Mark Chapter 4
The Road of Sowing
The Parable of the Sower (1 - 20)
1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not 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 fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty and some sixty and some a hundred.
9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11 And he said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables?
14 The sower sows the word.
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and take away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
As we gathered along the seashore there was such a large crowd that Jesus had to get in a boat to be able to speak with them? He been teaching many things but the following is probably one that I remember more than the others. He said a sower was sowing seeds and as he walked along the seeds that he was sowing fell in different places. Jesus said some fell on a path and as soon as the seed fell the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell where there were a lot of rocks and there was not much soil so even though the seed did come up it was not rooted and the sun scorched it and it withered away. Some of the seed fell among the thorns and because of this it yielded no fruit or grain. Then Jesus said some of the seed fell into good soil and it grew up and yielded much grain. After Jesus had made these statements He said "he who has ears to hear let him hear." I know that Peter, John, James as a matter of fact all of us were perplexed about what He meant with this story and so we ask Him. Jesus made an astounding statement to all of us, He said" 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, least they should turn and be forgiven." When he said" least they should turn and be forgiven," he looked right at me. At that moment I caught a glimpse of how sinful my heart was. I cannot explain it but Jesus just seemed to have that effect on people it was as if He could exposed your deepest secrets with just a word or a look. Then he turned to the others and stated" do you not understand this lesson." Jesus said the sower plants the word. When those who are on the path hear the word but do not want to really hear or really consider what is said to them they let Satan steal it away from them. The ones on rocky ground hear the word and they think it is wonderful at first but they do not let the word take root in them. It is like a rain drop, we feel it hit us and we are aware of it but then it runs off of us and we forget about it. The word is the same in this respect it is felt and realized but when a little trouble arises or someone makes fun of them or belittles them because of the word they want it to hurry and run off of them. You see the word really never had any roots it was just like a raindrop. Then Jesus said to all of us are you one of those along the path? Are you one of those on rocky ground? I hope not he stated. He then told us about the others who were given the seed. Some actually seemed to accept the word but then their desires begin to choke out what they heard. Their longing for riches or fame or position would not allow the seed to grow in its proper place for it was always pushed to the back. For them there is always something more important to plant. Then He stopped for a moment and said in a voice that penetrated everyone's soul there are those who hear, and see, and perceive, and understand, and seek when the word is given to them. They prove to be fruitful maybe not in this world eyes but in God's eyes. Then He stated, each of you must make a choice. You cannot stay on the path with the word for it will be stolen, you cannot hide in the rocks with the word for it will be scorched, you cannot have all that the world has to offer for then the word will be choked, but you can chose to let it reach down into your hearts and find root there.
A Lamp under a Basket (21-25)
21 And he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? Should it not to be set on a candlestick?
22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
23 If any men have ears to hear, let him hear.
24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
Then Jesus said to all of us how can one know if they have received and kept the seed that was sown? Jesus then actually answered himself, he stated," is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on a stand? Listen to me he said, pay attention to what you hear, "for with what you give out it shall be given back to you." These words really sank into my heart for I realized that the further that I went with Jesus the more that it was going to cost me. Somehow in my heart I knew if I paid the price and accepted this man Jesus and His teachings wholeheartedly that someday somewhere it would be worth it. However I was not sure that I had the courage to do so.
The Parable of the Seed Growing (26 - 29)
26 And he said, so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how.
28 For the earth brings forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
As I look back on these events and how they took place I am reminded of a couple more instances where Jesus talked about seeds. Before He had talked about the seeds that were left by a sower but in these instances that I relate now He talked about how the seeds grew. Jesus said the Kingdom God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. The man goes to sleep then he gets up, he goes back to sleep and rises again and does this over and over. While he is doing this the seed sprouts and grows. The man does not know how the seed grew but he does know that it grew. The earth produces it by itself, first the leaf, then the blade, then the full grain and when it is
ripe the man comes in to harvest it. As I sat and thought on this Kingdom of God I realized that this seed was the word and the Jesus was scattering his word wherever we went and that his word had begun to grow. I wondered if I would ever be tested on whether the word was growing in me and if I was tested how much had the word matured.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed (30 -34)
30 And he said, whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth:
32 But when it is sown, it grows up, and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
33 And with many such parables spoke he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
34 But without a parable spoke he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
During all the time I was with Jesus He told many stories and parables, he was always speaking about the Kingdom of God and the way that it would come and grow in people's hearts. He never ceased to amaze me the way he could take the tiniest thing and turned it into lesson about God. I remember once he talked about a tiny little mustard seed and how that once it was planted it would grow into a tree that put out branches large enough that the birds could make their nest in it. Then He would take us aside and explained to us about the Kingdom of God. When He talked with us He was so kind and gentle. He never chastised our lack of understanding. Although I was about 10 years older than Him I always felt as if I was the child who was learning and He was the teacher. Often the things He talked about, such as the seed always seemed to die before it sprang into new life. After it died it would grow larger than anyone could have imagined. I must confess I should have spent a lot more time contemplating the things that Jesus had spoken and tried to explain to us. For it was not going to be long before all of us were going to be tested to see if we were really listening or learning anything.
Jesus Calms a Storm (35 - 41)
35 And the same day, when the even was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, care thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
All of the teaching about the sower and the seed that he was planting seem to come to a climax that evening. Jesus said to all of us let us go across to the other side of Lake. So we got in the boat and begin row to the other side. Out of nowhere the winds begin to arise. They grew stronger and more violent the further we went out into the lake. Before long the waves became so high that they were breaking into the boat. I was especially terrified because I did not know how to swim. It seemed as if I, Peter, James, and John all turned at the same time to look for Jesus. To our amazement or horror which ever fits the best we saw that he was asleep on a cushion. We all crawled to him, shaking him awake, and in one way or another all said, Jesus do you not care that we are going to die? He awoke looked around and said three words," Peace! Be Still!" The winds ceased even quicker than they had begun, the sea became as glass, no sound was heard, no oar was rowed, and no one said a word. It was as if the whole world had come to a standstill. Jesus broke this awesome silence with a soft sentence," Why are you so afraid " and then he became silent again, after what seemed like an eternity and in that same soft voice He again broke the silence with these words," have you still no faith?" In my mind I caught a fleeting glimpse of those seeds that were sown just hours earlier and how little root they had taken in my forgetful heart. As I begin to think about this I heard someone from one of the other boats that had gone out with us say," Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" The thoughts of who Jesus could be rapidly replaced the thoughts about the shallowness of the seeds.