In our study of Mark’s Gospel, we come to Jesus’ teaching, often called “The Parable of the Sower.” In this parable, Jesus concentrates on the response of each type of soil to the sowing of the Word of God. These soils, which represent people, determine whether they will understand the mysteries of the Kingdom and experience the fruitful life that results. Jesus’ teaching speaks to us in the daily decisions of living. In this two-part lesson, J. Mark examines Mark 4:1-20 and demonstrates how Jesus teaches us how to have “A Fruitful Life.”
It is so good to be with you again today. Thank you for joining us as we study God’s Word. Jesus was a master teacher; we can all learn from how he taught and interacted with his audience. Over and over, we see Him speaking to the people in parables. This is such a great way to connect with and engage the audience. Today in Mark 4, we get to the first parable in the book of Mark, and in these verses, Jesus even gives us part of the reason he speaks in parables. I am guessing this is not your first time hearing this parable, but I am sure there is something here for all of us to learn.
J Mark won’t finish all of this lesson today, but next time we will get to part two of this parable. So, if you can, please turn to Mark 4 and let’s see what we can learn together from Bible teacher J Mark.
In our study of Mark’s Gospel, we come to Jesus’ teaching, often called “The Parable of the Sower.” You’ll notice that the sower is only mentioned twice, once in verse 3 and again in verse 14. The emphasis of the parable seems to be the types of soil on which the seed falls. We could more accurately call this “The Parable of the Soils.”
Parables in the Bible usually contain one primary message. In this parable of the soils, Jesus concentrates on the types of soil and how each responds to the sowing of the Word of God. How those soils, which represent people, respond determines whether they will understand the mysteries of the Kingdom and experience the fruitful life that results.
Jesus’ teaching speaks to us in the daily decisions of living. Let’s read this text from Mark 4:1-20, and as we do, you will see that Jesus is teaching us how to have “A Fruitful Life.” Since this is a lengthy text, we will use two episodes to cover the teaching.
1And 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 hear!”
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.’ ”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
14 The sower sows the word.
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.”
This text reveals several key INGREDIENTS necessary for producing “A Fruitful Life.”
The First INGREDIENT is,
The Skill of the Sower
Interestingly, the sower is given the shortest space in the text. He’s not unimportant. In fact, without Him, there is no possibility of fruit being produced. He must do his job well for a crop to be produced. The primary focus of this parable is on the types of soil, but we must look at the character of the sower.
We see quickly from the context that the sower is Jesus. The New American Standard correctly translates it as “The Sower went out to sow His seed…” Everything we see in Jesus’ life is a picture of Him sowing the seeds of truth about the Kingdom of God.
When Jesus walked the earth, sowing was done by hand. Seed was carried in a sack or a fold of cloth over the left shoulder. The cupped right hand was thrust into the grain, then swung in a smooth arc to distribute the grains evenly across the ground. As we observe Jesus’ life and ministry, we see that He didn’t always scatter the seed in the same way in every setting.
Before our text, Jesus spoke plainly to the people. Now, He begins to speak in parables. Why did Jesus do this? The key lies in verses 10 through 12, which we’ll examine in greater detail in our next episode.
Jesus’ audience was divided into two classes: those who heard Him gladly and believed, and those who were hostile toward Him with a spirit of unbelief. The reason for the parables was to keep the unbelieving in their unbelief. We see this progression in the life of Pharaoh. After he repeatedly hardened his heart, God began to accelerate the process.
The skill of the sower is the first necessary ingredient in “A Fruitful Life,” and logically leads us to the next ingredient.
Another INGREDIENT is,
The Quality of the Seed
One of the blessings of this parable is that Jesus explained it in detail to the disciples. In verse 14, Jesus states clearly that “The sower sows the Word.” Immediately, that assures us that the lack of harvest we see later in the parable isn’t the result of poor seed quality!
One reason for a poor harvest today may be contamination of that seed by human reasoning. Some Bible teachers compromise the clear teaching of Scripture. They try to make the Good News less offensive. But the Gospel, by nature, is offensive because it confronts our sin and offers us only ONE solution: the blood of Jesus.
Just a few years ago, Pope Francis gave his blessing to a document that permits Catholic clergy to bless same-sex relationships. But no matter what human leaders may say, the truth of God’s Word does not change! The original “seed” is uncontaminated by any human reasoning of us mortal creatures.
Jesus made it clear many times during His ministry that He wouldn’t sacrifice truth for the sake of making Himself more popular. All who claim to speak for Christ must take the same approach. We have neither the right nor the authority to tamper with the Word of God.
The quality of the seed is an essential factor in producing lasting fruit, and the seed we’ve been given is of unsurpassed quality.
The Next FACTOR is,
The Condition of the Soil
Now we come to the heart of Jesus’ teaching. The sower is Jesus, and the seed is the Word of God. Therefore, the harvest depends on the type of soil in which the seed is planted.
The first type is the soil by the wayside or on the path. Clearly, this soil never truly received the seed. Because the ground was packed hard by many passing feet, the seed lay exposed to the birds, which quickly snatched it up.
In the explanation of this soil in verse 15, Jesus states that Satan comes and takes away the Word before it can penetrate their hearts. The apostle Paul echoes this in 2 Corinthians 4:4. “…the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” This is why prayer is such a vital prelude to sowing the seed! Only the Holy Spirit of God can operate on the hearts of people to remove that blindness and break up the hard-packed soil of their hearts.
But what causes this compaction of the soil, making it unreceptive to the seed? I thought of how Paul speaks of the beauty of the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace in Romans 10:15. And I thought of Jesus’ instructions to the Twelve when He sent them on their first mission. He told them to shake off the dust of their feet as a witness against those who would not welcome them or their message.
Reflecting on these Scriptures leads me to believe that one reason for the “hard-packed” soil of the path is a prolonged exposure to the Gospel with no response. The soil of the heart becomes hardened and impenetrable. Does this soil type illustrate your spiritual condition?
This soil typifies those whom Jesus spoke about when he said in verses 11 and 12, “Unto you, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” Jesus was quoting Isaiah 6:9, which refers to Isaiah’s commission to preach repentance to an unresponsive and hard-hearted people.
From now on, Jesus would speak in parables to those who opposed Him. Because they had decided to reject Him and harden their hearts, they would not be able to understand the unfolding revelation of God’s plan for His people. How tragic!
In our next episode, we will continue examining the types of soil.
Thanks, J Mark, for opening this parable. As you remember, our title is “A Fruitful Life,” and he shared the first three ingredients for a fruitful life. First, we looked at the Sower’s skill. Second was the quality of the seed, and we started looking at the soil conditions. Hopefully, you can join us next time as we investigate the other soil types and then finish up with the fourth ingredient.
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Thanks so much for joining us today. Lord willing, you can join us next time as we spend more time looking at the other soil. Our title was The Fruitful Life, and I’ll leave you with the sound advice Jesus gave us about bearing fruit in Matthew 7. He said, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Jesus said our fruits know us.
The question is, what kind of fruit do others see in you?
