Bible Study series: Mark 4:1-9. Jesus introduces the parable, and then just a little later he will explain it.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 4:1-9
1 Again he began to teach by the lake, and a massive crowd gathered around him, so that he got in a boat and sat down on it in the lake, while all the crowd was on the shore by the lake. 2 Then he began to teach them many things in parables and was speaking to them in his teaching. 3 “Listen! Pay attention! A sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened that, while he was sowing, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Another batch fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil and sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was burned up, and because it did not have roots, it withered. 7 Another batch fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew up and choked it; it did not produce crops. 8 Others fell on the good soil and produced crops and grew up and increased, and some produced thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 9 And he was saying, “The one who has ears to hear—let him hear!” (Mark 4:1-9)
Comments
Wesel and Strauss say that the Parable of the Sower is the “most important for Mark and becomes a defining passage not only for Jesus’ teaching in parables but also for his teaching as a whole” (p. 750).
1:
We’ll hold back on interpreting this parable until vv. 13-20, where Jesus explains it.
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower (Soils)
This parable has been called the Parable of the Soils and even the Parable of the Seeds. But I stayed with tradition, though the Parable of the Soils makes sense, while the third option does not (not to me, at least).
Jesus is still by the Lake of Galilee, but in Mark 3:7-8 people came from all over greater Palestine, and in 3:9 he had to get in a boat to teach. And yes, the word lake appears three times in the verse.
As I noted at 3:9, I have heard that water transmits the sound because the sound waves bounce off the water.
Mark is keen to show that Jesus could gather a crowd. This time he did not heal them but taught them. Teaching the kingdom of God is equal to or even better than healing through the power of the Spirit in the kingdom because eventually this physical body will wear out, but the teaching will last forever. His word will not pass away (Mark 13:31). Renewalists who like the sensational aspect of the kingdom of God, as it comes in full power and healing, need to remember the teaching part of ministry. They must reinforce their basic Bible knowledge and doctrine, so they can explain it to the people and so that the flashy ministers themselves won’t go astray.
2:
“parable”: A parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a clear truth. It is a story or narrative or short comparison that reveals the kingdom of God and the right way to live in it and the Father’s ways of dealing with humanity and his divine plan expressed in his kingdom and life generally. The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable. Here you must see yourself in the parable.
“in his teaching”: Reading this verse and the formal noun makes me wonder whether the church in the U.S. and the world get adequate teaching. In America many of the TV guys do a lot of yelling and shouting and displays of personality and shrieking and freaking and dancing and prancing. I wonder whether Jesus did any of that. I don’t think so. Yet he amazed the people with his teaching.
Let’s explore this Greek noun more thoroughly.
BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it defines the noun as follows: (1) “The activity of teaching, teaching, instruction”; (2) “the content of teaching, teaching.” Yes, the word is also used of Jesus’s teaching: Matt. 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22, 27; 4:2; 11:18; 12:38; Luke 4:32; John 7:16, 17; 18:19. And it is used of the apostolic teaching: Acts 2:42; 5:28; 13:12; 17:19; Rom. 6:17; 16:17; 1 Cor. 14:6, 26; 2 Tim. 4:2; Ti. 1:9; Heb. 6:2; 2 John 9 (twice), 10; Rev. 2:14, 15, 24.
Renewalists need much more instruction and doctrine than they are getting. Inspirational preaching about God fulfilling their hopes and dreams is insufficient. We need to discern the signs of the times or seasons (Matt. 16:3). We live in the time or season of the worldwide web. The people are getting bombarded with strange doctrines, on youtube (and other such platforms). These youtube “teachers” know how to edit things and put in clever colors and special effects, but they have not been appointed by God. They do not know how to do even basic research. They run roughshod over basic hermeneutical (interpretational) principles. These “teachers” do not seem to realize that they will be judged more severely (Jas. 3:1) and will have to render an account of their (self-appointed) “leadership” (Heb. 13:17). If they destroy God’s temple, God will (eventually) destroy them (1 Cor. 3:17).
We need to change our ways and follow Scripture, or else much of the church will spiritually diminish and be swept away by strange teachings. Yes, good ol’ fashioned theology and even a little apologetics about difficult passages is what the global Church needs. They need the basics—even on Sunday morning, delivered by teaching pastors, not corporate, inspirational pastors.
3:
Jesus issues two commands. Listen! Pay attention! He is about to teach something solemn which we are to apply to our lives.
A sower made a pouch with a robe, slung it around his shoulder, full of seed, and reached into it, grabbed a handful, and threw it, sweeping his hand back and forth. After his hand emptied out, he reached in his bag and grabbed another handful.
4-7:
In Luke’s parallel version, professional grammarians teach us that the Greek verb tenses indicate that while he was speaking his parable to a large crowd, so his voice had to be raised for them to hear; he was shouting the quoted words even louder at intervals. Mark uses the exact same verb and verb tense.
You can go to Luke 8:4-8 to see an alternative, expanded translation. It is very interesting.
There is a logical progression in the development of the seed: the seed never germinates; the second sprouts and dies; the third becomes a plant but is chocked by thorn bushes (Wessel and Strauss (p. 752).
As for the thirty, sixty, hundred, it is entirely possible for an individual plant to produce that many kernels (Wessel and Strauss, pp. 752-53).
GrowApp for Mark 4:1-9
1. Do you have ears to hear the meaning of parables? Are you hungry enough to break your dull thinking? How do you do this?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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