Mark 4:1-20 NASB I have recently added a tool to this site that allows a mouse over to allow you to read the verses I quote. I am still learning to use it. I have found that adding a version behind the reference opens the reference in that version. I hope to find out how to change the code in the future so this is not necessary, in the mean time, you will see the version following the quote that I prefer.
I am not going to go verse by verse in this passage since Jesus interpreted the passage for us. Rather, I will be commenting on the ideas put forth. You will need to read the passage for an understanding of the following comments.
The parable of the Sower and the seed. I was raised a farmer, I remember hearing this parable as a young boy and puzzling over it as I watched seeds grow that were planted in all the different places described in this passage. At that time, I was not a believer and did not understand the Word of God, but a seed was sown. The Catholics read from the Scriptures on Sundays during their brief Mass that they hold, and many seeds were sown throughout the years, it took a long time for one to germinate in my life. However, I do remember puzzling over them early. They loved to pick out parables and read them in the services. To this day, the passages read during Sunday Mass are rich with truth. It’s the interpretation of the passages that I find lacking. The bright side of this is that seeds are sown and are just waiting for the water to make them grow. The seed is the Word of God (Mk 4:14 NASB; Lk 8:11 NASB; 1 Cor 3:5-9 NASB).
I have been teaching through this study that there is nothing new in the New Testament. Perhaps you are thinking, but this parable is new! It is and it isn’t. Yeshua built off of several parables in the Old Testament to build the truth in this parable. I will only mention a few. Isaiah gives the illustration of a careful farmer who sows different plants and carefully harvests them (Isa 28:22-29 NASB). Jeremiah prophesies that people must return to God’s instruction, or they are like people sowing seed among thorns (Jer 4:3-4 NASB). Amos chastises Israel for plowing rocks (Amos 6:12 NASB). God says that He will remove the heart of stone from people and put in a heart of flesh when He ushers in His New Covenant (Eze 11:19-20 NASB; Eze 14:10-11 NASB; Eze 33:25-38 NASB). According to these verses; when God removes the heart of stone, he will sow into the lives of His people His instructions (Torah). Yeshua was teaching an old idea with a simple illustration.
Jesus interprets this parable for us, first, the seed on the road. This seed does not penetrate the soil, since it is hard packed, which is like a person who has a hard heart. Then Satan comes along and snatches the word, it has no effect on this person. Then you have the word that is sown in rocky places. When you have rocky soil, the rocks soak up the sun, warming the soil, the seed germinates quickly and the plant dies prematurely because it was not fed, it does not have the dept of soil to sustain it. This is similar to people who accept the Gospel, don’t take it seriously, and just play the game. Yet when hard times come, they quickly turn their back on God when they should be turning to God. Then you have the people who are serious, they accept the Word, allow it to grow in their lives and they bear fruit. Who are these people? These are the ones who are serious, they may have been raised in the church their entire lives, or they may have been through the school of hard knocks, but their heart is prepared for the Gospel and it grows deep into their lives.
I was raised as a farmer’s son, when you prepare a field for planting, first you have to cut down the trees and pull the stumps. After that, you must remove any rocks or obstructions that may hinder plant growth. Once you have these two things done, then bring in a breaking plow and turn over a certain dept of soil to kill off the weeds and to loosen the soil. Now comes the disc where you roll it over the soil to pulverize it. A lot of preparation goes into preparing soil for planting. Lastly, you add fertilizer and seed. Then wait for it to grow.
The Holy Spirit does this in our lives. When the soil of our hearts has been made ready, the seed will grow, and will produce fruit. Praise God that some of us come from fertile bottomland where parents are believers and have already prepared the soil for planting. Some come from situations where we never darkened the doors of a church and were openly hostile toward God. He will pull the stumps and obstructions in some of our lives that represent where we were, our lives being a mess because of it being focused on the devil and living out his plan. Does it matter how the soil was prepared? What matters is that all of us are brothers in Messiah, fellow heirs with Him.
One last thought on the “word”. Often in the Church, we are blindsided by this word. We consider the “word” to be the Word of God. This is thought to be the New Testament. To embellish this point. Over the years, I have been involved in several outreach ministries. Albeit, I admit they were few. In these ministries, it was common to pass out New Testament’s to new believers. When I recently made the Philippine mission, some Bibles were made available for a mass conversion at one of the local prisons. These were New Testament’s in Tagalog. There is nothing wrong with this, I praise God that these were passed out freely. Yet, here is the dilemma. Jesus did not use the New Testament. He used the Old Testament, and it was not compiled yet.
The “Word” that Jesus used was the instructions of God found in the Old Testament manuscripts. This “Word” was Torah, which literally means “instructions”. Some of our church fathers did not like the Jews. They purposefully put distance between themselves and Judaism. Part of this distancing was to leave the Old Testament behind. Torah, instead of being translated as “instructions” then became translated as “law”. Then in the New Testament, the same error was put forth. “Law” was poorly translated to refer to God’s Old Testament instructions.
There has been a misconception put forth that the “law” or “torah” puts people in bondage. This misconception misunderstands that teaching from “people” put people in bondage, not teaching from God. In New Testament times, the Scribes, Pharisees and religious leaders developed many oral traditions that added to the instructions of God. These traditions placed people under bondage and were not part of God’s instruction. The same thing has taken place in the church. We have many traditions through various denominations that simply cannot be found in the Bible. Therefore, we have built our own “law” that is contrary to the instructions of God. Many Messianic believers have dumped the error of the church “laws” to embrace the error of the Jewish “laws” that were developed over the years by a people who rejected the Messiah. (I think I may have stepped on some toes here.)
I am not antisemitic. I embrace the Jewish truth of the Bible and realize that we as Christians have been grafted into Judaism (Ro 11:17-24 NASB). That is where the correction of thought must take place. Jesus taught from Torah, from the instructions found in the Old Testament. He embellished these instructions and taught them better by compiling ideas such as the parable of the sower. Then He gave us the instructions again in a precise way. Yeshua was correcting thinking. He was redirecting a people who went off the path of His instructions which were given in the Old Testament back to the original intention. The “Word” that He is speaking about is His instructions found through the entirety of the Bible. In my humble opinion, that includes the instructions of the Old Testament and the instructions found in the New Testament. These are both God’s instructions or “word” to us today.
On that note. It had to be back around 2000 that I became convicted that if I were to teach the Word through this Bible Study that I should have a comprehensive understanding of that Word. I started a yearly reading through the Bible plan. That was about 19 years ago. I have faithfully read through the Bible a minimum of 19 times since then. I have also listened through the Bible by audio at least five times on my commute to work. My thought at the time was to learn the Word in context and then be able to understand error when I encountered it. I wanted to be able to discern the difference between biblical truth and tradition. At the time I was not Messianic in my beliefs. This put me on a path that prepared the soil of my heart for Messianic Christianity.
As I embraced biblical truth from the perspective of the entire Bible, my heart began to change. I began to realize that there was a lot of gaps that Christian theology simply did not address. These gaps began to be filled in when I embraced the Jewish feasts and festivals found in the Bible. These include the feasts and festivals from Leviticus 23 and the festival of Purim found in Esther, along with Hanukkah which was developed from the Babylonian exile. It has been quite a journey. I am still hashing out what is biblical truth and what is tradition.
The point of this discussion is simple. I encourage each of you to begin a reading through the Bible plan. I have one posted on the website that I faithfully follow. There are a few days where I fall a little behind; but catch up as quickly as possible. Most of the time I am on track with the current day and reading the current reading. My job is chaotic. There are times when reading is delayed for a day or so. Join with me in reading through and understanding God’s Word, in its entirety. You will not be disappointed. Then the Parable of the Sower will take on a different meaning.
Do you want to bear fruit for God (Mark 4:20)? Then embrace His instructions and learn from them. This is not just a flippant cursory reading of the Bible. It is a devotion to dig deep and learn what God has to say. If you were to do soil testing in your life, what would the soil test out at? Which category would best describe you that Yeshua gave? Seed sown beside the road on hard packed ground? Seed sown among rocks? Seed sown among thorns? Or seed sown on good soil? Read through the parable again and evaluate where you stand. Then prepare to not only be a rich soil that God can sow His seed in, but also to become a sower in the lives of others.
Until the next study… Joe Turner