this method, those who were seeking would uncover amazing spiritual realities and those who were hostile toward Jesus would only think of Him as more absurd. This pivotal change in Jesus’ teaching style marked a line in the sand with those who would either follow or reject Him.
Since the stories themselves metaphorically veiled the Kingdom of God, the hearers who wanted “lazy truth” would not take the time to explore. Considering this, Jesus was not looking for “sponges” to soak up all He was teaching. A better example would be a sieve which filters through the material to find the treasured gem within the teaching. It is important that we seek and explore the parables rather than just read them for knowledge. There is so much practicality!
The Growing Seed
The parable of the seed growing only occurs in Mark. We have a beginning and an end. The kingdom of God is like a man who cast a seed upon the soil. This is the beginning which contains the Messianic work of Jesus to enable the scattering of seeds upon the different soils. The end is always the harvest, which represents the end of time and the judgment of the world. The intriguing question is, what happens in the middle?
Jesus went on to say, “The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed in his field. [27] He sleeps at night, is up and about during the day, and all the while the seeds are sprouting and growing. Yet he does not know how it happens.
Mark 4:26-27 GNB
The seed grows. Somehow, while the sower is asleep, it sprouts and grows. But then there is a key “hidden gem” verse. The sower does not know how it happens! This part of the parable emphasizes two important facts about the Message that is sown in the hearts of people.
- We don’t control the sprouting and the growing, but rather, the scattering.
- It doesn’t have an understandable formula.
Most of us already know that in order for someone to come to Christ and grow, God has to trigger that event. But, we must also consider that there is no way for us to manipulate that process. Sometimes the seeds we expect to germinate never do. Other times, the seed that we least expect – or even forget about – ends up producing a massive crop.
The soil produces crops by itself. It is not by human intervention, but by a spontaneous and mysterious process. This doesn’t mean the sower is uninvolved or uninterested in the work. It just means that there are things happening when we least expect it! The harvest is coming and those seeds which have germinated are growing. What is our responsibility then within this parable?
It is not to control the germination. It is not to manipulate the growth. It is not to reduce the process to a simplified, predictable formula. It is the simple task of scattering seed.
Think about all the churches across the world that are continually trying to find the next church growth formula. Think about all the churches that reduce Jesus to a marketing campaign. This parable in Mark is clear. We must throw seed! When we speak about Jesus and live for Jesus, we are using our lives to pepper seeds all over this world. This sets the stage for the mysterious work of God, where the Holy Spirit produces growth and fruit in ways that are not known or understood by the human mind.