Mark 4:1-20 I am not going to go verse by verse 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.
Mark 4:21-25 NASB95; Psalm 119:105-112
The Parable of the lamp. If we hide the light that we have, we must be ashamed of the light, or feel that we are doing something wrong. Almost reminds me of a kid reading under a blanket with a flashlight after bedtime. The word when it is put into action will produce light in our lives. John 1:4-5, 8-9, 14; 1 John 1:5-8. There was a lot to say regarding the Light being Jesus, and that we are in the light since we are in Jesus. As the Word of God is used in our lives and shines out to other people, some are going to be offended, some are going to be convinced of sin, and some are going to be convicted of their need for salvation. The light does not care where the darkness is located. If we are hypocrites and our lives are not in line with God’s instructions, then our sin will also be revealed. Hebrews 4:12, the Word is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways. 2 Tim 3:16, the word will have an effect in our lives. Jesus warns and promises us that the light will shine out to the world, revealing what is hidden by the darkness, that can be good for us, and it can also be difficult for us, because we have to deal with our sin in order to bring our lives into compliance with God’s instruction.
We were discussing seed sowing in the last study. Keep that in mind as you consider the parable of the lamp. Each of us carries a lamp of sorts that represents our message to the world. God’s word is called a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The righteous path carries the word of God as a lamp to the world. David wrote about this in the Psalms to help us understand how God’s light shines through the individual believer to guide him through the daily walk.
I think that the parable that Jesus teaches carries a little more punch than just to say that if you walk with God, don’t be ashamed of the Gospel. The idea is that the seeds that you sow will eventually come to light because they will grow. If we sow the seeds of worldliness, eventually our phony nature will become evident to all. If we sow the seeds of sports, eventually people will understand that the most important driving force in our lives is that of sports. Remember, through context of the passage, one of the issues that were being faced here was the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Jesus broke the rules that the Pharisees set and became their enemy because of that. The light that the Pharisees utilized was one that was fueled by fleshly works instead of the light of God. Jesus was teaching that when we sow seeds, those seeds will grow. What lamp do we have shining in the windows of our lives?
Matthew 5:13-16 NASB
If you will notice, Jesus carried the same message in Matthew. The salt that had lost its saltiness was a useless item. That salt should warn us that if we have lost the capacity to make people thirsty, then perhaps our message is not that of God’s word but rather a message that comes from the world.
Luke 11:32-33 NASB
Luke recorded two incidents of the lamp parable, one was in conjunction with the sower and the seed. The second was in conjunction with relating to why people were rejecting Jesus as Messiah. The lamp that is lit is that of Jesus in this situation.
Mark 4:24-25
“Take care what you listen to…” Whew, in today’s world this statement is over the top. Talk about seeds! It is very rare for me to turn on the radio when traveling. I have come to enjoy the momentary peace and quiet that I find in the solitude of driving. At work, I ride in vans with crews going out to trains. The radio is constantly on. It is not unusual for me to ask for a channel change when music becomes offensive. How is it offensive? Well, when I listen, I listen to the music and the words. Seeds…
Our world has become a constant noise factory. Some cannot even sleep at night without having the television going in the background. Most are listening to multimedia, movies, songs, and a myriad of other resources pumping the noise into their lives in an uninterrupted stream. How much of this is edifying to the spirit? We spend hours upon hours being entertained by these sources. Yet, what are we listening to? What seeds are being sown in our subconscious? How does this affect our outlook on life? When we move from video to video, news channel to news channel, how much of this is truly building us up? How much is building morality into our lives? What seeds are being sown?
The farmer or sower is still the main thought. If the farmer is responsible with the seed and sows that seed, then it will grow and reap a harvest. However, if the farmer sows bad seed or sows seed of weeds in their life, then the return on their investment will be nothing. What do we want to reap in our lives? Do we wish to sow a measure of good seed based on God’s word? Or do we wish to sow seeds which are based on our human interest? God allows us to carry the standard of measure and to utilize it in our lives. Its worth thinking about.
To put it all together, the seeds that we sow in our lives will testify of the message that we carry in our hearts. If we spend the time to dig in the Bible to build good seed in our lives which is based on the life of the Messiah and biblical instruction, then that seed will germinate and grow. However, if we sow the seed of humanistic or modern thinking, then our seed will grow more ungodly people that are unwittingly opposed to God’s work. Our seed is the light that we display in our lives, if that seed is righteous, displaying the lamp will lead others to righteousness. If that seed is unrighteous, then we by default support the devil and lead others away from God’s righteousness. We control the measure and integrity of our lives partly by what we sow in it.
Mark 4:25 NASB. This is a sobering verse. Our standard is the measure of how much seed is sown in our lives. If our seed has quality, then it will be fruitful. If it is bad seed, we lose out in a major way. Our lives will be without purpose. Then we fall into the deception of our current world. We soon just become cogs in a wheel grinding out life. Our purpose at that point is found in fulfilling our jobs and waiting to get home to waste away in front of the television.
In my opinion, these two verses should sober each of us. What purpose does our lives have? What can we do about it? What seeds are being sown back into our lives? Referring to the lamp, What will be revealed when the light is shown in our lives?
Mark 4:26-29 The Parable of the seed.
To begin with, let’s discuss the “kingdom of God”. This is the same idea that is behind the “kingdom of heaven”. The idea is not a celestial kingdom where people go after death. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven is the body of believers that inhabit the earth. Our King is God. Our lives are ruled by Him. If we are not serving our God, then we are simply playing games and are pretenders.
The parable of the seed continues the thought of the passage. The farmer does not understand how life emerges from the seed, only that it grows, then produces a crop that can be harvested. Modern biologist can tell you the reason that a seed sprouts. They can show you how that the cells respond to water and then grow and divide to become a plant. However, they cannot tell you why life exists. Science can only tell you that it does exist and that seeds sprout and grow.
The source behind life is God. He is the prime mover of the universe that causes everything that has life to live. The same is true regarding spiritual life. God is the prime mover that regenerates the unbeliever to make him into a new creation which is designed after God’s image. As farmers, we sow the seed of the Word, God causes it to grow and develop into mature believers.
Many people plant the seed, and many people are part of the growth of that seed. The one person who is most responsible for the growth of the seed is the Holy Spirit. He makes sure that everyone plants the seed, waters it, coaxes the young plant along until it comes to maturity. Yet few are aware of our master gardener, the Holy Spirit at work in orchestrating this growth. God’s Kingdom is made up of a lot of people, and all of us are working to bring forth the harvest. At the right time, when a person is ready to receive the good news of God’s mercy, God directs us to that person and he is led to the Messiah. Occasionally, this takes place strictly through the work of the Holy Spirit convicting the person of the need for salvation, but most of the time He uses believers. We are not aware of all the little tweaks that were placed on a person to bring him to the point where he is willing to make a life change by recognizing Jesus and committing to follow His instructions. I wonder if this analogy could go both directions, both toward salvation, and toward God bringing us home at the end of our lives, bringing with us the fruit that we have produced for Him. Galatians 6:6-9
Mark 4:30-34
Jesus used a popular image from the Old Testament to teach that the Kingdom is now at hand. The “birds of the air” was a euphemism which referred to the Gentiles or a foreign nation taking refuge under the shelter of a superior power. For a quick study on this, let’s look at some cross-references for a moment.
Ezekiel 17:22-24 God promised to take a small sprig from a huge cedar and make it into a new tree. This figuratively symbolized growing a nation from a remnant.
Ezekiel 31:5-7 This passage refers to Pharaoh and the Assyrian empire. The idea was that the kingdom had become so big that it fed the nations around it. Birds of the air referred to other nations that relied upon Babylon for support and monetary gain. This would be very similar to the way that the United States is a main consumer for many nations around the world.
Daniel 4 This is probably the most detailed of examples. Nebuchadnezzar had grown an empire that was immense. When reading through this passage, you will see clearly that the empire touched many people in many different areas. God called judgment on Nebuchadnezzar and for a time snatched the kingdom from him.
The picture of a mustard seed was not a new idea to the Jews. In this case, it was applied to the Kingdom of God. When you consider this in context, God’s kingdom will grow to the point that it will become a place where other nations will take refuge under its wings. Step into their shoes for a moment. The “Kingdom” was a “Jewish” kingdom established upon promises found in the Old Testament Torah. We are too quick to interpret this passage strictly in the sense of the “New Testament” without looking at the implications from the “Old Testament.” The point that I am making here is that the “Kingdom of God” is “Jewish”, the Gentiles and foreign nations are able to take part of that kingdom through the finished work of the Messiah. To back this up let’s look at what Paul stated: Read Romans 11:16-25
God allowed Israel to go their own way. Their rejection of the Messiah placed a distance between them and God. During that time God allowed the Gentiles to be grafted into the tree of Israel. For many years the church has taught “replacement theology” where Gentiles have replaced the Jews in all biblical promises. Nothing is further from the truth. How arrogant we have become by thinking that God has rejected the Nation of Israel. In reality we are the usurpers, the nations who have camped under the canopy of Israel. The parable that Jesus gave was not that the mustard seed would germinate to become a Gentile tree, but rather that it would be a Jewish tree that grows out of Judaism.
If we investigate the scriptures, it is clear that the “valley of dry bones”, the “budding of the fig tree” and other illustrations demonstrate clearly that the Jewish nation will eventually recognize the Messiah and then return with full force to their rightful position. When they return to the Messiah that they have rejected, I believe we will be astounded at the spiritual power that they will have.
What does this have to do with us? Each of us are part of individual churches that reach out to the world. Our physical church buildings are ministry points that bring wealth, both spiritually and materially to many unbelievers. This is in the form of procuring goods and services and welcoming the unbelievers to our assembly. Our church body touches many who are believers and unbelievers through the day influencing them for God as witnesses of God and ambassadors of the Messiah. As individuals, we carry God’s message to the world in every aspect of our lives. Our small to mega churches each started with an idea, a small mustard seed. As they grow, so grows our contact with the world. Ideally, we will evangelize our world and influence it to turn to Yeshua the Messiah.
Perhaps I have made the Parable of the mustard seed too complicated. Picture this, the seed was sown, a small seed in the light of history, 12 men were discipled to care for that seed and to carry it forth to cause growth. Those twelve men were highly unlikely candidates, nothing fantastic about them, simple men, fishermen and worker bees. Yet they carried this message forward to all nations, who carried it forward. The mustard plant has grown through the centuries, at first, it had a Jewish beginning, with the birds of the air (gentiles) who have made their home in its branches. The Kingdom of God, the chosen ones of God, almost too heavy a concept to adequately cover the idea. Yet here we are, all learning and growing and shedding our light because we are God’s kids, we are part of His kingdom. Isn’t it fantastic?
Mark 4:35-41, NASB95
The disciples were Jews. Jewish people understood the Old Testament stories. You can see from this story that there were tremendous things that took place. Jesus overruled the laws of nature so that He could calm the sea and stop the storm dead still in its tracks. Has this ever happened before in scripture?
Think with me for a moment, Moses extended his staff over the sea and God in response to this parted the waters (Exodus 14:16). Shortly afterwards, the Egyptians tried to transverse the same path and were drowned as the waters returned to their original place (Exodus 14:27). Notice that Moses did not cause the water to split, he was acting on a command of God.
Joshua instructed the priests to carry the Ark of the Lord into the flood waters of the Jordan River. It was at flood stage at the time. When it split, water stood up like a mountain to allow Israel to pass over (Joshua 3). Joshua clearly stated that the Lord would split the waters, this was verified by the Lord’s command (Joshua 3:7-13).
Elijah was instructed by the Lord to cross the Jordan, he struck it with his mantle and the waters split so that he and Elisha crossed over on dry ground (2 Kings 2). Elisha called on the name of the Lord and crossed back over the Jordan splitting the water again.
What does this demonstrate to us? Jesus did not call on the Lord. He did not extend a rod, place the Ark of the Covenant in the water or strike the water with a mantle. Jesus spoke to the water and commanded it to be still. The significance of this was not lost on the disciples. Only God has the ability to control water. Jesus made a clear point that he was more than a mere prophet. Jesus was and is God.
Has Jesus changed? There is a lot of people who simply do not understand who Jesus really is. He is the YHVH God of the Old Testament (Psalm 100:3). “Lord” in this verse is the indication of the Hebrew name YHVH. Cross reference this with John 1:3-10. Yeshua is the creator God. The Disciples asked a good question, “who is this…?” He is the God that stilled the sea in the Old Testament and demonstrated that by rebuking the wind and the sea in the New Testament. Yeshua challenged the disciples to change their thinking to realize that He is God. He challenged their faith since they may have thought He was merely a great prophet.