4
Many parables
1 Once again He began to teach beside the sea. And a large crowd was gathered to Him, so that He got into the boat and sat down, out on the water, while the whole crowd was on the land, at the water's edge. 2 Then He began teaching them many things by parables and said to them in His teaching:
Parable of the soils
3 “Listen! Yes, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell along the path, and the birds[a] came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on the rocky area where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil. 6 But upon the sun's rising it was scorched, and because it had no root it was withered up. 7 And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and smothered it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And some fell into the good ground, and coming up and growing it started to produce fruit—yielding thirty times as much, sixty times as much, even a hundred times as much.” 9 Then He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The why of parables
10 But when He was alone, those who were around Him, with the twelve,[b] asked Him about the parable. 11 So 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, everything is being given in parables, 12 so that:
‘Seeing they may see, and not perceive;
and hearing they may hear, and not understand;
so that they should not return
and their sins be forgiven them.’ ”[c]
‘The soils’ explained
13 Then He said to them: “Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the Word. 15 These are the ones where the Word is sown along the path: as soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts.§This statement is really a continuation of that given in Mark 3:27. The Lord Jesus declares that it is impossible to steal Satan's goods unless we bind him first. (From His use of “no one” it seems clear that the Lord is enunciating a general principle or truth.) And what might the nature of those ‘goods’ be? In the context (see Matthew 12:22-24) Jesus had delivered someone from a demon that caused blindness and dumbness, and in their comments the scribes and Pharisees include other instances where Jesus had expelled demons—it seems clear that the ‘goods’ are people who are subject to Satan's power, in one way or another. Thus we have the same essential truth as that declared in Acts 26:18—we have to do something about Satan's power over a person so that he or she can be saved! But what does Satan do to people that makes it necessary to “bind” him?
We find the answer in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Let us begin with verse 3: “If our gospel is veiled it is veiled to them who are perishing, in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine in them.” The Text clearly states that Satan, ‘the god of this world’, is in the business of blinding the minds of unbelievers when they hear the Gospel, so they will not understand, so they will not be convicted, so they will not repent and convert. This is a terrible truth, the most terrible truth in the world, at least as I see it. The enemy has access to our minds, access in the sense that he has the power or ability to invade them, whether by introducing thoughts or by jamming our reasoning. The Lord Jesus declared this truth when He explained the parable of the sower. “These are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; but, as soon as they hear it Satan comes and takes away the Word that was planted in their hearts” (Mark 4:15). In the parallel passage in Luke 8:12 Jesus adds the following words: “lest they believe and be saved”. Note that the Word is already in the mind or heart of the person, but then Satan comes, invades the mind and “takes away” that Word. I am not sure just how this intrusion by the enemy works, perhaps he causes a mental block of some sort, but the practical effect is that the Word becomes ineffective, as if the person had not even heard it. Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, read ‘them’, instead of ‘their hearts’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). 16 Similarly, these are the ones sown on the rocky area: as soon as they hear the Word they receive it with joy, 17 but since they have no root in themselves they are temporary—when oppression or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away.[e] 18 And these are the ones sown among the thorns: they hear the Word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the undue desires for other things come in and smother the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good ground: such people hear the Word, welcome it and produce fruit—thirty times as much, sixty times as much, even a hundred times as much.”
We find the answer in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Let us begin with verse 3: “If our gospel is veiled it is veiled to them who are perishing, in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine in them.” The Text clearly states that Satan, ‘the god of this world’, is in the business of blinding the minds of unbelievers when they hear the Gospel, so they will not understand, so they will not be convicted, so they will not repent and convert. This is a terrible truth, the most terrible truth in the world, at least as I see it. The enemy has access to our minds, access in the sense that he has the power or ability to invade them, whether by introducing thoughts or by jamming our reasoning. The Lord Jesus declared this truth when He explained the parable of the sower. “These are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; but, as soon as they hear it Satan comes and takes away the Word that was planted in their hearts” (Mark 4:15). In the parallel passage in Luke 8:12 Jesus adds the following words: “lest they believe and be saved”. Note that the Word is already in the mind or heart of the person, but then Satan comes, invades the mind and “takes away” that Word. I am not sure just how this intrusion by the enemy works, perhaps he causes a mental block of some sort, but the practical effect is that the Word becomes ineffective, as if the person had not even heard it. Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, read ‘them’, instead of ‘their hearts’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). 16 Similarly, these are the ones sown on the rocky area: as soon as they hear the Word they receive it with joy, 17 but since they have no root in themselves they are temporary—when oppression or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away.[e] 18 And these are the ones sown among the thorns: they hear the Word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the undue desires for other things come in and smother the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good ground: such people hear the Word, welcome it and produce fruit—thirty times as much, sixty times as much, even a hundred times as much.”
The candlestick
21 Also He said to them: “The lamp is not brought to be put under a box[f] or under a bed, is it? Is it not to be placed on its stand? 22 For there is no ‘hidden’ that may not be exposed, nor has anything been concealed but that it should come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” 24 Then He said to them: “Pay attention to what you hear. With the same measure you use it will be measured to you in return; and to you who hear,[g] more will be added. 25 Because whoever has, to him more will be given; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”[h]
Spontaneous growth
26 He also said: “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter the seed on the ground 27 and should sleep and get up night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 All by itself the earth produces fruit: first a shoot, then a head of grain, then full grain in the head. 29 But as soon as the grain is ready, he sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”[i]
The mustard seed
30 Again He said: “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or with what sort of parable should we illustrate it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, that when it is sown on the ground is the smallest of all such seeds,[j] 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs and produces big branches, so that the birds of the air are able to rest in its shade.”[k]
33 It was with many such parables that He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 But apart from a parable He did not speak to them; privately, however, He would explain everything to His disciples.
A supernatural tempest
35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 Since He was already in the boat,[l] they took off with Him, leaving the crowd behind (other little boats were also with Him).[m] 37 Well a strong cyclonic wind came up, such that the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling up. 38 But He was on the poop deck, sleeping on the cushion;[n] so they awakened Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?”[o] 39 Then, having been awakened, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Shut up; be muzzled!” So the wind stopped and there was a complete calm.[p] 40 And He said to them: “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”[q] 41 They were terrified and started saying to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!?”[r]
<- Mark 3Mark 5 ->
- a The AV and NKJV add ‘of the air’, following the TR and perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts.
- b Evidently there were some regular followers beyond the twelve. In fact, later on He would send out seventy, two by two (Luke 10:1).
- c See Isaiah 6:9-10. Jesus only started using parables after He had been rejected by the religious leaders. As Jesus clearly states, He started using parables so the people would not understand. (Any claim that Jesus was a ‘great teacher’ based on His use of parables is just hot air.) If parables are not to be understood, then no doctrine should ever be based on one—but if the Lord interpreted it, the interpretation may be used. Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “their sins” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.).
- d This statement is really a continuation of that given in Mark 3:27. The Lord Jesus declares that it is impossible to steal Satan's goods unless we bind him first. (From His use of “no one” it seems clear that the Lord is enunciating a general principle or truth.) And what might the nature of those ‘goods’ be? In the context (see Matthew 12:22-24) Jesus had delivered someone from a demon that caused blindness and dumbness, and in their comments the scribes and Pharisees include other instances where Jesus had expelled demons—it seems clear that the ‘goods’ are people who are subject to Satan's power, in one way or another. Thus we have the same essential truth as that declared in Acts 26:18—we have to do something about Satan's power over a person so that he or she can be saved! But what does Satan do to people that makes it necessary to “bind” him? We find the answer in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Let us begin with verse 3: “If our gospel is veiled it is veiled to them who are perishing, in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine in them.” The Text clearly states that Satan, ‘the god of this world’, is in the business of blinding the minds of unbelievers when they hear the Gospel, so they will not understand, so they will not be convicted, so they will not repent and convert. This is a terrible truth, the most terrible truth in the world, at least as I see it. The enemy has access to our minds, access in the sense that he has the power or ability to invade them, whether by introducing thoughts or by jamming our reasoning. The Lord Jesus declared this truth when He explained the parable of the sower. “These are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; but, as soon as they hear it Satan comes and takes away the Word that was planted in their hearts” (Mark 4:15). In the parallel passage in Luke 8:12 Jesus adds the following words: “lest they believe and be saved”. Note that the Word is already in the mind or heart of the person, but then Satan comes, invades the mind and “takes away” that Word. I am not sure just how this intrusion by the enemy works, perhaps he causes a mental block of some sort, but the practical effect is that the Word becomes ineffective, as if the person had not even heard it. Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, read ‘them’, instead of ‘their hearts’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
- e Note that with both the stones and the thorns, the seed did germinate; there was life.
- f The reference is to a peck measure, whether a box or a basket (or a basin).
- g Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘to you who hear’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. The phrase is relevant to verse 25.
- h To stand still spiritually is not an available option. Either we grow, or we lose. Spiritual growth is like riding up an incline on a bicycle with no brakes—if you stop pedaling, you go backwards. ‘The same measure’ includes effort; ‘hearing’ implies doing something about it.
- i We do not have to understand how God works; we just have to do our part, and the harvest will come.
- j The rendering ‘the smallest seed in the world/earth’ is unfortunate and misleading. The Text has ‘of those on the ground’, repeating the phrase above it, only eliding the verb. The Lord was not making a global botanical statement, as the next verse makes clear—He was referring to vegetables planted in a garden in His day and in that area, and of such herbs mustard had the smallest seed. To object that tobacco and orchid seeds are smaller is beside the point.
- k The verb I have rendered ‘to rest’ is a compound form. The noun root refers to a temporary shelter, like a tent or a hut. The verbal form means to make use of such a shelter. Here the preposition κατα is prefixed to the verb, emphasizing, as I suppose, the temporariness. The Text says that the birds can use the shade, not the branches. But shade moves with the sun, and with the wind—how can you build a nest in something that keeps moving around (the Text actually says ‘under its shade’)?
- l Going back to 4:1, He was already in the boat. I would say that the explanations recorded in 4:10-20 actually happened later.
- m I do not know why Mark mentions the other boats—maybe some of the crowd had come in them. In any case, they evidently did not follow Him across the lake (they may have been dangerously small to attempt it).
- n In keeping with the size of the boat, the poop deck was probably just big enough for someone to lie down on it. Jesus was not down in the boat or He would already be covered with water. He was so worn out that not even the storm aroused Him—they probably had to shake Him.
- o There were professional fishermen in that boat, who had seen no end of storms on that lake, but this one was unusual. Satan saw where Jesus was heading and did not want to lose his prize victim, so he made a valiant effort to stop Him.
- p Jesus performed a double miracle here. First, He made the wind stop short. But once water is agitated, it takes a while to calm down, even if the cause is gone, so second, He smoothed out the water immediately.
- q Jesus is evidently saying that they should not have been afraid, and that they themselves could have solved the problem—if they had the faith. I imagine that the Lord would say something similar to us, when we fail to respond appropriately to difficult circumstances that take us by surprise.
- r Well really, what were the options?—human being, angelic being (good or bad), God. Who can turn water into wine, cleanse lepers, raise dead, feed 5,000 with five loaves, etc.?